Saab Draken, pt 7 - Saab Draken 58.jpg (1/1)

[Mitchell Holman]

[Alan Erskine[_3_]]

"Mitchell Holman" > wrote in message
...

The Swedes have come up with some of the most original aircraft - the Draken
and the Viggen being just two examples. Fantastic series, Mitchell.

[Mitchell Holman]

"Alan Erskine" > wrote in
:

> "Mitchell Holman" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> The Swedes have come up with some of the most original aircraft - the
> Draken and the Viggen being just two examples. Fantastic series,
> Mitchell.
>
>


I have heard they build STOL capabilities into their
planes, using roads as runways, that sort of thing. That
might explain why their designs are so unique.

Or else there is something in the water where their
engineers work...........

[Alan Erskine[_3_]]

"Mitchell Holman" > wrote in message
...
> I have heard they build STOL capabilities into their
> planes, using roads as runways, that sort of thing. That
> might explain why their designs are so unique.
>
> Or else there is something in the water where their
> engineers work...........

Hehe... the former is the correct answer. And a good idea too - I think the
Swedes learned that lesson from WWII; airfields were some of the first
targets to be destroyed. Being able to use straight stretches of road makes
excellent sense. From memory, the RAF used to practice this with their
Harriers in Germany before the end of the cold war - I don't know if they
still do it.

[Herman]

"Alan Erskine" > schreef in bericht
...
> "Mitchell Holman" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I have heard they build STOL capabilities into their
>> planes, using roads as runways, that sort of thing. That
>> might explain why their designs are so unique.
>>
>> Or else there is something in the water where their
>> engineers work...........
>
> Hehe... the former is the correct answer. And a good idea too - I think
> the Swedes learned that lesson from WWII; airfields were some of the first
> targets to be destroyed. Being able to use straight stretches of road
> makes excellent sense. From memory, the RAF used to practice this with
> their Harriers in Germany before the end of the cold war - I don't know if
> they still do it.
>
They did, but the Harrier of course needed a lot less road than even a
Viggen. Taking off from short stretches of road was part of their normal
off-base exercises.
The RAF even tested a Jaguar on a stretch of highway in Britain.

Regards,
Herman

[Bob]

On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 19:03:45 +0200, "Herman"
> wrote:

>
>"Alan Erskine" > schreef in bericht
...
>> "Mitchell Holman" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> I have heard they build STOL capabilities into their
>>> planes, using roads as runways, that sort of thing. That
>>> might explain why their designs are so unique.
>>>
>>> Or else there is something in the water where their
>>> engineers work...........
>>
>> Hehe... the former is the correct answer. And a good idea too - I think
>> the Swedes learned that lesson from WWII; airfields were some of the first
>> targets to be destroyed. Being able to use straight stretches of road
>> makes excellent sense. From memory, the RAF used to practice this with
>> their Harriers in Germany before the end of the cold war - I don't know if
>> they still do it.
>>
>They did, but the Harrier of course needed a lot less road than even a
>Viggen. Taking off from short stretches of road was part of their normal
>off-base exercises.
>The RAF even tested a Jaguar on a stretch of highway in Britain.
>
>Regards,
>Herman

When the US Interstate Highway system was being designed and
constructed in the 1960s, a feature of the design was that at least
one in every five miles of roadway would be straight and suitable for
use by military aircraft in the case of extreme unpleasantness with
the Soviets.

Now its pretty much just used to make it easier for idiot drivers to
get to the scene of the accident...

[hielan' laddie]

On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 11:46:36 -0400, Alan Erskine wrote
(in article >):

> "Mitchell Holman" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I have heard they build STOL capabilities into their
>> planes, using roads as runways, that sort of thing. That
>> might explain why their designs are so unique.
>>
>> Or else there is something in the water where their
>> engineers work...........
>
> Hehe... the former is the correct answer. And a good idea too - I think the
> Swedes learned that lesson from WWII; airfields were some of the first
> targets to be destroyed. Being able to use straight stretches of road makes
> excellent sense. From memory, the RAF used to practice this with their
> Harriers in Germany before the end of the cold war - I don't know if they
> still do it.
>
>

Actually, airfields are easy to knock out, but hard to destroy, and a
knocked-out airfield can be easily restored to action. The Luftwaffe and the
US 8th AAF both discovered this the hard way. When the Israelis launched the
Six Day War, they went not for the airfields, but for the aircraft on the
airfields. They used runway-denier bombs not to destroy the field, as they
knew they couldn't do that, but to pen the aircraft onto the ground until the
holes could be fixed. And then they beat the snot out of the aircraft on the
ground. They also went for fixed base facilities, and, more important, the
personnel in those facilities. You can maintain aircraft under shade trees if
necessary... if you have your trained techs. If the techs are dead in the
ruins of the base barracks, you're gonna have a problem. Merely using the
roads for runways is of limited help.

And, oh, btw... have you reported my 'forged' headers to Newsguy yet?

[Andrew Chaplin]

"Alan Erskine" > wrote in message
...
> "Mitchell Holman" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I have heard they build STOL capabilities into their
>> planes, using roads as runways, that sort of thing. That
>> might explain why their designs are so unique.
>>
>> Or else there is something in the water where their
>> engineers work...........
>
> Hehe... the former is the correct answer. And a good idea too - I think the
> Swedes learned that lesson from WWII; airfields were some of the first
> targets to be destroyed. Being able to use straight stretches of road makes
> excellent sense. From memory, the RAF used to practice this with their
> Harriers in Germany before the end of the cold war - I don't know if they
> still do it.

Many airfields in West Germany were designed with the passive airfield defence
concept of runway redundancy in mind. If runways were holed, taxiways would
do; if taxiways were f***ed, then there was often a stretch of Autobahn
running parallel-ish that would do in a severe pinch. Flugplatz Lahr is an
example of where there were such plans: http://preview.tinyurl.com/5es8yp.
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)

[Alan Erskine[_3_]]

"Andrew Chaplin" > wrote in message
...

> Many airfields in West Germany were designed with the passive airfield
> defence concept of runway redundancy in mind. If runways were holed,
> taxiways would do; if taxiways were f***ed, then there was often a stretch
> of Autobahn running parallel-ish that would do in a severe pinch.
> Flugplatz Lahr is an example of where there were such plans:
> http://preview.tinyurl.com/5es8yp.

I wonder if the Russians.... I mean SOVIETS ;-) did the same thing. And
what about the Chinese?

[Morgans[_2_]]

"Bob" > wrote

> When the US Interstate Highway system was being designed and
> constructed in the 1960s, a feature of the design was that at least
> one in every five miles of roadway would be straight and suitable for
> use by military aircraft in the case of extreme unpleasantness with
> the Soviets.

I had heard that, and I believe I had also seen that this is not the case.
I could not find anything one way or the other.

Do you happen to know of a citation from some authority that says what you
stated?
--
Jim in NC

[Andrew Chaplin]

"Alan Erskine" > wrote in message
...
> "Andrew Chaplin" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> Many airfields in West Germany were designed with the passive airfield
>> defence concept of runway redundancy in mind. If runways were holed,
>> taxiways would do; if taxiways were f***ed, then there was often a stretch
>> of Autobahn running parallel-ish that would do in a severe pinch. Flugplatz
>> Lahr is an example of where there were such plans:
>> http://preview.tinyurl.com/5es8yp.
>
> I wonder if the Russians.... I mean SOVIETS ;-) did the same thing. And
> what about the Chinese?

Likely. It's not that sophisticated a concept. It's just that the Deutschers
had more airfields and more major highways with which to do it.
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)

[Bean Counter]

>> When the US Interstate Highway system was being designed and
>> constructed in the 1960s, a feature of the design was that at least
>> one in every five miles of roadway would be straight and suitable for
>> use by military aircraft in the case of extreme unpleasantness with
>> the Soviets.
>
> I had heard that, and I believe I had also seen that this is not the case.
>I could not find anything one way or the other.
>
>Do you happen to know of a citation from some authority that says what you
>stated?

I have heard the myth also, but read the following.


http://geography.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/mayjun00/onemileinfive.htm

ONE MILE IN FIVE: Debunking the Myth

by Richard F. Weingroff

[Bob]

On Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:36:31 -0400, "Morgans"
> wrote:

>
>"Bob" > wrote
>
>> When the US Interstate Highway system was being designed and
>> constructed in the 1960s, a feature of the design was that at least
>> one in every five miles of roadway would be straight and suitable for
>> use by military aircraft in the case of extreme unpleasantness with
>> the Soviets.
>
> I had heard that, and I believe I had also seen that this is not the case.
>I could not find anything one way or the other.
>
>Do you happen to know of a citation from some authority that says what you
>stated?

Seems Google isn't my friend after all...

Sounds like the Air Force wanted something along these lines, but it
didn't get done in the end.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/turner.htm

Scratch another urban myth. I'll go wash my brain out with soup.

Bob ^,,^