Post by Errol CavitPost by Major KongHello,
Amazing, but one thing that I never really knew that the RAAF F111 had
were arrestor hooks? Here is a good example of their use, but what else
were they intended for? We sold off HMAS Melbourne a long time
ago....were these F111 intended for Naval use?
Per the FAQ
http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/aviation/faq/
http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/aviation/faq/ramfaq2.txt
Subject: C.11. Why do USAF aircraft have tailhooks?
To help stop the aircraft in the event of brake failure, or some similar
accident leading to a runway overrun. Just past the end of many military
runways, you'll find an arrester cable strung across the field. The cable
(unlike those on aircraft carriers) isn't attached to anything firm;
instead, each end is linked to a long chain, which just drags on the
ground. The idea is to slow the aircraft down in a reasonable distance;
the tailhooks on Air Force fighters are smaller and weaker than the
superficially similar hooks on Navy planes.
The arresting gear that you have cited found limited use in the USAF in
recent times. It exist on one of the runways at Holloman AFB when I
attended Lead-In Fighter Training. Ed Rasimus was assigned to Holloman
as an IP shortly after my departure. He may remember this arresting
gear's USAF designation. However, the standard USAF arresting gear was
the BAK-12 which was modified to the BAK-14 configuration after the
introduction of the F-16 into the fleet. The BAK-12 was pretty rough on
those baby tires that only the F-16s had. The BAK-14 was the same
arresting gear system as the BAK-12, except that it was recessed into
the runway and covered by a steel plate. The tower would extend the
BAK-14 into position upon request by the aircrew. (Don't forget to call
tower with your CABLE CABLE CABLE request when you initiate your high
speed, 160 KIAS heavyweight abort.) The BAK-12 / BAK-14 arresting
system consisted of a cable that crossed the runway width at a point
1,000 feet from both of the approach ends. It was elevated above the
runway surface by multiple four inch diameter donuts. Each end of the
cable was attached to a 1,200 foot long nylon band that was wrapped
around a spool. The spool shaft was connected to what was essentially a
large disk brake. The brake calipers applied force to the brake stators
(disks) in direct proportion to the angular velocity of the unwinding
spool. Therefore, regardless of aircraft engagement speed, the system
always produced the full 1,200 foot runout during engagement, whether
engagement occurred at 50 knots or 200 knots. As for the statement of
the Air Force aircraft hooks being small and weaker than their Naval
equivalents, a close up inspection would not support this assertion.
Post by Errol CavitThe hook is also used during a hot jet-cal (at least it is/was on F-4's),
in which the Exhaust Gas Temperature instrument has been repaired/replaced.
The aircraft is taken to a remote corner of the base, hooked up, and fired
up to verify that the instrument is working correctly. This includes
can ridicule some of those earlier interpretations, but we need to recognise
that they were commonly regarded as the 'truth', and were backed by the most
rigorous and sophisticated scholarship of the time - claims we commonly make
about ourselves today." KR Howe, The Quest for Origins.
In the F-111, the maintenance folks simply attached two strong steel
cables to the main landing gear and to a reinforced attachment point on
the ground to perform hot engine trimming.
--
Kurt Todoroff
***@comcast.net
Markets, not mandates and mob rule.
Consent, not coercion.
