reported earlier Wings Sheered off when Paddle Switch pulled (Airframe G Load/DM seems much too sensitive)

MARLAN_ · October 23, 2021

Since last patch, FA18 seems extremely vulnerable to having its wings sheered off when Paddle Switch is pulled.

Sadly, I do not have any performance data on how much the jet can truly survive until its wings are torn off, but I would imagine the FA18 Engineers would not design a function that will nearly immediately and reliably rip off your wings. I'm sure a lot of it comes down to metal fatigue and wouldn't fail until overstressed many times (although higher G will rapidly increase the over stress)

The Paddle Switch should be used to
1. Disengage autopilot or clear BLINS
2. Prevent hitting the ground
3. Increase miss distance of a missile still tracking that will hit you if you don’t pull it (combat only)

2 & 3 are both "stick in your lap" situations. I truly believe this function would not be designed (and I am sure it was tested) if it would result in an immediate dual wing failures.

Quote from real FA18 pilot with thousands of flight hours:

Quote

It would survive 8Gs thousands of times. It’s not a 1 time thing that would cause the wing ripping damage. I know of someone who pulled 10.2 g’s to avoid hitting the water, the wings stayed on. The jet was pretty fucked for a long time, but it flew again. I’m not sure of the exact data on the F-18, but a 150% rule would be reasonable before failure. I would be guessing but a model like 8 g’s unlimited, 8.5 g’s (50 times before failure), 9.0 g’s (20 times before failure), 9.5 g’s (8 times before failure), 10 g’s (3 times before failure), 10.5 g’s (only once and then failure)

In my opinion, whatever the damage model is, I am assuming a health system, the wings would probably need more health before they sheer off, prolonged/excessive use would probably cause this condition but right now it's happening nearly immediately and reliably.

RipYourWingsOffSWITCH.trk