Military Infotainment

Video Credit:  Out Of Your Mind Self-sealing, crash-capable fuel tanks were chosen to limit the threat posed by small-arms fire or hard landings. The tail rotor blades incorporated into the new design were made of ballistically resilient materials to minimize the chance of a tail hit, which would compromise control of the rotorcraft. The main rotors saw a similar treatment, and an armored cockpit was added as the helicopter began to take shape. Redundant systems were worked into the designs of the flight controls, hydraulics, and electrical system to increase the craft’s ability to remain airborne after taking fire. In order to support all that weight, the UH-60 leveraged two engines and a four-blade propeller, which offered a cruising speed of over 100 mph and the ability to lift as much as 8,000 pounds with 1,000 pounds slung underneath. The Black Hawk was also  designed  to be broken down and transported in heavy-lift aircraft like the C-130, allowing it to be depl...

Video Credit:  Out Of Your Mind A thrust reverser, which allows for more rapid deceleration during landing, is a critical component of many jet aircraft. By acting against the aircraft’s forward travel, a thrust reverser system helps the jet slow down just after touchdown. This reduces wear on brakes and facilitates shortened landing distances. Thrust reversers are considered essential to an airplane’s safety and performance. A thrust reverser is contained within the nacelle system, an aerodynamic structure surrounding the jet engine. A nacelle system constitutes the aircraft’s propulsion system and also includes the engine cowling, inlet cowl, fan cowl, core cowl and exhaust system. While there are a number of types, many thrust reversers have clamshell doors, which open and close at designated moments. To slow down after landing, the aircraft engine itself does not run in reverse; rather, the direction of the engine’s fan airflow is reversed, creating a massive drag.

Video Credit: Out Of Your Mind The F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team flies the advanced stealth aircraft at air shows around the globe, and its demonstrations include the crowd-pleasing power loop, split and tailslide, as well as high-speed passes and dedication passes—maneuvers that are based on those designed for combat operations but are performed at much lower altitudes that most pilots are certified to fly. The aerobatic display team has flown the F-22 since 2007, when the Air Force approved the aircraft for demonstration, and this replaced the Air Combat Command's F-15C demonstration team. The team participated in its debut air show at Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB) in March 2007, and since that time has performed in more than 250 demonstrations across the world.

Video credit: Out of Your Mind The Blue Angels is a flight demonstration squadron of the United States Navy. Formed in 1946, the unit is the second oldest formal aerobatic team in the world, after the French Patrouille de France formed in 1931. The team, composed of five Navy and one Marine Corps demonstration pilot, fly Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets. The Blue Angels typically perform aerial displays in at least 60 shows annually at 30 locations throughout the United States and two shows at one location in Canada. The "Blues" still employ many of the same practices and techniques used in the inaugural 1946 season. An estimated 11 million spectators view the squadron during air shows from March through November each year. Members of the Blue Angels team also visit more than 50,000 people in schools, hospitals, and community functions at air show cities. Since 1946, the Blue Angels have flown for more than 505 million spectators. Squadron pilots must be qualified for combat and l...

Video credit:  Out Of Your Mind The Lockheed SR-71 spy plane was and still is the fastest plane on the planet. This aircraft was developed in secret in the late 1950s to cruise to 80,000 feet above the earth, near the edge of space, and out fly any missile that was launched at it.  The SR-71 was designed for flight at over Mach 3 with a flight crew of two in tandem cockpits, with the pilot in the forward cockpit and the reconnaissance systems officer operating the surveillance systems and equipment from the rear cockpit, and directing navigation on the mission flight path. The SR-71 was designed to minimize its radar cross-section, an early attempt at stealth design. Finished aircraft were painted a dark blue, almost black, to increase the emission of internal heat and to act as camouflage against the night sky. The dark color led to the aircraft's nickname "Blackbird". The Blackbird, which first took flight in 1964, could enter hostile airspace, take photographs from tho...

Video credit:  Out Of Your Mind The experts stated that have six bold concepts for sixth-generation fighters: 1. The fighters will have one system for everything. Sixth-generation fighters could have a piece of gear that does multiple jobs, replacing different systems typically seen on today’s aircraft. This hardware would include adaptable software that changes between tasks in mere nanoseconds. You no longer have a radar, no longer have electronic warfare, no longer have a radio,” said Jason Tex Clark, director for Advanced Mission Systems at Raytheon Technologies. “Instead, you have multifunction hardware that does it all and can be repurposed very quickly – switching between functions so quickly it seems instantaneous. 2. Fighters will become flying data centers. The computer processing power for sixth-gen fighters will reach staggering levels, taking the sophisticated mission computers aboard today’s aircraft and essentially turning the planes into flying data centers. 3. AI w...