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Week of 3/5/01:
This week's question was submitted by Andrew White!
Q:
Harry worked for a truck rental firm in Albuquerque. He had taken
the keys from a corporal from the local air base only five minutes ago,
and now he was sitting in the cab staring at the odometer reading.
The rental slip told him that since being rented that morning in Ohio,
the vehicle had recorded only six miles on the clock in the intervening
eight hours. He guessed that the truck had been flown in, maybe in
one of those C-130 transports which he often saw through the
fence, but he sure as heck couldn't figure why anyone would want to
take a rental truck for a flight across the States.
Can you explain it to him?
A:
The truck was used as a counterweight to restore the centre of gravity
of a cargo plane carrying a heavy load which could not be
centered adequately in the cargo bay.
Congratulations to Nicolas Cousineau.
The truck was rented in Ohio and was used as dead weight to offset a heavy
load in the aft section of the C-130's fuselage. Andrew heard this
story a few years ago and can't verify it's authenticity, but it sounds
plausible. There were two jet engines to be carried across the country
in a C-130 Hercules. The smaller one on its pallet loaded from the rear,
slid under the wing box carrythrough structure, and was secured just behind
the flight deck. The larger engine had to stop short of the carrythrough
structure due to the reduced headroom there. At the first stop on the
journey, the smaller engine was off-loaded. At this point, if the larger
engine had been loaded back in its original location, the aircraft's
center of gravity would have been too far aft and beyond design limits.
The solution was to add weight (the rental truck) in the forward area.
- The Aeroquiz Editor.
Week of 3/12/01:
Q:
You and your wingman climb aboard your F/A-18Fs and take off
from the deck of the USS George Washington, currently on station
in the midatlantic. Your mission is to deliver the VIP in the other
seat to DC ASAP. As configured and equipped, your 18F has a maximum
ferry range of 1800 nautical miles. Washington DC, however, is currently
2100 nautical miles away. No land- or ship-based refueling facilities are
available en route and no one has called for any tanker support.
Are you destined to drop in the drink?
No one got the correct answer. The question stands another week!
- The Aeroquiz Editor.
Week of 3/19/01:
Q:
You and your wingman climb aboard your F/A-18Fs and take off
from the deck of the USS George Washington, currently on station
in the midatlantic. Your mission is to deliver the VIP in the other
seat to DC ASAP. As configured and equipped, your 18F has a maximum
ferry range of 1800 nautical miles. Washington DC, however, is currently
2100 nautical miles away. No land- or ship-based refueling facilities are
available en route and no one has called for any tanker support.
Are you destined to drop in the drink?
A:
External fuel tanks can be equipped with probe-and-drogue in-flight
refueling systems. Your wingman in the other, thusly equipped, F-18
can "buddy tank" with you. He'll give you most of his fuel via your
in-flight refueling probe at some point during the mission and then fly
safely back to the carrier. Buddy tanking allows aircraft to have much
greater range than otherwise possible.
No one got the correct answer!
- The Aeroquiz Editor.
Week of 3/26/01:
Q:
Interestingly, a total of three core modules were built for the Russian
Mir Space Station. These 20.4-ton, 43-foot long modules were designed to
provide living quarters, life support, power, scientific research
capabilities, and a docking area for the Mir Station. The most famous
of the modules fell from its orbit last week after 15 years aloft. One of
the other modules is in a warehouse in Russia. The last module is
a) On display in a distinguished Moscow museum
b) On the launch pad at Baikonur, Kazakhstan, ready to lift off!
c) Hidden somewhere at the top-secret Area 51
d) A popular family tourist attraction in Wisconsin Dells
A:
D!
Congratulations to "KMB."
Hundreds of thousands of people have toured the Mir exhibit since May of
1997 when it was put on permanent display at Tommy Bartlett's Robot
World & Exploratory in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Tommy Bartlett
purchased the authentic Mir core module from a Moscow museum.
- The Aeroquiz Editor.
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