A loud crack at the Nats.

[Ty Marcucci]

 

[Mike Haverly]

I see Howard all the time.  I don't touch anything that he says is "stiff".  You never know!

[Dennis Saydak]

From the title I thought this was a story about someone breaking wind at the Nats. 

[Larry Fernandez]

Years back, at a contest in Woodland, a new guy shows up with an ARF Nobler.
Jeff Anderson and I watched as he put up a practice flight. It was quite apparent that the flaps needed
some tweaking. I told Jeff to go find a stick and break it while I tweaked the flaps. Now,
keep in mind, I had never met this gentleman in my life, so when he returns his plane to the
pits, Jeff an I introduce ourselves and explain what we saw during his flight. I told him that
I had made up some blocks for tweaking flaps and that I had done this a dozen times.
He seemed a bit nervous, but reluctantly said go ahead. Jeff told a few people what we were
about to do, so there was a small crowd gathered around watching.
As I proceeded to tweet the flaps, Jeff breaks the stick and everyone moans and
grunts and someone says “Oh that’s not good!”  We all look up at the new
guy and he has this look of horror on his face. He remain silent, not knowing
what to say. Jeff waits a few seconds, holds up the broken stick and says
“GOTCHA!” All the guy could do was shake his head, smile and say”You guys
suck”
Anyway, the flaps got properly aligned and the plane flew much better.
He loves reminding me of this whenever I see him.

Good times

Larry, Buttafucco Stunt Team

[BillLee]

Somebody ask Howard about his "stiff" combat models at the 1990 World Champs! 

[Paul Walker]

Somebody ask Howard about his "stiff" combat models at the 1990 World Champs! 

Yup, enjoyed watching the snorts fly!!

Also enjoyed watching the Russian pilots eyes light up when they had the chance to fly against him in a match.

I don't believe a single one came home intact!!

[Howard Rush]

Also enjoyed watching the Russian pilots eyes light up when they had the chance to fly against him in a match.

That light dimmed somewhat when the Russian in question tried to follow the mighty Snort upwind, had to turn back and got cut. 

A goofy project, but the Kevlar did build my character.

[Paul Walker]

That light dimmed somewhat when the Russian in question tried to follow the mighty Snort upwind, had to turn back and got cut. 

I don't think their eyes lighted up because the had moe perfomance than the snort, rather how many pieces they could turn a snort into!

[Howard Rush]

I don't think their eyes lighted up because the had moe perfomance than the snort, rather how many pieces they could turn a snort into!

Listen to the aero guy instead of the stress man and you hear about it for 30 years. 

[Paul Walker]

Listen to the aero guy instead of the stress man and you hear about it for 30 years.

I don't think a stress man can fix that problem.....
of the inevetable intersection of two conbat planes!!

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🚮🚮🚮🚮🚮

[BillLee]

I don't believe a single one came home intact!!

Very few made it through the practice session as I recall! 

[Brett Buck]

I don't think a stress man can fix that problem.....
of the inevetable intersection of two conbat planes!!

  Maybe a titanium casting of some sort?

    Brett

[Paul Walker]

  Maybe a titanium casting of some sort?

    Brett

Casting:  A casting is a series of blowholes and other discontinuities more or less tenuously held together by metal of questionable quality usually reinforced by welding!

[Dave Hull]

And what "definition" would you apply to the current (highly variable), sometimes(?) unpredictable, deposited metal (crack!) anisotropic mess? Gotta hear this one....

Dave

[Target]

Howard, it has only been 28 years, you're embellishing a wee bit...
But it DOES sound like they will make it to the 30 you predict.

Ty-
STOP testing Howard's  stiffness!!

Larry-
That is a FUNNY story. Loved it.

R,
Target

[Paul Walker]

And what "definition" would you apply to the current (highly variable), sometimes(?) unpredictable, deposited metal (crack!) anisotropic mess? Gotta hear this one....

Dave

Didn't get nearly as far with that process as the "structural" casting process. Every time we tried the "deposit a part" there were serious anomilies in them. Never went there for primary structure.......fortunately!

Needless to say I don't think much of that process at this time.

[Brett Buck]

Casting:  A casting is a series of blowholes and other discontinuities more or less tenuously held together by metal of questionable quality usually reinforced by welding!

  Who came up with that idea, anyway?

    Brett

[Paul Walker]

  Who came up with that idea, anyway?

    Brett

I assume you mean the use of structural castings in primary structure.

That requirement came directly from the Pentagon. Passed down to the Air Force and then forced on the contractor to make it work.

The Pentagon wanted the process developed to be used on other military programs. As a result of our "success", they likely shelved the idea for any significant size parts in the future.

[Brett Buck]

That requirement came directly from the Pentagon. Passed down to the Air Force and then forced on the contractor to make it work.

The Pentagon wanted the process developed to be used on other military programs. As a result of our "success", they likely shelved the idea for any significant size parts in the future.

  So, in a sense, it all worked out for the best?

     Brett

[Dave Hull]

The Navy (NAVAIR) doesn't really mind the use of castings--well, not too much--but you have to apply the knockdown factor. By the time you do that, you figure that with high speed spindles and such it is better to redesign for wrought material with published B-Basis data and you end up saving cost and usually without a weight penalty.

You can forget about printed metal parts for structural applications for general use. The material properties have to be controlled just like composites. Supplier qualifications and all. Switch the machine, the powder, the anything and the parts crack before they are done being printed. Been there. Welded up the damage....  (The notable exception is likely to be the super-proprietary work that GE is doing on turbine blades--which of course is very highly controlled.)

The Navy was blowing their horn recently with their "printed submarine." Face purple, lips real puckered. Look it up for entertainment....   It ain't ready for prime time.

The Air Force got into the act recently over their printed replacement for the famous $10,000 toilet seat. That one is a great story too. Lot's can be done if you take away the myiad contract requirements so your "new magic process" can qualify. Meantime, they can beat up a contractor for quoting a job for just a couple of parts long out of production, with no form tools or inspection tools extant. Wish I could have gone to the congressional meetings on that. I would have asked Senator so-and-so how much a new crankshaft for his luxury car would cost him if the part had to be made one-off by a qualified machine shop. I would have found out what car he drove and got 3 quotes from suppliers, along with the boilerplate costs. Watch his eyes glaze over in disbelief....

I saw a Bf-109 printed fuselage in the hobby shop recently. Looked like a great start for making a mold....  Construction still too heavy and not rugged enough for many model parts yet. But waaay better than what came out of the machines 25 years ago.

Dave

[Howard Rush]

Very few made it through the practice session as I recall! 

Practice was OK.  The rematches were costly.  I took seven Snorts to the field one day for two rounds of combat and ran out of Snorts. 

Listen to the aero guy instead of management and you hear about it for 30 years. 

[Howard Rush]

I have a casting story, too, available on demand, but maybe not in public.  It's just as humorous as the rematch story, but doesn't take as long to tell.

[Howard Rush]

I saw a Bf-109 printed fuselage in the hobby shop recently. Looked like a great start for making a mold....  Construction still too heavy and not rugged enough for many model parts yet. But waaay better than what came out of the machines 25 years ago.

I print vortex generators and spinners.  Bellcranks look promising. 

[Steve Helmick]

I'm still waiting for molded CF flap and elevator horns...especially elevator. But maybe could be printed?  Steve