"Jim Carriere" wrote in message
...
John Carrier wrote:

"Thomas Schoene" wrote in message
ink.net...

John Carrier wrote:

On its first pass, the Super Hornet screamed along at more than 650
miles an hour, just 96 feet above the main runway. Soon it circled
back, touched down on the tarmac for an instant, then went into a
steep climb, afterburner roaring, and disappeared in the skies.

SNIP

You're sure now. Not 95 feet, not 97, but precisely 96 feet?

I'd bet it's a radar altimeter value from the aircraft's flight data
recorder (yes, newer military aircraft do have FDRs). Probably written
up in the incident report.


Never seen a radalt that read to single digits. T-45 airborne data
recorder (probably similar to F-18) get radalt in tens of feet, pressure
alt in 20's.

Maybe it remembers radalt in multiples of 8 or 16 feet?

The article could have been better written. We have an approximate "more
than 650mph" [true or indicated?] followed by an exact "96 feet" in the
same sentence. What are they teeching the schooles in these days?

Just looked at the article. If it was a superbug, it's doubtful it was
doing 650 anyway. Them's jets is slooowww, man. (F-8U1 was faster in 1955
.... the Navy's first 1000mph jet.) But the bugs can sure generate alpha!

R / John