Modern Air Power

[Photon440]

Some of the 'other guys' stuff - some in prototype stages:

A J-20 Stealth fighter from China



A vintage Russian supersonic bomber. Only a couple were made of the M50 Bounder.



The Tejas fighter from India:



I think most are familiar with the French Mirage:




Keep them coming!

 

[GTX.JCW]

For your viewing...

May I introduce the A-3 Skywarrior, one of the early multi role A/C for the Navy. Originally designed as a nuclear bomber, a use it once as it's not coming back aircraft, it morphed over the years into a conventional bomber, a tanker, a tanker with a complete electronic warfare suite, a photographic platform, an electronic collection platform, a VIP transport, and after it was retired from active duty, it spent 20 years on loan to various companies for electronic systems R&D.

As an aside, the A-3 was the largest carrier based A/C in the naval inventory. She is 76' long with a 72' wingspan and 22' tall at the tail. It's carrier take off weight is 73,000 lbs and the shore based weight is 80,000 lbs, earning it the nickname of "Whale". With a range of 2100 mi and a cruising speed of 520MPH ( max 610MPH) it was an ideal platform.

It first flew in October of 1952, and was retired from active service in 1991, after the first Gulf War.

I was assigned to them from 1969 until 1971, when my squadron was designated the training outfit for the new EA6B, a 4 seat purely electronic warfare A/C.

Below are a couple of pics from a recent trip. The first is the restored A/C that will be on display outside the Main Gate at NAS Whidbey Isand, Oak Harbor WA. It was one of the last flying "Whales". It flew to Whidbey in April of 2011 after Raytheon terminated its use for their R&D program.

To give you an idea of how large the plane is, the second pic is of my squadron buddies next to the plane.

This A/C also had a unique sound signature. It was a peculiar whine that was know as the "Whistling S**tcan" !

Jeff

 

[Budnicks]

May I introduce the A-3 Skywarrior, one of the early multi role A/C for the Navy. Originally designed as a nuclear bomber, a use it once as it's not coming back aircraft, it morphed over the years into a conventional bomber, a tanker, a tanker with a complete electronic warfare suite, a photographic platform, an electronic collection platform, a VIP transport, and after it was retired from active duty, it spent 20 years on loan to various companies for electronic systems R&D.

As an aside, the A-3 was the largest carrier based A/C in the naval inventory. She is 76' long with a 72' wingspan and 22' tall at the tail. It's carrier take off weight is 73,000 lbs and the shore based weight is 80,000 lbs, earning it the nickname of "Whale". With a range of 2100 mi and a cruising speed of 520MPH ( max 610MPH) it was an ideal platform.

It first flew in October of 1952, and was retired from active service in 1991, after the first Gulf War.

I was assigned to them from 1969 until 1971, when my squadron was designated the training outfit for the new EA6B, a 4 seat purely electronic warfare A/C.

Below are a couple of pics from a recent trip. The first is the restored A/C that will be on display outside the Main Gate at NAS Whidbey Isand, Oak Harbor WA. It was one of the last flying "Whales". It flew to Whidbey in April of 2011 after Raytheon terminated its use for their R&D program.

To give you an idea of how large the plane is, the second pic is of my squadron buddies next to the plane.

This A/C also had a unique sound signature. It was a peculiar whine that was know as the "Whistling S**tcan" !

Jeff

Jeff thanks for your service, it can't ever be said enough !!

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Watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LveSc8Lp0ZE

flying with one wing in a F-15 & pulling out of a flat spin, after a mid air collision, damn that's some ballsy chit there....

 

[Photon440]

Meanwhile at the Arctic border...
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canadian-fighter-jets-intercept-russian-bombers-in-arctic-1.2772440

 

[barnfind]

F-18

...

 

[super-bee_ski]

Not that I'm aware of on the F-15 and F-14. F-15 is Air Force and the F-14 Tomcat was used by the Navy and Marine Corps.

The F-4 Phantom was another story. It was used by the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.

I bieve the F-35 is going to also be used by all 3 forces like the Phantom was. Not 100% sure here, so if anyone else out there can confirm this I'd appreciate it.

Hope this answered you question Budnicks.

Simply put:

"F" Denotes Fighter...hence forth F-15 F-16 F-4 F-18 F-22 etc, we even classify Soviet jets with same designator. Flanker,Flogger etc./

"A" dentoes ATTACK aircraft such as the A-10 Thunderbolt II AC-130 Spectre (C-130 platform but Gun Ship) A-4 NAVY

"C" dentoed CARGO C-141, C-130 C-5 Galaxy C-17 Globe Master C-12 huron

"B" well, you all know...bomber

"EC" What I flew on in Air Force is "Electronics stuff"

etc

U= Utility

So, it is across all branches....

 

[Bruzilla]

May I introduce the A-3 Skywarrior, one of the early multi role A/C for the Navy. Originally designed as a nuclear bomber, a use it once as it's not coming back aircraft, it morphed over the years into a conventional bomber, a tanker, a tanker with a complete electronic warfare suite, a photographic platform, an electronic collection platform, a VIP transport, and after it was retired from active duty, it spent 20 years on loan to various companies for electronic systems R&D.

We used to refer to the A-3D as the All Three Dead because the crew egressed out the bottom of the aircraft, which meant ejecting after a bad carrier launch, or ditching, meant everyone was dead. I worked for a LT who was an A-3D pilot and turned in his wings after a rough night of trying to recover aboard the Saratoga and he came close to having to ditch.

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I bieve the F-35 is going to also be used by all 3 forces like the Phantom was. Not 100% sure here, so if anyone else out there can confirm this I'd appreciate it.

I worked on the F-35 program for five years. The F-35A is the base aircraft and is for use by the USAF and will be the main export aircraft. The F-35B is the VSTOL aircraft that is replacing the AV-8B Harrier for the USMC and the Royal Navy and has the vertical lift fan behind the cockpit. The F-35C is the variant for the USN and has larger wings, heavier landing gear, and an arresting hook, which sadly was placed badly and makes it nearly impossible for a pilot to engage an arresting wire, so it has to be redesigned.

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Simply put:

"F" Denotes Fighter...hence forth F-15 F-16 F-4 F-18 F-22 etc, we even classify Soviet jets with same designator. Flanker,Flogger etc./

"A" dentoes ATTACK aircraft such as the A-10 Thunderbolt II AC-130 Spectre (C-130 platform but Gun Ship) A-4 NAVY

"C" dentoed CARGO C-141, C-130 C-5 Galaxy C-17 Globe Master C-12 huron

"B" well, you all know...bomber

"EC" What I flew on in Air Force is "Electronics stuff"

etc

U= Utility

So, it is across all branches....

Another differentiator for hostile aircraft is syllables. These names start with the letter that identifies the type and single syllable names (Bear, Cub, etc.) are propeller driven and multi-syllable names (Badger, Faggot, Foxbat, etc.) are for jets.

 

[super-bee_ski]

Yup,
F-35 flight Test is next to our F-22 Flight Test CTF here at Eddies...
All my bud's jumped ship and are working with the F-35 now.

I stayed with the F-22 Raptor. 14 Years now....

The Air Force F-35 flight Test CTF is here at Edwards AFB

The Navy's F-35 Flight Test CTF is at "PAX" River, Maryland

The Marine's F-35 Flight Test CTF is at YUMA AZ...YIKES! YUMA! LOL

 

[Bruzilla]

F-35A for the USAF

F-35B for the USMC/RN

F-35C for the USN

 

[super-bee_ski]

And of course...the infamouus "Monkey in the wrench"

We also have F/A aircraft...Fighter/Attack...

F/A-18

At one time earlier in the F-22 ever evolving life: F/A-22 Raptor

AND, lets not forget: F/B designator...as in the F/B-111
Yup, Fighter/Bomber....

Yeah, they "DOD" did the fly off's here at Edwards for the F-35 and the F-32 (Boeings ugly version)

Man, seeing that Marine Version F-35 (L/M Aero) just hovering...it was amazing!
Truly amazing the stability is demonstrated..even in High Winds..

...and we have the "CV" as in the tilt wing Osprey..."Cargo / Vertical" as in vertical take off...


Im sounding like Bubba in Forrest Gump...we have Shrimp gumbo, Shrimp fritters, Shrip stew....

 

[Bruzilla]

Yeah, the F-35B is cool in a hover but it gets HOT in that cockpit when they do it.

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These Royal Omani Air Force Jaguars are planes I'll always remember. We were in Oman with our P-3C when two of these were overhead dogfighting. We watched them land, the canopies went up, and out jumped two pilots wearing t-shirts, shorts, sneakers, and helmets/O masks but no G-suits or flight suits. We walked over to talk to them and asked how they could dogfight in jets with no G-suits and how do they not pass out, and they said they pass out all the time but they usually wake up before it's too late. They were all former RAF guys flying as mercenaries.

 

[YY1]

Simply put:

"F" Denotes Fighter...hence forth F-15 F-16 F-4 F-18 F-22 etc, we even classify Soviet jets with same designator. Flanker,Flogger etc./

"A" dentoes ATTACK aircraft such as the A-10 Thunderbolt II AC-130 Spectre (C-130 platform but Gun Ship) A-4 NAVY

"C" dentoed CARGO C-141, C-130 C-5 Galaxy C-17 Globe Master C-12 huron

"B" well, you all know...bomber

"EC" What I flew on in Air Force is "Electronics stuff"

etc

U= Utility

So, it is across all branches....

Let's not forget "K", "S", "R", "RF", and "SR".

...and for Bru there's "P".

What's the "A" in EAC-135?

 

[super-bee_ski]

E=
Electronics

(I flew on the EC-135s and the EC-18Bs for 18 years, 135s are the pre0cursor to the 707 and the C-18 is the 707)

A=could be Airborne surveilence as imaging, used early on in RIVET JOINT aircraft, EC-135 out of Offutt Nebraska

C= Cargo...

RC-135
EC-135

EC-135 Cobra Ball and all of the variants are SIG INT aircraft Electrical Signal capturing aircraft/ ICBM/Sub Launched BM (Foriegn Only)

EC-135 Rivet Joint and ALL variants capture "Transmitted" SIG INT, i think like COMM and data transmissions...

These guys are always BUZZING Russia and China, deploying out in the Bearing sea...KOOL JOB....


BY the way GTX.JCW....
Northrup Flew one of those "Privately" for Electronics Signal testing for the B-2

 

[Bruzilla]

Let's not forget "K", "S", "R", "RF", and "SR".

...and for Bru there's "P".

What's the "A" in EAC-135?

There's also "Q" for aircraft converted to drones.

I think the A in EAC-135 is for "A Typo" because I don't believe there is such a plane although the idea of an attack 135 variant would be interesting.

 

[YY1]

Oh....and "T".


Ski- you were at Wright-Patt, so you saw the crazy fleet of E/EC/EAC (and pretty much any) -135 planes they had.

Not to mention:

C5, C130, C141

F4, F16, F111, F117

B1, B2, B52, (IIRC B58 very early in my youthful awareness)

T38/F5

All in active service at the same time.

I'm sure I've forgotten lots more.

You never knew what you'd see flying around overhead.



...wait a sec...the U2 was a utility aircraft?

 

[super-bee_ski]

Yeah, I think so too,
Again, I flew on EC-135s and EC-18B....
Snoopys....

RC-135s had (have all sorts of variants)

Rivet Joint
Rivet Stand / Rivet Quick
Cobra Jaw
Big Team
Office Boy / Rivet Brass
Lisa Ann / Rivet Amber
Nancy Rae / Wanda Belle / Rivet Ball
Cobra Ball
Rivet Dandy
Cobra Eye

Then there is J-STARS...Monitors Ground Control and such..

 

[Bruzilla]

There's a bakers dozen of P-3C variants too, but they are all classified as P-3Cs with the variant name appended to the end.

 

[super-bee_ski]

There's a bakers dozen of P-3C variants too, but they are all classified as P-3Cs with the variant name appended to the end.

"WE" flew with some of them sometimes....
They wer KOOL guys & gals...some times Civvies too...


Interesting note:
Their "P" designated "PATROL"

But the P-51 and P-40 etc stood for Pursuit...

 

[usaroadrunner]

just a couple i ran across. but the SR-71 BLACKBIRD is still my fav.

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Thanks for keeping this thread going !!!!!!!

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These are jet powered modern aircraft too. They have been ruining the bad guys day for a while now.

Enter the Apache gunship........

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Thinking a little out of the box from fixed wing.