I think the radome could be an upgrade from black (Carbon Fiber composites) to gray (Silicon Carbide Fiber composite) for better high temperature performance. Not sure about the patches on the body.
China Flanker Thread II
- Thread starter sumdud
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I think the radome could be an upgrade from black (Carbon Fiber composites) to gray (Silicon Carbide Fiber composite) for better high temperature performance. Not sure about the patches on the body.
those "patches" are either Titanium or Stainless skins around the gun,, they are heat-resistant and unpainted on purpose, carbon fibre would not stand up to the heat, and aluminum wouldn't like it at all either, not to mention that the paint won't stay on!
as to the light gray over the glare shield, it is much easier on the eyes, and makes your panel more aesthetic and easier on the eyes, lighter greys, even some shades of white are often chosen to make your "instrument scan" more intuitive, as the faces of your instruments stand out from their lighter background and draw your eyes to them, rather than having dark faced instruments in a dark panel, you instrument seems to "get lost" or be harder to "pick out of the cluster"..
Whatever the J-11BS radome is made of, it won't be carbon fibre - which is radio-opaque! Typically the switch to grey from black in radomes is a question of camouflage (F-16A, Tornado GR.1/4), glossy black is just very visible (which can be taken advantage of too, it's the reason why the RAF paints its trainers glossy black).
Can't comment on why the glare shield was changed though.
kwaigonegin
Colonel
Can I ask a dumb question? I understand carbon is radio opaque but how is it possible for many lugguages to be made from carbon fibre or carbon composites and yet go through Xray machines at the airport fine?!
For the most part both uses xrays and I do not believe carbon fiber distinguishes between fairly similar frequency spectrum.
Radio waves are lower energy on the EM spectrum, lower than visible light. X rays are higher energy, higher than visible light.
If we want to get *really* specific it also has to do with the orbitals of the molecular components in a material and how they react to specific parts of the spectrum, as well as aggregate interaction to the beam of all materials involved. The higher energy more penetration idea is a general rule of thumb. This is why certain materials can be tuned for blocking certain kinds of EM radiation (why something may be permeable to radio waves but not visible light, for example).
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