New Book : Sukhoi Su-30 Flanker in Indian Service

[+ghostrider883]

 

This book traces the development of the aircraft and describes the hurdles that have been crossed to get to the final product. After initial teething troubles,the Indian Air Force has found itself a very capable multi-role aircraft:probably the most capable multi-role aircraft outside the USA. Book specifications: Softback * 297x210 mm * 96pp * 308 colour photos * 26 Squadron Patches plus 5 colour profiles.

 

I am so much looking forward to this book. It will be worth the number of photos alone

Edited August 18, 2008 by ghostrider883

[Mannie]

This book traces the development of the aircraft and describes the hurdles that have been crossed to get to the final product. After initial teething troubles,the Indian Air Force has found itself a very capable multi-role aircraft:probably the most capable multi-role aircraft outside the USA. Book specifications: Softback * 297x210 mm * 96pp * 308 colour photos * 26 Squadron Patches plus 5 colour profiles.

 

I am so much looking forward to this book. It will be worth the number of photos alone

 

COOL! one of my favorite jets lately.

Will be most interesting to read about this fighter in the service of the IAF. (no,not the Israeli air force. )

 

Cheers Ghostster.

[kukulino]

Book specifications: Softback * 297x210 mm * 96pp * 308 colour photos * 26 Squadron Patches plus 5 colour profiles.

Man, looks like perfect reference material for your virtual Indian airforce!!! :yes:

[kct]

This would be interesting for us Flanker fans.

[+ghostrider883]

Man, looks like perfect reference material for your virtual Indian airforce!!! :yes:

 

Most certainly it is , my friend :yes: . Will be a nice little addition to my personal little library.

 

COOL! one of my favorite jets lately.

Will be most interesting to read about this fighter in the service of the IAF. (no,not the Israeli air force. )

 

Cheers Ghostster.

Just placed an order for it. Should be able to get within a week's time. Will put up a little review when I get it .

[+ghostrider883]

Now available for sale:

 

http://www.anveshan.com/product_info.php/products_id/46

 

For deliveries within India, it costs Rs 1400(including Postage charges) & for other nations, it costs Rs 1600.

Edited August 18, 2008 by ghostrider883

[JediMaster]

I've always wondered what would happen if the TVC nozzles fail in some odd orientation, like has happened with VG planes getting one wing stuck in and one out and such. Could it be bad enough to cause an ejection? Is there some failsafe to bring them to neutral? Or can the controls counter it enough to make a landing safe?

[+ghostrider883]

Just got my copy minutes ago . Was simply blown away by the number of pictures it contains. There are different sections...... SU-30 MKIs' development, Avionics, Weapons, Squadron Info etc.

My favourite pics were that of a MIrage 2000TH getting refuelled by a SU-30MKI and a pic showing view from the WSO's cockpit as the MKI gets refuelled mid-air by an IL-78MKI .

Will post detailed review when I finish reading the book.

Edited October 1, 2008 by ghostrider883

[+ghostrider883]

Here's my little review of the book:

 

The book contains lots of pictures of Indian Flankers....some of them are available on the internet, however most of the pics are "new" , that is to say, not seen on the internet or other books.There are some very cool pics like tha tof a Mirage 2000TH getting refuelled by a SU-30MKI, a cockpit view of air refuelling by an IL-78. There are pics showing various details of Indian FLankers...the RWR, antennas, sensors etc.For eg, there is a antenna behind the cockpit of a Su-30K that is absent on the MKI. At the end of the book, there are six pages containing pics of close ups of various parts of the aircraft, the weapons carried, landing gear, TVC nozzles of the AL-31FP engine,fins, canards etc.

The book is a good source for information on Indian Flankers. Don't expect to find any classified info on the MKI. The book contains info already available in the public domain.

 

 

The Book contains the following sections.

 

1. Development - The section focuses on development of the Su-30MKI. How the aircraft's systems, radar and avionics were brought together into the Su-30MKI. It contains two pictures of SU-30MKI prototypes - 603, which was a Su-30MK converted into SU-30MKI and 01, which crashed at the Paris air show in 1999.

 

2. Su-30K - Focuses on the first two batches of Flankers acquired by the IAF.

Batch 1 :Su-30Ks (SB-001 to SB-008)

Batch 2:Su-30MKs (SB-009 to SB-018)

Lots of pics of the Su-30K/MKs. There's one pic of four Indian tri-colour Su-30Ks flying formation.

 

3. Su-30MKI enters service

Induction of the SU-30MKI in IAF service with No. 20 Sqdn IAF "Lightnings". Photos from Induction service.

 

4. Local Production

Production of aircraft at HAL facilities in India. Gives reasons why the proposed upgradation of Su-30K/MKs(acquired in the first two batches) to Su-30MKI standards was cancelled.Pictures of HAL produced FLankers (SB-1XX series) and assembly lines in Nasik.

 

5. Su-30K in exercise.

Puctures only of Indian SU-30Ks on exercise with French AF MIrages in France.

 

6. Exercise Indradhanush II

Good details of Indian Su-30MKIs visit to UK for the exercise backed up by lots of photos.

 

 

7. Engine & Airframe

Minor details of Su-30MKI's airframe- canards, TVC engines etc.

 

8. Avionics

Some info on radar & avionics systems

 

9. Weapons & Loads

Good details about the type of weapons carried by the MKI i.e which station supports which type of weapon.

 

10. Colour Scheme

Some details of colour schemes painted on Indian Flankers...the tri-blue scheme painted on SU-30K/Mks, Indian Tri-colour flag scheme painted on Su-30Ks and the grey scheme painted on SU-30MKIs plus the IAF 75th anniversary scheme painted on two HAL manufactured Flankers(105 & 106)

 

 

11. Squadron Histories

A paragraph on the Four Su-30MKI squadrons of the IAF - No. 24 "Hawks", No. 20 "Lightnings", No. 30 "Hawks"

 

12. Future

Serials of Flankers in IAF batchwise with some details.248 a/c planned to be in service.

 

As I said before, the book is worth the number of pictures it carries.Its a must for every Flanker fan.

[+ghostrider883]

I've always wondered what would happen if the TVC nozzles fail in some odd orientation, like has happened with VG planes getting one wing stuck in and one out and such. Could it be bad enough to cause an ejection? Is there some failsafe to bring them to neutral? Or can the controls counter it enough to make a landing safe?

 

Jedi,

I think I have an answer.

Here is a scan of a pic in the book :

 

 

The caption under the pic in the book reads -

The underside view tells an interesting story. The diameter & angle of the port engine nozzle indicate that the engine shut down due to in-flight failure.

Probably the other engine(as in all twin engined a/c) is powerful enough to bring the a/c home. Simple solution, if the TVC nozzle gets stuck, shut down that engine.

[Stick]

We were plagued by engine problems in the beginning especially with the Rusian built ones. In fact the workmanship of the of the first MK versions was not what I had expected as Sukhoi's answer to the F-15.My father who is used to glass cockpits of the A320 and A330 was aghast.However he is also very biased toward Russian equipment-he has this story about Russian planes not having pressurization!

In the Flankers defence-it is one beautiful plane.The only thing I find unsightly is the number of pylons employed for ordinance-its detracts from the clean lines of the aircraft.

Edited October 19, 2008 by Stick

[JediMaster]

Ok, devil's advocate here--what if BOTH nozzles get stuck?

[Stick]

Pre-Ejection checklist-bend over and kiss your ass goodbye.

[macelena]

Ok, devil's advocate here--what if BOTH nozzles get stuck?

 

 

Pray so they get stuck in normal, straight position. If this fails, cut down both engines so it stops rolling (pray again)

and jump safely (keep praying). If all this fails, make next prayer from Heaven for those of us still on Earth

[FastCargo]

Ok, devil's advocate here--what if BOTH nozzles get stuck?

 

Actually, the answer is...it depends.

 

Like any other flight control problem, the severity of the issue will determine the possible courses of action. There have been many instances where a configuration that was considered unlandable was able to be recovered. This situation would be no different.

 

I think people assume off axis thrust vectoring to be more powerful than it is. Remember, TVC is meant as an augment to manuverability, not to completely overpower conventional aerodynamics. Otherwise, you might as well get rid of all the other aerodynamic surfaces...don't see any future designs doing that anytime soon.

 

More than likely, assuming the particular pilot has airspeed and altitude to regain control of the situation, then it's a matter of doing a controlability check to determine the aircraft flight control limits.

 

Also, like a jetski, TVC is most effective with high power settings, so if you can minimize the power you need on final (fly a simulated 'engine out' pattern), that minimizes the cross inputs you have to put in to counter any adverse effects.

 

Personally, unless the TVC got stuck at that 'perfect storm' of angles, I'd say a dual stuck TVC situation is certainly recoverable...as long as both engines are running. Single engine on the other hand...then I'd be concerned.

 

FastCargo

[JediMaster]

The main thing is I don't know what the possible failure modes of the TVC nozzles are.

For the F-22, they're 2-D only so you should be able to counter it with pitch only and even if the 2 are stuck at opposite angles some roll should fix it. The Flanker has 3-D nozzles, though, so they can point any direction. Wouldn't adverse yaw be the most difficult to counter? Granted the Flanker has some big vert stabs, but yaw authority seems to be far more limited in most planes.

[Erwin_Hans]

Now available for sale:

 

http://www.anveshan.com/product_info.php/products_id/46

 

For deliveries within India, it costs Rs 1400(including Postage charges) & for other nations, it costs Rs 1600.

 

Today I costed 175RMB for this book by Taobao net[Chinese E-Bay]. I will get this great book in 7 days,can't wait!

[+ghostrider883]

Today I costed 175RMB for this book by Taobao net[Chinese E-Bay]. I will get this great book in 7 days,can't wait!

 

That roughly equals to 1,290 INR. A good deal . Trust me, you will love it. Its worth the pictures alone.