fellex Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 As you can see, there is a red line on Iranian air force tomcat's after-fuselage. And it can been seen on the Iranian phantoms and free-fighters too. who can tell me what's it? Link to post Share on other sites
Erdferkel Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 That line marks the place in the engines were the most fast moving parts of the engine are located. So in case of an emergency just stay clear of that line and anythng behind it, because you might be hit by parts flying away from that area Link to post Share on other sites
Spunk-Y Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 well in the F-16 manual it states that it marks the location of the Turbine of the engine, witch is the hottest moving part in the engine Link to post Share on other sites
Bob Perry Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 The stripes are not limited to Iranian machines. Have a google for German and Greek Phantoms where they were commonly seen. IIRC, they were also on USAF F-4Es early on. Link to post Share on other sites
Bullet101 Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 (edited) USN F-14's also had them before the switch to lo-vis and now have then in grey if they have them Edited January 1, 2006 by Bullet101 Link to post Share on other sites
oscardeuce Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 They are dark stripes on our Hueys at the compressor also. Keep away high velocity shrapnel! Link to post Share on other sites
AlienFrogModeller Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 They are to mark the High Pressure Turbine or HPT. This is where most of the a/c energy is collected and turned into Thrust(in a nutshell). The HPT takes the brunt of the energy from the Combustor( that's where fuel and air are mixed and turned into energy). On earlier aircraft during the 60s/70's the aircraft was marked to indicated the danger area, if one of the turbine blades let loose this is the area which it will. They are the biggest fattest blades in the engine that carry alot of energy/momentum. Engines during this time had a reasonable percentage of letting loose. But todays engines are controlled by computers and have a very small chance of letting loose. Cheers Link to post Share on other sites
Murph Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 FWIW, and on the same principle, many USAAC twin engine aircraft in WW II had a red line on the fuselage showing where the props would hit the fuselage if they shattered during a belly landing. Regards, Murph Link to post Share on other sites
Spongebob Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 FWIW, and on the same principle, many USAAC twin engine aircraft in WW II had a red line on the fuselage showing where the props would hit the fuselage if they shattered during a belly landing. The E-2 still has them...along with a "starter turbine plane" stripe on the nacelles. HTH Spongebob Link to post Share on other sites
A6BSTARM Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 Yep. That is the area where you don't want to stand at when the engine is turning, it is called the prop ARC. Since you might get a free haircut by the prop. Also most props are marked with a high vis marking to make them more visable in the daylight when they are spinning so that people don't walk into them. My first cruise I watch a blue shirt try twice to walk into the prop ARC and was finally tackled by the line chief of VAW-124 and slapped around before the kid realized what he was doing. He was operating on autopilot trying to get ready and chock and chain the bird to the deck after the final recovery for the day. Link to post Share on other sites
David Walker Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 Unfortunately my father DID see a mechanic get a "hair-cut" from a P-61 on Iwo Jima in 1945. Back then I don't think they had the red danger stripes. Not that it really would have mattered: this guy got his height adjustment by driving a Jeep into the prop ARC. Apparently it was pretty ugly. Link to post Share on other sites
Karl Sander Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 Yep. That is the area where you don't want to stand at when the engine is turning, it is called the prop ARC. Since you might get a free haircut by the prop. Also most props are marked with a high vis marking to make them more visable in the daylight when they are spinning so that people don't walk into them. My first cruise I watch a blue shirt try twice to walk into the prop ARC and was finally tackled by the line chief of VAW-124 and slapped around before the kid realized what he was doing. He was operating on autopilot trying to get ready and chock and chain the bird to the deck after the final recovery for the day. I don't even like watching them taxi by me, even when I'm safely enclosed in my own piece of Grumman Iron Works. No offense to the Hawkeye bretheren on the board but that's too many moving parts - and I've got the irrational fear that one day one of those moving parts will separate from it's intended mounting place and head straight for me, wherever I happen to be! :blink: Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 (edited) Back in the days of high power radial engines, props sometimes "ran away" when prop governors or other parts failed and they turned at high rpm until the shaft or blades failed. The red line indicated the impact point of separating blades or entire props. If you were inside the fuselage lined up with the red line, the prop going through the fuselage would ruin your whole day. Darwin Edited January 2, 2006 by yardbird78 Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Fleming Posted January 2, 2006 Share Posted January 2, 2006 If you ever fly on a Dash 8, you will see a piece of double thickness skin (armour) where the prop is adjacent to the skin just in case..... Link to post Share on other sites
David Walker Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 If you ever fly on a Dash 8, you will see a piece of double thickness skin (armour) where the prop is adjacent to the skin just in case..... Well, not necessarily. I flew SA-227 Metroliners for about three years and we had that metal plating on our planes too but not to protect it from a prop blade coming loose. (trust me, double thickness skin wouldn't stop the blade) It's there because the heated prop blades throw the ice there and over time it beats the crap out of the fuselage skin. Link to post Share on other sites
jotter Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Well, not necessarily. I flew SA-227 Metroliners for about three years and we had that metal plating on our planes too but not to protect it from a prop blade coming loose. (trust me, double thickness skin wouldn't stop the blade) It's there because the heated prop blades throw the ice there and over time it beats the crap out of the fuselage skin. Whoa...I didn't even know prop blades could be heated... Link to post Share on other sites
David Walker Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 (edited) Yeah, it's pretty common in upper-level prop twins and most all turbo props. And it makes a heck of a racket when the ice starts hitting the fuselage. Edited January 5, 2006 by David Walker Link to post Share on other sites
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