Any aircraft mechs out there? I just got an email showing

[napi21]

some Russian migs being unearthed in Iraq after being burried in the sand to hide them. The email talked about how Iraq still has these "great jet fighters" and they hid them by burring them in the dessert sand. The writer said they hoped this info would be brought out before the election so people would know why we really invaded Iraq.

My question is, can a jet still be airworthy after being totally burried in the sand?

[ret5hd]

1. short answer-no, absolutely not.

grit, sand, and dust in bearings, oil, throughout the engine. wouldn't last at all without a complete engine overhaul.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. No.

I am not an aircraft mech, but when that went down, sane and stable people who knre what they were talking about said that because of the length of time those planes were buried, that they were only good for scrap.

Of course, FreePeeZ who pass around pictures like that would tend to ignore such details...

[opiate69]

3. Only after a serious overhaul.

It's safe to say that one couldn't just dig one of these up, jump in the cockpit and go. Not to mention, we knew Iraq still had aircraft. Nobody ever told them they couldn't. Remember the "no-fly zones"? Further, this is hardly news. These pictures first came out sometime in the summer of 2003, IIRC.

[punpirate]

4. Note that this find...

... occurred fifteen months ago. It's an old story that someone tacked the "election" line onto.

The BBC article on this at the time said that the aircraft were in various states of disrepair. From what I saw of the aircraft, it did not look as if they were sealed. The engine intakes and exhausts were exposed, the gear was down and the wings were removed, so there's bound to be sand in just about everything. If the engines weren't previously removed (can't tell from the photos), they're probably trash now.

Some stories said that there were "40 to 50" aircraft, but Iraq never had more than seventeen MiGs of this model--twelve interceptors and five trainers. And, the fellow appending the note about this being "why we really invaded Iraq" is full of shit. They're not WMDs, were permitted under UN sanctions and all were probably either damaged or scavenged from at the time of Gulf War.

Pretty much a non-story, except for curiosity value.

[humanbeing]

5. some further info:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/military/sandplanes.asp

It's true, but it's OLD (from last year)

Question is, how is this a WMD? It's a jet. We knew they had them, they've not been operational for years probably, because WE HAD NO FLY ZONES in Iraq!

I'm not a mechanic, I can't tell you what damage these planes suffered, but the site states that only a few were 'protected' with plastic sheeting.

The rest are probably history.

[sangh0]

6. Don't believe everything you read. Google is your friend

And when it rains, don't stand outside staring at the sky in amazement with your mouth open.

You might drown.

[classof56]

7. So THAT'S why we invaded Iraq?

Don't recall Bushco using that one before, but hey, whatever it takes to win the hearts and minds of the idiots that are gonna vote for him. He's been in the "when all else fails make somethin' up" mode for so long it's hard to keep track. Besides, as another poster pointed on, these "planes in the sand" were discovered shortly after the "invasion". Why would bringing this up before the election make any difference? Oh, sorry. Stupid question considering we're dealing with stupid voters!

Let's send Bush and his whole crowd packing.

[Mika]

8. Could've dug'em up and got'em launched in 45 minutes for that bio attack..

that _Bush mentioned.


:eyes:

[madrchsod]

9. no -all the decent jets

Saddam had were flow to Iran in the first gulf war. he didn`t have a functioning air force

[Maylee]

10. Maybe yes maybe no...

Aircraft are usually put through a process known as pickling prior to being placed in storage. Done properly, they can be returned to service with little difficulty. If those Migs were pickled with standard techniques a great deal of damage could have been avoided.

Still I would have to think that burying them would lead very serious maintenance issues. And who knows if anything was done to protect them prior to burial.

[napi21]

11. Thanks to everybody. I looked at the pics, and the first thing I

thought was, that sucker will never fly again! The pics that were sent to me showed there was no sheeting, the intakes were open, gear down, etc. Both my son's work on aircraft, and I know the pains that are taken to prevent contamination, fod on the runways, etc.

Ithink I already knew the answer, but I wanted some confirmation from all of you. The thing that's worst about this whole story is that the person who sent this to me was a pilot in the Marines! He's my BIL, and I know he knows better! I just think he was permanentoly brain washed and supports the Pubs because someone forced him to believe it was the right thing to do many years ago!!!