The official inquiry says it was buildup of moisture on sensors, making the computer think it was at a negative attitude and thereby it (as in the computer) pulled up and stalled.
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
The official inquiry says it was buildup of moisture on sensors, making the computer think it was at a negative attitude and thereby it (as in the computer) pulled up and stalled.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Does the B2 take off on autopilot?
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
No, but the computers interpret the pilots intent from joystick movements, in any case here's the inquiry findings:
"Moisture In Transducers Led To Flight Control Errors
The US Air Force says distorted data introduced by a B-2 Spirit's air data system skewed information entering the bomber's flight control computers, ultimately causing the crash of the aircraft on takeoff at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, February 23. That's the conclusion reached in an Air Combat Command accident investigation report released Thursday.
Moisture in the aircraft's Port Transducer Units during air data calibration distorted the information in the bomber's air data system, causing the flight control computers to calculate an inaccurate airspeed and a negative angle of attack upon takeoff.
According to the report, this caused an, "uncommanded 30 degree nose-high pitch-up on takeoff, causing the aircraft to stall and its subsequent crash."
Earlier reports stating a fire onboard may have contributed to the crash were apparently erroneous. Instead, the USAF says, moisture in the PTUs, inaccurate airspeed, a negative AOA calculation and low altitude/low airspeed were substantially contributing factors in the mishap.
Another substantially contributing factor was the ineffective communication of critical information regarding a suggested technique of turning on pitot heat in order to remove moisture from the PTUs prior to performing an air data calibration.
The pilot received minor injuries, and the co-pilot received a spinal compression fracture during ejection. He was treated at Tripler Army Medical Center, Hawaii, and released. The aircraft was assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, MO.
The cost of the lost aircraft is about $1.4 billion."
mhhhh ... until the left wing strafed the ground it actualy seemed that they could recover.
Actualy the data error makes quite some sence, since if it would have had human error, they could have recovered afterwards by landing the plane again, at least in a harsh set down.
Anyway, pretty awesome movie
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
Yeah, that thing did make an unusual pitch upward after leaving the ground.
And, rightly, one might think that it could have been recovered if the pilot's input was being correctly transmitted to the control surfaces and it looks like it was not.
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
basically due to the shape of B-2 no human can possibly fly it in a traditional sense... so everything is aided by computers... so even if the plane is not on autoplilot it is still aided by computers on moves made by the pilot.
__________________________________________
No Matter Who Wins, our troops are always in Good Hands!
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
not true, the B-35 and B-49 were WW2 era flying wings of roughly the same size. they obviously had no computers to help guide them. the computers are supposed to make it easier I suppose, but sometimes they make it easier to crash too lol
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
Quote:not true, the B-35 and B-49 were WW2 era flying wings of roughly the same size. they obviously had no computers to help guide them. the computers are supposed to make it easier I suppose, but sometimes they make it easier to crash too lol
The instability was one of the reasons that they were not produced. Without computers that instability is very difficult to control.
"Korea has not been the only battle ground since the end of the Second World War. Men have fought and died in Malaya, in Greece, in the Philippines, in Algeria and Cuba, and Cyprus and almost continuously on the Indo-Chinese Peninsula. No nuclear weapons have been fired. No massive nuclear retaliation has been considered appropriate. This is another type of war, new in its intensity, ancient in its origin--war by guerrillas, subversives, insurgents, assassins, war by ambush instead of by combat; by infiltration, instead of aggression, seeking victory by eroding and exhausting the enemy instead of engaging him. It is a form of warfare uniquely adapted to what has been strangely called 'wars of liberation,' to undermine the efforts of new and poor countries to maintain the freedom that they have finally achieved. It preys on economic unrest and ethnic conflicts. It requires in those situations where we must counter it, and these are the kinds of challenges that will be before us in the next decade if freedom is to be saved, a whole new kind of strategy, a wholly different kind of force, and therefore a new and wholly different kind of military training."-President Kennedy's Address at Graduation Exercises of the U.S. Military Academy, 1962
------------------------------
"The reason I'll be released is the same reason you think I'll be convicted. I do rub shoulders with some of the most vile, sadistic men calling themselves leaders today. But some of these men are the enemies of your enemies. And while the biggest arms dealer in the world is your boss - the President of the United States, who ships more merchandise in a day than I do in a year - sometimes it's embarrassing to have his fingerprints on the guns. Sometimes he needs a freelancer like me to supply forces he can't be seen supplying. So. You call me evil, but unfortunately for you, I'm a necessary evil."-Yuri Orlov, Lord of War
------------------------------
"Of all the weapons in the vast soviet arsenal, nothing was more profitable than Avtomat Kalashnikova model of 1947. More commonly known as the AK-47, or Kalashnikov. It's the world's most popular assault rifle. A weapon all fighters love. An elegantly simple 9 pound amalgamation of forged steel and plywood. It doesn't break, jam, or overheat. It'll shoot whether it's covered in mud or filled with sand. It's so easy, even a child can use it; and they do. The Soviets put the gun on a coin. Mozambique put it on their flag. Since the end of the Cold War, the Kalashnikov has become the Russian people's greatest export. After that comes vodka, caviar, and suicidal novelists. One thing is for sure, no one was lining up to buy their cars."-Yuri Orlov, Lord of War
------------------------------
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
i wouldn't say that. like any large government project things get easily out of hand if not managed properly. they switched to jet engines which increased the development time. the war was long over by the time it would have been ready and other planes were there to meet the needs.
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
not true, the B-35 and B-49 were WW2 era flying wings of roughly the same size. they obviously had no computers to help guide them. the computers are supposed to make it easier I suppose, but sometimes they make it easier to crash too lol.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sorry, but the B2 will not fly without computers, while it resembles the flying wings of WWII, it has so many differences that are not apparent from a distance, that make it very unstable, and not flyable without computer inputs.
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
ok, I was just reading more into the Flyingwing ishue, becouse I remembered that they where supposed to be actualy more stable then normal planes, & haven't been able to come to any complete conclution.
This becouse some Flying wings are actualy very stable, like the designes developed by the germans in WWII or other contemporary ones (there are many RC models out there & even small private planes).
But then apears the B-49 & suddenly the Flying wing is unstable. One of the main B-49 ishues was actualy the same that happend to the B-2, that they tended to pitch up & stall.
so... anyone got more info?!?!
This message has been edited by SeQuBu on Jun 9, 2008 5:11 AM
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
6/6/2008 - LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFPN) -- Distorted data introduced by a B-2 Spirit's air data system skewed information entering the bomber's flight control computers ultimately causing the crash of the aircraft on takeoff at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Feb. 23, according to an Air Combat Command accident investigation report released June 5.
Moisture in the aircraft's Port Transducer Units during air data calibration distorted the information in the bomber's air data system, causing the flight control computers to calculate an inaccurate airspeed and a negative angle of attack upon takeoff. According to the report, this caused an, "uncommanded 30 degree nose-high pitch-up on takeoff, causing the aircraft to stall and its subsequent crash."
Moisture in the PTUs, inaccurate airspeed, a negative AOA calculation and low altitude/low airspeed are substantially contributing factors in this mishap. Another substantially contributing factor was the ineffective communication of critical information regarding a suggested technique of turning on pitot heat in order to remove moisture from the PTUs prior to performing an air data calibration.
The pilot received minor injuries, and the co-pilot received a spinal compression fracture during ejection. He was treated at Tripler Army Medical Center, Hawaii, and released. The aircraft was assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.
The cost of the lost aircraft is about $1.4 billion.
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States 1924-1929
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
I remember seeing a documentary where Jack Northrop (really an actor recreating the event) was shown a model of the B-2 and he asked one of the designers about that flight characteristic. That it was something they encountered on the B-49
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
