Let’s first listen to how the machine sounds. Enjoy!

The B-17 Flying Fortress was a critical component of the Allied forces during World War II. With its powerful engines, advanced weaponry, and remarkable durability, this bomber aircraft became an icon of American air power. Its contributions to the war effort are still felt to this day, and its legacy continues to inspire people around the world.

Aircraft Design

The B-17 Flying Fortress was designed and built by Boeing. It was a four-engine heavy bomber aircraft that first entered service in 1938. The bomber was named the “Flying Fortress” due to its powerful armament, which included multiple machine guns and cannon turrets. The aircraft could carry a heavy payload and fly at high altitudes, which made it a valuable asset for strategic bombing missions over enemy territory.

Role of B17 fortress during the war

During World War II, aircraft played a critical role in the Allied victory. It was used extensively in bombing raids over Europe, targeting strategic military and industrial targets and occupied territories. Despite the dangers of flying over enemy territory and facing intense anti-aircraft fire and enemy fighter planes, B-17 crews were determined to complete their missions. The bravery and dedication of these crews, often comprised of young men in their late teens or early twenties, helped turn the tide of the war in favor of the Allies.

How it shaped modern Warfare

The B-17 Flying Fortress was also instrumental in the development of modern air warfare tactics and technology. The lessons learned from its use in World War II helped shape the future of strategic bombing and air power and paved the way for the development of modern bomber aircraft. The bomber’s success paved the way for further advancements in aviation, and it remains an important part of aviation history today.

Conclusion

The aircraft was a remarkable aircraft that helped turn the tide of World War II in favor of the Allies. Its advanced design and powerful armament made it an icon of American air power, and its contributions to the war effort were critical. The legacy of the B-17 Flying Fortress serves as a reminder of the bravery and sacrifice of the men who flew and maintained these remarkable aircraft, and of the critical role they played in the defeat of tyranny and the defense of freedom.

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The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is arguably the most advanced jet ever. With countless systems to sensors onboard, the F-35 is alone at the top and usually gets lonely at the top. The F-35B variant is the most advanced of the F-35 lineup. The F-35B type, explicitly built for the Marine Corps, could break the speed of sound while in flight and perform vertical landings on the tiniest of landing pads, much like a helicopter. As advanced as the jet is, a chance for error resulting in a crash still looms.

Read Also: A Battle Of Stealth: F-22 vs F-35

The jet contains an auto-eject capability system, where the jet senses the situation automatically and decides to eject the pilot itself without the pilot having to think about whether or not it is safe to do so. The seat installed is a Martin-Baker US16E type seat which delivers a previously unseen level of well-balanced optimization across critical performance factors such as safe terrain clearance limits, physiological loading limits, pilot boarding mass, and anthropometric accommodation ranges to completely satisfy the F-35 Escape System criteria.

All versions of the F-35 aircraft will share the US16E. The sole Joint Strike Fighter model with this technology is the F-35B, which is also the first American aircraft of any sort to have this capacity.

It is unclear exactly how or by what criteria the auto-eject system judges that the aircraft is not within the pilot’s control and initiates the ejection procedure. Its precise condition on the F-35B fleet is also unknown. It is well known that the US16E seats on every F-35 type are connected to the flying systems in some other way to prevent the pilot from ejecting in dangerous circumstances. It’s interesting to note that the Cold War-era Soviet Yak-38 and Yak-141 jump planes had engine configurations more akin to the F-35B.

However, both featured vertically mounted jet engines rather than lift fans and auto-eject systems. The F-35B’s inclusion of auto-eject is directly related to how challenging the aircraft’s vertical takeoff and landing is. In the hover mode, the jet’s Pratt & Whitney F135 engine’s power is directed downward through an articulating exhaust nozzle, and a large fan is mounted vertically in the center of the fuselage to create lift. The engine directly powers the lift fan through a big drive shaft connected to a carbon clutch.

The B version of the F-35 is significantly distinct from the other two primary variants. It differs from them all in so many ways that it has affected every aspect of its essential construction.

Read Also: Why Were The SR-71 Engines’ So Far Apart From Each Other?

Source

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/the-f-35b-can-eject-its-pilot-automatically

If you’ve ever attempted to land a plane before, perhaps in a simulator or maybe even in real life, you know that it takes a significant amount of runway length to bring a plane to a complete stop. If an entire runway of such a great length is required for an aircraft to land, then how do fighter jets land on aircraft carriers where the runway length is just a mere fraction of the length of actual runways at airports? In this article, we will explore how fighter jets can go from high speeds to stationary in just a matter of seconds.

To begin with, let’s put into perspective how short the runway on an aircraft carrier actually is. Typical runways at airports range from 8000 feet to 13000 feet in length, but an aircraft carrier’s runway is only around 500 feet long. This means that airport runways are 13 to 26 times as long as aircraft carrier runways. 

Method

With a runway this short, the pilots of these aircraft carrier fighter jets must follow a strict procedure to ensure their safety and the safety of those on the deck of the carrier:

• Before being cleared to land, fighter jet pilots must circle around in an oval pattern somewhere near the aircraft carrier. The air traffic controller on the carrier will then decide which jets are qualified to land first based on their fuel levels. The jets will exit the pattern one by one and wait their turn to land after the runway has been vacated by the previous pilot.
• After an aircraft is cleared to land on the carrier, the pilot will lower a device known as a tailhook on the end of the plane. This device is exclusive to carrier-based aircraft and consists of a metal pole with a hook on the end.

• As a fighter jet pilot approaches the aircraft carrier, a mechanism known as the Fresnel Lens Optical Landing System activates and guides the pilot on a safe path down to the carrier runway. The Fresnel Lens Optical Landing System shoots out beams of light that indicate to the pilot if he or she is flying too low or too high. The pilot will see a beam of amber light in relation to green lights. If this amber light is above the green lights, the pilot is approaching too high; if the amber light is below the green lights, the pilot is approaching too low. 

• In the last moments before touchdown, the pilot will align the fighter jet to catch one of the arresting wires on the runway of the carrier using its tailhook. These arresting wires are made of several interwoven high-tensile steel wires and are attached to a hydraulic system below the deck of the carrier. There are usually 3-4 parallel arresting wires on the deck of the carrier, each spaced around 50 feet apart. Pilots are instructed to aim for the 3rd wire, although any of the other ones work. As the fighter jet hits the runway and pulls on one of the wires, it will prompt the lower hydraulic systems to absorb all of the energy from the speed of the plane and bring it to a stop. These wires, along with the hydraulic systems, are highly effective in absorbing the immense amount of energy when a fighter jet lands on the carrier and are able to stop aircraft in a matter of seconds. 

• After safely on the runway, the deck crew on the carrier will move the plane to the side of the carrier and secure it down to the deck. 

Safety Procedures

The process of landing an aircraft safely on an aircraft carrier is never guaranteed to be completely flawless. There are always plenty of risks associated with performing such a task. One of the practices that pilots are instructed to do when landing on an aircraft carrier is to push the aircraft to full throttle as soon as it touches down on the runway. This is to ensure that if the pilot misses the arresting wire, they will have enough speed to take off again and try again. Powering the engines to full power when landing won’t be an issue for the arresting wires since the hydraulics are capable enough to overcome this force. 

Pushing an aircraft to full throttle right in the vicinity of ground personnel is undoubtedly a dangerous move. As a result, the deck crew assisting with these landings are equipped with a variety of safety equipment, such as self-inflating life jackets in case they are blown into the water by engine blasts. 

In the scenario where an aircraft attempting to land on the carrier has had a malfunction or a failure of some sort, the deck crew will raise a crash barricade made of sturdy wires to try to stop the aircraft. The deck crew will also be waiting with a multitude of fire-extinguishing tools, just like at a normal airport, if this happens. 

Landing on an aircraft carrier is undeniably a risky and perilous task, but with these procedures in place, the chance of failure or death can be significantly lowered. However, even with these careful steps, landing on an aircraft carrier is not guaranteed to be a safe operation, and remains to only be performed by the best of pilots.

Source:

https://science.howstuffworks.com/aircraft-carrier4.htm

https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/how-planes-land-on-aircraft-carriers-short-runways

Cover Image: Sandboxx