Tempest II
PDF THINK TANK: ANALYST
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2007
- Messages
- 1,414
- Reaction score
- 11
Now, I have slept and rested after a loong day at the show and can write a little bit more:
Pissibly one of the bussiest static stands I saw. Lots of interest from the public - from ppl like myself who came with the JF-17 in mind, but seemly a few ppl who asked the plane name's and who made it, etc.
They fly out either Monday or Tuesday, he was not sure.
The pilot was asked about the "generation of the jamming pod". He refused to give an answer mention "generation". He said something to the effect that "he did not understand/or it was senseless to talk about generations". I believe what he meant was, "your 3rd generation might be my second generation", so an answer would be misleading.
Somebody asked about range and the techinician answered the a Parkistani language, . Later on the pilot said they are working on in-flight refuelling. There will be a probe to the right of the cockpit. I believe he said once they have finished engineering that, it will be fitting even on that planes that are now flying!
It was not always easy to ask for clarification because he was attending to many ppl and some questions would have been asked by other specitators.
Here is another BIG one - I asked the technician, but I realise I should have asked the pilot. I asked if one JF-17 can send what is seeing on its radar to another JF-17, and he said yes!. I am now beating myself for forgetting to ask the pilot. I however know the Gripen has had this capability for over a decade - it would not be unimaginable that the JF-17 cannot it.
The pilot was asked by somebody else to compare the plane to the F-16. He said "the avionics are better that the F-16s I used to fly."
Now, going back to internet rumours vs what officials said/are saying. I believe that the issues on the radar or SD-10 or LGBs is that they might still be fine tunning, i.e. they are 80% or 98% there and are still tweeking, which should be expected, but they definately are nowhere near throwing them out!
- Concerning the TWR, he said this after I specifically asked about the thrust of the RD-93. I was asking this because I still find it hard that the RD-93 is based on RD-33 Series 1. The pilot then said to me, "What I can tell you is the thrust-to-weight ratio. Do you know what that is?" I said "yes". And he said, the RD-93 will give the plane a TWR of over 1:.1.1." I started asking about the loading conditions (how much fuel and minutions) it will be carrying to come to this figure. He got his attention take away by other ppl and then they had to go and do a TV interview.
- They have tested LGBs and are happy, that is why they displayed the MWD-7.
- The other pod I was told is for "self-protection". Another visiter said, "ECM, elcronic counter measures", the techinician said "yes". This was at my first visit to the stand when I spoke to a technician. I spoke to the pilot maybe 4 hours later when I visited the second time.
- They refused me to go in and look at the infomation boards you see on the photos. The had removed these yesterday, but you could still see them on the grass several feet away.
- I asked the pilot and he said they were not flying because they did not get enough notice and time to prepare. He added, "there is a lot of preparation needed". From this, I think the big bosses wanted to show and market the plane, but the technical and engineering ppl felt pressured as they had to come up with flight routines in a short time. I am sure they tried, but at the end they felt they were not comfortable enough and pulled the plug.
Pissibly one of the bussiest static stands I saw. Lots of interest from the public - from ppl like myself who came with the JF-17 in mind, but seemly a few ppl who asked the plane name's and who made it, etc.
They fly out either Monday or Tuesday, he was not sure.
The pilot was asked about the "generation of the jamming pod". He refused to give an answer mention "generation". He said something to the effect that "he did not understand/or it was senseless to talk about generations". I believe what he meant was, "your 3rd generation might be my second generation", so an answer would be misleading.
Somebody asked about range and the techinician answered the a Parkistani language, . Later on the pilot said they are working on in-flight refuelling. There will be a probe to the right of the cockpit. I believe he said once they have finished engineering that, it will be fitting even on that planes that are now flying!
It was not always easy to ask for clarification because he was attending to many ppl and some questions would have been asked by other specitators.
Here is another BIG one - I asked the technician, but I realise I should have asked the pilot. I asked if one JF-17 can send what is seeing on its radar to another JF-17, and he said yes!. I am now beating myself for forgetting to ask the pilot. I however know the Gripen has had this capability for over a decade - it would not be unimaginable that the JF-17 cannot it.
The pilot was asked by somebody else to compare the plane to the F-16. He said "the avionics are better that the F-16s I used to fly."
Now, going back to internet rumours vs what officials said/are saying. I believe that the issues on the radar or SD-10 or LGBs is that they might still be fine tunning, i.e. they are 80% or 98% there and are still tweeking, which should be expected, but they definately are nowhere near throwing them out!
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