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Re:U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace by chiph on Sunday December 13, 2020 @07:28PM (#25411975)
The AF uses muscle cars to chase it down the runway as it lands to give the pilot feedback on their height above the concrete. They have to stall it from 2 feet up (61cm) to have a successful landing. If they do it from 4 feet up (1.2m), they'll probably damage something.

They used to use Pontiac GTOs (aka Holdens), then switched to Camaros. Not sure what they're using now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIrZCymyjNY

Re:U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace by chimpansteve on Monday December 14, 2020 @08:35AM (#25417297)
I've been in one of the chase cars as they talk the plane down. One of the most memorable experiences of my life. This was over 10 years ago, but they were using Subaru Imprezas and Mitsubushi Evos then (this was in Cyprus, btw)
Re:U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace by garmaine on Sunday December 13, 2020 @09:01PM (#25412687)
Some airman has the most awesome job ever.
Re:U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace by whoisthemachine on Sunday December 13, 2020 @09:30PM (#25412873)
Electric vehicles would be perfect for this job.
Re:U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace by numpad0 on Sunday December 13, 2020 @10:56PM (#25413371)
They tested Tesla in 2017 and Camaro don’t seem replaced. Perhaps those were too slow at high speeds.
Re:U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace by sargun on Monday December 14, 2020 @02:19AM (#25414377)
One of the problem with Tesla’s is they cannot have long periods of sustained acceleration due to the way battery cooling works. They could probably rig up something fancy, but at least none of the models right now do this easily.
Re:U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace by gambiting on Monday December 14, 2020 @06:50AM (#25415971)
The Porsche Taycan has been specifically engineered to do that sort of thing over and over.The issue there is that I really don't see a reason to get a taycan over some american muscle, a 500hp mustang is like 1/3rd of the price of a base spec Taycan and will do the exact same job. It's not like army bases are short on fuel either.
Re:U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace by mlindner on Monday December 14, 2020 @09:24AM (#25417845)
This is largely a myth and was only true of early Tesla vehicles.

Also you're not going "long periods of sustained acceleration" here.

The real issue would be Tesla's slow acceleration at high speeds. It has a very very good 0-60 mph, but it's 0-100 mph is more average.

Re:U-2: The veteran spyplane too valuable to replace by numpad0 on Monday December 14, 2020 @03:10AM (#25414635)
Both the cooling and how electric motor works. They lose out power after 60mph or 1/4-mile distance whichever comes first.