Secret Squirrel Looks At Lost Airliner Search Efforts.

Secret Squirrel's attention has been drawn,of course, to the event of the disappeared Malaysian airliner,flight MH370,a Boeing 777-200ER,as indeed has everyone's.

Squirrel marvels at the general lack of solid data, knowledge not of what happened to it, but that, "THEY" lost it so very quickly, it just
disappeared, with confused eye witness accounts of where it MIGHT have been seen where it did go. Squirrel notices that it disappeared off
radar screen, indeed it crossed whole countries.....unnoticed.Indeed there was not a peep from anybodies cell phones either, rather
strangely. One must also note that even lost cellphones can be quickly located,but rather strangely, an entire aircraft cannot.Rather
interestingly this reveals itself to be more of a stealth aircraft than any the USA has to date designed.Of course, all this points to the
obviously useless and woefully lacking aircraft locator beacons,communications apparatus etc etc et all. It is only even yet just fortunate
that the major reliance, besides eye witness accounts,those few and far between, being on aircraft engines reporting. Well clearly events have pointed to necessary improvements.Now all this points to the necessity of systems the pilots cannot get to,patterned after the engine
reporting system which worked, as the engines did, right up to...the end. This mean voice cockpit recording,communications recording, even
yet a reporting location system,all reporting to satellites.It CAN be done it obviously works,it hasn't been done.

Also revealed now is search/rescue of the present day. Now we can and do see that everybody has and is using spy type satellites and they do work, and are very very fine in their abilities to pick up even yet small objects round and about the world.Improvements needed there? Well, one can always use greater abilities to see and photog the objects etc, and also software to help clarify these searched for objects.These are excellent as HAS been proved in the aircraft search, to be useful in finding objects etc that do not wish to be found, recalling usually searched for entities of any sort usually do very much wish to be found.Now what of the search planes so very diligently out there searching? Well we find the distance to the search site is great, one must also figure in time back, and so most search times by aircraft are limited to two hours in search zone....in this instance. Well what affects search planes are and is their range and fuel consumption. Now immediately when we hear search aircraft we conjure up images of the planes diligently flying about,which they do, BUT in this instance, notice again the 2 hour loiter time in the search area. Let us ponder the search planes used. There is the P3C Orion. It's specs....

 Maximum speed: 411 kn (750 km/h)
    Cruise speed: 328 kn (610 km/h)
    Range: 2,380 nmi radius (4,400 km)
    Combat radius: 1,346 nmi (2,490 km) three hours on-station at 1,500 feet
    Ferry range: 4,830 nmi (8,944 km)
    Endurance: 16 hours

Ferry range is interesting,must assume empty and fuel to the max........but then..why not fuel to the max in either rate, carry extra tanks
of fuel internally, and suspended from the wings....this WILL increase range, and time abilities in a search area as a given.it's just not
rocket science is it? ALSO, hey and why note, add to these aircraft in-flight refuel capabilities! Now THAT is rocket science, and without
doubt such a simple,proven, easily workable system, is just too far beyond the ken of the aircraft designers,builders, and of
course.inevitably whenever there is idiocy about, politicians.

Now let's look at the latest off the American assembly design lines in the area of search/rescue etc..the P-8 Poseidon
Range: 2,222 km(Range: 1,200 nmi with 4 hr on station,this is there,search,and back).
Top speed: 908 km/h

Now a look at what the Chinese are using, a Illyushin Il-78, having range of 5,000 km (2,700 nmi; 3,100 mi).We're getting better here, with
the larger aircraft.


Obviously the present search/rescue aircraft MUST be modified to include in-flight refuel capabilities to make them truly useful and
right,just and proper for their task. As they presently are, they are woefully inadequate in the range abilities,loiter abilities and in-flight refuel abilities will correct this.

Now why are we doing this, looking at the search aircraft used? Well let's look at a Boeing 777C, it's range(max) is  7,800 nautical miles
(14,400 km).That's a very big difference, and no doubt rebuilt as a search aircraft,a proper one, with in-flight refuel capabilities, and
also abilities to carry even yet more fuel, and possibly wing fuel tanks suspended from wings as well, the range increases yet enormously as
well. In short it makes a very much better search/rescue aircraft doesn't it? Of course we have to add the search equipment and whatever, the usual where with all and what not,which goes without saying doesn't it.

Indeed looking at the present dilemma,and analysing it,  we see areas where efforts must be made to improve things all round, and we also see that Squirrel has made proven scientifically based ideas towards improving, vastly improving, search and rescue efforts.