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I believe that's how modern fighter jets are designed, for exmaple JAS 39 Gripen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAS_39_Gripen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAS_39_
by mgns 15y ago
I believe that's how modern fighter jets are designed, for exmaple JAS 39 Gripen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAS_39_Gripen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAS_39_Gripen
They deliberately make them unstable and can then utilize that to make turns that are sharper than otherwise possible. The drawback is that they have to be controlled by computers all the time. This led to a spectacular crash in Stockholm in 1993 where luckily nobody was hurt.
- spitfire 15y agoThe goal isn't actually to make the turns sharper. But to make the rolls quicker. If you can change between maneuvers faster than your adversary you can cause him to be confused, giving you the advantage. This all comes from energy maneuverability theory which is the theory that modern fighters are based on. Build planes capable of fast transients and a natural buttonhook tendency.
- bfe 15y agoYes, every modern fighter jet is engineered to be aerodynamically unstable and requiring intensive computer control just to be able to fly. It's part of the special sauce that lets them perform so deliriously ridiculously, and part of why the F-35 is the last human-piloted fighter jet. It's been beyond ludicrous for a long time now to maintain the assumption that a human pilot should be physically inside that thing.