• ALoafOfBread@lemmy.ml
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      5 hours ago

      The Tiger gained the dubious distinction of being the first jet aircraft to shoot itself down.[8][9] On 21 September 1956, during a test-firing of its 20 mm (0.79 in) cannons, pilot Tom Attridge fired two bursts midway through a shallow dive. As the trajectory of the cannon rounds decayed, they ultimately crossed paths with the Tiger as it continued its descent, disabling the aircraft and forcing Attridge to crash-land the aircraft; he survived with a broken leg and multiple broken vertebrae.[10][11]

      • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
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        4 hours ago
        • nice
        • so it didn’t do much “outrun” the bullets, but moved under them as they fell? Still funny and impressive either way.
        • “survived with a broken leg and multiple broken vertebrae” - okay, so maybe “funny” in a different way.
        • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
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          2 hours ago

          How is that not catching up to them?

          FYI if you’re unfamiliar with ballistics, as most people never think about it. When a bullet is fired out of a gun, it is dropping downward at the same speed as if you were holding in your hand and just let it go.

          People who don’t normally shoot rifles never really stop to think about that. The forward velocity doesn’t keep the bullet from falling towards the ground any slower. Rifles usually fire the bullet at a slight upward trajectory because of this. So it may climb an inch and a half higher over the first 100 yards before it starts heading towards the ground.

          • ALoafOfBread@lemmy.ml
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            2 hours ago

            Since he was decreasing in altitude (presumably at approximately a straight diagonal vector) and the bullets were traveling in an arc, I guess the linear distance travelled by the plane is less than that travelled by the bullets?

            Either way, I think “out-ran” is appropriate here since the plane was necessarily ahead of the bullet on the horizontal plane since it was hit by the bullets.