Sobchak Security

Photo credits: U.S. Air Force

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

Credit: yankeedog

Credit: Alfred T. Palmer, photographer - United States Library of Congress

October 1942. Assembling B-25 bombers at North American Aviation, Kansas City, Kansas - click to enlarge

Clerk in one of the stock rooms of North American Aviation, Inc., checking to see if the proper numbers of parts were received and placed in the proper bin, Inglewood, California - click to enlarge

Riveting team working on the cockpit shell of a B-25 bomber at the plant of North American Aviation, Inc., Inglewood, California - click to enlarge

A nose wheel and landing gear assembly for a B-25 bomber under construction in a western aircraft plant, North American Aviation, Inc., Calif. A front section of the plane shows in the background - click to enlarge

Part of the cowling for one of the motors for a B-25 bomber is assembled in the engine department of North American Aviation’s Inglewood plant - click to enlarge

B-25 radial engines - click to enlarge

Mounting motor on a B-25 bomber, at North American Aviation plant in Inglewood, California - click to enlarge

Making wiring assemblies at a junction box on the fire wall for the right engine of a B-25 bomber, North American Aviation, Inc., Inglewood, California - click to enlarge

View of the B-25 final assembly line at North American Aviation’s Inglewood, California, plant - click to enlarge

Employees on the “Sunshine” assembly line at North American’s plant put the finishing touches on another B-25 bomber, Inglewood, California - click to enlarge

New B-25 bombers lined up for final inspection and tests at the flying field - click to enlarge

B-25 bomber planes at the North American Aviation, Incorporated being hauled along an outdoor assembly line with an “International” tractor, Kansas City, Kansas - click to enlarge

Yellow Rose

Barbecue! (source: www.richard-seaman.com)

B-25 Yankee Warrior (source: www.richard-seaman.com)

Primo velivolo a superare la velocita’ del suono in volo livellato e controllato. Record raggiunto dal Capitano Charles “Chuck” Yeager il 14 Ottobre 1947 a bordo del Bell X-1 matricola #46-062 battezzato dallo stesso Yeager “Glamorous Glennis” in onore della moglie.

Nazione: USA - Costruttore: Bell Aircraft Corporation - Tipo: sperimentale - Anno: 1946 - Propulsore: a razzo Reaction Motor XLR-11-RM-3 da 2.721 kg di spinta - Apertura alare: mt. 8,53 - Lunghezza: mt. 9,45 - Altezza: mt. 3,30 - Peso al decollo: kg. 5.433 - Velocità massima: km/h 1.545 - Quota massima operativa: mt. 21.340 - Autonomia: 5 minuti - Equipaggio: 1 persona

Vi sono due band che portano il nome di questo aerorazzo: la rockband irlandese Bell X1 e il duo francese Bell X-1.

Rock on!

Trittico del Bell X-1

Photo credits: NACA/NASA/USAF

Le apparecchiature imbarcate a bordo del Bell X-1 - clickto enlarge

Spaccato - click to enlarge

Cockpit - click to enlarge

Motore a razzo Reaction Motor XLR-11-RM-3

Lo staff NACA a Muroc - 1947

X-1 fotografato accanto all’aeromadre B-29 - click to enlarge

La fase d’imbarco a bordo di un Boeing EB-50A. Edwards AFB, 1951 - click to enlarge

I capitani Chuck Yeager e Jackie L. Ridle accanto all’X-1 Glamorous Glennis - click to enlarge

Chuck Yeager nell’abitacolo del Glamorous Glennis - click to enlarge

X-1 in volo - click to enlarge

MiG-17 vs F-105 - Credit: Lou Drendel - click to enlarge

-F 8 Crusader
-Canadian Caribou
-F7U Cutlass
-F-100
-Spitfire
- SU-27
-F-86 .
-P-38
-Yak-38
-F-18 & A-4 Skyhawk.
- ?

Tsk, i soliti ienchi lagnoni… se questo Maggiore Williams avesse visto le condizioni della nostra Regia Aeronautica…

Articolo tratto da Mechanix Illustrated del Maggio 1939.

Nel corso di questo secolo di aviazione pochi altri velivoli mi hanno impressionato come il Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird da ricognizione strategica (spionaggio per i non addetti). Un aereo che non finira’ mai di stupirmi, nonostante si avvicini sempre piu’ ai cinquant’anni di vita. Ma nell’aviazione i buoni progetti sono come i migliori vini: migliorano con l’eta’.

Nell’era dei velivoli senza pilota, provo una certa nostalgia per queste macchine estreme. E il Global Hawk - per quanto valido - continua a mettermi tristezza. Sigh.

Ah, si, i satelliti spia… che cazzo c’e’ di interessante nei satelliti spia? Le foto. L’attivita’ dei piloti di Antonov AN-2 che trasportano capre da latte nella Russia orientale e’ sicuramente piu’ stimolante. E poi volete mettere l’ospitalita’ dei piloti agricoli?

Ok, sto divagando.

Ritornando al soggetto principale, una delle citazioni che meglio riassume la natura dell’ “Habu” (come veniva chiamato dagli equipaggi) e’ la seguente:

“This plane knows when you are looking out of the window“

Brillante.

Di testi sul Blackbird ce ne sono a zillioni, tuttavia voglio consigliarvene uno in particolare. Se non riuscite a prescindere l’uomo dalla macchina, come il sottoscritto, fara’ sicuramente al caso vostro.

Il libro in questione e’ “Sled Driver : Flying the World’s Fastest Jet“, pubblicato dalla Mach 1 per la prima volta attorno alla meta’ degli anni novanta. L’autore e’ invece Brian Schul, veterano delle operazioni clandestine, nonche’ (ovviamente) ex-pilota di Blackbird.

Inizialmente passato quasi in sordina, nel tempo e’ diventato un vero e proprio cult, nonostante oggi sia fuori catalogo (su amazon e’ reperibile solo nell’usato e a prezzi non esattamente popolari).

Se lo trovate a un prezzo decente, fatelo vostro. Ah, naturalmente e’ solo in lingua inglese.

Qui potete leggere un estratto:

The King of Speed, di Brian Schul 

There were a lot of things we couldn’t do in an SR-71, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane. Intense, maybe. Even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment.

It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status. Somewhere over Colorado we had passed the century mark. We had made the turn in Arizona and the jet was performing flawlessly. My gauges were wired in the front seat and we were starting to feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because we would soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a great deal of confidence in the plane in the past ten months. Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see the coast of California from the Arizona border. I was, finally, after many humbling months of simulators and study, ahead of the jet.

I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back seat. There he was, with no really good view of the incredible sights before us, tasked with monitoring four different radios. This was good practice for him for when we began flying real missions, when a priority transmission from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult, too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during my entire flying career I had controlled my own transmissions. But it was part of the division of duties in this plane and I had adjusted to it. I still insisted on talking on the radio while we were on the ground, however. Walt was so good at many things, but he couldn’t match my expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had been honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the slightest radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He understood that and allowed me that luxury. Just to get a sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the radio toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with him. The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their sector. While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace.

We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot asked Center for a readout of his ground speed.

Center replied: “November Charlie 175, I’m showing you at ninety knots on the ground.”

Now the thing to understand about Center controllers, was that whether they were talking to a rookie pilot in a Cessna, or to Air Force One, they always spoke in the exact same, calm, deep, professional, tone that made one feel important. I referred to it as the “HoustonCenterVoice.” I have always felt that after years of seeing documentaries on this country’s space program and listening to the calm and distinct voice of the HoustonCenterControllers, that all other controllers since then wanted to sound like that… and that they basically did. And it didn’t matter what sector of the country we would be flying in, it always seemed like the same guy was talking. Over the years that tone of voice had become somewhat of a comforting sound to pilots everywhere. Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios.

Just moments after the Cessna’s inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed.

“Ah, Twin Beach: I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed.”

Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren.

Then out of the blue, a Navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios.

“Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check.”

Before Center could reply, I’m thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a readout? Then I got it — ol’ Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He’s the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet.

And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion:

“Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground.”

And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done — in mere seconds we’ll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now.

I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn. Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet.

Then, I heard it. The click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke:

“Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?”

There was no hesitation, and the reply came as if was an everyday request:

“Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground.”

I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice:

“Ah, Center, much thanks. We’re showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money.”

For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the HoustonCentervoice, when L.A. came back with,

“Roger that Aspen, Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one.”

It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day’s work.

We never heard another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast. For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there.

Pagine pubblicitarie che apparivano regolarmente in alcune testate periodiche italiane durante gli anni sessanta. In particolare le tre che seguono risalgono al 1967, quarant’anni fa esatti. (collezione privata)

Gli anni d’oro della Boeing

I bei tempi, quando si promuoveva il volo di massa anche in un paese provinciale come il nostro (il buono non e’ piu’ valido, eh!)

Notare che, sia la Boeing, che la Cessna ancora detengono la leadership nei settori dell’aviazione commerciale e privata. La Cessna in particolare e’ oggi il piu’ grande costruttore di velivoli per numero di aerei prodotti e venduti. La Pan Am (seconda flotta per numero di velivoli dopo l’Aeroflot russa) purtroppo non esiste piu’, avendo cessato ogni attivita’ nel 1991.

Per gli interessati:

Per scaricare il manuale completo in PDF clicca sulla cover.

Attenzione: il file pesa 108 mb.

A chi indovina una foto autografata di Kim Jong-Il in mutandoni di lana.

Hint #2

Benche’ virtualmente invulnerabili agli attacchi aerei dell’Asse, gli Stati Uniti durante la 2a GM decisero, a scopo precauzionale, di mimetizzare alcuni grossi impianti di produzione bellica siti nella Costa Occidentale. Le foto qui pubblicate si riferiscono ai lavori di dissimulazione effettuati dall’Army Corps of Engineers negli stabilimenti Lockheed di Burbank, California.

Prima…

Dopo.

Ahhh, niente di meglio del countryside californiano… peccato sia tutto un fake

Hollywood parte II

Il parcheggio destinato ai dipendenti della Lockheed

Un grosso quadrimotore celato sotto i teloni mimetici

The Truman Show?

Credit: Ovian Library Digital Image Collection
Project Name: San Fernando Valley History Digital Library
Publisher: California State University, Northridge. University Library.

“No. 617 Squadron  takes out the Death Star“

Quali oscure analogie ci sono fra “The Dam Busters” di Michael Anderson  e “Star Wars” di George Lucas ? Cliccate su play e lo scoprirete.

Foto scattate durante la cerimonia avvenuta all’aeroporto di Mehrabad, a Teheran, Iran. Commento personale a seguire.

Commento personale - a dispetto della fuorviante propaganda iraniana, che continua imperterrita a paragonarlo al Boeing (ex MDD) F/A-18 “Hornet”, si tratta sostanzialmente di una rivisitazione in chiave bideriva del caccia leggero statunitense Northrop F-5, fornito in gran numero all’Aeronautica Iraniana durante gli anni settanta. Con un po’ di fantasia, si potrebbe definirlo una sorta di via di mezzo fra i caccia YF-17 Cobra e F-20 Tigershark, progettati, neanche a dirlo, dalla stessa Northrop.

Scarne le informazioni a disposizione.

Ad esempio si ignorano le caratteristiche dell’apparato radar, che potrebbe basarsi ancora sugli arcaici AN/APQ della Emerson (F-5A/E), seppur sottoposti a miglioramento onde aumentarne la portata massima.

Le prestazioni in termini di velocita’ massima e velocita’ di salita dovrebbero essere paragonabili all’F-5. Ad ogni modo l’aumento dei pesi potrebbe aver penalizzato il velivolo a causa dell’apparato di propulsione, presumibilmente basato - salvo clamorosi colpi di scena - ancora sui turbojet General Electric J85 (vedi sotto).

Nota sul propulsore - Questo e uno dei misteri piu’ discussi. Il problema principale riguarda lo spazio dove alloggiare i motori, che e’ rimasto sostanzialmente il medesimo dell’F-5. Numerose sono le speculazioni in merito, alcune francamente ridicole, vedere l’adozione di turbofan russi e cinesi. Fantascienza. Dobbiamo infatti tenere presente che il minuscolo J85 ha un diametro di meno di 50 cm, mentre i turbofan piu’ diffusi (come l’F404 o il Klimov RD-33) arrivano a superare anche il metro. L’alloggiamento di una coppia di turboventole e’ dunque fuori discussione.

Inoltre le prese d’aria sembrano le medesime dell’F-5, un indizio che il propulsore e’ molto probabilmente rimasto il vecchio “ottantacinque”, nonostante l’apparente ingrandimento degli scarichi.

Alternative per peso, diametro e flusso d’aria, non ne vedo, ad eccezione del CJ610, ovvero la variante civile del J85 priva di postcombustione.

A questo proposito, se l’Iran avesse riprogettato il velivolo come monomotore, sulla falsariga dell’F-20, la situazione sarebbe molto diversa.

Armamento - Anche qui, tabula rasa. Ancora non si sono viste immagini di Saeqeh dotati di carichi bellici esterni, ad eccezione di un paio di lanciarazzi da 70mm Hydra. L’armamento interno invece sembrerebbe basarsi ancora su una coppia di vecchi cannoni Pontiac M39 da 20mm (vedi terza foto in alto).

Comparazione profili F-5/Saeqeh

La foto sopra permettono di apprezzare un po’ meglio similarita’ e differenze fra lo Saeqeh e l’F-5. Ad esempio forma e dimensioni del radome anteriore sembrano proprio essere le medesime. Stesso discorso per le prese d’aria, in particolare quelle laterali a sezione rettangolare si trovano nella stessa posizione, aspetto che avvalora ulteriormente la tesi secondo cui il propulsore e’ rimasto il J85. Persino le piccole antenne esterne (sotto il muso, il ventre ed il dorso) non hanno mutato alloggiamento.

Detto cio’, nonostante la scopiazzatura, si tratta di un notevole passo avanti per una nazione come l’Iran, fermamente intenzionata a mettere in piedi una solida industria aeronautica nazionale. Questa, in definitiva, mi sembra la direzione giusta se si vuole acquisire esperienza e know-how. Vedremo cosa tireranno fuori con il futuro Shafaq.

Una strana coppia

Alenia, Torino-Caselle. 12 Aprile 2006 (clicca x ingrandire - 1600×1200)

Oh GOD, questo mi ricorda il nostro Stipa Caproni! Bella copertina comunque

Durante la crisi petrolifera degli anni settanta le principali case aeronautiche studiarono velivoli alimentati a carburanti alternativi. Questo di sotto era uno dei progetti della Lockheed, un fusoliera larga alimentato ad idrogeno.

clicca per ingrandire

Un tentativo di sfidare i trimotori Douglas DC-10 e Lockheed Tristar? Non si sa. Di certo l’idea non era esattamente il massimo dell’originalita’, e la Boeing giustamente la accantono’, preferendo concentrarsi sulla versione quadrimotore.