Blues to Get Supers?

[Hopeful Hoya]

Apparently the Navy awarded Boeing a contract to examine modifying Supers for service for the Blue Angels.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/a...dify-super-hornet-for-blue-angels-rol-419812/

Seems like they are between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Stick with -A and -C models that have literally been falling apart in the sky, but switching to a less maneuverable jet and putting tons of hours on the already stretched SH frames doesn't seem like a great option either...

 

[Malo83]

Hell, bring these bad boys back

 

[Brett327]

For what the Blues do with the jets, I don't really think the performance differences - however one chooses to define them - will be a limiting factor at all.

 

[Hopeful Hoya]

For what the Blues do with the jets, I don't really think the performance differences - however one chooses to define them - will be a limiting factor at all.

Yeah I figured the the performances would be pretty similar, I just thought I remember reading something something about the Super being better in high alpha but the baby having a slightly better turning radius. Then again that is just my armchair knowledge.

 

[brownshoe]

Hell, bring these bad boys back

Naw... A4's ('course I'm a bit biased).

 

[wink]

The Thundering Bent Wing Hawg was awesome to watch in a show. But in the end, the Scooter put on a better show.

 

[nittany03]

Yeah I figured the the performances would be pretty similar, I just thought I remember reading something something about the Super being better in high alpha but the baby having a slightly better turning radius. Then again that is just my armchair knowledge.

I would expect that they would adjust the demo accordingly if necessary. It's less about nitnoid aerodynamics and more about blue jets zorching around impressively in front of impressionable future recruits anyway.

 

[sevenhelmet]

Yeah I figured the the performances would be pretty similar, I just thought I remember reading something something about the Super being better in high alpha but the Hornet having a slightly better turning radius. Then again that is just my armchair knowledge.

Fixed it for you. The Hornet has slightly better performance in roll than the Rhino, and in normal fleet configuration, slightly better energy addition as well. Pilot proficiency and config differences will mean more than the difference in performance. Slick v. Slick with proficient aircrew would be interesting to see. I would bet on the Hornet, but not by a wide margin.

Not surprised the Navy awarded a contract for this, but I bet it'll still be a couple of years (at least) before the Blues switch over. They usually get the oldest jets they can get that still have sufficient fatigue life to survive an airshow season.

 

[brownshoe]

The Thundering Bent Wing Hawg was awesome to watch in a show. But in the end, the Scooter put on a better show.

Uh huh. Well at least this cameraman thought so:

Edit: Copy and paste URL.

 

[Brett327]

Yeah I figured the the performances would be pretty similar, I just thought I remember reading something something about the Super being better in high alpha but the baby having a slightly better turning radius. Then again that is just my armchair knowledge.

I presume the E-M diagrams are available on the internets.

 

[707guy]

A lot of engineering work to do so I'm sure any transition is a couple of years away. If I recall - there was a fatal crash while testing the Hornet mods back in the 80's.

 

[Hopeful Hoya]

I would expect that they would adjust the demo accordingly if necessary. It's less about nitnoid aerodynamics and more about blue jets zorching around impressively in front of impressionable future recruits anyway.

Very true, hell it definitely worked on me.

Fixed it for you. The Hornet has slightly better performance in roll than the Rhino, and in normal fleet configuration, slightly better energy addition as well. Pilot proficiency and config differences will mean more than the difference in performance. Slick v. Slick with proficient aircrew would be interesting to see. I would bet on the Hornet, but not by a wide margin.

Not surprised the Navy awarded a contract for this, but I bet it'll still be a couple of years (at least) before the Blues switch over. They usually get the oldest jets they can get that still have sufficient fatigue life to survive an airshow season.

Interesting, thanks for the insight. It's been a couple of years since I've seen the demo, but from what I remember the only intense maneuvering happens during the minimum radius turn and the opposing minimum radius turns, so I presume the actual performance wouldn't need too much changing. Could be cool though if they added one to take advantage of the Rhino's ability to point the nose at high alpha.

But yeah seems like this will be pretty academic for the next few years.

Just out of curiosity, are TFOAs an extraordinary event? I know a couple of blue jets lost LEXs over the summer, and wasn't sure if that was normal for the amount they fly and the media was just running with it, or if it was indicative of a much larger problem.

 

[MIDNJAC]

If we are talking about an entire LEX coming off, that would be the first I have heard of, and seems like it would be a pretty substantial "TFOA" when compared to the common ones like small panels

 

[nittany03]

If we are talking about an entire LEX coming off, that would be the first I have heard of, and seems like it would be a pretty substantial "TFOA" when compared to the common ones like small panels

I think he meant what civilized people call "slats" as opposed to "leading edge flaps."

 

[Hopeful Hoya]

I think he meant what civilized people call "slats" as opposed to "leading edge flaps."

I think you are correct, that you for the correction. It seems I've betrayed my true knowledge level