Aircraft Super Thread Mk.VII

[Nied]

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

Don't you go giving them more ideas.. the last thing the F-35 program needs is another variant that requires an entirely customized software and hardware suite to clog up the assembly lines.  

I don't know that a whole new plane solves any of those problems either.

[Chronocidal]

1 hour ago, Nied said:

I don't know that a whole new plane solves any of those problems either.

Making a new plane entirely would decouple it from the 8th-dimensional gordian pretzel that is the current F-35 program.  A brand new single-service/single-country/single-purpose aircraft has a very good chance of getting completed far faster than trying pile one more layer onto the existing F-35 pile.

[Thom]

Despite the novelty of a 'one for all' fighter, I would prefer a purpose built aircraft designed for a specific role. As they say, a Jack of All Trades is a Master of None. Rather than putting so much dependence on one is the wrong approach, IMHO. A plane like the F-35 should be a supporter of a true-bred fighter or ground attacker, rather than the one trying to do it all.

[AN/ALQ128]

4 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Making a new plane entirely would decouple it from the 8th-dimensional gordian pretzel that is the current F-35 program.  A brand new single-service/single-country/single-purpose aircraft has a very good chance of getting completed far faster than trying pile one more layer onto the existing F-35 pile.

the F-35 is pretty much complete though, all three variants have reached IOC for their respective branches and export orders are being completed at a brisk pace.

[Chronocidal]

1 hour ago, AN/ALQ128 said:

the F-35 is pretty much complete though, all three variants have reached IOC for their respective branches and export orders are being completed at a brisk pace.

I wasn't joking when I said the F-35 is the Star Citizen of aviation.  The services all IOC'd at what they considered the minimum of functionality, with the goal that all the promised features will eventually come online... as well as a smattering of features never originally promised, but that have become absolutely necessary during the development process.

This is the double-edged sword of software-based development.  It's almost infinitely flexible to adapt to changing requirements, but it's also never really feature complete.

Edited April 12, 2021 by Chronocidal

[sh9000]

 

[Nied]

On 4/11/2021 at 9:25 PM, Chronocidal said:

Making a new plane entirely would decouple it from the 8th-dimensional gordian pretzel that is the current F-35 program.  A brand new single-service/single-country/single-purpose aircraft has a very good chance of getting completed far faster than trying pile one more layer onto the existing F-35 pile.

Yes designing and flight testing an all new airframe with new avionics and a whole new manufacturing and logistics train would definetly be less difficult than fitting new avionics to an existing airframe. That's why an F-15EX costs twice as much as a Raptor.
 

Quote

 

I wasn't joking when I said the F-35 is the Star Citizen of aviation.  The services all IOC'd at what they considered the minimum of functionality, with the goal that all the promised features will eventually come online... as well as a smattering of features never originally promised, but that have become absolutely necessary during the development process.

This is the double-edged sword of software-based development.  It's almost infinitely flexible to adapt to changing requirements, but it's also never really feature complete.

 

They moved past the minimal viable product years ago when Block 3f went into service. Now they're working on Block 4 which is all the post IOC wishlist items.

Edited April 13, 2021 by Nied

[AN/ALQ128]

11 hours ago, sh9000 said:

 

Nice to see a US Eagle with its "turkey feathers", finally.

[Dobber]

8 hours ago, AN/ALQ128 said:

Nice to see a US Eagle with its "turkey feathers", finally.

I thought the same thing....along with how long until the AF removes them again. Lol

Chris

[Nied]

4 hours ago, Dobber said:

I thought the same thing....along with how long until the AF removes them again. Lol

Chris

The no turkey feathers thing is exclusive to P&W F100s, and it's less of an issue of the Air Force removing them than the F-15s removing them themselves. Because of some aerodynamic issues peculiar to the Eagle the turkey feathers started getting sucked off the plane at high speeds when the F-15 was introduced. The Air Force looked at a bunch of ways of fixing this but line mechanics realized you could just remove the feathers with basically no effect on performance and pretty soon everyone but the Israelis were flying Eagles with bare butts. The GE F110 attaches it's turkey feathers differently so with the advent of the GE powered F-15K for South Korea in the early aughts you started to see Eagles with turkey feathers again. The EX is the first F-15 with F110s in USAF service so I don't see a reason why they wont follow the example of the rest of the F110 powered Eagles and leave them on since they can.

[Shadow]

Did the P&W F100 -229 offer any advantages over the GE F110 -129? I'd heard that while the GE engines offer better overall performance across the envelope, the Pratt engines were more reliable.

Edited April 15, 2021 by Shadow

[Nied]

12 hours ago, Shadow said:

Did the P&W F100 -229 offer any advantages over the GE F110 -129? I'd heard that while the GE engines offer better overall performance across the envelope, the Pratt engines were more reliable.

On the F-15 it was mainly a combo of inertia and bad timing. While MacDac made the structural modifications to accept the F110 when they designed the F-15E, to my knowledge no one had gone through the trouble of actually flight testing or certifying it on the Beagle. By the time the AF looked at new engines for the F-15 the F100-229 was out and offered performance that was basically identical to a F110-129 so it didn't make sense to go through the trouble of making the structural mods to the F-15C fleet or building a new logistical train. Now that Korea paid the money to make sure there wouldn't be any problems with the F110 everyone's been buying GE powered Eagles so it made sense for the USAF to follow the heard there. Also I imagine there was a desire to throw business to GE to keep them in the fighter engine game given that Pratt is the only manufacturer of engines for our 5th gen fleet.

[AN/ALQ128]

There's not a lot more enjoyable to me than looking at some of the weird variants of conventional aircraft that never left the drafting table.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

It's pretty cool to see the Raider in action:

I never thought I'd see pusher props on future military helicopters.

[derex3592]

Ok, that is just plain awesome! 

[Shadow]

The AH-56 Cheyenne continues to live on I see.

[kajnrig]

"Turn the audio on," it asks of us while blowing out the audio balance with NOTICE ME SHAREHOLDERS music.

[renegadeleader1]

This happened yesterday during an airshow in Florida... Talk about your HOLY **** moments(especially for the poor guy that nearly got landed on)! Thankfully no one was hurt and the plane looks like it can still be salvaged and not be a total loss.

 

 

[renegadeleader1]

Well they got her out of the water. Still in pretty good shape for all that happened her the other day. A testament to the skill of the pilot and the Grumman Iron Works.

 

 

[AN/ALQ128]

 

Edited April 24, 2021 by AN/ALQ128

[twich]

so, that was a concept add for an up and coming UAV?  Was that french or spanish? or south american?  Looks cool, kinda like the drone for the back of the VF-0

Twich

[AN/ALQ128]

1 hour ago, twich said:

so, that was a concept add for an up and coming UAV?  Was that french or spanish? or south american?  Looks cool, kinda like the drone for the back of the VF-0

Twich

Embraer of Brazil has been tasked with designing an indigenous UCAV for the FAB

 

[Shadow]

Really blows my mind how far flight sims have come.

 

[AN/ALQ128]

Yeah, DCS and MFS2020 are truly mind blowing.

 

[Dobber]

Some of these shorts are pretty good. This one I really liked...a quick little short story.

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by Dobber

[kajnrig]

This showed up in my recc's, figured I'd share before Blackout Weekend.

 

 

[Dobber]

You know you are a Macross Fan when you’re looking at pictures of an Airshow demo popping flares but you see Itano Circus!

[M'Kyuun]

So true.

[Thom]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swexWob7UH

[Thom]

 

[renegadeleader1]

Not too many Martin B-26 Marauders left in existance let alone still flying.(I think only one is still airworthy) I got lucky to see one in person when I went to the USAF Museum a couple of years back.

 

Plenty of Douglas A-26 Invaders though.

[Thom]

Got this image off another site. It's the Hero T-70 from RoS going into the Smithsonian. Check who is sitting one space over...

[renegadeleader1]

On 5/7/2021 at 8:38 AM, Thom said:

Got this image off another site. It's the Hero T-70 from RoS going into the Smithsonian. Check who is sitting one space over...

That's Flak Bait isn't it. Makes for an interesting restoration. Restore it to factory conditions or leave all bullet holes and patches it earn in it's 200+ completed combat missions? 

[Thom]

9 hours ago, renegadeleader1 said:

That's Flak Bait isn't it. Makes for an interesting restoration. Restore it to factory conditions or leave all bullet holes and patches it earn in it's 200+ completed combat missions? 

Thankfully, she is in for preservation and not restoration. Too much history to erase there!

[Dobber]

Yeah, there is something special about an aircraft kept how it was when it served. Like the P-51D “Upupa Epops”  

Not just a P-51 painted like a Warbird but the ACTUAL aircraft restored to its War time appearance. I just LOVE THE 353rd FG’s colors. Very cool.

Chris

Edited May 11, 2021 by Dobber