Simviation Forum - U2 Undercarriage

Apr 20^th, 2003 at 7:39am

BAW19 Offline
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Just been watching Discovery Wings and saw a footage of a U2 taking off. I was supprised to see the wingtip undercarriage fall away as the plane left the ground and was wondering - if the plane has disposable outriggers and the main gear is an in-line fusilage configuration how on earth does it land without leaning over onto a wing when the speed falls off?

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Reply #1 - Apr 20^th, 2003 at 8:12am

Craig. Offline
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Birmingham

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with a great deal of difficulty i thought it has small wheels that extended for landing but i do know they have a car following them all the way to touchdown giving them altitude calls so they dont hit down on the wings gotta be one of the hardest planes to land.

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Reply #2 - Apr 20^th, 2003 at 8:55am

Tequila Sunrise Offline
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"if the plane has disposable outriggers and the main gear is an in-line fusilage configuration how on earth does it land without leaning over onto a wing when the speed falls off? "
It does fall to one side on landing Tongue

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Reply #3 - Apr 20^th, 2003 at 10:19am

Blade Offline
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When it lands the pilot hold the plane on its inline wheels until the last possible second. Then he lets it fall GENTLY to one side, there are skids on the ends of the wings, and it grinds to a halt. After every flight the skids are replaced.

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Reply #4 - Apr 20^th, 2003 at 11:18am

Professor Brensec Offline
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Quote:

When it lands the pilot hold the plane on its inline wheels until the last possible second. Then he lets it fall GENTLY to one side, there are skids on the ends of the wings, and it grinds to a halt. After every flight the skids are replaced.

Gliders get away with it every day, I suppose, so why not the Gov. They've got enough money to fix the wing if it comes down too hard or too early..........lol Grin

P.S. I've always been meaning to ask. Now that it's come up, did U2 the Band name them selves after the Plane? ???

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Reply #5 - Apr 20^th, 2003 at 11:24am

Rifleman Offline
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The U2 is just another glider, albeit powered by a J-79, so why not land just like a glider......because of its higher weight and longer takeoffs, it really can't make use of wing runners, and so has to utilize those aforementioned drop-off outriggers...

Quote:

P.S. I've always been meaning to ask. Now that it's come up, did U2 the Band name them selves after the Plane? ???

I have the same type of questions about "The Thompson Twins, and Duran Duran ".........but then I also know the answers too.........TinTin and Jane Fonda told me ........

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Reply #6 - Apr 20^th, 2003 at 1:31pm

HawkerTempest5 Offline
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Brensec pal, U2 did take their name from the plane. I'm not a huge fan, but I do know it had some political meaning to it. Something to do with the Gary Powers incident.

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Reply #7 - Apr 20^th, 2003 at 1:43pm

Craig. Offline
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Birmingham

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well the U2 name thingy, this is what is said on their homepage
"The Dublin punk guru Steve Averill (better known as Steve Rapid of the Radiators from Space) advises the band that The Hype stinks, at least as a name. What about U2? It’s the name of a spyplane and a submarine, and it’s got an endearing inclusivity about it."

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Reply #8 - Apr 20^th, 2003 at 1:57pm

Professor Brensec Offline
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Can't you give me a couple
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Re the U2 thing - Thank you people. Grin

I always thought it might be a play on "You Too".

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Reply #9 - Apr 22^nd, 2003 at 1:41am

USAF Vet Guest

Yup, it has runners, or actually small built-in wheels at the wing tips. Chase vehicles are used as safety precautions in case something goes wrong. When they first became operational, at altitude the flight envelope between stalling and structural damage was about 30 knots.

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