ok so i was searching for a "this thread sucks" picture but i ran across this:



whats is it? besides a plane! whats in the red box?


btw heres that "this thread sucks" pic:

 

That's a good question!

But the "this topic clearly sucks" picture is awesome

 

it looks like a mini propeller

 

yeha it does look like a mini propeller.. but how the heck is that lil thing going to help that plane? unless its for power?

 

maybe it measures airspeed?

 

that sounds about right


too bad scion owners arent rocket scientists

 

Its Scion_Jon saying HI to the SL Community!...hahaha

 

Actually, I used to work for a company that made the switches that activated that fan or "propellor". We were only a Tier 2 supplier of this switch so I'm not totally clear about it, but my understanding is that it's used to generate electricity in emergency situations.

In this picture, maybe they were just testing it....or maybe it was on it's way....

D

O

W

N.....

 

It looks to me to be an auxilliary generator. I have never seen a picture of one deployed like that however.

I too like the objection picture.

 

Here's a picture from wikipedia of an Me-163 from WW2. The propeller on the nose is for an electrical generator.



The airplane had a rocket engine which only provided power for part of the flight. The generator was probably needed for things like radios, navigation aids, and so on. The airliner in the first picture probably had some need for auxilliary power generation, either due to failure, or heavy electrical load.

Hope this helps.

 

I do believe that is a RAT. Ram Air Turbine. If you lose primary and auxillary power, you can deploy it to power flight controls, hydraulics, etc.

 

Yup, makes you hope it's only out because they needed to test it