2015-05-18

Real Aircraft Belly Landings

Just mentally comparing here the low-velocity, tangential-angle crashes with planets seen in Generations, "Jedi Crash", or the Rako Hardeen arc of TCW with some real world examples.

First up, a test of an F-16, one of the smallest modern fighter jets at 15m:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8XakLMAm_U

The wing wobble has always struck me as interesting.  Given recent reports of cracks developing near the cockpit on F-16s, that might be worth reviewing, too.  Next, one of the largest, the 22.4m F-111, with story:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIyYK9oz9Go

A Lear-style corporate jet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzxTMDpLOvQ

A badass partial-gear landing of an almost-24m P-2V:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QEt6hHxb5o

And a 767, which at 55m (+/- 7 depending on model) is rather larger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiMB-nk22Mg

And one more:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlsG73AGf-k


Of course, these haven't involved collisions with anything.  That may not go as well.  In the first case they throw everything but the kitchen sink at this poor bird:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CZxvu85VM4

Here is a sideways drifting slide where the plane holds up well until engine and fuel tanks are forcibly penetrated: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWuvGoKdWFM

Here is a cleaner view:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVyZeSgxmsw

Were it not for the gnarly wing cutters, the plane's structure would've done a pretty fair job of holding up, despite the mean sharp rocks they landed on, and the landing on the port wing.


Also, collisions can go quite well . . . we don't get much about this collision.  I'm just including it here because it is badass.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M359poNjvVA

Overall, the moral of the story is that our lightly built modern aircraft are highly resilient, if even a tad flexible under interesting loads.  That's actually helpful.  Too much rigidity can be bad for your health . . . and you can insert your own joke now.



5 comments:

Blank said...

Wouldn't it make sense for you to have posted clips of the crashes from Timeless, Generations, "Jedi Crash", and the Rako Hardeen arc of TCW?

Guardian said...

Picky, picky, picky. ;-)

The blog is a less formal environment, but someday I'll put out a different cut with the extras, followed by a revised version, and eventually a Special Edition jam-packed with calculations of forces on all the objects, and then I'll revise that once or twice more until I can sell the place to, ironically, go work on more blogging.

Guardian said...

Ah, found it. There was one more I remembered but couldn't locate previously:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmZC5uaw69s

The B-1 on her nose results in visible bending of the slender airframe.

Blank said...

Star Trek: Generations (4/8) Movie CLIP - The Enterprise Crashes (1994) HD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpgyrIlhoyw

The destruction and crash of the USS Enterprise d
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BZpdSOrDbs

Star Trek Voyager: 5X06 - Timeless crash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdG_kxttT0M

Star Trek Into Darkness: USS Vengeance crash into Star Fleet Headquarters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ9VMaNRF4s

Star Trek Into Darkness - Vengeance Crashes / Hope for Kirk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMwTbrA7v1I

Star wars the Clonewars Episode 13 - Jedi Crash - Preview (HD)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1F60l6_z34

Obi Wan & Anakin vs General Grevious
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyVaX5EMkRo

I wish Star Wars fans were as organized as Star Trek Fans. It's hard tpo fnd good Star Wars anything on the net.

Guardian said...

No video, just something fun to read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider