GUNS GUNS GERNS

[Felch]

If .50 BMG are so effective at bringing down jets, then why don't any militaries use them as such?

20 mm autocannons are on the small side for AAA. Nobody in their right mind is going to use a 12.7 mm semi-auto rifle for that sort of work.

[Sava]

You guys are walking, talking facepalms.

Don't change. Ever.

[regexcellent]

lol so we explain how you are wrong, clearly and completely, and we are the walking facepalms?

Shooting down an airliner is actually pretty hard. When the Russians shot KAL-007 it stayed aloft for like, 20 minutes, and that was with an air-to-air missile.

[DinoDoc]

You guys are walking, talking facepalms.

Don't change. Ever.

Says the person that apparently gets his knowledge of science and engineering from action movies.

[Sava]

lol so we explain how you are wrong, clearly and completely, and we are the walking facepalms?

That's not what you did.

Both you and Felch offered your usual unsupported, uneducated, misinformed and inexperienced opinions.

The danger from pistol caliber rounds is quite severe. We're talking about larger rounds with more energy... and somehow... that's no danger.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/science-questions/gun-on-plane.htm

And it has absolutely nothing to do with military aircraft. I don't know why you are hanging your hat on that tangent.

[DinoDoc]

[Sava]

The amount of information on this is staggering. Just google "hole in airplane".

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/04/05/southwests-scare-when-a-plane-decompresses-what-happens/

Such large holes can happen as a result of stress fractures in the skin.

The attack could happen on takeoff and not be noticed until a plane as at altitude.

Dear lord, there are so many different things that could happen. The round could impact wiring and disable any number of systems.

But the idiots think bullet holes in planes are perfectly safe. No surprise there.

[Sava]

I'm stupid.

Agree.


also, from the Time link:

“Depending on the size of the hole, explosive decompression can occur,” says Nihad Daidzic, a professor of aviation at Minnesota State University who has witnessed simulations of depressurization. “Within seconds you’ll get condensation. The pressure and the temperature will drop very quickly. Debris will be flying around, and people can get sucked out.”

[Sava]

mythbusters video

The article I posted directly addressed this.

The Discovery show Mythbusters took up this issue of depressurization a few years ago and disproved the myth (often seen in movies) that a hole in a window or the fuselage will automatically cause people to get sucked through. Again, it all comes down to size and immediacy: if the hole is big enough and people are close enough, anything can happen.

[DinoDoc]

The article I posted directly addressed this.

So you agree that the statement you made here was the result of scientific illiteracy and possibly too many action movies:

Firing a gun inside a plane (a pistol round) is enough of a danger that could result in an explosive decompression... possibly leading to a larger structural failure.

[Sava]

So you agree that the statement you made here was the result of scientific illiteracy and possibly too many action movies:

I don't even know what sort of moronic pedantry you are engaging in now.

[regexcellent]

If you shot a pistol round through the body of the aircraft when it was at altitude the oxygen masks would drop and the passengers would put them on and everyone would be fine.

[regexcellent]

That's not what you did.

Both you and Felch offered your usual unsupported, uneducated, misinformed and inexperienced opinions.

The danger from pistol caliber rounds is quite severe. We're talking about larger rounds with more energy... and somehow... that's no danger.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/science-questions/gun-on-plane.htm

And it has absolutely nothing to do with military aircraft. I don't know why you are hanging your hat on that tangent.

A .50 cal round would go in one side, out the other, unless it hit some critical component it would do no damage and everything it could hit exists at least in duplicate.

You'd have a tiny window at takeoff to shoot the plane and bring it down. You'd have to disable both engines or kill both pilots.

also


(Lonestar and Felch will appreciate this)

[DinoDoc]

I don't even know what sort of moronic pedantry you are engaging in now.

I'm trying to get you to admit that you were wrong, Ben. You've gone from hand wringing about pistol rounds piercing the skin of the plan to pointing out that 5ft holes in a plane can indeed cause explosive decompression. It's just sad to see you reduce yourself to that BK.

[Sava]

If you shot a pistol round through the body of the aircraft when it was at altitude the oxygen masks would drop and the passengers would put them on and everyone would be fine.

This is one possible scenario.

But I wouldn't want to be on a plane and find out for myself.

This might be the dumbest I've ever seen you on these boards. You are really under the impression that an attack involving .50 rounds being fired at a plane would absolutely not result in a catastrophic situation, aren't you?

How do you manage to even complete basic tasks without the assistance of a trained professional making sure you don't kill yourself?