Delete comment from: Elements Of Power
LOL. Glad you cleared that up.
First, I understand Goon has made all kinds of claims about the F-35's performance, but I haven’t paid much attention to him as he doesn’t get the bigger picture of what ‘performance’ is in a 5th gen (for lack of a better term) aircraft with superior situational awareness and low observability. Since the top-level requirements like all fighters) are for some value of ‘x’ lethality with ‘y’ survivability at ‘z’ cost, those are the facets/measures that matter. There is a trade space between all three of those facets no matter how they are defined, and underneath them is the trade space for all other parameters. I presume by use if the term 'dog' you are referring to kinematics? [BTW: Kinematics support/affect, but do not define, the lethality and survivability measurements.]
If we are talking kinematics, then any complaint Goon might have would to refer to the only two parameters we know the F-35 has changed, or is potentially changing. (I’m assuming even Goon is not still calling the F-35 variants overweight spec-wise) I've addressed the 'sustained G' turn spec change pretty thoroughly here: http://elementsofpower.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-f-35-and-infamous-sustained-g-spec.html. Combine the information there with my post on modern E-M theory (http://elementsofpower.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-backgrounder-on-energy-maneuverability.html), factor in the publically acknowledged F-35 superior (50deg) high AoA and post-stall maneuvering and that pretty much covers anybody's handwringing on the Sustained G side, I never bothered with the remaining trans-sonic acceleration 'issue' for three reasons. One, because it is acknowledged the spec was written based on legacy 'clean' aircraft configurations. Two, the spec is for level flight and does not allow the plane to 'punt over' and unload the wings to punch through the trans-sonic region. And three, the word coming out of the pilots is that the F-35 is faster accelerating in the subsonic region than the legacy aircraft. I do not underestimate the advantage of a head-start. I expect the spec to be waived or a deviation granted based upon the fact it is not combat relevant as specified. The unloading technique is a time-honored one whereby the pilot can regain his altitude at higher speed and lower cost above Mach1.1 or so.
Aug 30, 2014, 6:09:25 PM