This video shows you How to Use Geometry to Land a Fighter Jet. Piloting an aircraft requires a significant amount of knowledge, especially math. Landing a Fighter Jet is more challenging than a commercial plane because you will need to land a Fighter Jet coming in at 170 mph onto the runway of a moving aircraft carrier at sea. So math (geometry in particular) is important in this situation to analyze the problems. One of the most vital geometrical calculations for landing Fighter Jet is figuring out where the tail hook will land on the deck or where the hook attached to the aircraft will touch down and then hook the line on the ship. It allows the aircraft to stop safely. Pilots must use geometry to calculate taking-off and landing angles. The aircraft has recommended take-off and landing angles. If the pilot descends or descends at a too steep slope, it can lead to a tail collision when the plane's tail hits the runway. This can damage the aircraft and possibly cause it to crash. Speed, altitude, and distance from the destination are factors that pilots use when determining the angle of landing and the angle of climb. Learn more: https://lmt.co/3habzTK
Video Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:35 Math in Aviation 2:21 Your Turn 4:58 Outro
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Hi guys, my name's Brooke and welcome to Talk Techie, the show where we look at how we use
science, technology, engineering, and math every day in surprising ways. Today we're going to talk
to a fighter pilot and he's going to show us how he uses geometry to land a fighter on an aircraft
carrier. And pay attention because at the end of the episode he's going to ask you to do the
sort of. All right guys, let's check it out. Math is used every day in aviation and when it
comes to fighter aircraft, while it may be the aerodynamics that keep it airborne, it's the math
that lets us land on aircraft carriers. Imagine you're on an airline flight going from your home
to visit family. When that aircraft lands, it's landing at approximately 150 miles per hour
on a concrete runway that is 8, 10, even 12,000 foot long. In contrast, when we land the F-35
aboard an aircraft carrier, one, we're coming in at 170 miles per hour and two, the runway length
is only 700 feet. In addition to that, that runway sits on top of the aircraft carrier
and the aircraft carrier is constantly moving. And that is why math is so important when figuring
out how to land an F-35 aboard an aircraft carrier. Before I even climb into the cockpit
to take off, we use every kind of math out there to analyze the problem. We use geometry,
we use trigonometry, we even use calculus to analyze and get exactly the points that we need
before we even think about landing the plane on the boat. Now for the specifics. One of the most
important calculations is figuring out where the tail hook will touch down on the deck or where the
hook that's attached to the aircraft is going to touch down and then engage the wires on the ship
to allow the aircraft to come to a safe stop. We use glide slope trigonometry and glide slope
geometry to do those calculations. And it's all about figuring out the proper angle, the proper
speed, and the proper touchdown point. And the pilot is doing all of this when he or she lands.
No pressure, right? Now it's your turn. So let's see if you can solve for the hook to eye.
Here are the numbers you'll need to complete the calculations. The glide slope theta is the angle
between the optical landing aid light source and the horizon. Our target is 3.5 degrees.
Gamma is the desired flight path angle with no wind and is three degrees. Alpha is a function
of aircraft geometry and for the F-35C is 12.3 degrees. Phi is also a function of aircraft
geometry and is the angle between the pilot's eye and the aircraft fuselage reference line.
For the F-35, it's 17.9. And finally, L, the length from the pilot's eye to the hook point,
31.3 feet. We've talked about the glide slope triangle and glide slope trigonometry,
but the concept that I really want you to focus on is the law of sines, which states that the
is a constant ratio for all three angles. Now we use that concept to derive the hook to eye
equation, which is hook to eye. This length here is equal to the length times the sine of theta
minus gamma plus alpha plus phi. And if you did your math right, you should have come up with
about 16 feet. On November 3rd, 2014, I had the honor and privilege of being the first pilot to
land an F-35 aboard an aircraft carrier. I took off out of Southern California on a gorgeous day.
The sun was high, the sky was a brilliant blue, and the sea just looked amazing. I could see the
aircraft carrier from miles away. As I started to make that descent, I had a thought that while I
was alone in the aircraft, hundreds of hours had gone into preparing for this one landing.
Hundreds of engineers had spent years doing the math to allow this single landing to happen.
So hopefully, as you're sitting there in your class, or in front of your computer watching
this video, you've come to learn we use math everywhere. From landing an F-35 aboard an
aircraft carrier, to putting rockets in space, to even pulling your car into a parking spot.
It's all about geometry. So I challenge you, embrace those STEM classes for everything
they're trying to teach you, because next, it's going to be your turn to solve the problem.
That is one cool way to use geometry. Thanks, Brick, for joining us on this show, and we want
to hear what you think. So like, comment, and subscribe below, and check out LockheedMartin.com
for more resources. I'm Brooke, I'll see you guys next time. Bye, guys.
