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Stupid questions about Naval Aviation (Pt 2)

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pilot811

pilot811

Fly High!
Formation Flying

I did a search and no joy so i figured you guys would be the next best option. On youtube I saw a few videos that showed FA/18s popping in and out of clouds in formation which got me to think. How do you guys and gals fly formation in the clouds when you can barely see? Or is this something you avoid?

Kevin
 
M

MasterBates

Well-Known Member
Here is a dumb question I got asked on my NATOPS check that I didn't know-

Why does the E-2 tail have Dihedral and the C-2 has a straight tail?

I've asked RAG IPs and I get the deer in headlights look. Best we can guess is some aerodynamic reason but I don't know and can't find a good answer anywhere.
 
fc2spyguy

fc2spyguy

loving my warm and comfy 214 blanket
pilot
Contributor
MasterBates said:
Here is a dumb question I got asked on my NATOPS check that I didn't know-

Why does the E-2 tail have Dihedral and the C-2 has a straight tail?

I've asked RAG IPs and I get the deer in headlights look. Best we can guess is some aerodynamic reason but I don't know and can't find a good answer anywhere.
Click to expand...

My new avatar may have the answer to that one.
 
PropAddict

PropAddict

Now with even more awesome!
pilot
Contributor
MasterBates said:
Here is a dumb question I got asked on my NATOPS check that I didn't know-

Why does the E-2 tail have Dihedral and the C-2 has a straight tail?
Click to expand...

Pretty dick of that IP not to tell you the real answer, or at least the answer he was looking for.

Here come the enginerd glasses:
Flash's link claims it's interference from the radome. The aerodynamicist in me says: maybe, but I don't really see it. Pilots I've talked to who have flown both the C-2 and E-2 :)eek:) said they fly very differently, at least in the landing pattern. The E-2 is (purportedly) very pitch sensitive, which makes sense given the looong slender, cylinder of a fuselage. This indicates that maybe the E-2 would be more prone to have undesirable phugoid and/or dutch roll characteristics. You can either dampen that out with a bigger empennage (at great expense in weight, RCS, drag and re-tooling the line) or cant the tailplane to give a bit of longitudinal dihedral. Most of the big passenger tubes at your local civvie airport use the dihedral tail strategy for the same reason.
The C-2 is noticeably fatter and more oblate in cross section, which I'm told gives it some perceivable fuselage lift, which would also mean more fuselage drag about the pitch axis. Thus, more damping of those nuisance oscillatory modes and no need to fold the tailplane and decrease it's effective area.
 
L

llnick2001

it’s just malfeasance for malfeasance’s sake
pilot
My guess would be to make up for decreased roll stability caused by the dome. It's been a while since I've been in the aero books though.
 
jarhead

jarhead

UAL CA; retired hinge
pilot
pilot811 said:
... How do you guys and gals fly formation in the clouds when you can barely see? Or is this something you avoid?
Click to expand...
you suck your lead's wingtip & hope the goo isnt thick & that he will turn his form & nav lights on for you if it is...

SF
 
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