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Aviation History
1996
1996 - 2407.PDF
EDITORIAL UK Editorial Enquiries Editorial Fax Editor Allan Winn Editor's PA Lisa Jenkins Deputy Editor Forbes Mutch News Editor Andrew Chuter +44(181)6523842 +44(181)652 3840 +44(181)652 3882 +44 (181) 652 3882 +44 (181) 652 3852 +44(181)652 3843 COMMENT Operations/Safety Editor David Learmount +44 (181) 652 3845 Business Editor Kevin O'Toole +44 (181) 652 3835 Commercial Aviation Editor Max Kingsley-Jones+44 (181) 652 3825 Defence Aviation Editor Douglas Barrie Aviation Research Editor Jennifer Pite Technical Reporter Andrew Doyle Editorial Assistant Kate Sarsfield Production Editor Chris Thornton Art Editor Alexis Rendell Layout Sub-Editor Annabel Wells Senior Technical Artist Tim Hall Technical Artist Giuseppe Picarella Junior Technical Artist Gareth Burgess Spaceflight Correspondent Tim Furniss Photographer (Europe) Mark Wagner Picture Librarian Kim Hearn EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST European Editor Julian Moxon +44(181)652 3834 +44 (181) 652 3847 +44(181)652 3838 +44 (181) 652 3842 +44(181)652 3850 +44 (181) 652 3828 +44(181)652 3848 +44(181)652 8047 +44 (181) 652 8054 +44(181)652 8047 +44(1237)471960 +44(181)944 5225 +44(181)652 3427 +33(1)40 54 08 62 [Fax+33 (1)47 64 44 28] Munich Correspondent Andrzej Jeziorski +49 (89) 6891041 [Fax+49 (89) 6891045] Paris Correspondent Gilbert Sedbon Israel Correspondent Arie Egozi Moscow Correspondent Alexander Velovich +33 (1) 48 25 52 61 +972(3)9671155 +7(095)3934717 [Fax+7 (095) 393 4717] AMERICAS American Editor Graham Warwick +1 (770) 587 2927 [Fax+1(770) 5941534] Washington Correspondent Ramon Lopez +1 (703) 836 7443 [Fax+1(703) 836 8344] West Coast Correspondent Guy Norris +1 (714) 252 8971 [Fax+1(714) 252 8972] ASIA PACIFIC Asian Editor (Singapore) Paul Lewis Australian Correspondent Paul Phelan +65 338 3398 [Fax +65 338 6171] +61(70)532 791 [Fax+61 (70) 533 003] DISPLAY ADVERTISEMENT SALES UK and EUROPE Display Advertising Enquiries +44 (181) 652 3315 Display Advertising Fax +44 (181) 652 8981 Group Advertisement Director Ian Burrows +44 (181) 652 3319 Secretary Lisa Devlin +44 (181) 652 3315 Advertisement Production Display/Classified Howard Mason +44(181)652 3267 UK, NORTHERN and EASTERN EUROPE, THE MIDDLE EAST and ISRAEL Senior Area Manager Robin Gordon +44 (181) 652 4998 UK, IRELAND, GREECE, IBERIA, BENELUX, AFRICA Area Manager Janice Lowe +44 (181) 652 3316 FRANCE Sales Director France Pierre Mussard ITALY Representative Romano Ferrario NORTH AMERICA Vice-president US Sales John Tidy Sales Director East Coast Robert Hancock Sales Director Mid-West & Canada Gene Glendinning Traffic Manager Debbie Kolb ASIA, AUSTRALIA +33 (1) 46 29 4615 [Fax+33 (1)40 93 03 37] +39(2)66034435 [Fax+39 (2) 6603 4367] +1 (714) 7561057 [Fax+1(714) 756 2514] +1 (703) 836 7444 [Fax +1 (703) 836 7446] +1(847)304 5588 [Fax+1(847) 304 9559] +1(212)545 5376 [Fax +1 (212) 679 9455] Singapore Account Manager Karen Kwan +65 338 3398 [Fax+65 338 3213] CLASSIFIED & RECRUITMENT Group Advertisement Manager Gareth Pask Sales Manager Sarah Genest International Sales Executives Mo Buttivant Simon Lees Louise1 Meikle Lucy Middelboe Enquiries Classified USA Gail Tavelman Classified Asia/Pacific Lina Rohmat Publisher Gavin Howe +44(181)652 4814 +44 (181) 770 3010 +44(181)770 3032 +44(181)770 3011 +44(181)770 3027 +44(181)770 3030 +44(181)6616373 +1(212)545 5403 +65 338 3398 +44 (181) 652 3675 DEFT MANOEUVRES ONE OF THE loudest noises at the Farnborough air show has been from the chorus of detractors who criticise the more extravagant manoeuvres used by manufac turers in demonstrating their products. What relevance, they have asked, is there in demonstrating steep take-offs and low- speed, high-alpha passes with a large commercial airliner? Where is the combat application, they have queried, tosa manoeu vre which effectively stops a large fighter in mid-air on its way to completely reversing its direction of flight? The answer to both questions is that, while the manoeuvres them selves may not ever fig ure in the operations manuals, the use of the technologies which have enabled them will cer tainly cause those manuals to be rewritten. Back when the technology of vectored thrust for vertical take-off and landing was in its infan cy, the thought of using that vectored thrust for enhancing the combat manoeuvrability of die British Aerospace Harrier was probably far from the designer's mind. "Viffing", as the concept of suddenly stopping or deflecting the aircraft from its previous track was later christened, was gen erally disregarded even later on, and only when it was demonstrated successfully in real combat during the Falklands war of 1982 did it acquire general acceptance. That it allowed pilots of the relatively slow Harrier to outwit their opponents in faster, dedicated fighters was a lesson which should not be ignored. The detractors of the performance 6f the Sukhoi Su-3 7 might consider that lesson before dismissing its vectored-thrust demonstrations. The real significance of these various manoeuvres lies in the indications which they give of the general performance and abilities of the aircraft. An airliner which can take off at a steep angle is one whose abilities can be exploit ed to overcome the ever-more demanding (per haps, even more ridiculous) regulations being proposed by national or local governments. To execute a steep take-off followed by a power- "The use of the technologies which have enabled these manoeuvres will cause the manuals to be rewritten''' reduction and a bunt (as insisted on at airports like California's John Wayne) might not make any sense in direct operating economics, but if it saves its operator a substantial noise-limit- infringement fine, then it makes a great deal of commercial sense. There are probably fewer real-world appli cations for the high- alpha, low-speed demonstration pass of an airliner — except, perhaps, the simple one of demonstrating to the assembled gath ering that a modern airliner is both quiet and stable at low speeds. That is a rein forcement of two mes sages of increasing importance to the world at large — those of environmental ac ceptability and safety. It may equally be, of course, that Sukhoi's "Kulbit" (somersault) manoeuvre does end up to be one of great com bat significance, even should a squadron-level pilot never use it in combat. In a dogfight, "super manoeuvrability" con fers on the pilot the ability to easily turn inside a conventional aerodynamic platform, allowing for early missile lock-on. On the down side, using thrust-vectoring in a dogfight to obtain rapid changes in the aircraft attitude results in a rapid bleed-off of energy. If the pilot does not kill the opposition with his first shot, then his own aircraft's lack of energy will means he could pre sent an attractive target. The real challenge in developing the systems now being seen on the Su-3 7 (and those seen previously on the Rockwell-DASA X-31) must lie in maximising the ability of the aircraft to undertake those manoeuvres while minimising the energy lost in doing so. What also needs to be noted from the apparent success of the Su-3 7 (much closer to a production aircraft than was the X-31) is its significance for weapons design ers. The basic assumptions of how a target may try to evade an incoming missile in ta close engagement will also need to be reconsidered if thrust-vectoring becomes the norm. If it does, however, it will be. the mind of the airshow critic which first has to perform a somersault. • Details of future Flight International events, features, cutaways, newsletters, awards and subscription information can be found on our free Faxback service which can be reached 24h a day, seven days a week (on touch-tone telephones only) on +44 (181) 652 4019. Users need to have to hand their full fax numbers (including country code, if dialling from outside the UK). FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 11 -17 September 1996
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