Pretty sure we're already at a point where if the "magic" doesn't work, the Hornets and Growlers are trimming up and ejecting alongside. And that doesn't seem to be a problem.…when all the magic works
Pretty sure we're already at a point where if the "magic" doesn't work, the Hornets and Growlers are trimming up and ejecting alongside. And that doesn't seem to be a problem.…when all the magic works
FWIW, the guys at St Augustine flew it pilot only quite a bit. That said, this KC-46 proposal seems like a bad choice of hill to die on.Yeah, I was wondering (within OPSEC sanity obviously) whether or not that was even possible . . . or even if possible, feasible. I'd never heard of a jet that big/complex ever being physically designed to be operated by one person, as in "all the important switches are even reachable from one seat."
Even in Prowler land, it took the ICAP III AFC to be able to operate that jet Intruder-style outside basic VFR training flights that had VMC-from-here-to-your-bingo weather (read El Centro). And to do that, they had to relocate a few key circuit breakers to justify leaving the second backseat crewmember at home. There's still no way in hell you would have been able to take that jet up pilot-only (and even two folks would have been tactically ridiculous), because you physically couldn't execute the required boldface EPs, and it's the best mind analogue I have for anything bigger.
Same for every fighter type on the flight deck. These are, in many cases, quadruple redundant systems. They are the least likely thing to bring down your aircraft.…when all the magic works
Hmm. Wonder what the SOPs were. I bet similar to the old 260-nm radius to take an ICAP II out Intruder-style. And I guess when you're a four-star, if you're not on the shortlist for CJCS/VCJCS, you have the luxury of tilting at a few windmills.FWIW, the guys at St Augustine flew it pilot only quite a bit. That said, this KC-46 proposal seems like a bad choice of hill to die on.
Four star? Not following.Hmm. Wonder what the SOPs were. I bet similar to the old 260-nm radius to take an ICAP II out Intruder-style. And I guess when you're a four-star, if you're not on the shortlist for CJCS/VCJCS, you have the luxury of tilting at a few windmills.
I was under the impression that the single-pilot thing was GEN Minihan's pet rock.Four star? Not following.
I don’t know who that is, or what he has to do with depot level maintenance in St Augustine.I was under the impression that the single-pilot thing was GEN Minihan's pet rock.
He's the Air Mobility Command commander who supposedly came up with this idea, so if there's a question as to whose hill this is to die on, I guess it's this guy's.I don’t know who that is, or what he has to do with depot level maintenance in St Augustine.
Oh, OK. Big non-sequitur, but I get your point now.He's the Air Mobility Command commander who supposedly came up with this idea, so if there's a question as to whose hill this is to die on, I guess it's this guy's.
Same for every fighter type on the flight deck. These are, in many cases, quadruple redundant systems. They are the least likely thing to bring down your aircraft.
Wasn’t this a key part of the Desert One failure? i.e. A helo that had a warning light come on and the pilots decided to turn the bird around? One of the helo crews apparently turned back when something in the cockpit indicated it may fail (but hadn’t faiked yet), leaving them one helo short when the mission proceeded.I don't have that same level of confidence in the Romeo's system. Between EGIs that randomly fail, AFCS computers that seem to all of a sudden struggle with some internal component, and the occasional temperamental hydraulic boost system, having something die mid-flight in a -60 isn't uncommon.
My point wasn’t that systems don’t fail… of course that happens all the time. It’s the criticism of the “magic” ones like FBW or digital engine controls that don’t have a manual backup mode, that some people seem to have a hang up over.You have to understand where @thump is coming from. While I fly single-pilot IFR regularly and have confidence in the system, I don't have that same level of confidence in the Romeo's system. Between EGIs that randomly fail, AFCS computers that seem to all of a sudden struggle with some internal component, and the occasional temperamental hydraulic boost system, having something die mid-flight in a -60 isn't uncommon.
Basically, think of thump's post as battered-wife syndrome. He keeps coming back, but he knows he's going to pay for it eventually.
It was a chip light. Not really any type of magic system.Wasn’t this a key part of the Desert One failure? i.e. A helo that had a warning light come on and the pilots decided to turn the bird around? One of the helo crews apparently turned back when something in the cockpit indicated it may fail (but hadn’t faiked yet), leaving them one helo short when the mission proceeded.
My point wasn’t that systems don’t fail… of course that happens all the time. It’s the criticism of the “magic” ones like FBW or digital engine controls that don’t have a manual backup mode, that some people seem to have a hang up over.