Just an Earth-Bound Misfit: The Rantings of an Aging, Armed, Pinko Chick

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck, A/K/A Dolt-45,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset., A/K/A P01135809

Sunday, September 6, 2020

Your Sunday Morning, Um, Jet Noise?

An-70:

As far as I know, it's the only propfan-powered airplane flying.

8 comments:

Stewart Dean said...: We aren't the only ones that can shoot ourselves in the foot. Antonov is a Ukrainian enterprise...and the Ukes have long cherished uncordial relations with 'Mother' Russia.
From the Propfan link:
In January 1994, Antonov rolled out the first prototype of the An-70 military transport aircraft, powered by four Progress D-27s attached to wings mounted to the top of the fuselage.[54] The Russian Air Force placed an order for 164 aircraft in 2003, which was subsequently canceled. As of 2013, the An-70 was still thought to have a promising future as a freighter.[56] However, since the propeller component of the Progress D-27 is made by Russia's SPE Aerosila, the An-70 cannot be built because of Ukraine's political conflict with Russia. Instead, Antonov began working with Turkey in 2018 to redevelop the An-70 as the rebranded An-77, so that the aircraft can comply with modern-day requirements without Russian supplier participation.[57]; 9/06/2020 5:32 AM
seafury said...: Since more or bigger prop blades seems tho the way to go how long until it's just a disk spinning on a hub?; 9/06/2020 11:31 AM
Tod Germanica said...: This is a new one on me, thanks. Strange video though. John Tesh new age music at the start. Robinson helicopter for no particular reason. I thought the knock on propfans was the noise they make but it just sat there and then taxied until the 10 minute mark and then the audio wasn't good enough to determine if it was really LOUD. Guess the moral of this story is never trust Russia to supply critical parts of your project, their empire friendly and neighbor hostile politics may well scuttle your whole design. Same as the USA I suppose, under trump.; 9/06/2020 12:55 PM
CenterPuke88 said...: seafury, that’s pretty much the description of a high bypass turbofan.

Tod, that’s exactly the knock. The fuel efficiency was pretty decent (35% decrease in fuel burn), but after testing the GE36 on the MD-UDF the cabin noise issue was never licked.; 9/06/2020 1:17 PM
Stewart Dean said...: I take that, if you put them out on the wings (less noise), you have to have a high wing so the props don't hit the ground....and then you lose the floaty soft-in-ground-effect landing of a low wing? Or are there more factors?; 9/06/2020 4:01 PM
Old NFO said...: That is a strange looking and sounding bird. But if it works... what can I say?; 9/06/2020 5:55 PM
Antibubba said...: Like a walrus with wings!; 9/10/2020 12:23 AM
LEJ.approach said...: @Tod Germanica:
I posted this video on YouTube and I think I can say one or two things about the points that seem to confound you:

The music in the first few seconds of the video comes from YouTube's audio library and it's just there to give some audio to the otherwise silent pictures of the plane, complement the rather quiet sounds from the Robinson R44 and to signal to the viewer, that the helicopter isn't the main feature of the video.

The R44 in question can almost always be seen flying over Leipzig/Halle airport, when something unusual from Antonov visits, so it seems logical to assume it's there for taking pictures or record videos and as a reference to that, I added a (more or less) funny comment to the subtitles, saying "I guess the competition just has the better equipment ;)".

As far as I know, this An-70 is one of 2 or 3 ever built and the only one in a flying condition today (at least 1 was lost in a crash), so chances are, I'm not going to see it or another An-70 flying in my lifetime.
For an aircraft enthusiast like me, that's enough to film and publish as much material of it as I can. And if you read the comments on YouTube, you'll find aviation enthusiasts from all over the world appreciate that.

And as for the audio, being not good enough:
For shooting this, I used a Sony NEX-VG20, whose integrated microphones have a very good reputation and I wonder how the audio track of any video is supposed to give you an idea on how loud the plane was. If a certain noise level is exceeded, either the gain is set to a lower value or the microphone is overmodulated. In both cases you won't know the original noise level.
But if you like to know: The An-70 was clearly audible, yet surprisingly quiet! I'd say it's a little bit less noisy than an An-26, if that helps.; 9/23/2020 9:15 PM