Replies

Thank you for explanation. Didn’t know about different types of resistors; I thought a resistor had an ohm value and that was it... I guess they need to a surge protector or “leveler” or something in front of the film resistors...

“And we are flying aircraft that will be nearly 100 years old before they are retired (as in the B-52).”

Takes your breath away, that somebody could build an airplane like that. It would be like the HMS Iron Duke serving in the Falklands... Sad truth is, I think a C-130 could do much of the job of a B-52 today (just roll the bombs out the back...). I suspect the B-52 would have a very short life expectancy in a contested airspace.

Boy, can you imagine being assigned B-52 bombing duty in an active war? I think you'd have better luck playing Russian Roulette with an automatic 9mm. IMHO the reason they are still in service is that they can do cargo, they have great range, and we have a bunch of them. Why purchase more C-130's when we have a gazillion B-52's that are perfectly servicable. Now, to be fair the B-52 has had several modifications over the years. But, consider that some of the testers that were used to test various components were made back in the late 1920's. These are things like hydraulic valves that were more or less custom made for controlling the flight surfaces on the B-52. They are old, they are ugly - but they still work just fine.

The more you learn about these old components, the more you realize the 'why' about various components. Take the capacitor for example - these not only vary in size and value, but their frequency response varies greatly with the material they are made. Titanium, polymer, electrolytic, mica and more - each have their strengths and weaknesses. Knowing these strengths/weaknesses is a hallmark of a good Design Engineer. If you want the design to be robust, you use the right tool for the right job, right?

Thus, when the logicistics group gets ahold of a parts list that calls out specific resisters - we have no clue as to whether this component was used simply because it was in stock in the lab at the time the designe was being prototyped; or whether this specific component was chosen due to it's various properties. Because of the expense in finding these specific components, and the implied risk of using a "generic" component when a specific part was called out - plus the cost of changing the Tech. Orders ... even if an obsolete resistor costs $100 apiece instead of $0.06, it's cheaper to buy the origional component. Keep those planes in the air.

The problem is that China sees these obsolete resistors selling for $100 each, and they can mix carbon powder into plaster-of-paris as well as we can. Mix enough and you have a resistor. Paint it to look like the "real" thing, and you have an extremely profitable counterfeiting line. And they may work fine for awhile ... then they fail after some period of time. But, so what? They cashed that check, and have changed their company name and have gotten away with a very profitable counterfeit product. This is the problem we face.

I suspect the B-52 would have a very short life expectancy in a contested airspace.

I think that's true. I believe that doctrine dictates that they don't go in until we've achieved decisive air superiority.

As to the service life of the BUFF, I wish they'd go ahead and fund the long-stalled project to re-engine the beasts with four modern engines: CF-6 or even GenX.