Does anyone have contact details for Bill Hatfield?? Cheers Mark
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Gary Stevenson Sent: Monday, 15 September 2008 9:00 PM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Flying on Mars How did that post from an earlier SF thread on this forum ("Dancers at the End of Time") go -"Feekit"? Gary ----- Original Message ----- From: "Texler, Michael" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia." <aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net> Sent: Monday, September 15, 2008 11:47 AM Subject: [Aus-soaring] Flying on Mars >I have done some flying on Mars. > > Pretend, anyway. > > I have X-plane 9 on my Mac at home, part of the flight sim is the ability > to fly on Mars (with Martian elevation data and terrain to boot). > > The main canyon (Valles Marineris) is up to 7km (almost 23,000') deep > > Olympus Mons is 27km (88,500') above the mean surface level. > > Hence the variation in air density between those two places is huge. > > It is very tricky to fly. > > The air at mean Martian surface is about 1% as dense as Earth's at see > level. The gravity is also less than on Earth. > > Even taking off from the bottom of the canyon, your indicated stall speed > and Vne are very close together (i.e. you are in 'coffin corner' for most > of the time). > > Your take off speed is very near the speed of sound. > > Because of the reduced air density, control effectiveness is very much > reduced, so turning is a slow process. Also, on approach to land, and drag > producing devices (drogue chute, airbrakes, flaps) don't work very well, > because of the thin air. > > Even slowing down once on the ground is tricky, because of the reduced > gravity, the weight of the aircraft on the wheels is less. About the only > way you can stop is with arrestor cables. > > Have managed to take off from the plain next to Olympus Mons and climb to > the top of Olympus Mons, but it took several attempts because the aircraft > couldn't out climb the terrain. > > I suspect thermalling on Mars might be out.... > (Unless you are very very small) > > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net > To check or change subscription details, visit: > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.169 / Virus Database: 270.6.21/1671 - Release Date: 9/14/2008 7:16 AM _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
