The Airplane Thread

[Llarry]

Another Boeing 707-based U.S. military aircraft is on the way out. The E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) aircraft was designed for a cold war-era land war in Europe. It uses an AN/APY-7 radar to detect moving targets on the ground for targeting by other forces. It survived the end of the cold war and even found some use from 2022 in tracking movements on the ground in the Russo-Ukrainian war. But the fleet is down to just 3 operational E-8Cs and the final aircraft will be retired by the end of this year.

[Llarry]

Another nice portrait of a C-5M preparing to land.

[flybigjet]

Originally Posted by Llarry

Another nice portrait of a C-5M preparing to land.

I flew Freddie for 27 years-- the unmodified A's, A-Mod's, B's, SCM's and AMP's. I retired just as the M (which is basically a B-Model w/ the AMP avionics and new engines and APU's) was coming online.

It *still* looks weird to me with those new motors.

R.

[Buug959]

Originally Posted by crAbb

The coolest plane of all-time....

There is an airplane thread for these photos. I'm sure you'll find a very receptive crowd over there.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by Llarry

Another Boeing 707-based U.S. military aircraft is on the way out. The E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) aircraft was designed for a cold war-era land war in Europe. It uses an AN/APY-7 radar to detect moving targets on the ground for targeting by other forces. It survived the end of the cold war and even found some use from 2022 in tracking movements on the ground in the Russo-Ukrainian war. But the fleet is down to just 3 operational E-8Cs and the final aircraft will be retired by the end of this year.

A friend of mine of mine in the 304th MI BN, 111th MI BDE at Fort Huachuca, AZ was attached to the Air Force JSTARS unit that called in the air strikes that destroyed all of Saddam Hussein’s equipment on the Highway of Death as his troops tried to escape from Kuwait.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

A friend of mine of mine in the 304th MI BN, 111th MI BDE at Fort Huachuca, AZ was attached to the Air Force JSTARS unit that called in the air strikes that destroyed all of Saddam Hussein’s equipment on the Highway of Death as his troops tried to escape from Kuwait.

In my post on JSTARS, I neglected to mention that one of the unique features of the aircraft was that there were Army personnel who routinely flew in the aircraft as crew members -- which makes perfect sense given the mission of tracking ground forces.

[M-technik-3]

Originally Posted by flybigjet

I flew Freddie for 27 years-- the unmodified A's, A-Mod's, B's, SCM's and AMP's. I retired just as the M (which is basically a B-Model w/ the AMP avionics and new engines and APU's) was coming online.

It *still* looks weird to me with those new motors.

R.

Sounds even weirder, I live and work within the Tuesday and Thursday local patterns and I never hear the jet until it's on top of you. Maybe they should bring back SOLL II.

[flybigjet]

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

Sounds even weirder, I live and work within the Tuesday and Thursday local patterns and I never hear the jet until it's on top of you. Maybe they should bring back SOLL II.

Heh-- I know where you live!

I flew in/out of Westover about a zillion times for various operations.

And no.... just, NO on SOLL-II.

The only guys who did it in the C-5 were a couple crews of Active Duty at Dover, DE. I considered it and went out for a ride with them. Way too much "cowboying" and risk for my liking (and I *like* that sort of thing)..... we used to call them the "He-Man Woman Hater's Club".

They'd come back with tree branches in the gear pods-- not good.

The C-5 is a big airplane-- flying aggressive low-level like that was a bad idea. The instrumentation wasn't designed for NVG's, so it had a plexi-panel installed over it which made it very difficult to read/interpret your instruments. They took the copilot's radar display and put it in a rack at the nav station, put IR covers on the landing lights, and flew 500' modified contour. They also did airdrop-- and good luck finding a drop zone for 18 pallets (what are you going to do-- go back AGAIN and give the bad guys a second bite of the apple?). The C-5 carried 36 463L pallets, but for airdrop, you ran a custom centerline rig, so you ended up dropping 18.

I always thought the program was ill-conceived and walked away from it. I ended up doing just as much "special ops" stuff as a regular line swine-- mostly because the SOLL crews were kept at the base instead of flying, or they were dispersed amongst regular crews (they got to wear camo patches-- yippee) and weren't allowed out on the road much. When something weird happened on the road (e.g. here's a piece of paper- fly to these coordinates, call on this frequency-- if a runway appears, land on it) it was usually the crews already in position that got picked off to do something like this.

And? It was TERRIFYINGLY hard on the airframe. It was just a bad idea all the way around-- at least in the C-5. The jet didn't have the maneuverability for what they wanted to do, didn't have the gear required (FLIR and RAW for starters) and didn't have a dedicated training school. Somebody at HQ through it was a bright idea, but it was a half-arsed execution of said idea.

I'm all for being aggressive in the jet, but be *smart* about it.

R.

R.

[Llarry]

The (mostly) sad story of the NH Industries NH90 helicopter... The first fly-by-wire helicopter and widely used in NATO countries in both naval and utility/transport roles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHIndustries_NH90

The aircraft was conceived as a medium helicopter to replace multiple types such as the UH-1 "Huey" in Army roles, the H-3 Sea King in naval and search and rescue roles, etc. The market was estimated to be large and the project looked to be off to a great start.

Alas, the NH90 has run into problems with many users. Norway, to use the most extreme example, has demanded a refund on its contract for 14 naval variants and has ordered Sikorsky MH-60Rs (as flown by the U.S. Navy) to replace them. The Australian Army bought 47 tactical transports and has recently announced that they will buy Sikorsky UH-60Ms (as flown by the U.S. Amy) to replace them by 2027, but then recently has withdrawn all NH90s from service, leaving a considerable gap. Sweden bought 18 and has announced that they will be replaced with Sikorsky helicopters. Other smaller users are also planning replacements for an aircraft that was to serve for many years.

Germany and Italy are the biggest users -- with well over 100 each --and have not publicly complained, but one suspects they are having problems, too.

[Llarry]

The Royal Netherlands Air Force is sending a contingent of three CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters to Iraq to join the NATO Mission in Iraq (NMI). The what? Well, all these years later, NATO troops remain in Iraq to assist the Iraqis with security and training. The total is about 2,500 personnel.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by flybigjet

I'm all for being aggressive in the jet, but be *smart* about it.

Like this?????

.

[Llarry]

A few small updates:
-- The Czech Air Force has placed an order for 24 F-35A fighters, which should be delivered in 2031
-- The first of 14 Slovak Air Force F-16V fighters has flown; deliveries are expected to start next year.
-- The U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet training unit, VMFAT-101, has been disestablished, a further sign of the rise of the F-35B and decline of the F-18C/D.
-- We've seen the Royal Canadian Air Force CC-330 Husky in colorful livery -- probably the single transport/VVIP aircraft. Now a grey-painted CC-330 has appeared (photo), which should be standard for the rest of the aircraft.
-- The Croatian Air Force has received its first Dassault Rafale fighter (2nd photo).

[Lady Jane]

Rode down to the Government hangar and had lunch with my friend the Mountie who dropped off his EC-145 and waiting to get a ride back to his unit on the PC-12 "Platypus".

[JJ 911SC]

Blades galore...

[3798j]

blades front and rear...

[flybigjet]

Went to the Valiant Air Command warbird museum near Melbourne FL yesterday. Well worth the admission. The docent took me around on a personal tour. Not many pictures, but here's the flight deck of an early B-52 and C-47 (this one's a D-Day survivor and still fly's regularly).

R.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by flybigjet

Went to the Valiant Air Command warbird museum near Melbourne FL yesterday.

Quite the epic trip you are taking, @flybigjet. Making lemonade out of lemons to some extent.

[flybigjet]

Originally Posted by Llarry

Quite the epic trip you are taking, @flybigjet. Making lemonade out of lemons to some extent.

So far, I've done the following on my motorcycle trip with my R1200GS:

- National Route 66 Museum: Elk City, OK
- Stafford Air Museum: Weatherford, OK
- USS Kidd (most closely restored WWII destroyer): Baton Rouge, LA
- National WWII Museum: New Orleans, LA
- USS Alabama (WWII battleship) & USS Drum (WWII submarine): Mobile, AL
- National Naval Aviation Museum: Pensacola, FL
- USAF Armament Museum: Eglin, FL
- Stayed/visited with friends in Cape Coral, FL
- Edison & Ford Winter Estate: Fort Myers, FL
- Staying/visiting with friends in Melbourne, FL
- Valiant Warbird Museum: Titusville, FL
- Atlas V missile launch: Titusville, FL

To do next:

- Pirate Museum: St. Augustine, FL
- Prohibition Museum: Savannah, GA
- CSS Hunley (first operational/Confederate submarine), USS Yorktown (WWII Aircraft carrier), USS Laffey (WWII destroyer), The Battery, Peacock Row, Fort Sumter, Boone Hall & Drayton Hall Plantations: Charleston, SC
- USS North Carolina (WWII battleship): Wilmington, NC
- Kitty Hawk, NC
- USS Wisconsin (WWII battleship) & Hampton Roads Naval Museum: Norfolk, VA
- Military Aviation Museum: Virginia Beach, VA
- Greenbriar Continuity of Government Bunker: White Sulpher Springs, WV
- Blue Ridge Parkway
- Tail of the Dragon, Cherohala Skyway: NC/TN
- Biltmore House: Asheville, NC
- National USAF Museum: Dayton, NC
- The Henry Ford: Detroit, MI
- National Transportation Museum & St. Louis Arch: St. Louis, MO
- Truman Museum & Library: Independence, MO
- Arabia Steamboat Museum & National WWI Museum: Kansas City, MO

R.

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by flybigjet

So far, I've done the following on my motorcycle trip with my R1200GS:
R.

Monkey butt yet?

[flybigjet]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

Monkey butt yet?

Nope-- custom seat.

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by flybigjet

Nope-- custom seat.

Can't be sure from your pics but is it a Touratech Dri-Ride?

[flybigjet]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

Can't be sure from your pics but is it a Touratech Dri-Ride?

Nope-- it's a "custom" custom, done by Bitchin' Stitchin' in Denver. They used the original plastic base, and formed a custom seat for my tail feathers using different types of foam from there.

I just tried a Touratech seat from Denver to Sturgis and back, and swapped back to this one for the ride-- it's a bit more comfortable.

R.