On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:31:00 +0000, Malcolm wrote:

In article , Andrew Swallow
writes
On 11/01/2011 18:53, Dan wrote:
{snip}


Let them steal a chip design with a built in flaw such that it can be
remotely commanded to cause major system failure. Essentially one
could get the Red Chinese to construct an airplane with a built in
bomb.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

The danger with that one is that our own aeroplanes have the save flaw.

Andrew Swallow

Not necessarily. Remember Concorde and Concordski? There were strong
rumours that the Russians had agents who acquired plans/details for
Concorde. The two aircraft were certainly fairly similar. The UK
and/or French got wind of it and fed in some duff data. Hence the crash
and demise of Concordski.

Uhm, no - not even close.
The Tu 144 has a configuration closer to the Lockheed L-2000 design for the
U.S. funded SST than the Concorde.
The Tu-144 loss at the Paris Air Show was due to maneuvering the airplane
outside of its known limits, leading to both a loss of control and engine
stall/stagnation due to the airflow through the inlet system being disturbed.
( Whether the airplane was being maneuvered too aggressively by the
pilot to put on a good show or to avoid an Armee de l'Air Mirage is in
some dispute, but is ultimately irrelevant.)
What led to the Tu 144 being dropped out of what passed for commercial
service in the U.S.S.R was its poor operating economy.


Not sure how true it is BUT I live about a mile from Filton and in an
area where there were a lot of people who worked on the project. When
new neighbours moved in next door about ten years ago they started
stripping wallpaper and found a thin wire similar to a radio aerial
running round the picture rail of a back bedroom........... One of the
previous owners was an aircraft engineer.

Why would the Soviets try to steal secrets about the (Very nice but never
viable - much too short ranged for proper international airline use)
Concorde when there was much better supersonic cruise technology
to go after? (XB-70, A-12/SR-71, SCAT, LES)


--
Pete Stickney
Failure is not an option
It comes bundled with the system