Random Thoughts and the new F-302X
Supervisor transferred me to another shift as he needed seniority to help stabilize turnover, so am dealing with schedule jet lag.
F-302 Flight Dynamics
..not currently listed on public access internet, save for the standard metric.
A delta wing is naturally stable and produces vortex lift, so the flow separation can be made into increasing lift. This augmented lift comes at an expense of high drag, but as a by-product of the traditional delta wing design. A reverse delta wing is nothing but an inverted delta wing, the forward swept wings were inspired from this design. One difference between a swept-back wing versus the swept-forward wing is that the deformation is maximal at the leading edge of the tip for the swept-forward wing. Meaning that the tip will tend to twist upward resulting in an increase of the angle of attack of tip. However, for the swept back wing the tip will tend to reduce its angle of attack. With sufficient leading edge sweep, a delta wing produces vortex lift, so flow separation can be turned into a means of increasing lift. A delta wing is naturally stable in pitch, therefore it does not require a separate tail surface.
Typically delta wings have more surface area than swept wings of the same size, and lift generated is a simple matter of surface area, so delta wings indeed produce more lift than similarly sized swept- or straight-wing counterparts. The reverse delta does a few things. First, you don't get leading edge vortices like a regular delta. Instead the leading edge behaves like a rectangular wing so you only have tip vortices. The reverse taper lessens the effect of the tip vortices. According to one study the reverse delta also has lower yaw when banking due to the lift being closer to the root.
The aerodynamics of a forward swept wing (ie: reverse delta) shows that air moving over it tends to flow inward toward the root of the wing instead of outward toward the wingtip, as occurs on sweptback wings. This reverse airflow does not allow the wingtips and their ailerons to stall at high angles of attack. This configuration would provide a number of advantages, such as higher lift-to-drag ratio, higher capability in dogfight maneuvers, higher range at subsonic speed, improved stall resistance and antispin characteristics, improved stability at high angles of attack, a lower minimum flight speed, and shorter takeoff and landing distances. As printed in ARC (Aeronautical Research Central, vol 48 issue 1) Early investigations into the aerodynamics of reverse delta wings were carried out by NACA in 1947, showing that a reverse delta wing has certain favorable aerodynamic characteristics that can be exploited for efficient supersonic flight.
Gerhardt has also studied the reverse delta wing at high Mach numbers and has observed significant differences between the regular delta wing and a reverse delta wing. According to his study, surface pressure contours of a reverse delta wing are expected to exhibit a more regular change in pressure than a delta wing and strong pressure gradients are expected to be confined to the trailing-edge regions. In 1999 Northrup Grumman designed a reverse delta wing supersonic transport claiming that reverse delta wing design allows additional lift to be created at low speeds, reducing power requirements and therefore noise during the environmentally crucial takeoff and landing phases. Recent investigations into the vortex characteristics of the reverse delta wing showed promising results. Their investigation suggests that a reverse delta wing, as a wake alleviation add-on device, may excite some instability through stable laminar or unstable wave phase or through modifying the vortex roll-up process as a result of interaction with the turbulent phase.
This can lead to rapid diffusion of vorticity, which can enhance wake-vortex decay and thus lead to wake-vortex alleviation. Vortex flows play a vital role in modern aerodynamic applications such as the control of wingtip vortexes of large aircraft so as to minimize the hazard posed by trailing aircraft from such wake-vortex encounters. Vortices created by aircraft are an inevitable consequence of the generation of lift. Vortices persist for many miles, and wake-vortex encounters pose a grave hazard to trailing aircraft that fly in close proximity near the airport runway, especially during takeoff and landing, because the tip vortex circulation is at maximum. This limits the spacing between aircraft within the takeoff and landing corridors at busy airports and hence increases the time intervals between consecutive landings and takeoff.
Two of the drawback concerns of forward swept wings from earlier designs was the increased chance of wing torsional divergence. An aeroelastic consequence of the lift force on forward swept wings twisting the tip upwards under increased lift. Until the moment when the air load is greater than the structural torsional stiffness of the wing to the point where structural failure occurs. On a forward-swept design, this causes a positive feedback loop that increases the angle of incidence at the tip, increasing lift and inducing further deflection, resulting in yet more lift and additional changes in wing shape. Such an increase in tip lift under load causes the wing to tighten into turns and may result in a spiral dive from which recovery is not possible. In the worst case, the wing structure can be stressed to the point of failure. The effect of divergence increases with speed. The maximum safe speed below which this does not happen is the divergence speed of the aircraft. Secondly a forward swept wing inadvertently increases g's during a turn when nothing had been demanded by the pilot. The increasing g's was caused by a loss in wing rigidity. The rigidity problem was solved by creation of wings with composite materials. Grumman did this with their supercritical wing. The F-302 was built with an onboard inertia dampener to further mitigate the possibility of excessive strain on the pilot during high-g emergency maneuvers. Similar in theory to the earthquake dampener used in skyscrapers, the tuned mass dampener is an ongoing experimental development in newer fighter-interceptor aircraft models used by the U.S. Air Force. It uses a counterweight system to lessen the amplitude of mechanical vibration by absorbing kinetic energy from the system.
While conventional aircraft rely on protruding fins to enable steering, a tailless design makes the body as smooth and sleek as possible, making it safer to fly in dangerous areas where radar scans the sky for sharp edges as a delta wing does not require a horizontal tail. Theoretical advantages of the tailless configuration include low parasitic drag as on the Horten H. IV soaring glider and good stealth characteristics as on the Northrop B-2 Spirit bomber. European delta wing military aircraft, certainly in the past, were designed for fast sprints over relatively short distances where the delta's supersonic characteristics are a benefit, The delta wing, for example, has low drag at high speeds due to its swept-back shape, and it weighs less, which allows more fuel to be carried or a larger payload. Delta wings have a lower aspect ratio or AR. A high aspect ratio wing (a wing with less chord to length dimensions) features greater maneuverability and more lift. In landing, the double delta experiences a ground-cushion effect which allows for lower landing speeds. This is important since three-quarters of the airplane accidents occur in take-off and landing. This relates to the F-302 as with their reverse delta wing design, they are not restricted from delay in timed intervals for landing or taking off as a squadron. But in reality, many of them can takeoff or land at the same time or else in quick succession. This means that at a moments notice, more F-302's can be in the air to intercept incoming enemy craft than what could be put in the air from regular swept wing fighter-interceptor designs.
And lastly, the name of the new F-302 squadron has been chosen to accompany the soon-to-roll-out newly developed F-302X.. both of which would be named, "Banshee". The name is in reference to the experimental mid-range weapon system which is meant for more durable and fast targets which has A.I. tracking which was in response for Homeworld Command to come up with a more effective weapon for enemies like the Wraith dart. The sound it made during testing reminded one of the engineers of what a Banshee would sound like, and the end result after it hit the fast moving target drone.. was surely a death sentence worthy of any Banshee of legend. Previous names for F-302 fighter interceptor squadrons were generally reminiscently tagged from the enemy that particular squadron would have faced, rather than the weapon system the F-302 carried. So this new fighter-interceptor breaks conventions, in both weaponry as well as it's name.. as this squadron would find it's home in the new refit of the BC-304 Daedalus. The new F-302X will be fueled by General Electric XA-100 atmospheric engines with a maximum thrust of 45,000 pounds. Also the new F-302X uses never seen before heat resistant materials which means that the engines can work best at higher temperatures. Part of the United States "Next Generation Air Dominance" program. NGAD originates from DARPA"s Air Dominance Initiative study in 2014, and is expected to field the new domestic version of fighter aircraft in the 2030's.
The new F-302X can fly either manned, or on it's own and is the next generation fighter-interceptor aircraft built not just for air superiority but air dominance. It has a range of features that make it different.
The leading edge of it's reverse Delta wing is not a smooth rounded edge like the standard F-302. Rather it has tubercles along the length of it which smooths the lift/drag distribution to further increase fuel efficiency, meaning the F-302X can stay longer in a dogfight. With it's open sleek design, the F-302X allows for different sensors, payloads and weapons depending on the mission. But it's arsenal is crazy. The new F-302X is made to hold and use gimbaled directed energy weapons. They travel at the speed of light, has unlimited magazine and if there is a threat.. it will be gone in less than a second after being target-locked. However to make things so much better, the F-302X has sensors and electronics built into it's body. This not only improves sensor envelope performance but further reduces drag. Taking it's speed and maneuverability to the next level. It also can use a sonic boom.. to kill. Pentagon strategists theorized a worse case scenario of a F-302 facing an entrenched enemy ground infantry foothold situation while the F-302 arsenal inventory was depleted. This resultant theorem, based off the Russian M25 Hell Reaper, would have a modified F-302 to use it's sonic boom as a deadly weapon without the need for traditional weapons. This modified F-302 would be like no F-302 design made before. With a more powerful engine, the bottom of the modified F-302 would have a deployable ledge. When lowered, this ledge would unleash a unique shockwave capable of decimating structures, obliterating tanks, and ending lives. If everything went to plan, when the modified F-302 reached it's operating speed in excess of Mach 1.4, and fly as low to the ground as possible to create destruction. The battlefield would be wiped clean as if applying an eraser to a whiteboard.
Previous & active squadron names being Darkstar Titans, Death Angels, Dragon Riders, Flying Tigers, and Wraithwaxers.
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Euclidean Hyperspatial Construct
To a mathematician, a whiteboard is as tempting as a blank canvas to a painter. Whereas the interplay of brushstroke nuance from various color densities flow to create a tapestry-like symmetry reminiscent of a masterpiece painting in an art gallery that patron and guests alike stand in awe of.. lost in the moment of the "now" of it's presence. For a mathematician, the danger is likewise relatively real in becoming lost in the moment of the "now" from the interplay as the abstract algebraic expression is expanded upon a whiteboard. As the mathematician "observer" is drawn into a hyperbolic spatial structure environment of computational geometry where their sensorium at that point.. "I" feeling more like a a collection of different points which has the property of "moving" around that experiential space and are endowed with a distance metric so that those points can come closer to one other, merging.. transforming one another to produce something like interference and superposition. The
dynamics of this experience feeling very deep and fundamental.. like a general populace individual observing a skilled dancer expressing an underlying interplay of living energy from the "
friendships" song by Pascal Letoublon. Being a "wow" moment of experiencing it for the first time in not only "hearing" the music but "feeling" the music.. kind of mesmerizing, like a moth to a flame.
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Hyperspace Travel
In the 1967 Stern-Gerlach experiment, when a dipole magnet is set anti-parallel to a larger magnetic field in the direction unstable against rotation, an unnatural position where if it's off a little it's unstable equilibrium will swing around to correct itself. In a uniform field, there's no net force on the dipole magnet. But in a non-uniform field where current is applied through only one coil, a dipole magnet placed in a stable position will move toward a stronger magnetic field with the current applied to it. But in a non-uniform field, there is a net force on the dipole magnet depending on how it is oriented, as an unstable position will move toward the weak end of the magnetic field. In a simplified manner, given recorded preset stellar environment conditions within a course of travel to calculate a navigational route along, a field gradient compensator is utilized to minimize plot deviations known as active course corrections. As actively adjusting for a major course correction while traversing hyperspace would either result in being kicked out of hyperspace (best case scenario) or would destabilize the ship's "bubble" to the point of it's collapse, thus rendering 3-dimensional coherent matter to the explosive deterioration of 4-dimensional space as every atom in your body decides to essentially evaporate (umm.. not so great).
Hyperspace is a shadow of the real world in which a ship enters another dimension, allowing a ship to take a right angle to our 3-D universe through a 4th dimension and take a shortcut to the other side of the galaxy (A single line is a 1-dimensional construct. 90* from that space becomes 2-dimensional. 90* from that and space becomes 3-dimensional. 90* from that and you experience 4-dimensional space). Hyperspace has to be precisely calculated taking advantage of a ship's mass and speed, then the ship has to maintain speed in hyperspace to safely make it to their destination. And there is an inherent risk in navigating hyperspace over long distances as everything that had mass (planets, stars, black holes, etc) exerted influence as a shadow in hyperspace. These hazards had to be navigated around during the initial precise calculations as the larger the gravitational shadow (gravitic ripples) nearer your route of travel, the more likely your ship would be thrown out of hyperspace and into real space to face unknown circumstances in that area of space.
And as in the earlier example of that mathematician who became lost in the abstract expression as they mentally became entranced in the collection of "points" seeming to move as that mathematical expression was expanded. Where the "points" describe "matter" and "forces" not as zero dimensional dots called "particles", but as 1-dimensional objects that we called "strings".. thus "string theory". Whereas our 3-dimensional space is a giant 3-dimensional membrane of spacetime. That all the vibrating particles of the universe are the ends of "strings" that vibrate in a 10-dimensional "hyperspace". That if a ship could disconnect those ends of the "strings" from this 3-brane universe, that ship could travel through a higher dimension. And hyperspace travel would be shorter if our 3-brane space were folded onto itself in that higher dimension or if hyperspace itself were curved in the right way whereas our travel would be shorter than travel along the same route down along the 3-dimensional normal space. Although our route taken in hyperspace would be shorter, we ourselves as 3-dimensional bodies could not exist in 4-dimensional hyperspace because that would change the laws of normal space physics (unless you count "
gravity" whose spatial warping ability is felt almost everywhere). In our "normal" space, electromagnetism holds atoms together in that the field is created at the point of charge and the further out from the charge it gets.. the weaker it gets. In 4-dimensions, the electric field would have to spread out through the surface volume, so the electric field density would drop off exponentially.
This would mean that "normal space" atoms could not exist as electrons could not be bound to the nuclei, which in turn you would cease to exist as every atom in your body loses cohesion and you disperse everywhere.. like bug splatter on the windshield of reality which is the 4th dimension. That doesn't mean that there wouldn't be absolutely no matter in a 4-dimensional space. It would just have fundamentally different properties from "matter" in our 3-dimensional space. The main question to theoretical mathematicians isn't "how SHOULD hyperspace travel be less impractical", but more "how COULD we get a ship to travel through the 4-dimensional hyperspace without disintegrating"? It was earlier (than me) theorized to have a "bubble" of 3-D space that the ship sits in, and have that "bubble" be transported through hyperspace. Similar in a kindergarten concept manner to how in a popular sci-fi show whereas a warp bubble envelops a ship and that ship is carried within that warp bubble to it's destination. But warp travel and hyperspace travel are entirely different concepts as warp travel is a marble rolling along a table surface whereas hyperspace you rip open the table and shortcut the marble to the other side. Yep, hyperspace engines run on testosterone.. or so I've overheard from engineers in the cafeteria.
And different from travel within a warp field when looking out from a ship window as stars streak by, travel within a hyperspace "bubble" was theorized to be a mirror surface showing the reverse viewpoint from whichever window you looked from. Looking out from the front of the ship, you would see the rear of the ship on the surface of the hyperspace bubble. Looking out from the left side of the ship, you would see the right side of the ship. From the top would see the bottom, and vise versa to all window perspectives. Of course this was theorized that our 3-dimensional brain couldn't comprehend the spatial geography of 4-dimensional space, so our brain wouldn't process that information and would disregard it leaving it as an unperceived invisible sensory "image". However with modern software technologies, as used in both the Hubble and the James Webb space telescopes, imagery from outside our visual frequency spectrum could be sped up or slowed down in order for them to fit within our visual range of perception. So interior ship windows are really an encased liquid crystal layer embedded within the glass to act as display monitors relaying sensor information from outside our normal range of perception so that crew members could "see" during hyperspace travel then become translucent while in normal space to look out of. So one theoretical problem solved through engineer ingenuity, whereas another still looms.. how to interact with/and mine a 4-dimensional state of matter from within a 4-dimensional hyperspace?
