Article

2014-12-09 Science

The USAF Has To Re-Paint Its Trucks Because The F-35 Can’t Fly On Warm Fuel

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Posted by BrerRabbit 2014-12-09 05:20|| || Front Page|| [4 views ] Top

#1 This'll work well on a combat deployment.

Posted by ed in texas 2014-12-09 08:20|| 2014-12-09 08:20|| Front Page Top

#2 Beat me to the article Brer...echo what ed in Tx says...after all, we'd never have to use these in a desert climate right? Somewhere in the bush I heard a warthog laughing..

Posted by Warthog 2014-12-09 09:17|| 2014-12-09 09:17|| Front Page Top

#3 Seems like something that might have been noticed before product rollout, like maybe during testing. Do you suppose this is what General Wassisname was referring to when he said global warming was one of the biggest problems our military faced?

Though the cost of the paint is $3,900 per-truck, it’s undoubtedly cheaper than another costly fix to the entire fleet, which uses the fuel as a coolant to absorb heat from the JSF’s powerful subsystems before passing into the engine.

Y'all need to find whoever did that cost/benefit analysis and give them a good smack. I suspect there are some bigger issues beyond the cost of a paint job. On the other hand, the F-35 will likely do well in the coming Ice Age.

Posted by SteveS 2014-12-09 09:22|| 2014-12-09 09:22|| Front Page Top

#4 Great. A very expensive, yet supersonic, snowflake.

Posted by Whitch Cresh1620 2014-12-09 09:42|| 2014-12-09 09:42|| Front Page Top

#5 Maybe to extend the cooling effects after the bird is fueled, the F-35 can be painted pink, like WWII birds and even as recent as Have Blue (F-117 prototype)
Added benefit; it fits nicely with the diversity-based military so all the gays will have something to prance around.....

Posted by USN, Ret. 2014-12-09 10:27|| 2014-12-09 10:27|| Front Page Top

#6 Adding glitter to the paint would increase both the reflectivity and the gaiety (heh). Let the prancing begin!

Posted by SteveS 2014-12-09 10:41|| 2014-12-09 10:41|| Front Page Top

#7 Who designed this stupid plane? Our worst enemy?

Posted by gorb 2014-12-09 11:41|| 2014-12-09 11:41|| Front Page Top

#8 The F-35 hasn't killed pilots like the F-22 as of yet, the howls will amplify. Now, seriously if we cancel the F-35 ABC, what shall we replace it with? You in the back, "Something better and cheaper!" Pick one, "cheaper?" Okay, let's reopen the F-16 line? "Better then?" Alright rebuild the jigs for the F-22. We can afford, umm,... 24.

Srsly, F-18x for the air force, navy, marines, Fleet Air Arm et. Al.?

Or fix the F-35 like we've fixed generation after generation of cutting edge aircraft?

Posted by Shipman 2014-12-09 12:56|| 2014-12-09 12:56|| Front Page Top

#9 Shipman: the F-35 is a boondoogle from the get go. Too complex for the USMC in the forward areas ( look for that damn lift fan to be the #1 maintenance issue),
and the build tolerances were damn hardtoo meet; in a former life I was the QA manager for the company that trimmed and drilled the panels for the aircraft ( 5 axis CNC) hole tolerances were +/- 0.004" and if you were outside that, the panel was a reject pending L-M engineers. and these holes were frickkin' pilot holes; they got drilled up full size on the ass'y line. The carbon fiber recipe that was used was so sensitive to edge delamination during the milling that we had to track how many inches we cut with each diamond tipped cutter and replace them, sometimes after only 40 inches of travel. at north of $400 per.....
Yeah mark me down for a re-opening of the F-22 and since the tooling and engineering is all paid for, toss in a sh!tload of the damn Lawn Darts. Consider them expendable. Remember they were originally the A-7 replacement.

Posted by USN, Ret. 2014-12-09 13:51|| 2014-12-09 13:51|| Front Page Top

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