WarthogOsl Posted February 5, 2023 Posted February 5, 2023 6 hours ago, Lurker said: Just because the F16 didn't have variable intake ramps doesn't mean it didn't deal with the supersonic air in another manner. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diverterless_supersonic_inlet The normal F-16 doesn't have diverterless inlet, as the article you linked illustrates. Obviously the shape counts for a lot, but the inlet is fixed and pretty darn simple. I'm guessing they could have created a fixed inlet shape that would work on the F-14, but then that would have cost even more money. I do wonder if the ST-21 would have had a fixed inlet, though.
Lurker Posted February 5, 2023 Posted February 5, 2023 9 hours ago, WarthogOsl said: The normal F-16 doesn't have diverterless inlet, as the article you linked illustrates. Obviously the shape counts for a lot, but the inlet is fixed and pretty darn simple. I'm guessing they could have created a fixed inlet shape that would work on the F-14, but then that would have cost even more money. I do wonder if the ST-21 would have had a fixed inlet, though. You are correct, I just linked to the first article I googled describing another type of inlet design. This is a better article: https://hushkit.net/2020/03/16/how-all-fighter-planes-suck-an-idiots-guide-to-supersonic-air-intake The main reason why (some) supersonic fighters use variable inlets, instead of fixed ones is efficiency and speed. A variable inlet allows the jet to operate efficiently at all speeds in it's flight envelope. Yes it is more complex, but if it allows the jet to have longer legs and attain higher top speeds then that is a pretty good tradeoff. Especially considering the fact that the F14 is a big and heavy jet to begin with. 1 Specs: Win10, i5-13600KF, 32GB DDR4 RAM 3200XMP, 1 TB M2 NVMe SSD, KFA2 RTX3090, VR G2 Headset, Warthog Throttle+Saitek Pedals+MSFFB2 Joystick.
Despayre Posted February 5, 2023 Posted February 5, 2023 3 hours ago, Lurker said: <snip> ... Especially considering the fact that the F14 is a big and heavy jet to begin with. Are you calling my girl fat?! I'm not updating this anymore. It's safe to assume I have all the stuff, and the stuff for the stuff too.
Alicatt Posted February 5, 2023 Posted February 5, 2023 Like the Mig-21 and the English Electric Lightning, both look fairly similar from the front, while the Mig had a variable intake cone, the Lightning had a fixed one and the intake cone on the Lightning was one of it's limitations in its max speed due to the shock wave not slowing down the air at the right point and over heating the cone due to air friction, which was what ultimately limited the speed of the aircraft. Sons of Dogs, Come Eat Flesh Clan Cameron
WarthogOsl Posted February 5, 2023 Posted February 5, 2023 9 hours ago, Lurker said: rs use variable inlets, instead of fixed ones is efficiency and speed. A variable inlet allows the jet to operate efficiently at all speeds in it's flight envelope. Yes it is more complex, but if it allows the jet to have longer legs and attain higher top speeds then that is a pretty good tradeoff. Especially considering the fact that the F14 is a big and heavy jet to begin with. The thing is, the F-14 was originally designed as a Mach 2+ airplane and Mach 2+ airplanes typically have variable intakes. Planes intended to fly at less then or not much over Mach 2 tend to have fixed intakes, for example, the F-16, F-18, Rafale, and even the F-22. And although the F-14 had been as fast as Mach 2.4 (according to test pilot Kurt Schroeder), there were some other structural issues that limited them operationally to less then Mach 2. These could have been addressed, but apparently the Navy didn't feel M2+ speed was important enough to spend the money on it (again, according to Mr. Schroeder). So the plane could have probably been designed and built with a fixed inlet, had the need to go over Mach 2 not been a design requirement. And it probably would have been fine that way.
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