----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]----
Even a wooden propeller? I believe about all the pushers use wooden propellers. When I was working at Dugway Proving Grounds, Michael Army Airfield in the earlly 80's one of Burt Rutans Varieaze came there it had cool air ducted into the exhaus to cut down IR signatures and had a variable pitch wooden propeller and hard points where they were hanging I don't know what on the wings. The pilot told me personally that if he turned off his transponder they had a hard time finding him. For what it is worth. Jim N87349 David Marshall wrote: > ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- > > As an RCS (Radar Cross Section) engineer, I can assure you (and CBS) that the engine and prop are more than sufficient to track the aircraft for hundreds of miles. There are lots of sharp edges and cavities/channels on an A/C engine which reflect RF energy extremely > well. The prop is also an excellent reflector. That was one of the most vexing problems on the F-117. How do you shield the turbine blades from RF while allowing sufficient undisturbed air into the engine? There would also be some return from the fuselage. RF > reflection (actually re-radiation) depends in large part on the dielectric coefficient of the material in question, compared to air. Fiberglass has a fairly high dielectric coefficient so the interface between the air and the fiberglass will present a significant > discontinuity to the RF. Thus, there will be a significant return from the fuselage itself. Although you'll never convince the uneducated public or the headline hungry mass media, the threat from fiberglass aircraft is a non-issue. Just thought you all might be > interested. > Dave in Alamogordo, NM > N93971 > > Wayne Woollard wrote: > > > ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- > > > > Well there ya go boys!! > > > > CBS has got its sights set on General Aviation. > > > > That disclosure about Fiberglas aircraft is pure bunk. I would use a more colorful term, but this is a family gathering I am told. > > > > Wayne > > > > Mike Dean wrote: > > > > > ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- > > > > > > A report from CBS news: > > > > > > Hiding In Plane Sight · Fiberglass Plane Made From Kit Can Evade Radar Detection > > > > > > SEBASTIAN, Fla., Jan. 22, 2002 > > > > > > (CBS) The Velocity airplane is visible to the eye, but to America's best radar system it is virtually invisible. And that, says U.S. law enforcement, makes the near stealth Velocity a tool for smugglers. > > > > > > Joe Bendig, the director of U.S. Customs' state of the art radar center says the system has a problem finding small fiberglass aircraft like the Velocity. > > > > > > "The radar pretty much gets absorbed by the skin. The only thing we really pick up is the engine, which is metal," he said. > > > > > > Until last spring, reports CBS News Correspondent Wyatt Andrews, no one in law enforcement thought the Velocity to be much of a factor in drug smuggling. But then came a joint U.S.-Mexico drug crackdown the DEA called Operation Marquis. > > > > > > In the process of making some 300 drug arrests, the DEA says it learned that Arturo Beltran Leyva, a man the U.S. calls one of Mexico's top drug transport chiefs, owned five Velocities. > > > > > > "We've made our Mexican counterparts aware of this Velocity aircraft," said Rod Benson of the DEA. > > > > > > He says most drug smuggling by air happens with metallic planes visible to radar. > > > > > > The planes skirt the U.S. shoreline, or land in Mexico just short of the U.S. border, with the drugs then loaded onto vehicles of every type you can imagine - even school buses. > > > > > > Benson says so far, invisibility is mostly used by smugglers inside Mexico. > > > > > > "It's not just one transportation organization. We've identified others that have dabbled and are beginning to look at these Velocity aircraft to move their drugs." > > > > > > As for Velocity the company, it's based in two hangars in rural Florida and the plane is a mail order kit that is shipped in boxes to hobbyists who assemble it. > > > > > > The company is not under suspicion and its Vice President Scott Baker calls invisibility a coincidence. > > > > > > "There's nothing about the aircraft that was designed with the idea of hiding from radar and none of our marketing whatsoever speaks to stealthness." > > > > > > Even now, after the Sept. 11 terror attacks with military radar planes blanketing the border, officials admit Velocity would be tough to find. Until America's multi billion-dollar border radar can spot fiberglass, it can be beaten by an airplane built in a garage. > > > > > > ©MMII, CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. > > > > > > > -- > > Mr. D. Wayne Woollard, CPBE > > AIM: DWWoollard > > ICQ: 124132836 > > > > "Why fly a Spam can when you can have fun and fly an Ercoupe?" > > > ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aVxiLm.aVzvvT Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
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