J-20... The New Generation Fighter III

i.e. said:

these airplanes are not designed to roll around at airshows speeds.

Click to expand...

So it's a speed envelope issue.

and altitude, regarding the EODAS rumor, the speculated areas can provide 360 degrees coverage for such system, and i think we've seen some of it or rather the placeholders

latenlazy said:

The sagging nature of those inlet plugs makes me wonder why they didn't make inlet plugs that fit better...

Click to expand...

Are those plugs secured with...tape?

My guess is that this is probably a problem caused by the secrecy surrounding the plane.

I do not believe CAC makes inlet plugs themselves, which means that if they wanted perfect fitting ones, they will need to supply the exact dimensions of the J20's inlets to a supplier, who is unlikely to have been cleared for the level of secrecy the J20 is at present.

The other possibility is that they are still experimenting with the RAM, and as such does not want a too snug fit in case the plugs damage the RAM paint around the DSI and intakes.

I'm convinced that CAC staff just cut them from thick list of foam and slightly missed the correct size

[video=youtube;xXKTLvtX35s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXKTLvtX35s[/video]

0:50-1:10

also caught some crosswind, good handling by pilot

Is it just me or the video was slowed down? Otherwise, the J-20 could probably be doing testing on low-speed flying, takeoff and landing.

Love that classic song from "Excalibur".

flateric said:

I don't know statistics of J-10 using AL-31FN vs. using WS-10A and crash statistics for both. Seems that this statistics caused CAC to buy 123 more AL-31FNs in July 2011 with option of 127 more after 2013. Seems also that RD-93 satisfies them too.

Click to expand...

All J-10s that were crashed used Al-31FN, none used WS-10A. Most of the crashes were caused by lubricant issue from the Al-31FN. This doesn't indicate Al-31FN has better reliability than WS-10A.

J-10A is designed to use Russian engine. So when CAC builds more J-10As, of course they will have to buy more Russian engines. Again, this has nothing to do with reliability.

Production J-11Bs are fitted with WS-10As before J-20 had its first flight. If WS-10A isn't reliable, J-11Bs wouldn't entire serial production.

How many J-10As built? How many J-11Bs built? How many AL-31FN equipped J-10As crashed because of engine? Was the cause engine 'built-in' faults or servicing problems? You want to say that you have read investigation board reports?

That's plain statistics. Now CAC officials looks like masochists from your description - buying new and new 'bad' AL-31FN instead of redesigning J-10s for such reliable Taihang.

flateric said:

How many J-10As built? How many J-11Bs built? How many AL-31FN equipped J-10As crashed because of engine? Was the cause engine 'built-in' faults or servicing problems? You want to say that you have read investigation board reports?

Click to expand...

You are the one who suggested Al-31 is more reliable, yet facts fly in your face as I have shown. Al-31FN having lubricant issues is a well known problem, and is the cause for most of the crashes. This doesn't sound at all like Al-31 being more reliable than WS-10A.

flateric said:

That's plain statistics. Now CAC officials looks like masochists from your description - buying new and new 'bad' AL-31FN instead of redesigning J-10s for such reliable Taihang.

Click to expand...

They did redesigned the J-10 for Taihang -- it's called J-10B. Meanwhile, they will have to stick with the not-so-reliable Al-31FN when building more J-10As.