This will probably be an easy one. This aircraft is a throwback to an earlier era in design and construction. It is one of a handful of aircraft designed for a very specific purpose. It has seen combat on several occasions and in its designed role has excelled. Combat usage has evolved with time. Rumor has it that the parent service hierarchy does not want this aircraft.

U-2?

Harrier?

Brian 

Semi contemporary with the Harrier, but nowhere near as revolutionary. Unlike the U-2, which has its' roots in design with the F-104, this aircraft was a design with no such linkage. But it is a gas passer like both of these.

Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt?

Correct Sparrow. A throwback to an earlier era of design: Straight wings, exposed wheels when retracted for belly landings, and twin tails. No fancy avionics. Designed for a specific purpose, battlefield close air support, particularly, anti armor with a big gun. But it has also taken over the forward air controller role with the OA-10 variant, as well as Combat Search and Rescue escort a la Sandy of Vietnam. Rumors circulate of how the Air Force brass wants to get rid of it and replace it with faster "sexier"fighters (which do not have its' unique capabilities).

Your up Sparrow.

Yes, Stick, basically the USAF officially does not with to see itself as a ground warfare tactical support service, but essentially as a stratigic/air intercept outfit only. The general sentiment is that the Army should be  handling that kind of thing with planes and pilots of their own, which now probably gives some Army folks regret for granting the USAAF its independence after WWII.

Tom T

Has this thread died, or have I been missing posts?

Brian

Nope.  I think it's at least comatose.   Here's a quick and easy one.

What was the first commercial transport to fly faster than the speed of sound.  Bonus if you can give the date of the first flight,

Hint:  It was also the first supersonic transport to pass the Mach 2 milestone.

This is a really easy one just to get the thread going again.

Rich

The Concorde?

Brian 

Nope. :)

Rich

This one;

Here is a better pic;

OK, OK, it's the one in front here;

The Tu-144

See.  I told you it was an easy one. :)  Do you know the date it first flew?

Milairjunkie

This one;

Here is a better pic;

OK, OK, it's the one in front here;

The Tu-144

707

First flight 31/12/68,

Supersonic 05/06/69,

Mach 2 + 15/07/69

Excellent.  A true Konkordskie expert. :)

Over to you then.

Rich

Cheers.

This privately funded high performance aircraft ultimately never made it into production, even although it was a superior aircraft to it's contemporaries. it was designed to be easy to maintain & more reliable than anything similar that was available at the time & only one example remains?

For the "bonus point" (as well as some further clues);

Exactly what did this A/C have that allowed it to be airborne at some considerable speed & distance from base before the "competition" had even got close to leaving the runway?

More clues or just a promp needed?

F-20 Tigershark with built in APU for quick starting?

                                                                                           Pat.

Yes, the Nortrop F-20 Tigershark.

With regards to the "bonus", I was thinking about the Honeywell AN/ASN-144 Inertial Navigation Set, which used a ring laser gyroscope, it could align in 22 seconds in comparison to minutes for a (then) conventional gyroscope.

If it's my turn I'll give it a go.  Forgive me if this has been asked before:  This overall type of aircraft takes off, flies and lands at the same speed.  In it's purest form it only has two controls, throttle and rudder.  What type of class is it and what makes it different from other winged aircraft?

                                                                                     Pat.

Ultra-light sport class, different from others: no pilot's license needed

While it is true that some aircraft of this class are ultralights, some are the size of Cesna 172's and do require a pilots license.  Hint:  They have a movable flight surface that no other class has.

                                                                                                   Pat.

Taking a wild guess, para-sails or para-gliders? The giant fans strapped to parachutes. And they control by moving the entire "wing" so to speak?

again, just a wild guess

Some of the para sails and gliders are forms of this type of aircraft.  Clue:  The movable flight surface on this class of aircraft is not  "captured" in a "fixed" position.

                                                                                       Pat.

Didn't mean to make this hard.  The answer is a free wing aircraft.  Free wing aircraft have the mainwing hinged so that it picks it's own angle of attack.  On high wing aircraft the fuselage hangs like a trapeze from a point about 1/3 the chord from the leading adge.  On mid and low wing aircraft each wing is hinged to pivot independently.

This type of arrangement results in a plane that takes off, flies and lands at the same speed.  Since the wing can't bank or be forced to bank it also can't spin or stall.  To climb you give the plane more throttle, to drop give it less.  Should the engine die the aircraft will automatically come down at it's optimum glide angle and speed.

I was fortunate to get a ride in one of these at EAA Oshkosh in '96.  It was a converted Cesna 172 powered by a turbocharged Chevy aluminum bock LS1.  The only controls were the rudder pedals, throttle and fuselage trim.  It gave the smoothest ride of any plane I have ever been in but I never got used to seeing the wing pivoting up and down through as much as 60 degrees.  It would even climb in a downdraft as the wing would pivot up into the down rushing air and provide lift.

The plane's speed was 90 knots including landing which was a little off-putting.  Other downfalls to this design is that the plane can't dive and the maneuvers are extremely slow.  If you have to get down on the groung in a hurry you're in trouble as the plane can't be forced.  Some examples are in the following link:    http://www.freewing.com/freebird.html.

                                                                                           Pat.

Since no one has contributed a question for a while, which post-war supersonic aircraft had a unique ejection saet system that usually meant the pilot got killed when he needed it the most, especially at low altitude, which gave it a poor safety record?

Tom T

F-104 Starfighter

Good to see the ATQ back!!

You got it Scottkow!

Take it away.

Suggestion:

Try to avoid overly complex questions like the last one.

Let's keep it fun and light.

Tom T