Lockheed's F-22 Raptor Gets Zapped by International Date Line

DailyTech LLC ^ | February 26, 2007 | Brandon Hill

[60Gunner]

I happen to be a Golden Dragon.

Crossed the line in June of 1986. Crossed the IDL in July of 86.

Bluenose? Elaborate, please. My addled brain needs help with that one.

[Doohickey]

Bluenose is for crossing the Arctic Circle, which is at about 66°30'n.

[Little Ray]

AND we have the DST issue comeing up ... Hope their software has been updated and tested!

[HardStarboard]

OK, I've had conversations about the F-22 computer IDL meltdown with both my pilot friends, one a United DC-10 Captain (not NWA as I thought), the other a Navy F-4 jockey out of Nam and early Top Gun school at Miramar.

Nothing earth shattering or gems of wisdom that would have overcome the situation.

The United pilot flew DC-10's from West coast to Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. He retired right on the cusp of GPS adoption by most airlines but United at the time did not want to make navigation dependent on an "outside" entity and stuck with an on-board Inertial Navigation system. His reaction was same as mine - except for the presence of the Tankers, we could have had a situation like the 6 Grumman Avengers disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle in 1947.

The F-4 jock just shook his head and said - "bring batteries"....for your own personal GPS system! The F-4 navigation was handled primarily by a "Tac-AN" (tactical aircraft navigation) radio system transmitted from the carrier. He said there was an on-board navigation computer but it was rarely used because it depended on too much input from pilot - such as estimated winds aloft and time on a given course. Essentially a dead-reckoning computer. The Tac-AN system was good for most of their requirements.

He and I speculated that if the tankers hadn't been there and the F-22's had gone down without a trace - would there have been as assumption of Chinese skullduggery....hey, they shot down a satellite, maybe they vectored the F-22's......you fill in the blanks.

That's about it - nothing earth shattering, but an interesting exercise none-the-less. Cheers....

[Robert A Cook PE]

Noteworthy that neither dismissed out-of-hand the potential for "absolute loss of cockpit software"

A second, very short, story this week, perhaps late Wednesday, basically said "F-22's landed safely in Hawaii. Tiger team (contractor assist group) met them there. Planes now flying."

Which, pretty much, confirms something went wrong on the flight, but it got fixed.

And I'm sure the USAF doesn't want anybody else talking about their embarrassment.

[Robert A Cook PE]

AND we have the DST issue coming up ... Hope their software has been updated and tested!


Did they remember to program the leap years?

The 2012 Venusian solar eclipse that ends the Mayan calender?

[CholeraJoe]

I have a very good friend who is a Project Manager for a subcontractor for the F-22. They make aft booms, engine bay doors, bulkheads and side of body panels. She was quite gratified that it wasn't one of her babies that failed.

[Robert A Cook PE]

I have a very good friend who is a Project Manager for a subcontractor for the F-22. They make aft booms, engine bay doors, bulkheads and side of body panels. She was quite gratified that it wasn't one of her babies that failed.

OK.


You are, bottom line, a bottom doctor. Got a friend who makes the bomb bay doors, back bulkheads, aft booms, and engine bay doors.

Like to work underneath things, don't you?

[SubGeniusX]

Thanks for the update ....

[CholeraJoe]

Get yer mind out of the gutter, Robert.

[60Gunner]

Well, then, I guess I am a Bluenose, too. I sailed up to Kivalina, Alaska, back in 1991.

Yee-Haw!

I also rounded the Horn in 1988. I guess that makes me a lunatic.

[Spiff]

What!? How is this even possible? A clock doesn't know where it is. A computer clock doesn't know where it is. It doesn't care if it passes between time zones. It doesn't know. This article makes no sense.

[cavador]

If they used Amigados,they would never have had that trouble.My miggy2000 still runs as reliably at the day I first switched it on,and it's 20years old.(That's methusla years for a computer!)

[SubGeniusX]

From what others have been saying on the thread .. it most likeley had to do with the +180/-180 degree latitude switch. that is also known as the IDL.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

The guys at Initech are working on it.