OP
Can you imagine? Only thing worse would be a submarine- “one more fart Parnelli and I’m gonna open the hatch”
Top Gun / Fighter Jets
- Thread starter AndyG
- Start date
Can you imagine? Only thing worse would be a submarine- “one more fart Parnelli and I’m gonna open the hatch”
A classmate in college went to nuclear engineer route courtesy of the Navy and ended up on a sub. We always teased him he was gonna have to dance on the tables so they had something to watch down there. Never saw him again after that.
He did have a cool $75,000 check courtesy of the gov't that bought him a new truck while he finished school.
On of my housemates did the same. Chem eng went into the nuclear sub program as a reactor tech. He went through a lot of psycho-analysis to make sure he could handle it. Pretty fascinating stuff to hear him talk about it....Not for me, but he left college with a degree, no debt, nice bonus and guarenteed retirement (assuming he can handle 20 years)
We had a nuclear reactor on campus at the time. The guy who ran it taught one of my classes. Weird as fuck. He used to stand in the front of the classroom and it appeared like he was humping the podium deal at the front. It was enough to keep me from playing with nukes.
I tried looking up the guy I knew and it looks like he may be a farmer now, no idea if he stayed in or not.
Ha...That's funny. I did the same. He had a weird last name though, and I'm not sure I'm spelling it correctly.
OP
I’ll run into guys here all the time in Huntsville and they will be like 45 years old , did their 20 , and basically retired from the military they get a good job with a military subcontractor and they just have a really nice situation- A good example is a friend who was a blackhawk pilot And he uses that experience to integrate equipment into the aircraft-
I go to church with a guy who developed the technology ( Actually he got his hands onit and made it work ) to read the diagnostics on them and monitor maintenance- I don’t consider money the ultimate measure of success but he’s worth probably a cool 100 million- I don’t know how he went from being a truck driver to working for Oracle to doing that but he sure did.
I go to church with a guy who developed the technology ( Actually he got his hands onit and made it work ) to read the diagnostics on them and monitor maintenance- I don’t consider money the ultimate measure of success but he’s worth probably a cool 100 million- I don’t know how he went from being a truck driver to working for Oracle to doing that but he sure did.
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There is something to be said for that. Good friend of mine is a professional firefighter. He is in his late thirties, has 10 more years left to serve and will retire from government service. He works like 2 days on, 4 off...and in his off time, he repairs cars as a side hustle. He's not going to have to work after 50 years old. He will probably want to, cuz he's one of those guys, but he won't need to work.
OP
Careerwise to me that is about as good as you can play your game on the average-
OP
Was looking on Spotify, he has a 3hr podcast over a year ago. I need to hear that.
Aloha Joe
TJ Enthusiast
I've not been in a flying fighter jet, but I helped design some of them, as well as engines for them.
In the original Top Gun, we know that Maverick gets into jet wash and stalls an engine. The early F14s had Pratt and Whitney engines and they were known to have compressor stall issues. There are even a few YouTube videos showing pilots losing engines while trying to land on carriers in the dark. Anyway, I worked for GE who made the engines for the later F14s as well as retrofits, and while GE isn't the leader in military engines, their reputation is built around bulletproof reliability. GE patented a system that controls the tiny guide vanes between the compressor stages, aptly called Variable Guide Vanes. For decades they were the only one doing that, and Pratt and Rolls and the others were always at max/fixed area and had to open and passages to bleed off excess compressed air. So basically they were always trying to suck in as much as they could with no regard to ambient conditions, and hence rapid changes in pressure like flying through jet wash would cause them to stall, whereas the GE engine would quickly adjust the guide vanes and stay lit.
I haven't seen the F14 up close, but after GE I worked at Northrop who makes most of the F-18 (also made the F14, and made the carriers used original Top Gun.) Technically it's a Boeing plane, but Northrop makes everything from the end of the cockpit back then sends it to Boeing to stick the nose on and sell it. So I would take brakes from work, literally walk across the hall, and down the production line of F-18s. They hang from a device that lets them roll, so at various stages of completion they're either right side up, or upside down, allowing access to whatever is needed. It's just so cool to see them up close. They're tiny! It's basically an envelope just big enough for engines, pilot, and fuel, with armament stuffed on the outside and whatever little space was left over inside.
I love aerospace and used to say it was the epitome of engineering, but interestingly the automotive industry has better tolerance and manufacturing control. I was working on the team that made 3d metal printing a reality (certified and now flying on the 737 Max), and helped design the combustor of the 787, both of which are ~18% more efficient than the predecessors. To get better control of fuel and air we started working more with automotive suppliers who were used to holding 10x tighter tolerances.
Those fighter engines are burning 14,300 lbs of fuel per hour, per engine, at max power but before afterburn ("Augmentation is the technical term for afterburn.) So that's like 2300 gallons per hour. Augmentation adds about another 75%.
IT takes a long time to design and certify an airplane. The first project where I had real ownership was the engine for the Bombardier Global 7000/8000. This was back in 2010-2012. I just got a text last week that they hit supersonic speed during some flight tests, and I guess they're calling it the fastest business jet in the world. I designed the fuel nozzles, fuel/air mixers, and helped design the combustor, and owned the integration of the 4 major sections of the engine: compressor, combustor, turbine, and externals (fuel, etc.) basically making sure it worked well at 51,000 ft and also could withstand things like throttle chops and engine relights during takeoff. I think the design goal was 51,000 ft and mach 0.93. For a business/commercial plane that's very high, and very fast.
Actually that engine is a beast! During the first few weeks of testing something happened that caused a change in internal temperatures, but it kept running and we were on a tight schedule so we just went with it. It turns out it liberated a 5th stage compressor blade (about half way down the compressor) and spit it out the back end, taking out downstream compressor and turbine blades on its way out. It just wanted to keep going. Now I hear they're looking at making it run on hydrogen. It kind of makes me want to go back, but Hawaii is a little nicer place to live than Cincinnati.
In the original Top Gun, we know that Maverick gets into jet wash and stalls an engine. The early F14s had Pratt and Whitney engines and they were known to have compressor stall issues. There are even a few YouTube videos showing pilots losing engines while trying to land on carriers in the dark. Anyway, I worked for GE who made the engines for the later F14s as well as retrofits, and while GE isn't the leader in military engines, their reputation is built around bulletproof reliability. GE patented a system that controls the tiny guide vanes between the compressor stages, aptly called Variable Guide Vanes. For decades they were the only one doing that, and Pratt and Rolls and the others were always at max/fixed area and had to open and passages to bleed off excess compressed air. So basically they were always trying to suck in as much as they could with no regard to ambient conditions, and hence rapid changes in pressure like flying through jet wash would cause them to stall, whereas the GE engine would quickly adjust the guide vanes and stay lit.
I haven't seen the F14 up close, but after GE I worked at Northrop who makes most of the F-18 (also made the F14, and made the carriers used original Top Gun.) Technically it's a Boeing plane, but Northrop makes everything from the end of the cockpit back then sends it to Boeing to stick the nose on and sell it. So I would take brakes from work, literally walk across the hall, and down the production line of F-18s. They hang from a device that lets them roll, so at various stages of completion they're either right side up, or upside down, allowing access to whatever is needed. It's just so cool to see them up close. They're tiny! It's basically an envelope just big enough for engines, pilot, and fuel, with armament stuffed on the outside and whatever little space was left over inside.
I love aerospace and used to say it was the epitome of engineering, but interestingly the automotive industry has better tolerance and manufacturing control. I was working on the team that made 3d metal printing a reality (certified and now flying on the 737 Max), and helped design the combustor of the 787, both of which are ~18% more efficient than the predecessors. To get better control of fuel and air we started working more with automotive suppliers who were used to holding 10x tighter tolerances.
Those fighter engines are burning 14,300 lbs of fuel per hour, per engine, at max power but before afterburn ("Augmentation is the technical term for afterburn.) So that's like 2300 gallons per hour. Augmentation adds about another 75%.
IT takes a long time to design and certify an airplane. The first project where I had real ownership was the engine for the Bombardier Global 7000/8000. This was back in 2010-2012. I just got a text last week that they hit supersonic speed during some flight tests, and I guess they're calling it the fastest business jet in the world. I designed the fuel nozzles, fuel/air mixers, and helped design the combustor, and owned the integration of the 4 major sections of the engine: compressor, combustor, turbine, and externals (fuel, etc.) basically making sure it worked well at 51,000 ft and also could withstand things like throttle chops and engine relights during takeoff. I think the design goal was 51,000 ft and mach 0.93. For a business/commercial plane that's very high, and very fast.
Actually that engine is a beast! During the first few weeks of testing something happened that caused a change in internal temperatures, but it kept running and we were on a tight schedule so we just went with it. It turns out it liberated a 5th stage compressor blade (about half way down the compressor) and spit it out the back end, taking out downstream compressor and turbine blades on its way out. It just wanted to keep going. Now I hear they're looking at making it run on hydrogen. It kind of makes me want to go back, but Hawaii is a little nicer place to live than Cincinnati.
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The wife and I just got back from seeing the new Top Gun and were blown away. It definitely exceeded our expectations and was certainly one of the best films I've ever seen in a theater. In my opinion it has raised the bar for what classifies as a summer blockbuster now days.
My Brother watched Top Gun and wanted to be a pilot, his vision sucked. Ended up in Subs, guess Red October won him over. I got a ride in one of his boats, it was epic. He just retired a few years ago 0-6. Tonight he was burning my ear about watching Top Gun over dinner. I've gotta see it.
I haven't tuned in for some time, but if any of you want something to listen to I recommend The Fighter Pilot Podcast.
https://www.fighterpilotpodcast.com/. I used to listen to it on Spotify. The host is a former F-18 and F-16 pilot.
Top Gun was awesome, unfortunately it was spoiled by a few young teens who were only there to make fart, moan, and random scream noises.
https://www.fighterpilotpodcast.com/. I used to listen to it on Spotify. The host is a former F-18 and F-16 pilot.
Top Gun was awesome, unfortunately it was spoiled by a few young teens who were only there to make fart, moan, and random scream noises.
I started at Embry-Riddle 4 years after the original Top Gun was released on VHS, every flight student there thought they were Tom Cruise and wore Ray Bans and a leather flight jacket. Every dorm room that had flight students had Top Gun playing on the old 12" screen with VHS built in. I hated that freakin movie and thus played a lot of Euchre while drinking a lot of Natural Light with the maintenance students.
25+ years later my wife and I watched the original on streaming the night before we went and watched Maverick on Imax. Thoroughly enjoyed them both!
25+ years later my wife and I watched the original on streaming the night before we went and watched Maverick on Imax. Thoroughly enjoyed them both!