USA: X-31 SECRET EXPERIMENTAL JET CRASHED DURING TESTS скачать в хорошем качестве

USA: X-31 SECRET EXPERIMENTAL JET CRASHED DURING TESTS

(8 Nov 1995) Natural Sound The US space agency NASA has admitted a top-secret 230 (m) million dollar jet crashed earlier this year. The X-31 experimental jet, built for a special research program, crashed spectacularly in January near the agency's air base in California. This recently released NASA film shows the moment every test pilot fears. The X-31 was designed to be `super' maneuverable by the use of tail paddles which deflect engine exhaust. Its so-called thrust vectoring could give a combat fighter an advantage in turning and pointing at targets. The pilot of the experimental aircraft was given no warning. The X-31 was performing normally as it flew through the bright blue skies above Edward's Air Base in California in January. Things were quick to change - NASA investigators later discovered a sensor left unheated became icy and gave false airspeed readings. The false data automatically slowed the jet down, hurling it out of control and into a 20-thousand foot (6 thousand 500 metres) plunge from which it never recovered. Faced with the impossible, German pilot Karl-Heinz Lang did the only thing he could - he ejected- and landed safely. The plane continued to defy gravity for a further minute, performing several drunken loops before finally crashing to earth in uninhabited desert near the base. The X-31 had previously completed more than 500 flights. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...