Black Eagles, F-35, 777X & more | Bonus Airshow Dispatches (S05E10)

[@SOCALAVIATION2K]

Awsome! Can’t wait for 2023!!!

[@paulkrapp]

Thanks! I am fortunate to have seen a few F-35 demos. They always seem to make vapor no mater the humidity that day. One of the things that impresses me the most is the size of the engine! It's as if the engineers went a little mad and said "what if we installed the largest engine possible in a fighter...hee, hee, ha, ha!". 🤪 Some thing very weird is the "unworldly" howling sound when it's doing a high alpha pass. Have you heard it?

[@ThisisFlight]

It does make some very strange noises during slow high-alpha flight. I particularly remember one that sounded a bit like a Hawker Hunter blue note.

[@grabir01]

Limit for the F35 is 55 degrees.

[@ThisisFlight]

Every reputable source gives an upper limit of 50 degrees for standard production F-35s of all variants, although higher angles of attack (up to 110 degrees) have been achieved in flight testing. This detailed study is a good source for further info on the F-35's high alpha performance (which also states a 50 degree limit in regular service): arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/6.2019-3227

[@grabir01]

@@ThisisFlight I read 110 degrees limited to 55 as they do not want pilots doing more than 55 degrees. I am still trying to figure out how you can even have 110 degree AOA. I will discuss with pilots over the weekend and see how this can be.

[@ThisisFlight]

Interested to hear what you discover. I can only assume that 110 degrees was achieved in some kind of steep, nose-high descent but I haven't seen any details. I've certainly never seen a non-thrust-vectoring jet exceed 90 degrees AOA before.

[@forzaelite1248]

@@ThisisFlight Civilian pilot here but i'll try my best: essentially, since lift is determined by pressure ratios around the wing (and since the F-35 has so much thrust), once you pass 90 degrees as long as the wing generates enough pressure it'll make some sort of lift. The airflow is essentially gonna travel the opposite direction, but since the control surfaces can deflect upwards too they'll be able to angle themselves to make a little bit of useful lift, though nothing that could realistically be maintained for more than a second or so. It's how Flankers pull the cobra afaik

[@ThisisFlight]

Good explanation, makes sense! I hadn't taken the effect of the control surface into account. The other possibility is there's some post-stall weirdness going on. The paper says 110 degrees, it doesn't say that was achieved without stalling (I guess a perfect tailslide gives a 180 degree angle of attack, technically speaking - maybe it's a reduced variation of that). But we'd probably need the test pilot themself to explain any further.

[@grabir01]

Dilapidated C17? What?

[@ThisisFlight]

Take a freeze frame at 36:58! Never seen anything like it on an in-service American aircraft before. Especially not one that's been selected for public display.

[@grabir01]

@@ThisisFlight I see that. Looks like some peel. On a more positive note, the Ukraine equipment is top notch!!