Re: fl800

Spike Jones (spike66@ibm.net)
Sun, 21 Feb 1999 12:57:54 -0800

> >imagine a fighter jet flying upside down straight
> >and level at high speed. pilot pulls back on the
> >stick, jet accelerates downward at several g's.
>
> IAN: But your jet still has thrust...

well, it is not necessarily under thrust but it would need forward velocity. partially agreed. {8-]

> FL800 in the CIA video shows each engine flame out just before
> it reaches the peak of it's rocket-like climb,
> so we're talking about a fall without thrust
> and almost no initial horizontal velocity.

i admit i have not studied the cia version of the fl800 story. the details of what happened after the explosion have never interested me much because there must be a great deal of guesswork.

but when the thing first happened, i thought i recall the investigators proposing an explosion that originated *inside* the fuel tank. this i found most improbable, even if an ignition source were to be found. i think it was mike lorrey who described patching leaky fuel tanks in aircraft with gum. {8^D that makes me howl just thinking about it. that would suggest an ignition *outside* the tank which presents a whole nuther set of questions. either way ian, i am partially with you in that i think the official version underexplains
the explosion. im not too concerned about the 29 second plunge tho. i figure they estimated here, guessed a little there. ive seen plenty of
reports like that. either way, it does little to improve the morale of of one like me who flies on the durn things a lot. {8-[ spike