The Airplane Thread

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

For Corsair F4U-4 lovers.

What an amazing video. I wish my Dad was still around to see this. Of all the planes he flew, the Corsair was his favorite. He never really spoke about the others very much. Thanks for sharing.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

For Corsair F4U-4 lovers.

I would like to echo sygazelle's remarks; this is an excellent video. As you might imagine, I invariably find inaccuracies in material concerning Navy/Marine aviation, but this one is spot-on. Excellent find, Lady Jane!

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by Llarry

Another colorful CAG aircraft -- the CAG aircraft of VAQ-141 based in Japan. The Japan-based airwing color aircraft almost always have some Japanese flavor to their markings. In this case, a partial rising sun.

I went searching for CAG aircraft of Carrier Air Wing 5 based in Japan, thinking to illustrate the Japanese flavor to the markings. I was unable to find a recent group photo, but found these from 2007-2008. The second photo is of the aircraft flying by Mount Fuji.

[Llarry]

FA

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by Llarry

FA

[Llarry]

I appreciate the colorful livery on Navy and Marine aircraft, but sometimes you can get a little carried away with the paint brush!

Old photo: F/A-18C CAG aircraft of VFA-34 "Blue Blasters"

[vreihen16]

On April 24th, 1959, USAF Captain John Stanley Lappo flew a Strategic Air Command Boeing RB-47E Stratojet UNDER the Mackinac Bridge:

https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/ta...ey-lappo-usaf/


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[M-technik-3]

His Nav ratted him out, Surprised most crews members don't rat out one another.

[Llarry]

Practically every aircraft has the assigned name, but then the crews come up with something amusing or even mildly derogatory to call the plane.

The F-35 is a bit ... how to say this politely... porky. An enormous high-output afterburning turbofan engine, plenty of internal fuel, advanced systems and stealth combine to make the F-35 unlikely to be named a beauty queen.

Anyway, I do not know the origin of the new moniker, but I think it fits: The F-35C Battle Penguin!

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Llarry

Practically every aircraft has the assigned name, but then the crews come up with something amusing or even mildly derogatory to call the plane.

The F-35 is a bit ... how to say this politely... porky. An enormous high-output afterburning turbofan engine, plenty of internal fuel, advanced systems and stealth combine to make the F-35 unlikely to be named a beauty queen.

Anyway, I do not know the origin of the new moniker, but I think it fits: The F-35C Battle Penguin!

Pregers Duck heheh

[Llarry]

The F-22A Raptor has pretty good endurance for a high-performance fighter but when required can carry a pair of external fuel tanks for even better range. The external fuel tanks are rarely carried and thus rarely photographed. Here's a recent shot.

[flybigjet]

Originally Posted by Llarry

The F-22A Raptor has pretty good endurance for a high-performance fighter but when required can carry a pair of external fuel tanks for even better range. The external fuel tanks are rarely carried and thus rarely photographed. Here's a recent shot.

Billions to make the jet stealthy, and then bolting on some tanks that make your radar cross section larger than the Empire State Building probably isn't the smartest tactical move.

R.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by flybigjet

Billions to make the jet stealthy, and then bolting on some tanks that make your radar cross section larger than the Empire State Building probably isn't the smartest tactical move.

R.

But in some circumstances, stealth is not the top priority. For instance, I suspect that the 3rd Wing's F-22As out of Elmendorf carry drop tanks more frequently than the other wings due to the possibility of getting caught in deteriorating weather. (And circumstances required, I believe the F-22A drops not only the tank but the pylon as well.)

[flybigjet]

Originally Posted by Llarry

But in some circumstances, stealth is not the top priority. For instance, I suspect that the 3rd Wing's F-22As out of Elmendorf carry drop tanks more frequently than the other wings due to the possibility of getting caught in deteriorating weather. (And circumstances required, I believe the F-22A drops not only the tank but the pylon as well.)

True. For operations like the pic you posted, stealth isn't really a thing. Additionally, they're probably quite helpful when doing hops across the pond-- the F-15 uses Conformal Fuel Packs for a similar use and to minimize multiple refueling.

However, dropping them willy-nilly gets spendy fast, and unless you have an unlimited supply of tanks, that's a limited-trick pony.

R.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by flybigjet

However, dropping them willy-nilly gets spendy fast, and unless you have an unlimited supply of tanks, that's a limited-trick pony.
R.

"Spendy" is the F-22's middle name!

[Llarry]

We've discussed the U.S. Air Force's tactical aircraft presence in the Western Pacific a couple of times. The 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, is right in the thick of the great power competition going on with China's military buildup. The 18th originally was assigned three F-15C squadrons with 72 aircraft; first it lost one of its three squadrons but maintained two fighter squadrons with 48 F-15s for many years. As the sunset for the F-15C nears, the 18th is now down to just a few old F-15Cs and the Air Force has been filling the gap by deploying fighters to Kadena on a temporary basis. Most recently a sizeable group of F-22A Raptors has been deployed, along with a smaller number of F-16Cs.

The 18th Wing recently conducted an elephant walk where all available aircraft start up and taxi out. Here's a photo. You can see just several F-15s, a number of F-16s and an even larger number of F-22s. There are also tankers and E-3 radar planes in the photo and leading the way are a couple of helicopters. Very impressive -- and I'm sure that the Chinese took notice.

[vreihen16]

Our local TV news had this story on this morning, about a Swiss Air pilot cleared to take off from JFK rejecting their takeoff because not one, not two, but *three* other planes were crossing the runway as they started their takeoff roll:

https://simpleflying.com/swiss-near-...jfk-atc-error/


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[Llarry]

Here's something you certainly don't see every day...

The first F-35C, now sans engine and much other equipment, being carried below a Marine Corps CH-53K King Stallion, which is being refueled in the air by a KC-130T!

[M-technik-3]

Originally Posted by Llarry

Here's something you certainly don't see every day...

The first F-35C, now sans engine and much other equipment, being carried below a Marine Corps CH-53K King Stallion, which is being refueled in the air by a KC-130T!

Rather here the back story as to WHY?

[chassis]

787-9, nice looking aircraft

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

Rather here the back story as to WHY?

The F-35C is F-35C number one and the Navy was done with testing it at Patuxent River, Maryland, but wanted to use it for ground handling at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Well, how to best get it there? Hey, how about that cool new Marine CH-53K?

My suspicion is that the helo did not actually need to be refueled but they decided it would be a good opportunity to run that test again.

[Llarry]

In 1940, the U.S, Navy directed Grumman Aircraft to modify an F4F Wildcat to incorporate folding wings. This was a high-priority project to enable more fighters to be assigned to carriers. In April of 1941, the first folding-wing Wildcat was completed.

At about the same time, two additional .50 caliber machine guns were added to the wing armament -- located farther out than the four original guns -- and various armor and combat survivability measures were added. The Navy ordered resulting 436 F4F-4s in June of 1941 and by the end of the year, F4F-4s were rolling out of the Grumman factory.

The additions added almost 700 pounds to the empty weight of the F4F and the pilots were less than thrilled. Performance suffered by comparison to the older F4F-3. But the changes were exactly what was needed to give the F4F-4 the edge in combat against the Japanese A6M Zero carrier fighter. The F4Fs could dish out punishment in combat and also take hits without being downed.

Innovation in tactics did the rest. Previously the Navy and Marines had used three-plane sections. As a result, often only the section leader was firing, while his two wingmen were concentrating on keeping up. In 1942, the four-plane division was adopted, along with what was called "beam defense." Two planes more or less abreast, with wide spacing so that if an enemy got on the tail of one, the other had room to turn in and shoot the enemy down. Two of these sections made a division and likewise if one section was threatened, the other could get the Japanese fighters off their tails.

The first blood for the new F4F-4s came in June of 1942 at the Battle of Midway. Carrier COs loved their new, larger fighter squadrons (with 27 F4F-4s) and wanted even more F4Fs. Fighter squadrons were enlarged to 36 planes after Midway; now they could both escort friendlies to attack the enemy AND save some fighters to protect the carrier from enemy attack.

Here's a new F4F-4 on a carrier deck getting its guns test-fired. Each wing has two .50s further in and the third .50 out a bit. The covers for the ammunition boxes are open in this photo.

The F4F-4 was outclassed in many respects by Japanese fighters, and yet amassed a good record -- winning more than it lost. It also bought time -- time that was critical for development of the new generation of fighters that were coming: The Vought F4U Corsair and the Grumman F6F Hellcat.