JF-17/FC-1 Fighter Aircraft thread

ghessan

Just Hatched
Registered Member
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One thing the PAF Chief, ACM Mujahid Anwar Khan said on Monday. ‘Whatever capabilities the Indian Air Force acquires, like the Rafale/Meteor BVR combo’ he said, ‘the Pakistan Air Force will match it - the balance has to be maintained. Have no doubt about that.’

"triple digit pretty much tells the numbers desired to be inducted" tell the numbers to be inducted. it is only the style in which thunder is given serial number with first digit the block and nest two digits the number of aircraft within that block.
 
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Mohsin77

Senior Member
Registered Member
Is punching rivet holes manually still the common practice or are there mechanical alternatives to it? Seems like it is not efficient and could bottleneck the production speed.

Probably for the same reason that supercars are 'handmade,' i.e. not enough units to automate the task.

The manufacturing of millions of Honda Civics can be automated, not the couple of hundred McLaren P1s.

Maybe once the cost of customized robotics comes down...
 

MastanKhan

Junior Member
Is punching rivet holes manually still the common practice or are there mechanical alternatives to it? Seems like it is not efficient and could bottleneck the production speed.

Hi,

Mechanically there is nothing wrong with hand drilling and riveting.

As long as the techs are trained above par---are conscious of their job and the supervisor has a keen eye---it is perfectly fine to do hand drilling and riveting---.
 

MastanKhan

Junior Member
Hi,

There is a reason that aircraft are riveted and not welded ( maybe in a few places ).

Even the F22 is riveted---and the super jumbo airbus 380 as well and all other aircraft---.

Only cars has have welded joints.

You cannot use weld on air crafts when you need rivets---. Aluminum does not like to be welded---.
 

plawolf

Lieutenant General
Aluminium welding is hardly new or novel tech, all those British RN warships that burnt up and sank during the Falklands were aluminium construction, meaning aluminium welding.

Although you are always going to have problems trying to weld really thin plates together, as would be the case with aviation where weight is massively important, which is what I think you are referring to? But that’s not really an issue with welding aluminium as it is with welding thin plates in general. That’s why even in the auto industry, welding isn’t really used on surface panels, those are usually large sheet metal pieces pressed into shape, and then bolted into place.

The main reasons you see so many small panels with so much riveting on aircraft are for enhanced structural integrity while minimising weight (if you made aircraft external panelling like car bodywork, those would literally warp and sheer off when you pulled even a moderate G manoeuvre or hit really bad turbulence); ease of access/repair; and damage control.

Even supercars are nothing like as complex as fighter or airline aircraft; with their miles of internal wiring, many subsystems, hydraulics, electronics and future upgrade considerations. Can you imagine how hard even routine maintenance and repair will be if the outer shell of an aircraft are mainly large welded pieces?

Anyone who has had any bodywork done on their car knows how expensive and time consuming that is. And while I can drive my car without much if any performance penalties with a dint in the bodywork; the same cannot be said for aircraft.

With riveted panels, each panel is independently secured and held in place, so if a panel fails from wear and tear or damage, the surrounding panels have a reasonably good chance of staying in place long enough for you to land. If it was all welded together, any damage is highly likely to rapidly spread uncontrollably, which is extremely likely to lead to catastrophic structural failure since aircraft reply massively on their external surfaces for structural integrity like an exoskeleton.
 

lcloo

Captain
Another reason why riveting is widely used is because technicians need to open panels on aircraft fuselage in order to reach the inside components for repairs and maintenance. If the fuselage is largely welded, one would need a torch or metal cutter to open them.:(

Also combat damages like fuselage panels with bullets or shrapnel holes can be easily discarded and replace by a new one in short time.
 
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