This one is for Keefe!

[muwarrior69]

http://www.historyinorbit.com/the-top-18-fastest-planes-in-history/?utm_source=ob-nt-2&utm_medium=HistoryInOrbit.com-Desktop-US-FastPlanesFF&utm_content=parked&utm_campaign=18%20Of%20The%20Worlds%20Fastes%20Planes%20That%20You%20Never%20Heard%20Of%20%28PHOTOS%29

[keefe]

The Warthog will never win a beauty contest or foot race but it is still a magnificent aircraft.

My favorite on that list is the F 4 - the '57 Chevy of fighter aircraft. My father was a Phantom Driver and I still think watching a 4 ship of Phantoms in the break is one of the most sublime images in the history of flight.




http://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/what-couldnt-f-4-phantom-do-180953944/?no-ist

[ChicosBailBonds]

http://www.historyinorbit.com/the-top-18-fastest-planes-in-history/?utm_source=ob-nt-2&utm_medium=HistoryInOrbit.com-Desktop-US-FastPlanesFF&utm_content=parked&utm_campaign=18%20Of%20The%20Worlds%20Fastes%20Planes%20That%20You%20Never%20Heard%20Of%20%28PHOTOS%29

If you are ever in LA to see the Space Shuttle, there is a SR 71 on display outside that you can touch and feel.  Pretty amazing plane.


Keefe, have you ever been in a glider?  On my bucket list to do, was curious of your thoughts around it.

[77ncaachamps]

If you are ever in LA to see the Space Shuttle, there is a SR 71 on display outside that you can touch and feel.  Pretty amazing plane.


Keefe, have you ever been in a glider?  On my bucket list to do, was curious of your thoughts around it.

The shuttle IS amazing. You can't go inside but there's a enough around it to tantalize the neurons.

I believe there's a Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the same Science Center going on right now.

[keefe]

If you are ever in LA to see the Space Shuttle, there is a SR 71 on display outside that you can touch and feel.  Pretty amazing plane.


Keefe, have you ever been in a glider?  On my bucket list to do, was curious of your thoughts around it.

I have never flown in a glider...I am more partial to powered flight with an ejection seat strapped to my ass. I think if one has experienced the raw power of the GE F 110 power plant one would always prefer the roar of jet blast over the whispering winds of gliders.

I did paraglide once off of Tiger Mountain but I found it too tame for my taste. It simply did not compare with going to guns in a Hawg 40' off the deck.

I have met the Habu drivers at the Kadena AB Officers' Club. Those guys fly from Okinawa to the UK in less time than you invest in a leisurely dinner with a good looking woman you are trying to bed. They fly so high they actually wear astronaut wings and they fly so fast their leading edges go white hot from the friction. What is amazing is that the SR 71 is 1950's technology.

Damn shame they clipped the Blackbird's wings. It is an awesome aircraft that helped win the Cold War without ever firing a shot. 

   

[77ncaachamps]

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/this-video-will-leave-you-begging-the-usaf-to-keep-the-1703292861

[keefe]

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/this-video-will-leave-you-begging-the-usaf-to-keep-the-1703292861

A lot of the live fire shown in the video is from Hawgs flying in Cope Thunder out of Eielson AFB near Fairbanks. Some of the absolute best sh1t hot non-combat flying anywhere.

[77ncaachamps]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE WARTHOG!

First flight: May 10, 1972

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_Republic_A-10_Thunderbolt_II


https://youtu.be/ie4BiH09tfI

[Benny B]

I have never flown in a glider...I am more partial to powered flight with an ejection seat strapped to my ass. I think if one has experienced the raw power of the GE F 110 power plant one would always prefer the roar of jet blast over the whispering winds of gliders.

Q: What do you call a warthog driver with a deployed ejection strapped to his ass?

A: Glider.

[mu03eng]

I have met the Habu drivers at the Kadena AB Officers' Club. Those guys fly from Okinawa to the UK in less time than you invest in a leisurely dinner with a good looking woman you are trying to bed. They fly so high they actually wear astronaut wings and they fly so fast their leading edges go white hot from the friction. What is amazing is that the SR 71 is 1950's technology.

Damn shame they clipped the Blackbird's wings. It is an awesome aircraft that helped win the Cold War without ever firing a shot. 

My dad worked in the same program office as the Habu and Dragon Lady when they brought the Blackbird in for retirement at Wright Pat.....it was a very sad day.

1950s technology is right.  Damn thing leaks like a sieve on the ground and has to refuel shortly after take-off because the temperature ranges it operates at were to extreme for any sealants or epoxies.  The skin of the aircraft has gaps in it on the ground but when it heats up the metal expands and fills in the gaps.

Amazing aircraft.

[keefe]

My dad worked in the same program office as the Habu and Dragon Lady when they brought the Blackbird in for retirement at Wright Pat.....it was a very sad day.

1950s technology is right.  Damn thing leaks like a sieve on the ground and has to refuel shortly after take-off because the temperature ranges it operates at were to extreme for any sealants or epoxies.  The skin of the aircraft has gaps in it on the ground but when it heats up the metal expands and fills in the gaps.

Amazing aircraft.

I have been behind them on the ramp in both the UK and Okinawa and they leaked JP 4 like a broken beer mug.

I remember when I was a 1-LT we had a four ship of F 16s transiting from Misawa to Clark with an enroute 1RON at Kadena. Tower put us in the marshal stack for almost 20 minutes and the taxiing a/c was given an initial go to of Angels 57. I came up on button 5/squadron common joking that the controller was an idiot. The O-4 lead told me to shut up and watch. That was the first time I saw a Habu. Its take off roll was like molasses but once she rotated it was the most magnificent thing I have ever personally witnessed in flight. She was a dot within seconds. It was jaw dropping.

[mu03eng]

I have been behind them on the ramp in both the UK and Okinawa and they leaked JP 4 like a broken beer mug.

I remember when I was a 1-LT we had a four ship of F 16s transiting from Misawa to Clark with an enroute 1RON at Kadena. Tower put us in the marshal stack for almost 20 minutes and the taxiing a/c was given an initial go to of Angels 57. I came up on button 5/squadron common joking that the controller was an idiot. The O-4 lead told me to shut up and watch. That was the first time I saw a Habu. Its take off roll was like molasses but once she rotated it was the most magnificent thing I have ever personally witnessed in flight. She was a dot within seconds. It was jaw dropping.

That's a good one.  My dad spent a lot of time crewing Talons out of Kadena and Clark in the late 70s.....there were a lot of sightings of those guys heading north especially at night when they could pick up the engine output 50k over them when they were flying maritime interdiction missions "around" the 38th parallel.

[ShootinOutWallsofHeartach]

A lot of the live fire shown in the video is from Hawgs flying in Cope Thunder out of Eielson AFB near Fairbanks. Some of the absolute best sh1t hot non-combat flying anywhere.

I needed a respite from the misery of grad school in Champaign-Urbana in the mid 1990s, so a buddy and I trekked to a central Illinois airport for a military air show. This was the last days of Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, IL, and though I think  that day's show was in or around Gibson City, IL, I believe many of the planes were based out of Chanute. My buddy had logged extensive hours at U of I's flight school program in Savoy, and his father was a commercial pilot. He was an aviation buff, and not as easily impressed as I was at the spectacle in the sky above us. Before the PA announcer could even begin his next verbal set-up description, my bud had seen the A-10 Warthog lined up on the runway. His whole countenance went from bored and disinterested to the proverbial "Ralph gets his bb gun at x-mas" face...he was silent most of the show up until then, but simply focused on the A-10 still parked on the tarmac, then turned to me and said, "Prepare for BADASS!"
The simulated combat run that followed sent chills up my spine. That ordinance gun noise is almost ghostly. After telling the crowd that the A-10 Warthog also answered to the no-nonsense name "tank killer", the PA announcer went on to say, " I would tell you guys what enemy combatants are known to utter upon seeing an A10 approaching, but I see too many kids at this family show!"

[77ncaachamps]

Keefe,

If you game, this might be cool if it ever gets made: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1841131003/thrustmaster-warthog-mig-29-f-15-f-18-add-on-stick?ref=newest

[muwarrior69]

Hey Keefe, another Clint Eastwood film you might like.

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2015/06/03/clint-eastwood-will-make-biopic-pilot-sully-sullenberger/?intcmp=features

[keefe]

Keefe,

If you game, this might be cool if it ever gets made: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1841131003/thrustmaster-warthog-mig-29-f-15-f-18-add-on-stick?ref=newest

Hey, I just saw this. I am not a gamer but I shared it with team members who are avid xBoxers!

[keefe]

Hey Keefe, another Clint Eastwood film you might like.

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2015/06/03/clint-eastwood-will-make-biopic-pilot-sully-sullenberger/?intcmp=features

What's amazing about that incident is that Sullenberger had a split second to make that one essential decision that saved hundreds of lives. People might not appreciate that fighter pilots are overwhelmed with data and our training is much more about sifting through all of those continuous streams and making decisions constantly. In Sullenberger's case that training paid off in a big way on a big stage.

[Benny B]

What's amazing about that incident is that Sullenberger had a split second to make that one essential decision that saved hundreds of lives. People might not appreciate that fighter pilots are overwhelmed with data and our training is much more about sifting through all of those continuous streams and making decisions constantly. In Sullenberger's case that training paid off in a big way on a big stage.

Decision implies more than one choice.  As I understand, ditching in the river was the only choice he had at that point, so it's more about execution here than decision making, no?

[mu03eng]

Decision implies more than one choice.  As I understand, ditching in the river was the only choice he had at that point, so it's more about execution here than decision making, no?

He had decisions....he could try to extend to Teterboro or try to RTB.  Ditching in the Hudson was probably 4th or 5th on the list of options if ranked traditionally.  Most pilots(imho) would have tried to go for an airfield and wouldn't have made it.  Sully had to figure out his energy...what it would take to make any of his alternatives and figure out that relative to the survival odds of putting it into the Hudson successfully.

Reaching the Hudson was the easiest of the options, landing in the Hudson and saving any of the passengers (let alone all of them) was by far the hardest of the options.


Just to further illustrate both the skill of Sully and the sheer data they had to process....on the Airbus they were flying there is a "ditch" button that when activated seals all vents/ports etc to retain buoyancy in the water to provide more time to escape.  They forgot to hit the button, and ditched without out it.

[keefe]

Decision implies more than one choice.  As I understand, ditching in the river was the only choice he had at that point, so it's more about execution here than decision making, no?

He had multiple choices. He processed a large amount of data and made a decision. In a split second. Frankly, ditching on water is hardly the optimal in any scenario but he factored in a couple dozen variables and went for the water. In this case his airmanship came into play - not many aviators could have pulled this one off. It was a ballsy call but he had the right stuff to make it work.

The thing about military pilots is that their ability to deconflict any of a number of EPs is hard wired in their DNA through screening, training, evaluation, and repetition. What Sullenberger pulled off was phenomenal.

While living in Tokyo a Navy buddy, now a Captain flying 74's for NWA, came through town. We met up in Shibuya and he brought along his FO. We were talking about flying off the carrier and the FO, who had zero military time, blithely commented how he thought about joining but chose not to. He spoke rather casually of how he would have enjoyed flying off a ship.

My Navy buddy and I made eye contact - people have no idea of how bloody different flying high performance tactical aircraft is from any other form of flying. And to assume that because one is a pilot one could master launching and recovering on an aircraft carrier is at a minimum extremely naïve.

Sullenberger performed a miracle but that was the standard set for him while flying tactical jets for the US Air Force. I really doubt a guy who only went through Embry Riddle could have done the same. One should not underestimate the remarkable skill Sullenberger brought to that particular emergency situation.   

[Benny B]

I'm not disagreeing, but perhaps it's Semantics regarding "choices"...

The way I look at it is that sure, Sully had lots of options... ditch, extend, return, land in an airfield, land on a moving train, crash into a building, land on the moon, call his lady to cancel their dinner reservation, etc.  But since he was actually trying to save lives, some of those options aren't "choices" at all.

Yes, Sully ran through his "choices" in a matter of seconds.  But my understanding is that at that point he only had one feasible option, ergo choice, to save ever soul on board, ditch.  RTB or extend were not feasible options, so they were never a choice.  "Making a decision" implies you have several similar alternatives of which to choose.  Sully didn't... he had one choice amongst a bunch of other impossible options.  To say that Sully made a decision implies that he miscalculated one of the "options" as a feasible choice, and that, inherently, is somewhat insulting.

My point is that what Sully did doesn't make him a good decision maker... it makes him one of the best damn pilots in the world.

[keefe]

My point is that what Sully did doesn't make him a good decision maker... it makes him one of the best damn pilots in the world.

When we speak of passenger carriers the Sullenberger emergency procedure case study is a great example of how several hundred people are alive today because of humans on the flight station. There is no computer that could have deconflicted that situation. 

[rocket surgeon]

hows about one of these bad boys doin a loop da loop

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4292852418001/boeing-787-dreamliner-performs-near-vertical-takeoff/?#sp=show-clips

[keefe]

hows about one of these bad boys doin a loop da loop

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4292852418001/boeing-787-dreamliner-performs-near-vertical-takeoff/?#sp=show-clips

Not bad for a plastic aircraft...

I hate to burst the balloon but a lot of that view is perspective...he would have bled off all his lift at that altitude and speed in a 90 (unlike a tactical fighter that has tremendous thrust:weight and can actually pull off a genuine vert launch.)

Having said which, that is still damned impressive for a chunk of plastic that big flying that slow

 

[keefe]

Still the most sh1t hot aircraft in the world

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/1rGcn2XGr48" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/1rGcn2XGr48</a>