An F/A-18F Super Hornet weighing 22,000 kg is flying at Mach 0.7at an altitude of 3.5 km. The plane has a length of 18.3 m, awingspan of 13.6 m and a height of 4.9 m. Assume that the shape ofthe aircraft can be approximated by a flat rectangular plate.
(a) Calculate the thrust force required to maintain level flightand constant speed.
(b) If the pilot suddenly changes pitch to fly straight up,determine whether he will black-out
(experience more than 9g deceleration) due to the manoeuvre.
(c) Estimate whether the plane would have stopped moving in ahorizontal direction before an observer at sea-level heard themanoeuvre. (For a bonus of up to 100 marks, mathematically derivethe formula for the final velocity in the horizontal direction andcalculate the value at the instant the observer at sea level hearsthe manoeuvre.)
