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Raptor returns to the air; AF to lift grounding order


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Hi All,

I know we have been chatting about this for months, thought you would enjoy the read.

Raptor story

John

Unless I am missing something are they really going to resume flying this thing without correcting (or even completely identifying) a problem which resulted in multiple incidents, any of which had a high possibility to cause a fatal crash? Apparently this aircraft has the potential to asphyxiate it's pilots. Yet the AF is pushing to get it back in the air without correcting the issue?

Really?

I find this statement (if true) to be especially disturbing:

"Mainly, they have pressure to fly the jet to stop the bad press about the $100-plus- million static displays," the source said.

The F-22 Raptor: the worlds' premier fighter aircraft*

* From 0 - 10,000'

Edited by 11bee
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Gents:

If it were the height of the Cold War this grounding would not have occurred. There was an article attributed to the AF Chief of Staff on the web yesterday that the Alaskan crash was not the result of the OBOGS failure but no details were given. “A more thorough investigation of the crash site was possible during the recent summer months and yielded recovered hardware and computer memory that made a more comprehensive analysis possible. Completion of an accident investigation board report, long delayed due to difficulties in assessing the wreckage, is expected soon, Schwartz said.” Think I will wait until the report is released detailing the cause.

Although they appear bulky for the cockpit environment there are oxygen sensors that read blood oxygen level that clip to a finger and have a read-out device much like a watch on your wrist.

The bottom line is if you run an engine in a confined space like a hanger without enough air exchanges to remove the exhaust products you will lower oxygen levels and introduce contaminents in the air. If you are ever in an automobile assembly plant look at the amount of ventilation and exhaust you see in the areas where the vehicle engines are ran. A lot of money goes into making that area of a plant safe to work in. The health and safety folks routinely monitor the oxygen levels there.

Mark S.

Edited by Mark S.
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The bro-network vs. physiologist battle is interesting..would be better to know the whole story. It also sounds like the seat-pan oxygen system can be activated to supplement the O2 level of the OBOGS and maintain the system pressure.

Interesting article Dave....raised eyebrow reading between the lines because they really didn't say anything other than they were going to fly again.

thx,

Spongebob

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