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Posted (edited)

Engine stalls?.. :p

The F-14 will probably be remembered as one of (if not the) most photogenic manned jetfighters in history.

It's probably the most modelled aircraft.

Such an aircraft appears in the anime The Cockpit.

I've been trying to track that anime title down to no avail.

Could anyone help me via PM to locate it online?

Edited by T.V.
Posted

belly landings?

Tomcats do it better!

(Bigger belly. :D )

Engine stalls?.. :p

Tomcats do it better!!

(I didn't say everything the Tomcat did was good, just that whatever the Tomcat did, it did it in a "better" manner than other planes! :D )

Slightly more seriously, the Tomcat is a classic design that screamed predator. For all its ills and problems, it is a significant and beautiful aircraft. While I fully understand the need for a replacement, I can't help but feel the F/A-18 is a poor replacement for such a beautiful and glamourous aircraft.

Posted

As for the Tomcat looking good, it even looks fabulous on a catapult launch B))

I have had the pleasure of being on the bow catapults when the remaining Tomcat squadrons are doing ops. When the Tomcats throttle up on the cats, just before launch, the jets tend to do a "lean." Similiar to how some cats rear back when they're pissed off. The nose landing gear compresses, and since the Tomcat has a rather long fuselage, the nose pitching down looks really pronounced.

Also, both the Tomcats & Prowlers are both big jets... and really loud. You know when either type of squadrons are operating when the forward half of the ship is rumbling and shaking.

I have had my work center on the deck just under and in the vicinity of the bow catapults. The constant noise from jets launching and the vibration got really old! It was "quieter" and less-headache-inducing being a Final Checker on the forward catapults :lol:

Posted

F-16XL?

I recall building a model of that version a loooonngg time ago in 1/72. But I've never seen a picture with that scheme you showed. The box art for the one I bought was a grey fuselage with a red, white, and blue vertical stab.

Posted

Both of them wore the scheme you describe at one time, but in different shades:

I also just found this, which considering how many times I've been to that site, I'm surprised I never knew this little gem was in there:

http://www.habu2.net/vipers/xl/index.html More info on the XL there than probably the entire rest of the internet, and every book published, combined.

Note: not mentioned very often (but easily seen)---the 2-seater has a GE engine. Don't know if it has the larger intake though, will have to scrutinize pics.

Posted

Well, AC is not the best place to reference to see if something really wore a scheme or not--they love to make up "fake yet realistic" ones.

Posted

That's crazy.

I remember this video my buddy had of carrier crashes/mishaps over the 60s and 70s...lots of crusaders crushing their undercarriages and whatnot. There was this botched F-8 trap where he went over the port side after hitting the deck, and I swear it was the most impressive recovery I've seen. He must have been traveling in the dozens of knots at best, with a 40+ degree up attitude, wrestling the control surfaces to keep him from going into the drink. The tape didn't have any commentary, so I don't know anything about it besides that it was damned impressive.

Posted

Good idea, really. But as far as the "overwhelming the pilot" concern goes, it'd be best rectified by larger aircraft with multiple aircrew. It doesn't have to be a P-3 sized aircraft, but a 2 seater would be the smallest. Even aircraft like the E/A-6B Prowler can have up to 4 aircrew, and surely the workload can be easily distributed.

Posted

Good idea, really. But as far as the "overwhelming the pilot" concern goes, it'd be best rectified by larger aircraft with multiple aircrew. It doesn't have to be a P-3 sized aircraft, but a 2 seater would be the smallest. Even aircraft like the E/A-6B Prowler can have up to 4 aircrew, and surely the workload can be easily distributed.

The RAF have long experimented with using "proper" fighter jets acting as "control" aircraft for "small" companions like Hawks to make up the numbers.

The only problem I have with this concept is that it will be hard for the RAF to keep its "handful of brave chaps versus impossible enemy hordes" reputation if they're swarming all over them with drones. :)

Posted

A certain MW moderator who shall remain nameless posted this over at ARC and failed to share it with us here. ;) Vaguely appropriate considering Easter is coming up.

Posted

Man, there's nothing airlines like more than paying huge amounts of money to "design consultants", to end up with the exact same damn boring paint every other airline has. Leaked pics of Delta's new scheme, which looks just like every other airline and using the same pattern and color (or lack thereof---it's all white, no stripes or anything):

And man do I hate the "logo too big to fit on the tail" trend. Brownie points if you can figure out what it is. Took me a few secs, but I'm a huge airliner buff.

I determined many years ago, that if I ever have control of an airline, it will have stripes, period. Thick, obvious ones at that. Stripes were common on planes for the better part of a century for a reason---long thin tubes with pre-defined window rows look really good with them!

Posted

A certain MW moderator who shall remain nameless posted this over at ARC and failed to share it with us here. ;) Vaguely appropriate considering Easter is coming up.

Ha, remember when unpainted aeroplanes were shiny metal? :)

Posted (edited)

Callsigns... always a fun thing.

We had a batch of brand new pilots come into our squadron a few months ago (welcome aboard, we're going to Iraq in a few months). I saw in the Ready Room a list of possible Callsigns for the new pilots. None of course were flattering. Then, you saw one name, something like "Viper" in the list, obviously added by the soon-to-be-named Officer.

"Oh please," I thought, "Not Top Gun again."

One of the senior Officers thought the same and wrote next to it in a "highly tactful" manner that your Callsign will be given to you, not chosen :p

Edited by Warmaker
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