this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2024
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Aircraft stability and control is a fascinating field.
Their maneuverability is owed to the fact that they’re somewhat unstable to begin with. It’s been literal decades since I had the class, but a good way to think of the difference between a fighter jet and a commercial jet (maneuverability wise) is that a commercial jet’s stability is like rolling a small ball in a large bowl. You’ve got a lot of leeway on what you can do before the ball won’t eventually end back up in the center of the bowl. A fighter jet is the opposite… it’s like trying to balance that small ball on top of a basketball. If you place it perfectly, it will stay in place. A touch off center, it will begin to drift further off center faster and faster until it falls off completely.
That’s why it takes so much training and physical fitness to fly fighter jets. It’s almost like they’re actively trying to kill you. And that’s not just the modern computer controlled jets like the F-35 and F-22. The older jets were like that too, but I have to imagine less so. An F-18 can’t pull a 9g turn… the F-22 can, and I also understand it can fly itself while the pilot is unconscious for a few moments after that 9g turn…
There's this awesome video of an F16 pilot passing out from 8g but the gcas pulls 9 to avoid a crash
I take it Sully is the call sign, and the guy shouting "fail recover" is the pilot? Judging by the altitude and airspeed it looks like he stalled after he turned it, then couldn't get it to recover, but the system kicked in once it had enough airspeed to regain lift (after falling from 17k feet to 5k????) pulled 9.1 Gs then you see it level off nice once the nose pitches back down. Then we hear "Sully knock off" which I assume they mean he lost consciousness?
Current fighter jets are aerodynamically unstable. However they are also computer controlled. The flight computer makes tiny adjustments continuously. For basic maneuvers they are easy to fly. The difficulty comes from the immense power. A fighter pilot can also use an autopilot for cruising long distances or for special attack maneuvers like toss bombing.
The reason fighter pilot training is difficult are the physical requirements to be able to sustain high G maneuvers, spatial orientation, ability to act calmly in high stress situations, planning missions including fuel calculations for different loadouts, and operating a very complex machine with dozens of systems and weapons.