Aviation Fans

[ten ocho recon scout]

From what I read, VTOL capability came in very handy for the Royal Navy during the Falklands War. A Harrier would be pursued by an Argentinian Mirage, the Harrier would just stop in mid-air and then fire at the Mirage after it went past.

Yeah, ive heard in the right conditions they can pull some pretty decent air to air tricks. That said, had they encountered better fighters than export mirages that had radar guided missile capabilities, it would have been game over.

He harrier is a decent platform if you dont have a real carrier, but we do. I just think for our purposes its kind of a waste

[Vegas Halo Fan]

I can see situations in which they might be useful (if you had to operate without a prepared airfield, for example), but in today's combat environment they are little more than a novelty. They aren't terribly fast or maneuverable, and there are a lot of planes in the inventory of a number of nations that would have them for lunch. I have also heard that they are a nightmare to maintain.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Vegas Halo Fan

[ten ocho recon scout]

Exactly it vegas. As a jarhead, we always train to take beaches, but reality is we havent done that in decades. Add the fact a carrier is always assigned to the meu...

[gotbeer]

The F-35 Can't Beat The Plane It's Replacing In A Dogfight: Report

 

Grain of salt since most of it is speculative.  But still...

[ten ocho recon scout]

Sadly that doesnt really suprise. Nothing about that plane seems to work as planned. To be fair its designed more towards attack tahn fighting, but thats still embarrassing.

Im not too familiar with flight testing, but how was this not apparent when the prototype was being showcased, before they went ahead with actually buying them.

Not sure if anyone remembers the x-32, the one that went against the f-35. Not sure if it wouldve been better, but i thought it looked cool as hell. The f-23 (the raptors competition) was a great looking plane too. Ive read it was actually better than the raptor at several things. Rumor is it was political to choose the raptor over it

[arch stanton]

I'm sure tactics will emerge to utilize the stealth and head down capabilities to make it a more even match although it will never be a jet that you want to be flying one on one against an advanced MIG or Typhoon

[arch stanton]

Sadly that doesnt really suprise. Nothing about that plane seems to work as planned. To be fair its designed more towards attack tahn fighting, but thats still embarrassing.

Im not too familiar with flight testing, but how was this not apparent when the prototype was being showcased, before they went ahead with actually buying them.

Not sure if anyone remembers the x-32, the one that went against the f-35. Not sure if it wouldve been better, but i thought it looked cool as hell. The f-23 (the raptors competition) was a great looking plane too. Ive read it was actually better than the raptor at several things. Rumor is it was political to choose the raptor over it

The F-23 did outperform the Raptor but politics won out. The Raptors still rule the air-to-air world though.

[Blarg]

Back in the '80-'90's, working at a Post house we would get the Aerospace clients in to cut some Pentagon videos. They needed an editor with a security clearance and I said my Dad worked for Rockwell in Guidance Control and was loaned out to Black World, that was all they needed to know. I was cleared to be their guy and we made a secure edit bay, blacking out any external feeds so only those in the room could see the footage. 

 

They were pitching the Lockheed YF-22, possibly the most awesome looking fighter up to that time. They had a professional Hollywood film crew film the ship in a specially lit hanger that made it look like some futuristic Top Gun beauty shots. Then they rolled it out on some desert airfield and turned it loose while shooting footage from a chase plane. 

 

Then a couple months later the McDonnell Douglas/Northrop people came in and they were pitching the YF-23. They must have hired the same guys. I liked the looks of the 22 more but never said a word about it. 

Edited June 30, 2015 by notti

[ten ocho recon scout]

The F-23 did outperform the Raptor but politics won out. The Raptors still rule the air-to-air world though.

read something awhile back that they toyed with the idea of building the f-23 as an intermim bomber. Not sure how far they got with the idea though

[arch stanton]

read something awhile back that they toyed with the idea of building the f-23 as an intermim bomber. Not sure how far they got with the idea though

Could have been but now it's clear that the F-35 is going to devastate the budget. Not much more R&D happening

[Tank]

The F-23 did outperform the Raptor but politics won out. The Raptors still rule the air-to-air world though.

 

man, i thought there was something fishy. i remember the f23 but always wondered what happened to it.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Could have been but now it's clear that the F-35 is going to devastate the budget. Not much more R&D happening

too big to fail. Almost a pujols contract so to speak.

It truly benefited from 9/11. I remember the contract being approved like a week or 2 after 9/11.

I just dont get how something like maneuverability didnt come up in the prototype phase

[arch stanton]

too big to fail. Almost a pujols contract so to speak.

It truly benefited from 9/11. I remember the contract being approved like a week or 2 after 9/11.

I just dont get how something like maneuverability didnt come up in the prototype phase

It was supposed to be superior to the F-16 in every facet. Too bad they couldn't walk across the lot to the F-16 assembly line and find something to test it against 10 years ago.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Thats just..unexplainable. and how did the orginal test pilots not notice? Id think they would have had stick time in some of the more recent fighters.

To be fair, i know the f-16 is a beast in a knife fight, but this is ridiculous.

[arch stanton]

yeah that was my point there. Both assembly lines are right there in Ft Worth and I'm sure pretty much every F-35 test pilot at the beginning of the program had hundreds of hours of F-16 stick time. No way they didn't know this years ago. They just had no reason to let it be known until the program was already cemented.

[ten ocho recon scout]

I guess i can totally understand why guys trying to make money would embelish their product...but ive got to assume most test pilots are former military types...pretty bad to have them intentionally cover the facts.

Hbo made a good movie years ago about the bradley, think it was called the pentagon wars. Ive worked on bradleys, i like them, but initially they were almost a disaster.

I imagone thats not far off frm the JSF

[arch stanton]

Or the B-1

[gotbeer]

'Wow, pulled back wrong throttle:' captain of crashed TransAsia plane

[arch stanton]

The ASC's report also showed that Captain Liao Jian-zong had failed simulator training in May 2014, in part because he had insufficient knowledge of how to deal with an engine flame-out on take-off.

 

As someone who watches a hundred sim missions a month I can vouch for how poorly some pilots handle their emergency procedures. The more planes there are in the sky, the greater the chances that an unfit pilot has your life in his hands. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

[HaloCory22]

The ASC's report also showed that Captain Liao Jian-zong had failed simulator training in May 2014, in part because he had insufficient knowledge of how to deal with an engine flame-out on take-off.

 

As someone who watches a hundred sim missions a month I can vouch for how poorly some pilots handle their emergency procedures. The more planes there are in the sky, the greater the chances that an unfit pilot has your life in his hands. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Can't wait till I get my license! Good lucky everyone!

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Can't wait till I get my license! Good lucky everyone!

 

Oh, shit...

[ten ocho recon scout]

'Wow, pulled back wrong throttle:' captain of crashed TransAsia plane

damn, thats scary. I fly pretty often, still dont really like it but deal with it. I like to give the guys up front rhe benefit of the doubt, but..

[arch stanton]

Stick with western carriers that fall under stricter regulatory agencies who are not afraid to ground an incompetent pilot.

[HaloCory22]

Stick with western carriers that fall under stricter regulatory agencies who are not afraid to ground an incompetent pilot.

Who lets me drink on the job? Malaysian Airlines?

Edited July 3, 2015 by Cory

[Tank]

jet blue announced they're now charging for bags. 

 

southwest is the only major carrier left who doesn't charge.