Re: airbrake question

On 2 Dec 2003 01:06:49 -0800, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (miso) wrote:

>Does the airbrake put it's force on the center of gravity of the
>plane? If not, how does the pilot compensate for the force? [Yeah, I
>know, there are no dumb questions, though maybe I'm asking one or
>two.]

Speed brakes on tactical jets vary from design to design. Some are
located at the extreme tail of the aircraft, such as the F-102, F-105,
F-106, F-16. They increase the form drag of the airframe shape and
have virtually no pitching moment when deployed. (The F-105 speed
brakes--four huge petals that opened around the tail pipe, were so
effective that a flight manual warning said to use caution deploying
at very high speed because the pilot could slide forward in the seat
and possibly inadvertently generate stick input.)

Some are located on the fuselage--T-38 on the underside and F-15 on
the top behind the cockpit. These are near the C/G and also provide no
appreciable pitching moment. 

The F-4 speed brakes were on the underside of the wing, forward of the
flaps. No pitching, but not very effective either.