If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#31
|
|||
|
|||
"Dean A. Scott" wrote in message
news:1126146846.d1f75da4b1eff1487f40a17ade08c409@t eranews... Here's a wacky scenario... why can you fire a gun on the equator in the direction of the setting sun? I mean, the Earth spins at the equator at around 1,000 miles per hour (24,000 mile circum- ference divided by 24 hr rotation), so why does the bullet exit the barrel at the same velocity no matter what direction you point it in? Hmmm. :-) Imagine that the target is going away from you at the same speed that the bullet is traveling. It would hit the ground before it reaches the target. (Actually, it would never catch the target. Now, turn that around. Imagine the target is standing still and you are going away from it at bullet speed. Same ting happens, mon. De bullet hits de ground. Like incest, it's all relative. Rich S. |
#32
|
|||
|
|||
"Montblack" wrote in message
... wrote) Won't it drop stairght down toward the manhole cover? (Yes it will.) Gads, you're right! Crap, now it's basically T-ball at the manhole cover. There goes my 1.35 ERA!! Montblack I had a .98 GPA one semester. Only courses I passed were Physics 101 and ROTC. Nobody flunked ROTC. Oh! ERA. Never mind. Rich S. |
#33
|
|||
|
|||
"Harry K" wrote in message
oups.com... The way I see it, you are both in agreement. Fred says to hit the 109 he has to fire at the exact time the 17 croses the 109's path. That is correct. In effect he says that to fire as per your example he can't hit it. We are. Just had to define a few terms and conditions. Rich S. |
#34
|
|||
|
|||
"Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired" wrote in message
news:cdOTe.9805$dm.6970@lakeread03... Forgetting turbulence following the B-17 the bullet would still have a muzzle velocity of 900 FPS, assuming a military load. 50 yards is 50 yards and the Me109 would still be hit assuming proper aim. Whether it does much more than penetrate the canopy I don't know. Put the trailing turbulence back into the scenario and all bets are off. Remember, the ME-109 is not following the B-17. It is crossing behind the B-17 at 90° and is fifty yards behind the bomber at the moment their flight paths cross. The bullet comes out of the muzzle with a velocity of 820 fps relative to the pistol. The pistol however, is traveling 820 fps in the opposite direction relative to the ME-109. Therefore the bullet has zero velocity toward the ME-109 and drops straight down due to gravity. Rich S. |
#35
|
|||
|
|||
"Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired" wrote in message
news:MjOTe.9806$dm.4606@lakeread03... Blueskies wrote: But just imagine, as the bullet falls to earth, it will remain horizontal for a while due to the gyroscopic spin caused by the rifling... No, the bullet will start dropping due to gravity immediately upon exiting the muzzle. But, it will drop in a horizontal attitude. Pretty much, that is. Since it begins to accelerate downward, the axis of rotation will diverge due to gyroscopic precession. Don't ask me in which direction, though. Rich S. |
#36
|
|||
|
|||
" Blueskies" wrote in message
... But just imagine, as the bullet falls to earth, it will remain horizontal for a while due to the gyroscopic spin caused by the rifling... Quite a while, actually. If you fire it straight up, it will likely land on it's butt - still spinning. Ever done the math to figure the rpm of a .45 ACP? The twist of the barrel IIRC, is one turn in 9 inches. If it's traveling at 820 fps at the muzzle, that is 1093 nine inch increments per second or 65,580 rpm. No wonder the gun twists in your hand during recoil. Rich S. |
#37
|
|||
|
|||
Rich S. wrote: wrote in message ups.com... You're still assuming he's leading the ME-109 as if the gunner were in a fixed location. He's assuming the gunner is actually trying to hit the plane, and smart enough to figure out how so that he times his shot *correctly*. You're both assuming he fires straight back. He can hit the Me-109 by firing straight back, but ONLY if he fires exactly as B-17 crosses the flight path of the Me-109, and only if the Me-109 is fast enough or close enough to get there before the bullet drops out of the flight path of the Me-109. If the Me-109 is at a range of 50 yards, and no slower than the bullet the bullet will be no more than 7 inches lower than the muzzle of the gun and will still hit the Me-109 assuming the two planes are at the same altitude. Fred............... I'll say it again - you misunderstand the question. NO. I understood the question(s) and I answered them. The gunner cannot hit the ME 109 by aiming and firing the ways you described. There are an infinite number of ways the gunner can aim and fire and miss, you picked some of them. You also stated multiple versions with different circumstances, not just different wording. It is not clear that you realize that. After answering YOUR questions, we then addressed the question of how the gunner could hit the ME 109. That question was NOT your question. That is a different question and I don't see how I can make THAT any clearer to you. No rule of nettiquette requires that we limit our discussion to only the case you present. You are not the boss of us! Courtesy requires that we make it clear when and how we change the statement of the problem. We have made that clear. You just don't realize that. We changed the problem by relaxing the constraint on when the gunner leaving him free to fire whenever he wants to. Why? Because we're Americans goddamnit we want him to score a hit. What are you, German? clearly as I am able and even drawn a diagram. I don't know how else to explain it. I'm a pilot. I talk with my hands (hopefully without resorting to certain gestures). The B-17 is flying West. The ME-109 is flying South. They are both at the same altitude. There is no wind. The ME-109 will cross the flight path of the B-17 and the B-17 will, at that moment, be fifty yards from the ME-109. The tail gunner fires his weapon straight behind the B-17. In *this* statement of the question, unlike your first, you do not say WHEN he fires. Since I WANT him to hit, I'll tell YOU when he fires. Got it! He can hit the ME-109 by firing when the B17 crosses the flight path of the ME-109. Then the Me-108 is due North of the gunner. If he waits any longer, the Me-109 passes east of the bullet. If he fires sooner, the Me-109 passes West of the bullet. If he fires when the ME 109 is due North the Me-109 either hits the bullet or passes over it depending on the range and speed of the Me-109. You specified that the Me-109 passes fifty yards behind the B-17. A hit requires that the time between firing and the time the ME-109 arrives behind the B-17 is the time it takes the B-17 to travel 50 yards. OP already calculated that, and also calculated that the bullet drops 7 inches in that time. You did not specify the speed of the ME-109 or the range when the gunner fires, so we are free so vary those as needed. there are several combinations of speed and range that allow the ME-109 to be due North when he fires and cross 50 yards behind. For instance, if the Me-109 is flying at the same speed as the B-17 and it crosses 50 yards behind it, then the Me-109 will also be 50 yards when it is due North of the B-17 and the gunner can therefor fire when the B17 is at a range of 50 yards and hit. What a coincidence! This time around I did not have to change the problem because this time around you did not constrain the time at which the gunner fires. There is no way that he can hit the ME-109, given the stated speed of the B-17 and the muzzle velocity of the bullet. Wrong. The way is if he fires WHEN the B-17 crosses the flight path of the Me-109. That drops a bullet in the flight path of the Me-109 and if the Me-109 is 50 yards due North when the gunner fires and flying at 820 fps the Me-109 and the bullet are *both* 50 yards behind the B-17 when the Me-109 crosses the flight path of the B-17. The bullet has only dropped 7 inches, so it hits. The ME-109 will *always* be fifty yards or more away from the bullet. Always. Not if the gunner fires when the B17 crosses the flight path of the Me-109. That drops the bullet right in the flight path of the Me-109 and the Me-109 closes on it as it drops. Here is a hint. If you constrain all of the variables to specific values the question is 'does', not 'can'. 'Can' implies at least on variable is unconstrained as in your question above wherein you left the time at shich the gunner fires free to vary. -- FF |
#38
|
|||
|
|||
wrote in message
ups.com... You also stated multiple versions with different circumstances, not just different wording. It is not clear that you realize that. I did phrase the question poorly. I have said that *several* times and attempted to clarify the wording - not change the intent of the original question. Now that that's over, I still find that it is an interesting problem in relativity and deserved rational discussion. Rich S. |
#39
|
|||
|
|||
"T o d d P a t t i s t" wrote in message
news If you understood the physics, why did you bother to ask the question? Is this not a forum for discussion? What may be "obvious" to you, may be of interest to someone else. Why do you bother to ask? R i c h S . |
#40
|
|||
|
|||
"T o d d P a t t i s t" wrote in message
... Because I had a real question - Why did you ask a question you knew the answer to? Was it just because you thought it was an interesting topic for discussion? Bingo. Rich |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Good morning or good evening depending upon your location. I want to ask you the most important question of your life. Your joy or sorrow for all eternity depends upon your answer. The question is: Are you saved? It is not a question of how good | Excelsior | Home Built | 0 | April 22nd 05 01:11 AM |
VOR/DME Approach Question | Chip Jones | Instrument Flight Rules | 47 | August 29th 04 05:03 AM |
Accurate plane performace? | R | Simulators | 27 | December 19th 03 04:54 AM |