Water landings are said to be near impossible to pull off for anything but hydroplanes (see also: the Hudson miracle) and yet water bombers do it as a matter of routine. How do they keep from crashing (or at least, losing so much speed that they can’t just climb again after scooping up the water) as soon as they hit water?
In: 18
They aren’t scooping like you’re imagining. They lower a pipe into the water. Lets run some math for a 50 mph skim:
[“`(pi * ((1 inch)/2)^2) * (50 miles per hour)“`](https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=%28pi+*+%28%284+inches%29%2F2%29%5E2%29+*+%2850+miles+per+hour%29)
– A 1 inch pipe scoops 180 gallons/min
– A 2 inch pipe scoops 718 gallons/min
– A 3 inch pipe scoops 1616 gallons/min
– A 4 inch pipe scoops 2872 gallons/min
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