ChevyRocks
06-06-2008, 00:25
A sharp crack broke the unusually peaceful morning silence roughly a kilometer past the end of North Petersburg AFB’s runway 27L, followed shortly later by four identical reports. Their source was the firing of a pump action 12-gauge shotgun, in the hands of Airman Christoffer Bjerke. His targets were not a manned security breach of the base itself, but rather, an enemy from the natural world. A short few seconds later, a group of particularly large geese impacted the ground a few dozen meters away from his position. The rest flew away, hopefully not to return in the near future.
Though many people did not recognize it, his job was one of the most important with regard to aircraft safety on the entire base. Birdstrikes were an extreme hazard to any aircraft, especially high speed military aircraft. The bare, scorched spot on the ground nearby was proof enough of that. Birds merely impacting the aircraft’s structure was bad enough; dented or torn off paneling, birds being hurtled through cockpit windows and into their crews could cause serious injuries.
Birds being ingested by the aircraft’s engines, in the case of jet aircraft, were a very major safety problem. While losing one engine on a multi-engined plane was typically survivable, losing all of the engines due to ingestion of large amounts of birds was usually not. In the case of commercial aviation, failure of all engines on an aircraft was quite rare, mostly because the engine placement was, in most cases, far enough apart that the plane would have to hit a flock of thousands of birds to have a chance of total engine failure.
In the case of the B-95A Valkyrie II bomber in service with the Chevrokian Republic Air Force, the danger of bird ingestion resulting in serious damage was significantly increased, for several reasons. Firstly, the intakes for the four huge J-137 engines had to be proportionally large to provide sufficient mass flow rate of air, allowing the possibility for a large number of birds to be caught. Secondly, all four engines were grouped in the center of the huge bomber along its width, meaning that the plane only had to encounter a small, but dense flock. Lastly, the no-power glide characteristics of the Valkyrie at low speed and low altitude, during takeoff and landing phases, were more or less equivalent to a well-thrown brick.
Three weeks prior, these combined risk elements culminated in the loss of a Valkyrie of the 9th Bomb Wing shortly after takeoff. She’d reached about 300 meters in altitude when a large flock of geese was encountered, resulting in all four engines being either damaged beyond functionality or choked of airflow and flaming out when their inner intakes were clogged up. After a few short seconds, the aircraft stalled and plummeted towards the ground. It was fortunate that her crew of four was able to eject successfully, but the aircraft was a total loss.
That the single greatest threat to Valkyries was creations of nature was not a well known fact among the general public. With each aircraft coming in at a unit price of nearly one billion kroner, there was nothing whatsoever funny about birdstrikes involving Valkyries. And thus the task of keeping their approach and departure corridors clear of birds was a matter of national importance.
As Bjerke began tossing the goose carcasses into the back of an Air Force truck, he faintly overheard the high-pitched whine of jet engines being cycled up to maximum throttle. He looked to the other end of the runway and saw a large black shape readying for takeoff. He could faintly make it out as a Valkyrie, but certainly in a different paint scheme, not the usual grey or white coloring. He had heard that the Air Force was testing out the new black scheme to measure the heat effects on the airframe in comparison to the standard schemes.
A few moments later, the dark-colored Valkyrie was thundering overhead Bjerke, the wake turbulence from its four closely-grouped engines pummeling anything on the ground below it. Wake turbulence was also not a laughing matter, and for safety reasons, a second Valkyrie now positioning itself on the opposite end of the runway waited for some time until the wake turbulence was deemed to have been sufficiently dissipated.
More Valkyries were taking off from the runway parallel, both in the new black scheme and the standard grey. All thundering into the sky safely, no birdstrikes. Satisfied that he had done his job for the morning right, Bjerke got into the truck and drove back to base.
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Air Force Bombers Deployed to Southern Questers
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j118/ChevyRocks/Propaganda/Valkyrietakeoff.png
A Valkyrie II in anti-flash white colors on takeoff
The Department of Defense announced this morning that elements of the Republic Air Force’s 7th Bomb Wing are being deployed to RAF Whittaker in southern Questers. The planes, B-95A Valkyrie IIs normally based at North Petersburg AFB in the Sørvest District, would fly a total distance over 53,000 kilometers and require five in-flight refueling to reach their destination. It was stated that the intent of the exercise was to show the ability of the Republic Air Force to deploy forces to very distant locations from Chevrokia, as well as to conduct interoperability training with allied forces.
Senators from the Labour Party have criticized the operation as “an unnecessary show of force and a waste of taxpayer funds.” Several more radical Labour members, after walking out of the Senate Building in protest two weeks ago following the nuclear destruction of British Londinium, have called for the disbandment of the Air Force, and have joined demonstrators near the Presidential Complex. President Jagland could not be reached for comment, but Secretary of Defense Harald Gustav stated “Disbanding the Air Force would eliminate our greatest defense, and any suggestions that such steps should be undertaken, quite frankly, I am not sure how to appropriately respond to at this time.”
Gustav added “This operation will show the utility of operating high speed aircraft such as the Valkyrie, with its ability to traverse huge distances in short periods of time, which would allow us to rapidly deploy bomber aircraft to support our allies, should this ever be necessary.”
The bombers are scheduled to remain at RAF Whittaker for a one month period, conducting training exercises in West Haven with the Royal Air Force and other allied air forces in the region.
http://www.cbg.ck/military/bomber.deployment/index.html
Chevrokian Broadcasting Group (c)
Though many people did not recognize it, his job was one of the most important with regard to aircraft safety on the entire base. Birdstrikes were an extreme hazard to any aircraft, especially high speed military aircraft. The bare, scorched spot on the ground nearby was proof enough of that. Birds merely impacting the aircraft’s structure was bad enough; dented or torn off paneling, birds being hurtled through cockpit windows and into their crews could cause serious injuries.
Birds being ingested by the aircraft’s engines, in the case of jet aircraft, were a very major safety problem. While losing one engine on a multi-engined plane was typically survivable, losing all of the engines due to ingestion of large amounts of birds was usually not. In the case of commercial aviation, failure of all engines on an aircraft was quite rare, mostly because the engine placement was, in most cases, far enough apart that the plane would have to hit a flock of thousands of birds to have a chance of total engine failure.
In the case of the B-95A Valkyrie II bomber in service with the Chevrokian Republic Air Force, the danger of bird ingestion resulting in serious damage was significantly increased, for several reasons. Firstly, the intakes for the four huge J-137 engines had to be proportionally large to provide sufficient mass flow rate of air, allowing the possibility for a large number of birds to be caught. Secondly, all four engines were grouped in the center of the huge bomber along its width, meaning that the plane only had to encounter a small, but dense flock. Lastly, the no-power glide characteristics of the Valkyrie at low speed and low altitude, during takeoff and landing phases, were more or less equivalent to a well-thrown brick.
Three weeks prior, these combined risk elements culminated in the loss of a Valkyrie of the 9th Bomb Wing shortly after takeoff. She’d reached about 300 meters in altitude when a large flock of geese was encountered, resulting in all four engines being either damaged beyond functionality or choked of airflow and flaming out when their inner intakes were clogged up. After a few short seconds, the aircraft stalled and plummeted towards the ground. It was fortunate that her crew of four was able to eject successfully, but the aircraft was a total loss.
That the single greatest threat to Valkyries was creations of nature was not a well known fact among the general public. With each aircraft coming in at a unit price of nearly one billion kroner, there was nothing whatsoever funny about birdstrikes involving Valkyries. And thus the task of keeping their approach and departure corridors clear of birds was a matter of national importance.
As Bjerke began tossing the goose carcasses into the back of an Air Force truck, he faintly overheard the high-pitched whine of jet engines being cycled up to maximum throttle. He looked to the other end of the runway and saw a large black shape readying for takeoff. He could faintly make it out as a Valkyrie, but certainly in a different paint scheme, not the usual grey or white coloring. He had heard that the Air Force was testing out the new black scheme to measure the heat effects on the airframe in comparison to the standard schemes.
A few moments later, the dark-colored Valkyrie was thundering overhead Bjerke, the wake turbulence from its four closely-grouped engines pummeling anything on the ground below it. Wake turbulence was also not a laughing matter, and for safety reasons, a second Valkyrie now positioning itself on the opposite end of the runway waited for some time until the wake turbulence was deemed to have been sufficiently dissipated.
More Valkyries were taking off from the runway parallel, both in the new black scheme and the standard grey. All thundering into the sky safely, no birdstrikes. Satisfied that he had done his job for the morning right, Bjerke got into the truck and drove back to base.
------------------
Air Force Bombers Deployed to Southern Questers
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j118/ChevyRocks/Propaganda/Valkyrietakeoff.png
A Valkyrie II in anti-flash white colors on takeoff
The Department of Defense announced this morning that elements of the Republic Air Force’s 7th Bomb Wing are being deployed to RAF Whittaker in southern Questers. The planes, B-95A Valkyrie IIs normally based at North Petersburg AFB in the Sørvest District, would fly a total distance over 53,000 kilometers and require five in-flight refueling to reach their destination. It was stated that the intent of the exercise was to show the ability of the Republic Air Force to deploy forces to very distant locations from Chevrokia, as well as to conduct interoperability training with allied forces.
Senators from the Labour Party have criticized the operation as “an unnecessary show of force and a waste of taxpayer funds.” Several more radical Labour members, after walking out of the Senate Building in protest two weeks ago following the nuclear destruction of British Londinium, have called for the disbandment of the Air Force, and have joined demonstrators near the Presidential Complex. President Jagland could not be reached for comment, but Secretary of Defense Harald Gustav stated “Disbanding the Air Force would eliminate our greatest defense, and any suggestions that such steps should be undertaken, quite frankly, I am not sure how to appropriately respond to at this time.”
Gustav added “This operation will show the utility of operating high speed aircraft such as the Valkyrie, with its ability to traverse huge distances in short periods of time, which would allow us to rapidly deploy bomber aircraft to support our allies, should this ever be necessary.”
The bombers are scheduled to remain at RAF Whittaker for a one month period, conducting training exercises in West Haven with the Royal Air Force and other allied air forces in the region.
http://www.cbg.ck/military/bomber.deployment/index.html
Chevrokian Broadcasting Group (c)