It's been a while now, but I worked an air-launched drone program in the mid 2010's for AFSOC and their AC-130Js. I am very familiar with the Coyote as well as the ALTIUS-600. The issue with the Coyote wasn't the hurricane. It was the violence of being ejected from a tube with almost a 90 deg sideslip angle. You have to get stuff in the tubes moving about 25 feet per second over about 4ft for safe separation. The initial kick can be in excess of 50g's. But that's not what causes the problem. As soon as it hits the airstream at that 90 deg sideslip, violence occurs. The inertial measurement units in a basic drone autopilot may saturate at something like 500 deg per second. The Coyote was probably experiencing about 1000 deg per sec. You can't see these rates because they are only for a split second as it's coming out of the tube, but it's enough to confuse the autopilot. The Coyote would pop out on a drogue, so there was hope the autopilot could get unconfused. But it remained a problem. Fast forward a few years and we were doing ALTIUS-600 tests on Gunships. At 180 KIAS, we were sometimes seeing rates in excess of 2000 deg per sec straight out of the tubes. We were using a much better IMU than the Coyote, namely a unit from Vector Nav. But even that was not enough. We had to do a trick and rotate the IMU by 45 deg. That gave us about 40% more rate capability, sqrt(2) more to be precise. But in doing so you lose rate resolution. In the end it was a worthwhile trade. And the ALTIUS and some others have been flying off the NOAA WP-3D aircraft for a few years now and have been doing well in hurricanes. They provide much more data collection time than a dropsonde. The basic ALTIUS-600 is good for 3+ hours. But the dropsonde is going to give a better vertical profile of data because climbing and descending in a drone really chews up the battery. So you try to avoid that. As for only a manned aircraft can fly into hurricanes, yes, I wouldn't fly a Global Hawk or Reaper into a hurricane. They are designed for other missions, and that means the wings won't tolerate the turbulence and water contamination very well. But you could easily design a drone to do this. But you don't even to design a new drone. In fact, there are R&D efforts looking at reducing crew complement on C-130s through more automation, and the logical progression of that could be crew elimination for some missions.
Just a minor comment on the last point. How about the first thing we do with the people or the groups that spend so much in time and money trying to automate everything in life, make it a mandate that they be on the periodic evaluation list for conversion to automation. The priority factor in that justification for elimination would be if the first item on the reasons list is "It's a good thing as these people can retrain easily" OR "These people can get 'better' jobs"...
@@paulholmes672 We're not doing this for no good reason. We don't have enough pilots in the military, and the situation keeps getting worse. Then add in the pace of a potential war with China and the need for crew rest, and it's clear we'll need to reduce the number of crew onboard to meet demand. Similar pilot staffing issues are present in the commercial sector, too. BTW, we already automated flight engineers out of the cockpit. I don't see anyone asking for that group to come back.
One of the great thing about this show, Majors, is as a USAF retiree, I love it when you have guests that 'speak my language'. Col. Cross is one of those guys. Yes, I do know a bit of Pidgen Army/Navy, my daughter is career Navy, my brother-in-law was LtCol Army, so I don't need Google Translate to get by when Wombat or other 'foreigners' are on, either 🙂. My 'Mental Health Minute' is usually the whole two hours you guys are on, Thank You!!!!
Great storytelling by Sean. I went to radar school for a year at Keesler in 75 so what he describes it as during his training was a palace compared to my time there, not to mention the hurricanes.
Catching up late this week, had to catch up on Gonky’s Aircrew interview 1st. You 2 and wombat need to do a mass aircrew interview. See if Mike can keep you all on topic.
Is it my diseased imagination or did you guys have Sean Cross on before telling the same stories? I listened to this entire episode feeling like I've literally heard this episode before- Cross telling the stories the same way ect.. such a familiarity with it.
This man is an amazing storyteller, I could listen to his life and career story’s all day and not get bored.
That was quite enjoyable, thanks. Gotta have him back again
This has to be one of the the best, if not the best episodes!
The man carries on a conversation the way Doug Kershaw plays a song, and I mean that as high praise for enthusiasm, skill, and entertainment value.
It's been a while now, but I worked an air-launched drone program in the mid 2010's for AFSOC and their AC-130Js. I am very familiar with the Coyote as well as the ALTIUS-600. The issue with the Coyote wasn't the hurricane. It was the violence of being ejected from a tube with almost a 90 deg sideslip angle. You have to get stuff in the tubes moving about 25 feet per second over about 4ft for safe separation. The initial kick can be in excess of 50g's.
But that's not what causes the problem. As soon as it hits the airstream at that 90 deg sideslip, violence occurs. The inertial measurement units in a basic drone autopilot may saturate at something like 500 deg per second. The Coyote was probably experiencing about 1000 deg per sec. You can't see these rates because they are only for a split second as it's coming out of the tube, but it's enough to confuse the autopilot. The Coyote would pop out on a drogue, so there was hope the autopilot could get unconfused. But it remained a problem.
Fast forward a few years and we were doing ALTIUS-600 tests on Gunships. At 180 KIAS, we were sometimes seeing rates in excess of 2000 deg per sec straight out of the tubes. We were using a much better IMU than the Coyote, namely a unit from Vector Nav. But even that was not enough. We had to do a trick and rotate the IMU by 45 deg. That gave us about 40% more rate capability, sqrt(2) more to be precise. But in doing so you lose rate resolution.
In the end it was a worthwhile trade. And the ALTIUS and some others have been flying off the NOAA WP-3D aircraft for a few years now and have been doing well in hurricanes. They provide much more data collection time than a dropsonde. The basic ALTIUS-600 is good for 3+ hours. But the dropsonde is going to give a better vertical profile of data because climbing and descending in a drone really chews up the battery. So you try to avoid that.
As for only a manned aircraft can fly into hurricanes, yes, I wouldn't fly a Global Hawk or Reaper into a hurricane. They are designed for other missions, and that means the wings won't tolerate the turbulence and water contamination very well. But you could easily design a drone to do this. But you don't even to design a new drone. In fact, there are R&D efforts looking at reducing crew complement on C-130s through more automation, and the logical progression of that could be crew elimination for some missions.
Just a minor comment on the last point. How about the first thing we do with the people or the groups that spend so much in time and money trying to automate everything in life, make it a mandate that they be on the periodic evaluation list for conversion to automation. The priority factor in that justification for elimination would be if the first item on the reasons list is "It's a good thing as these people can retrain easily" OR "These people can get 'better' jobs"...
@@paulholmes672 We're not doing this for no good reason. We don't have enough pilots in the military, and the situation keeps getting worse. Then add in the pace of a potential war with China and the need for crew rest, and it's clear we'll need to reduce the number of crew onboard to meet demand. Similar pilot staffing issues are present in the commercial sector, too. BTW, we already automated flight engineers out of the cockpit. I don't see anyone asking for that group to come back.
Gonky, loved the Aircraft Interview . Well done sir.
At 1 hour 30 - If you ain't figured it out - I can talk ! Actually On the floor laughing! - another great show gentlemen - the bar raises yet again!
Love all your shows, but this was my favorite. Gosh what a ride. Merry Christmas, everyone.
Everything about the show was just awesome. Thank you 👍💥
Absolutely fantastic show guys! Cross was amazing and you guys were again excellent hosts!
Really enjoyed this one fellas! Colonel Cross is a hoot! Gotta have him back on for a more in depth talk about the Hurricane Hunter misson!
Sean please write the book and I hope you two will have him back on soon. Loved it
Wilma fucked me up in soflo.
One of the great thing about this show, Majors, is as a USAF retiree, I love it when you have guests that 'speak my language'. Col. Cross is one of those guys. Yes, I do know a bit of Pidgen Army/Navy, my daughter is career Navy, my brother-in-law was LtCol Army, so I don't need Google Translate to get by when Wombat or other 'foreigners' are on, either 🙂. My 'Mental Health Minute' is usually the whole two hours you guys are on, Thank You!!!!
Great storytelling by Sean. I went to radar school for a year at Keesler in 75 so what he describes it as during his training was a palace compared to my time there, not to mention the hurricanes.
Great show gentlemen.
Awesome and hilarious, what a memory 😎🫡🇺🇸
Hilarious! He's got that distinct character where I could see him in an Air Force version of "Down Periscope".
Wow, now that was an awesome ride! Please make a part 3 and 4. You and your amazing guests are why I love your channels. Thank you
Awesome show, gotta go find those Hurricane Hunter vids!
Fucking GUNKY
Sean was amazing!
Thank you Sir!
podcast GOLD
That was a great talk!
Man, this had me laughing so much. Great show as always
Great show, very entertaining!!!
Great episode!! So funny 😂
That was a great show tonight.Ya'll need to have him back on at some point
Catching up late this week, had to catch up on Gonky’s Aircrew interview 1st. You 2 and wombat need to do a mass aircrew interview. See if Mike can keep you all on topic.
Love to Miss Luna ❤️
Great show
Sean is a great guy.
I hope there’s a parts 2!
Is it my diseased imagination or did you guys have Sean Cross on before telling the same stories? I listened to this entire episode feeling like I've literally heard this episode before- Cross telling the stories the same way ect.. such a familiarity with it.