Posted on 07/09/2002 6:35:01 AM PDT by Criminal Number 18F
Edited on 07/12/2004 3:55:13 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Americans are not satisfied with internal security, despite newer and newer bureaucracies. And they are right.
We've all been entertained by the ignorance of the Transportation Department's random search of a 79-year-old woman bent over with osteoporosis and a 7-year-old child instead of male adult potential terrorists. But there is an even greater ignorance in the Defense Department's policy of no longer flying regular fighter patrols over Washington and New York.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
There is NOTHING you can put in a Cessna 182 and get off the ground that can "kill everyone in the White House." This kind of effeminate, hand-wringing terror hardly contributes to a sensible discussion of real risks. (Remember the guy who Kamikaze'd the WH with a Cessna 152 (smaller and half the weight of a 182, but same general thing? Predictably to any pilot, he kiled himself and left a black smudge on the building where he hit... didn't even break a WINDOW).
If you examine Gross's tone you see the same kind of old woman that wants to ban guns because she's ignorant of them and thinks they have supernatural powers. He should stick to subjects he knows, if any, or subjects he's willing to learn about.
I guess from his love of the nanny state that he's the Times' token liberal columnist. In that case it's probably foolish of me to spread his scrawlings any further...
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
I am a little curious as to how well the AAM's would work on a cessna or cub, and equally as to how well a high-speed jet can escort a low speed private prop plane.
There are two common types of AAMs, radar and infrared guided. (The Russians have made some variations). Both will definitely guide on a target like a 182. (Lots of small aircraft have been smoked by Sidewinders or by ground-launched manpack missiles, which are usually IR guided). All current American fighters also are armed with guns.
equally as to how well a high-speed jet can escort a low speed private prop plane.
A very good helicopter pilot can keep himself alive in ACM (air combat maneuvering) with a jet fighter. One-on-one only (but fighters never come in ones). A small, slow plane has no chance at all. During some problems in Borneo the British were worried about whether Indonesian WWII vintage fighters would pose a problem against Britain's modern jets. The answer is, no. Greater speed, far from being a liability, allowed the jets to initiate and break contact at will and to take the fight into three dimensions.
To escort someone all you need to do is keep in a position from which you can smoke him, and herd him in the direction you want him going. You don't need to be able to match him in slow flight. If they thought slow flight was important they would be using helicopters, the way Customs does.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
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