An “Avoidable” Mishap

By lex, on March 4th, 2009

The F/A-18 is a wonderfully simple aircraft for a pilot to merely fly, a fact made possible by its hideous internal complexity. This complexity is hidden from the pilot (thank God!) by brilliant engineering. After having once heard a lecture on the flight control system, I remarked to a companion that it reminded me of the Schleswig-Holstein dispute: Only three men had ever really understood it; one had died, another had gone mad and the third had forgotten everything.

One of the main innovations in the transition from the F/A-18A to the C-model was a motive flow system – essentially an eductor that uses forced fuel flow to move more fuel from place to place. The motive flow system was slightly more complicated (but much lighter) than the mechanically operated, engine driven boost pump it had replaced. From the pilot’s perspective however, fuel just moved when it was supposed to – the internal system is entirely automated, there are no switches to throw.

Credo

"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me."

— John Paul Jones

"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature"

— George Bernard Shaw, Caesar and Cleopatra

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."

— Friedrich Nietzsche

"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."

— Edmund Burke

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— Leonidas

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— Neptunus Lex