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The AF uses muscle cars to chase it down the runway as it lands to give the pilot feedback on their height above the concrete. They have to stall it from 2 fee
by chiph 6y ago
The AF uses muscle cars to chase it down the runway as it lands to give the pilot feedback on their height above the concrete. They have to stall it from 2 feet up (61cm) to have a successful landing. If they do it from 4 feet up (1.2m), they'll probably damage something.
They used to use Pontiac GTOs (aka Holdens), then switched to Camaros. Not sure what they're using now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIrZCymyjNY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIrZCymyjNY
- garmaine 6y agoSome airman has the most awesome job ever.
- whoisthemachine 6y agoElectric vehicles would be perfect for this job.
- numpad0 6y agoThey tested Tesla in 2017 and Camaro don’t seem replaced. Perhaps those were too slow at high speeds.
- sargun 6y agoOne of the problem with Tesla’s is they cannot have long periods of sustained acceleration due to the way battery cooling works. They could probably rig up something fancy, but at least none of the models right now do this easily.
- numpad0 6y agoBoth the cooling and how electric motor works. They lose out power after 60mph or 1/4-mile distance whichever comes first.
- gambiting 6y agoThe Porsche Taycan has been specifically engineered to do that sort of thing over and over.The issue there is that I really don't see a reason to get a taycan over some american muscle, a 500hp mustang is like 1/3rd of the price of a base spec Taycan and will do the exact same job. It's not like army bases are short on fuel either.
- mlindner 6y agoThis is largely a myth and was only true of early Tesla vehicles. Also you're not going "long periods of sustained acceleration" here. The real issue would be Tesla's slow acceleration at high speeds. It has a very very good 0-60 mph, but it's 0-100 mph is more average.
- chimpansteve 6y agoI've been in one of the chase cars as they talk the plane down. One of the most memorable experiences of my life. This was over 10 years ago, but they were using Subaru Imprezas and Mitsubushi Evos then (this was in Cyprus, btw)