X-man

Thanks all!!! :D

http://www.forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?showtopic=25954

I like it.

It seems a bit odd yes, but we have to keep in mind the the article said Gripen NG, which has many improvements over the current version and is not yet out. But where does Saab get its data on the Su-35 from? I guess it's just guesses...

Thanks everyone for participating! :) See you next time! :thumbup:

Good stuff Yoda :thumbup:

The document includes several incidents. Check AA1683. I realize that none of them were crashes, but the fact remains, lightning can cause external damage to an aircraft. Lightning strikes usually dont occur at high altitudes cause there's a better chance to avoid storms. At lower altitudes, decompression is not a problem, cause the pressure difference is not as high. But as Ive just showed you, lightning can cause cause external (holes) damage to an aircraft. This kind of damage could be catastrophic at higher altitudes. So if I understand you correctly, are you saying that an Airliner CANNOT, in any scenario, be downed due to lightning?

That is what I posted there :) I will wait for an official update from you as I have no idea of how to put it in myself.

Wrong incident. Check American 1683... http://www.ntsb.gov/recs/letters/2001/A01_83_87.pdf http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001211X12829&key=1 http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001212X22275&key=1 http://avherald.com/h?article=416787dc&opt=0

Well, if you'd care to read the links I gave earlier, you'd see my evidence. But I guess NTSB isnt a valid source?

Found a payload bug. When selecting the Sps-141 jammer for the Su-25A, you get the illegal payload effect, despite it being available by default. Allowed_Payloads[1+table.getn(Allowed_Payloads)]= {7,4,15,45,30} -- sps-141

When determining if something is possible or not, you cant base that on whether it has happened or not. Fact is, Lightning can cause structural damage and fire to an aircraft. There's nothing more to it. If a passenger jet is flying at FL350 and get's a hole in it's fuselage, then it's a very serious problem, and could potentially bring the plane down. I dont think anyone here is saying that "Lightning will bring aircraft down all the time", but rather we're saying that it is possible in a worst case scenario, while you're arguing that it is completely ridiculous to say that. The fact that it hasn't happened yet is irrelevant.

True, but non of those planes were at FL350. A decompression at those alt would have been much, much worse. It seems you're just arguing from a theoretical point of view while in fact there are quite a few incidents where lightning did cause damage to the aircraft. Now most of those incidents have been at lower altitudes, so a serious decompression hasn't really been a problem, but it proves that airliners are not, and to quote you, "bombproof" when it come to lightning. 99.9999% the aircraft that are hit by lightning makes it home in one way or another, but it doesn't mean a serious accident cant happen due to lightnings. I suggest you stop looking in textbooks and read about real life ;) It's usually less predictable

Lightning strikes that caused some damage: http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=58955 http://www.ntsb.gov/recs/letters/2001/A01_83_87.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_am_214

<51>Dedicated GCI Weekend! The 51st will host the first-time GCI weekend on our dedicated server. Everyone is invited to join the fun. We will try our best to provide GCI personal (for both sides) in the evenings during the weekend. Using the new LotATC2 software, controllers will be able to direct flights/aircraft to the battle area and provide increased SA to participating pilots. Everyone who joins our Teamspeak to fly the event will be given a flight callsign and a specific TS channel in order to keep the Communication organized. In order to communicate with the GCI you will need to download the keybinds (link below) and load them into your TS. If you're unsure on how to do this, please ask any of us and we'll help out :) Anyone who doesn't want to fly with GCI support is free to join the server as usual, but we encourage everyone to join as it's much more fun :D Our controllers will be using English and will not provide GCI in any other language. Cheers all and see you this weekend! :thumbup: RED Keybind for 51st TS: http://www.mediafire.com/?y3yemylqj0m BLUE Keybinds for 51st TS: http://www.mediafire.com/?q1mmyzyyy0l 51st Teamspeak: 212.37.145.18:8767 51st Dedicated: 212.37.145.18

Might not be the sole cause, but it could have contributed to the situation... There is a large oil spill close to the wreckage which makes me think if there was an explosion at all. Wouldn't most of the fuel have been ignited or at least burnt on the surface?

No, it doesn't pass through the bird. It simply doesn't enter the bird as the cable is already a better conductor than the birds legs. Only if the bird completes a circuit with the ground or another cable will the electricity go through the bird and most likely toast it.

At these latitudes, CBs can form very, very quickly and it's not alway possible to predict this before the flight. And once the flight is airborne, they're not getting real time weather updates from satellites. Also remember, the area in question was OUTSIDE any ATC coverage, so no intel from them. Their primary source of info would have been their WX-radar (IIRC Thunderstroms in the Convergence zone can sometimes be hard to detect coz they are drier than normal). This together with the fact that it was night -> tricky to spot CBs. It's not always possible to go around or divert, so sometimes you have to navigate through the "calmer" parts of the storm using your WX-radar. Maybe Lightning (or something else) took out the WX-radar and the crew was unable to navigate safely through the storms and ended up in particularly bad turbulence which might have caused the catastrophic event. Check this out, very interesting analysis: http://www.weathergraphics.com/tim/af447/

What about positive lightning? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_lightning#Positive_lightning

Ok, I get you. But could the lightning have other effects which can cause a blackout of the system of the aircraft, or even structural failure? What a weak spots in the fuselage, Could there be any physical damage?

Yes, theoretically, this is what's suppose to happen and probably does happen 99.99% of the time. However, the real world have quite a few extra variables then all the formulas and theories which makes things very hard to predict. I read a story about an E-3 with the USAF which was doing a normal training flight when it was hit by lightning. The whole thing went dark. Fortunately, the 707 is not FBw (hell, not even hydraulics) so the crew was able to put her down safely. Now Im no expert in the field and I dont know all the circumstances about the E-3 incident, but it did occur for whatever reason. So Id be more humble then just ruling it out as "bombproof against ESD"

I beg to differ. There were severe CBs in across the part of the ocean where AF447 passed. CBs were recorded to be as high as FL500. The plane had just passed outside Brazilian radar coverage and heading for the storms. Maybe their WX-radar was malfunctioning or maybe they didnt check it. This was i the middle of the night, so it's quite plausible that the flight might have entered the CBs and experienced severe lightning and turbulence. We musnt rule out any possibilities yet. As long as there isnt a wreckage to examine, we cant say for sure what it was. Sudden decompression, Lightning, Turbulence, Fire, Power failure, terrorists etc could be anything, though it sure looks like a very sudden, catastrophic event since the pilots didnt have time to report anything to the controllers. Only thing that was sent was an automatic maintenance message stating several malfunctions to electrical and pressurized systems.

The a/c apparently flew into some really bad weather and experienced heavy turbulence. Latest, reliable sources say there was a major short circuit (Lighting? or explosion?) and after that, no communication was established. For a modern airliner with FBW and glass cockpit, that could be very, very bad. Imagine flying without controls/instruments in a thunderstorm at night :( May they RIP.

It pwns them

Sorry :) Here it is ...\LockOn\ME\Meinit.xml