The Airplane Thread

[Llarry]

A bit on U.S. aircraft-launched rockets.

As far as I know, aerial rockets initially came into use to attack German submarines in 1942-43. The initial model was a 3.5-inch diameter rocket that was fired from a rail on the TBF/TBM Avenger torpedo bomber flown from escort carriers in the Atlantic. Use soon spread as well to the Pacific.

The 3.5-inch rocket was considered to lack enough explosive punch and a revised "5-inch" rocket with a larger warhead, but the same rocket motor, soon was used. That was supplanted by a rocket with a larger motor that was 5 inches in diameter over the entire length called the high-velocity aerial rocket (HVAR).

The ultimate WW2 rocket was a Navy project called the Tiny Tim. This was an 11.75" diameter rocket that was effective against bunkers and the like in the Pacific late in the war. The rocket motor damaged the launching aircraft when launched, and so a lanyard was added: the rocket was dropped and the motor ignited several feet below the launching rack.

In the 1950s, air-to-air rockets came into vogue. The ultimate rocket-firing fighter was probably the Northrop F-89D Scorpion, which carried 104 2.75-inch folding-fin rockets in wingtip pods. The 2.75-inch folding fin rocket could also be fired from a pod with either 7 or 19 rockets. Ultimately the air-to-air rocket fell out of favor due to poor accuracy and the availability of air-to-air guided missiles. From the 1960s, the same rocket pods were used on helicopters to great effect.

A nuclear-tipped rocket armed USAF interceptors for some years. The Genie was unguided but of course lethal to bomber formations with its nuclear warhead.

The ultimate rocket was the Zuni, which was similar to the 2.75 but enlarged to 5-inch diameter. It was normally fired from a pod with four rockets; the larger motor gave it speed of over twice the speed of sound.

A more recent development is a new-generation 2.75-inch rocket, the Hydra-70 and some of those can be laser-guided for much improved accuracy. Generally 2.75s are used on helos and high-performance aircraft no longer use rockets.

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

Dad was US Navy on the Ranger during Vietnam. I was product of 30 days R&R aka Leave.

I was the victorious little sperm after a Mess Dinner at the Officer's Club. But that's another story.

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

I was the victorious little sperm after a Mess Dinner at the Officer's Club. But that's another story.

Swimming is an olympic event.

Tough bananas for the losers.

[3.0L]

I recall collecting a pile 2.75" shipping boxes at our base camp in Tay Ninh. We got pretty good at making all sorts of handy things out of the pine boxes including bunks (we slept on the boards), bunker floors, small "wall lockers" with fold-down "desk top", etc. All the comforts of home.

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

Swimming is an olympic event.

Must have been in the breaststroke category.
___________________________________________


But I don't want to derail the thread.

Focke-Wulf F 19 Ente

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focke-Wulf_F_19_Ente

[vreihen16]

I was watching a video clip from Sun 'n Fun 2023 this afternoon, and saw this interesting-looking jet on display. Was the Fouga CM-170 posted here during my forum absence?????



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fouga_CM.170_Magister

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

I was watching a video clip from Sun 'n Fun 2023 this afternoon, and saw this interesting-looking jet on display. Was the Fouga CM-170 posted here during my forum absence?????

Attachment 3152256

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fouga_CM.170_Magister

We had one based at our local airport some years ago. You do not want to be near it when the engines are running. Ear piercing.

[Llarry]

We've not had our Tomcat fix in quite a while, as Dang3r seems to be missing. Here's a Tomcat. The LANTRIN pod on the right pylon tells me that it is set up for bombing.

[Llarry]

The largest fighter wing in the U.S. Air Force is the 56th Fighter Wing at Luke AFB, Arizona. The 56th is a training unit, training F-16 and F-35 pilots of the USAF as well as several foreign air forces, including the Netherlands, Italy, Norway and Denmark. The Wing conducts F-35A training from Luke AFB (tail code LF) and has a separate subordinate F-16 training unit at Holloman AFB, New Mexico (tail code HO).

The second photo shows an F-35A from Luke dropping a laser-guided bomb. Hard to tell the sizes but maybe 1,000-pounder?

[Lady Jane]

Handy-dandy simplified and abridged pocket size introduction to the B-737 cockpit. I bet flybigjet has one.

[Llarry]

Meet the U.S. Air Force's new advanced trainer: The Boeing-SAAB T-7A Red Hawk. The first prototype flew in 2016 and the aircraft was selected by the Air Force in 2018 to replace the aging T-38. The initial goal is procurement of 351 T-7As. Boeing-SAAB hope for plenty more sales, of course.

The T-7A is powered by a single afterburning F404 turbofan, the same engine powering the F/A-18A-D.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing-Saab_T-7_Red_Hawk

Apparently the latest Pentagon budget has delayed the program a year due to budgetary limitations.

[cliverman]

Hasegawa

[Lady Jane]

Vickers Wellington mine sweeper.

https://www.historynet.com/aerial-minesweeping/

[Llarry]

In my earlier post about U.S. air-launched rockets, I failed to note that the vast majority of Western-aligned nations do not use U.S. rockets. The Canadian CRV7 2.75" rocket has become the rocket of choice for most countries outside the USA. The photo is of a UK Apache firing CRV7s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRV7

[Llarry]

I missed this piece of news: Not only is Israel buying a variant of the latest F-15EX, but Indonesia, of all places, is also approved to buy 36 F-15EX variants at a cost of 13.9 billion USD. Maybe I've missed something: Isn't Indonesia a third world country with limited resources to buy big-ticket defense items?

[Lady Jane]

Politics, nepotism, corruption and scandals. An interesting tid-bit of aviation history.

[Jbrown7403]

Couple of short nostalgic Heathrow videos from the 70s…

[Jbrown7403]

…

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by Llarry

What's old is new again... The U.S. Air Force's "newest" fighter is the F-15EX Eagle. The announced plan is to buy 144 F-15EXs, although I personally think the program could be cut under budget pressure.

The first unit to get the new version of the Eagle is the formal training unit at Klamath Falls, Oregon. That was originally scheduled for 2022 but I'm not sure the aircraft are there yet. The other two squadrons planned to get the F-15EX are the squadrons in Portland, Oregon, and Jacksonville, Florida. If the full 144 are purchased, I would think more squadrons will follow.

I think the total F-15EX buy will be cut to 80 aircraft, which will only be enough to equip the two squadrons in the Oregon Air National Guard and the one squadron in the Florida ANG. The other F-15C squadrons in the ANG (Massachusetts, California & Louisiana) will probably get the F-35A.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by Llarry

Maybe I've missed something: Isn't Indonesia a third world country with limited resources to buy big-ticket defense items?

Indonesia is also a country feeling its way along as it tries to figure out how to live in a region that China is well on its way to dominating militarily. The last I checked, the Indonesians are hedging their bets – as well they should, given the neighborhood in which they live.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by dradernh

Indonesia is also a country feeling its way along as it tries to figure out how to live in a region that China is well on its way to dominating militarily. The last I checked, the Indonesians are hedging their bets – as well they should, given the neighborhood in which they live.

Yeah, and I googled the Indonesian Air Force and it turns out they have a few Flankers and some F-16s, too. So they're a bit more capable than I thought.

Hey, maybe we could cut 'em a deal on the new F-15s if they trade the Flankers in. We could use a few more Flankers to simulate the "enemy" at Nellis AFB or at Top Gun.

[3798j]

Northrop Scorpian...