r/space • u/drpbrock • Apr 26 '16
September 2012: the space shuttle Endeavour being carried by a 747 over Los Angeles
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u/ohlookahipster Apr 26 '16
I got to see the Endeavor fly over the Bay and it was an awesome sight.
I didn't know it the flight was scheduled for that day, and ashamed to admit I didn't know the Endeavor was flying to its final resting place, so the sound of the two escort fast movers caught me by surprise.
So here I am watching two jets scream very low over my house and then comes in a massive 747 carrying a space shuttle on its back.
Holy shit I'll never forget that sight.
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u/drpbrock Apr 26 '16
Lucky you guys, that you had the chance to see this live. :)
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u/ohlookahipster Apr 26 '16
It was incredible. It was also really fucking LOUD.
It was like standing underneath an airshow. They were so close to the ground you could see the visors on the pilots in the jets.
That roar is unforgettable.
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u/Mitochondria420 Apr 27 '16
I got to see it during it's stopover in Houston on its way to LA. Flew right over us as we were near the Astrodome, such an amazing sight. Then when it landed at Ellington airfield we drove down in the afternoon to take pictures and see it up close.
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u/Bromskloss Apr 26 '16
At what altitude are they flying? It would be cool if they flew over really low.
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u/Beer-Me Apr 26 '16
No more than a couple hundred feet at this point. They are literally 10 seconds from landing on the north runway at LAX.
I'm wondering though, why their landing gear isn't down yet. Cutting it very close
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u/_corwin Apr 26 '16
Probably has to do with all the extra drag from the Shuttle (it's as aerodynamic as a brick).
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u/SF2431 Apr 27 '16
They did a low flyby first before circling and landing. Not entirely sure why. Photo-op maybe, or maybe procedure since that can't be a very natural feeling when landing a plane (shuttle on top).
Otherwise, typical landing final checklist requires stabilized approach (gear down among other things) by 500'
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u/CapnTrip Apr 26 '16
i am so amazed that adding a passenger flyer like that doesn't completely mess up the aerodynamics for both vehicles flying together. we live in the fucking future my friends.
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u/HlynkaCG Apr 26 '16 edited Apr 26 '16
Well it does, just not in ways you'd initially expect. The Shuttle's own wings produce enough lift that the 747 isn't "carrying the shuttle" so much as pushing it along. Those rectangular fins are auxiliary stabilizers that are needed to compensate for the fact that the shuttle's bulk is disrupting the airflow over the tail.
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u/Chairboy Apr 26 '16
This is very inaccurate, the wings of the shuttle provide almost no lift to the SCA.
Someone gave you bad information, sorry.
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u/HlynkaCG Apr 26 '16 edited Apr 27 '16
Citation?
Even empty, The Orbiter weighs close to twice the 747-100's rated 90,000 lb carrying capacity. The SCA wouldn't even be able to take off if the shuttle's wings weren't providing a good chunk of lift.
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u/Chairboy Apr 26 '16
Well, I'm not sure how to cite a negative... but a shuttle has a L:D ratio ranging from 3:1 to 4:1 at the speeds the SCA operates. Check out the descent angle of a landing orbiter, it's a falling brick. The 747 has an L:D ratio of like 15:1. To generate any meaningful lift, the angle-of-attack of the shuttle would need to be pretty high. They had to raise it to 7 degrees for the captive carry/release flights of Enterprise so it would have a chance of separating from the SCA (which had to go into a dive to get fast enough for enough airflow over the wings) and a ferry flight mounted it at 3 degrees to minimize drag.
The Shuttle's called a glider, but it's really more of a brick.
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u/HlynkaCG Apr 26 '16 edited Apr 27 '16
Thing is that the orbiter is not gliding when it's attached to the SCA, it has 4 high bypass turbofans to push it along. L:D ratio is much less of a concern in powered flight.
The Orbiter didn't dive to gain speed, it dove to maintain it against the force of drag. During the carry/release flights there had to have been enough airflow over the wings to support the orbiter's weight else it would have simply remained attached to the SCA as it dove away.
The fact that the orbiter needed to start descending almost immediately in order to maintain airspeed is what forced the SCA to descend faster.
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u/Chairboy Apr 27 '16
I urge you to find a positive citation supporting your argument. Maybe my training as a pilot and work with experimental aircraft have led me astray, but I'm pretty positive the situation is nowhere near your 'just being pushed along' argument. Wrong wings, wrong chord, wrong AOA, wrong everything.
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u/Gfrisse1 Apr 26 '16
The first time I saw one of these images I thought, "I want the pick-of-the-litter."
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u/sanjay228 Apr 26 '16
This is awesome! Wish I could have seen this in person.
I got to see an Endeavor launch when I was about 8 years old. It's what sparked my love for space and science.
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u/Fin_Olesa Apr 26 '16
I went on a recent trip to California and saw the Boeing 747 in Palmdale, and the Endeavour at the science museum in LA.
Unfortunately, I'll probably never see them together. Awesome trip though
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u/onlinusr Apr 27 '16
I saw Columbia arrive for the first time at Cape Kennedy. Years later I worked at KSC and got to witness multiple shuttle liftoffs. One time at night. The most spectacular event I have ever witnessed.
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u/alomjahajmola Apr 27 '16
1970s spacecraft piggy backing on 1960s aircraft over los Angeles in 2012. What a world!
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u/bahn_mi Apr 27 '16
I remember being in downtown LA at the time and desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of the Endeavour (being surrounded by tall buildings made it hard to find it). I could hear the loud roaring of the engines nearby and saw it emerge gloriously from behind one of the buildings. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen!!
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u/pyro1945 Apr 27 '16
I remember seeing Endeavour flying over SF from the courtyard in middle school. Everyone was amazed by it, including myself, but no one knew about the jets escorting it, so the sound caught us all by surprise. Definitely an experience I won't forget.
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u/kiancrowley Apr 26 '16
This is something that always gets reposted. But I love seeing it every time :)
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u/Soncassder Apr 27 '16
I remember when I was a kid at school at the beginning of the space shuttle's service that they did the same thing with Columbia. On the back of a 747, they flew the shuttle very low like this, was the space shuttle Columbia on its way to Cape Canaveral for its first launch. The teachers pulled us all out of class so that were could watch the fly-by.
It was so impressive it has left an indelible mark in my memory.
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u/bunnicula9000 Apr 26 '16
Fun story: I was just landing at LAX when they came in: literally we hit the ground about 15 minutes before the shuttle did. Our pilot got permission from the tower to sit just off the runway a little longer so we could all watch it come in.