I know from watching a motorcycle cop look quizzically at his radar gun as I
drove by (over the posted limit) that my plastic Lotus Elan likewise was
"invisible" to radar. Of course police radar devices are toys compared to
the stuff that paints our aircraft in flight so this doesn't imply that
composite aircraft (sans transponder) are invisible or even stealthy.
Best regards,
Rob Housman
A070
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-europa@post.aviators.net
Subject: RE: Off Topic: The "Evils" of homebuilding
[Getting even more off-topic] The test was repeated for a later model of
Corvette, and the car WAS found to be much less visible than others. Some
investigation revealed two changes. First, the headlights were the pop-up
type, and it turns out the parabolic headlight reflectors are very efficient
radar reflectors, so tipping them down reduces cross-section. Secondly, the
radiator in the Corvette was tilted away from the vertical, in an effort to
reduce hood height. IIRC it was tilted back at the top by about 15 degrees.
This made a dandy reflector for radar, but beamed it upwards above the
transmitting cruiser.
Cheers,
David
> -----Original Message-----
> Cc: europa@avnet.co.uk
> Subject: Re: Off Topic: The "Evils" of homebuilding
>
>
> Years ago there was an article in a car magazine about the
> radar cross section of
> the Corvette, a fiber glass car. Instead of being less
> visible to police radar, the
> car was found more visible than a conventional, metal bodied
> car. The moving fan
> blades and angular shapes of the radiator and engine created
> a bigger return than
> the smooth body of the metal car.
> One has to wonder who this so called expert was that CBS quoted.
>
> Terry Seaver
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