Re: [OT] “Raise the nose, HAL.” “I’m sorry, Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

[Walter Bright]

On 4/23/2019 2:42 AM, Uknown wrote:
> Modern military jets are all "relaxed stability".

The 1903 Wright Flyer was highly unstable. The Wrights didn't know anything 
about stability :-) The pitch instability is likely what made their first flight 
so short.

The WW1 Sopwith Camel was famously unstable, killing some high percentage of its 
pilots because of that (I forgot the percentage). But in the hands of a 
competent pilot, he could use that instability to enable high maneuverability in 
combat.

The P-51 liked to flip on its back if you applied power too fast.

The WW2 Me-262 had control problems with flying too fast, you could lose all 
pitch control.

The Korean War F-80 was also unstable, it would abruptly pitch up and the wings 
would come off if you flew it too fast. It had an engine powerful enough to do 
that in level flight, you just had to watch it.