Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military
From: ut-emx!walt.cc.utexas.edu!rdd@cs.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: B1-B accidents
Message-ID: <10086@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 11 Oct 89 02:44:06 GMT
References: <10019@cbnews.ATT.COM>
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From: ut-emx!walt.cc.utexas.edu!rdd@cs.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett)

In article <10019@cbnews.ATT.COM> chenj@cmcl2.NYU.EDU (James Chen) writes:
>
>
>From: chenj@cmcl2.NYU.EDU (James Chen)
>Has anyone else hear it? I ask because I never heard about it
>again either in the papers or on TV.  It seems from my faulty
>memory that there's been a large number of accidents with the
>B1-B's, e.g. birds sucked into the intakes, tanks ruptures by
>the swept wings, etc.  Does anyone know how many and if this is
>unusual for a relatively new plane?

The bird intake problem is endemic for all aircraft. The frequency of the B-1
hits suggests the B-1 is being flown at low altitudes.  Airplanes--any
airplane--can be destroyed by flying into birds.  On airliners, disintegrated
engines, radomes, broken windshields, etc. are all fairly common. 

The solution would be to conduct training missions at a higher altitude 
(need to get up to > ~5000 MSL to miss most birds).  Considering that we only 
have 97 B-1's left, it might be a good idea.

The punctured tank problem, on the other hand, stinks of bad design.  'Course,
to get out of bad design, manufacturers often simply place the onus of respon-
sibility on the *operator*--the pilot.  So as long as they cover themselves on
paper, they can point fingers at operator error (which is how least one tank-
puncture incident ended up).


>I read in Insight that the M16 rifle & M-1 Abrams tank got a
>lot of bad press early in their development.  They have, however,
>turned out to be excellent weapons 

Actually, I think it might be pointed out that the M-16 was replaced by special-
ty weapons in many of its problem areas.  Can anyone substantiate this?