thorr97
Banned
PDF27,
Nope, not quite. The problem was with the jet engine but not for any catastrophic mechanical failure reasons. Rather, it was the poor throttle response of those early turbines. They simply took too long to spool up or reduce thrust. For most of the Goblin's flight envelope that wasn't a problem. For the connecting with that trapeze unit however, that throttle lag was prohibitive. Goblin pilots could not adequately adjust their approach speed to make a safe docking with the trapeze. They'd slowly notch the throttle up to inch up to the trapeze but the throttle lag invariably meant that the engine would suddenly surge up in thrust and that'd run the Goblin in too quickly and out of position. This led to the trapeze bar getting bent and also to the canopy on the Goblin getting shattered when the little plane collided with the trapeze.
Within a few years they'd figured out how to overcome that throttle lag problem. But by then the whole Goblin effort had been canceled. The throttle solution was however incorporated into the FICON program with great success.
Nope, not quite. The problem was with the jet engine but not for any catastrophic mechanical failure reasons. Rather, it was the poor throttle response of those early turbines. They simply took too long to spool up or reduce thrust. For most of the Goblin's flight envelope that wasn't a problem. For the connecting with that trapeze unit however, that throttle lag was prohibitive. Goblin pilots could not adequately adjust their approach speed to make a safe docking with the trapeze. They'd slowly notch the throttle up to inch up to the trapeze but the throttle lag invariably meant that the engine would suddenly surge up in thrust and that'd run the Goblin in too quickly and out of position. This led to the trapeze bar getting bent and also to the canopy on the Goblin getting shattered when the little plane collided with the trapeze.
Within a few years they'd figured out how to overcome that throttle lag problem. But by then the whole Goblin effort had been canceled. The throttle solution was however incorporated into the FICON program with great success.
From memory the problem was that jet engines of the time still had a habit of shedding compressor or turbine blades every now and again - and the pilot sat right on top of the engine. This apparently led to a certain amount of dissent from aircrew...