The Airplane Thread

[Llarry]

A nice shot of a U.S. Air Force T-1A Jayhawk of the 13th Flying Training Wing based out of the Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, and used for training non-pilot future Combat Systems Officers (formerly called Navigators in the USAF). Other T-1As are used for training pilots destined for multi-engine aircraft.

[Llarry]

A beauty shot of a B-1B "Bone" at low level.

The new B-21A Raider will ultimately replace the B-1B, but it's not as pretty!

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by Llarry

A nice shot of a U.S. Air Force T-1A Jayhawk.

This platform started as the Mitsubishi MU-2 Diamond in 1978 and then produced under license by Beech as the Beechjet. And then it became the Hawker 400 with an extend version known as the XP. And also known as the Raytheon Hawker Beechjet 400A a.k.a. T1-A Jayhawk. Confused yet?

[vreihen16]

You lost me with the forked-tail doctor killer in the background on the right.....

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

You lost me with the forked-tail doctor killer in the background on the right.....

It is indeed a V-Tail Bonanza built in 1959 and changed hands eight times. Currently owned by GULIFORD TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION since 2017, it is now deregistered since the certificate has expired.

[vreihen16]

I built/flew one of these as a kid:





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[Llarry]

Given the geography of East Asia, the perilous position of Japan, and some bellicose neighbors (North Korea, China and Russia), it is not surprising that the Japanese Air Self Defense Force wants good situational awareness in the region.

In addition to the four E-767s (AWACS versions of the Boeing 767), the JASDF continues to order smaller Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye radar planes -- now up to 18 aircraft on order -- and still has a few older E-2C versions in service as well.

[Llarry]

The German aircraft industry was nothing if not innovative. Here's a prime example: The Blohm & Voss Bv 141 tactical reconnaissance aircraft of the late 1930s with a unique asymmetric single-engine configuration.

The Bv 141 was reasonably successful in terms of design, but the definitive Bv 141B version used the BMW 801 radial engine also used by the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter. The Fw 190 was a much higher priority requirement and thus the Bv 141B was left without a powerplant.

The Bv 141 had a crew of three: pilot, observer and rear gunner. Fewer than 30 were produced.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by Llarry

The North American Sabreliner was one of the earliest business jets and first flew in 1958. Over 800 were sold, with the U.S. Air Force and Navy buying over 200 as the T-39 trainer.

I ran across an interesting article yesterday about Michael Dorn (Worf from Star Trek franchise) formerly owning a Sabreliner, as well as an F-86 (from South Africa Air Force) and T-33. His final goal is to buy an F-104.....

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

I ran across an interesting article yesterday about Michael Dorn (Worf from Star Trek franchise) formerly owning a Sabreliner, as well as an F-86 (from South Africa Air Force) and T-33. His final goal is to buy an F-104.....

If he wants to fly the -104, his life insurance may get cancelled!

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by Llarry

If he wants to fly the -104, his life insurance may get cancelled!

He bought a single-seat Sabre, so his "checkout" flight in the thing was solo.

I saw another article this morning about how he didn't like the Sabrejet because it was a commercial plane, requiring a co-pilot and still having crazy-expensive parts. He cited that he bought an engine for the Sabre for $25K, when an engine for the Sabrejet was $300K.....

[T0RM3NT]

I worked on these F-15 A/B's from '87-'90 when I was assigned to the 48th Fighter Interceptor Squadron.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by Llarry

Given the geography of East Asia, the perilous position of Japan, and some bellicose neighbors (North Korea, China and Russia), it is not surprising that the Japanese Air Self Defense Force wants good situational awareness in the region.

In addition to the airborne warning and control radar aircraft operated by the JASDF, both the JASDF and the JMSDF (navy) operate signals intelligence collection (SIGINT) and surveillance aircraft.

I believe the JASDF still operates several quite old YS-11EB SIGINT aircraft -- a twin-turboprop originally developed as an airliner. They also operate several EC-1 SIGINT aircraft, versions of the Kawasaki C-1 twin-engine jet transport. I suspect the latter will eventually completely replace the YS-11EB.

The JMSDF operates two versions of the P-3 in the SIGINT and surveillance roles: Five EP-3 SIGINT aircraft (which are configured quite unlike the U.S. Navy's EP-3E SIGINT airplane) and four OP-3 surveillance aircraft.

[T0RM3NT]

Originally Posted by Llarry

In addition to the airborne warning and control radar aircraft operated by the JASDF, both the JASDF and the JMSDF (navy) operate signals intelligence collection (SIGINT) and surveillance aircraft.

I believe the JASDF still operates several quite old YS-11EB SIGINT aircraft -- a twin-turboprop originally developed as an airliner. They also operate several EC-1 SIGINT aircraft, versions of the Kawasaki C-1 twin-engine jet transport. I suspect the latter will eventually completely replace the YS-11EB.

The JMSDF operates two versions of the P-3 in the SIGINT and surveillance roles: Five EP-3 SIGINT aircraft (which are configured quite unlike the U.S. Navy's EP-3E SIGINT airplane) and four OP-3 surveillance aircraft.

My father-in-law flew in the predecessor, P-2, in Vietnam, as an enlisted personnel. He then flew in the P-3 as a Chief Warrant Officer in the role of a Tactical Coordinator (TACCO) with an ASW mission throughout the Atlantic and Pacific regions. He loves telling those Russian sub-hunting stories.

[Llarry]

The number of World War II aircraft still flying is small, although there are a couple of types (T-6/Harvard, P-51 Mustang and Spitfire) that are still flying in some numbers.

An important U.S. Navy type -- later used by allied nations -- that had a rocky start but became the standard carrier-based dive bomber by 1944, was the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver. Until recently, there was only one flying example in the world but now there are two. Here's number two, a late-production SB2C-5, in late war colors.

[Llarry]

Tomcat Thursday!

The F-14 Tomcat was a large and heavy aircraft -- over 70,000 pounds with a full load of fuel and weapons -- by carrier air standards. The majority of F-14s were the A model with the problematic TF30 turbofans. Depending on the wind over the deck, afterburners were often used for takeoffs at high gross weight.

Here are a couple of photos of F-14s taking off from carrier decks using afterburning.

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by Llarry

Tomcat Thursday!

But...But...It's Friday.

Fat Albert going around the Space needle.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

But...But...It's Friday.

Oops! I did it again!

That photo of Fat Albert going around the Space Needle is spectacular! Nice find!

In the past, before JATO units were deemed too dangerous, the Blue Angels Marine C-130 would do a JATO takeoff in every show. That takeoff was spectacular in its own right. Here's an old photo.

[Llarry]

Lady Jane's excellent photo of Fat Albert over Seattle prompted me to do a little research into the history of Blue Angels support aircraft.

As early as the late 1940s the Blue Angels were assigned a support aircraft in the form of a Navy Douglas R4D (C-47 or C-117 over the years) (no photo) to carry maintenance and support personnel and critical spares to the shows. Around 1957, that support aircraft was upgraded to the four-engine Douglas R5D (C-54), which served for over 10 years. In 1968, the support aircraft was further upgraded to a Lockheed C-121J Constellation for a couple of years.

In 1970, the Marine Corps assigned a Lockheed KC-130F Hercules to the team and, somewhere along the way, that aircraft picked up the moniker Fat Albert. A Marine -130 has been part of the team -- and part of the show -- ever since. The KC-130F gave way to a later C-130T and most recently, when the UK's Royal Air Force divested its force of Lockheed Hercules, the U.S. bought and modified a single aircraft as a Marine C-130J. That aircraft serves as Fat Albert today. Since the Marines fly a sizeable force of KC-130J transport/refuelers, it's easy to find crews to do a tour of duty in the Blues, and emphasizes that "Naval Aviation" is actually a Navy/Marine Corps team effort.

[vreihen16]

I remember being at an airshow back when I was in school, and the highlight was watching Fat Albert do a short-field JATO takeoff demonstration. They apparently stopped doing this around 2009, when the supply of Vietnam-era JATO rockets ran out.....

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[Llarry]

Beechcraft's main claim to fame in the 1940s was the twin-engine model 18, bought by civilian users and by the military as the C-45 (Army Air Forces) or JRB/SNB (Navy/Marines).

But Beechcraft came up with a more lethal aircraft during World War II; the A-38 Grizzly was designed around a 75mm cannon and a pair of .50 caliber machine guns, along with a pair of twin .50s in turrets for defense. The prototype XA-38 was fast, being powered by a pair of big Wright R-3350 radials. That proved to be its undoing, as the top-priority B-29 heavy bomber program could use all the R-3350s produced.

In the end, the XA-38 -- despite good performance -- was doomed by its lower priority for engines. Only two were built.

[Llarry]

A photo of the early days of aerial refueling in the U.S. Air Force: A KB-29 tanker refuels a B-50 bomber using the then-recently developed boom method.

This photo also shows the differences between the original B-29 with the B-50 that was derived from it: The B-50's larger tail and larger engines (the B-29's R-3350s were upsized to the B-50's R-4360s). Later B-50 models would add jet engines for yet more power.