| Great War Ace | 29 Aug 2017 8:51 a.m. PST |
link
Interesting article, but that statement needs clarification to say the least! |
| Texas Jack | 29 Aug 2017 9:30 a.m. PST |
A remarkably poorly written article, as well as awful editing, if an editor even laid eyes on it. |
| awalesII | 29 Aug 2017 9:54 a.m. PST |
Planes with very very low stall speeds can fly backwards relative to the ground if they fly into the wind and air speed > stall speed. You can see this with planes designed to land and take off in mountains. |
| rmaker | 29 Aug 2017 10:14 a.m. PST |
And some early carrier-based planes as well. |
| Great War Ace | 29 Aug 2017 10:51 a.m. PST |
Ah, "relative to the ground", of course. |
| Vigilant | 29 Aug 2017 12:40 p.m. PST |
Same radar problem as the Italians had against Swordfish at Taranto. Aircraft flying slower than the prediction radar can cope with making them difficult to hit. As for flying backwards, yes relative to the ground in the right conditions it would look like that. From personal experience I once landed a motorised glider almost vertically because the wind was so strong. My student thought it was cool, I was scared to death! |
| Ed Mohrmann | 29 Aug 2017 12:43 p.m. PST |
The An-2 Cub was (and perhaps still is) a mainstay in
the Chinese PLAAF. We used to track them through the
CivNavNet and they flew all over the place with many
different sorts of payloads, all the way from normal
passengers to nomads and their herds being relocated. Very sturdy airplanes. Not surprised the Norks have a
bunch of them. Surprised the article speaks to the difficulty of 'seeing'
them on radar. Wasn't difficult back in the 60's.
Maybe the tech has been 'improved' to the point that
modern radars really can't track the old aircraft too
well. |
dragon6  | 29 Aug 2017 1:58 p.m. PST |
Same radar problem as the Italians had against Swordfish at Taranto Well yeah but it's not like the Italians had radar |
| Toaster | 29 Aug 2017 3:24 p.m. PST |
My Grandfather reported that during WWII he watched a pair of Tiger Moths take off vertically from RNZAF Hobsonville and fly sideways to the adjacent Whenuapai airbase where they made a vertical landing, quite a wind that day. Robert |
| Bill Rosser | 29 Aug 2017 5:41 p.m. PST |
I flew into Miegs(sp?) field in Chicago in a TBM about 15 years ago, high winds and we were going backwards and sideways coming into land, until the pilot decided to abort and head for Midway. I was sitting in the co-pilots seat and it was a hell of a ride. |
