Blues to Get Supers?

[EODDave]

Soooo tired of hearing how the Charlie is so much more maneuverable than the Rhino. Have flown both. Prefer the Rhino. The "show" would be no different in the Rhino. Go look at the Rhino demo. It flies fairly well. And in the BFM arena they are a draw. Its more the man/woman who is flying than which version of the Hornet.

 

[Hopeful Hoya]

Soooo tired of hearing how the Charlie is so much more maneuverable than the Rhino. Have flown both. Prefer the Rhino. The "show" would be no different in the Rhino. Go look at the Rhino demo. It flies fairly well. And in the BFM arena they are a draw. Its more the man/woman who is flying than which version of the Hornet.

Cool, glad to hear it from someone with first hand experience rather than the armchair defense analysts. Thanks.

Haven't seen a Rhino demo in person but hoping to get a glimpse of one soon. At least from the footage I've seen it looks awesome.

 

[MIDNJAC]

Soooo tired of hearing how the Charlie is so much more maneuverable than the Rhino. Have flown both. Prefer the Rhino. The "show" would be no different in the Rhino. Go look at the Rhino demo. It flies fairly well. And in the BFM arena they are a draw. Its more the man/woman who is flying than which version of the Hornet.

Fighting a slick F/A-18E while myself flying a slick F-16A is literally like fighting another F-16……..it's a damn good jet when not ruined by canted inboards

 

[pilot_man]

Soooo tired of hearing how the Charlie is so much more maneuverable than the Rhino. Have flown both. Prefer the Rhino. The "show" would be no different in the Rhino. Go look at the Rhino demo. It flies fairly well. And in the BFM arena they are a draw. Its more the man/woman who is flying than which version of the Hornet.

I had this conversation with a former Blue this week. There will be a difference in the show based on performance whether you want to hear about it or not.

I would say I have more Rhino hours now than the Chuck. I'll stick with my assertion that the Charlie is more maneuverable. So much more? Probably not but the difference is noticeable.

 

[Hair Warrior]

Given the Navy's resource constraints and also its zeal to get young people interested in STEM, maybe they'll switch to the X-47B or MQ-8 for the Blue Angels.

Why pay to train a Blue Angel when you can just program one? The next feat of aerial acrobatics will be done by Java, Python, or Html5. /sarcasm

 

[zippy]

Given the Navy's resource constraints and also its zeal to get young people interested in STEM, maybe they'll switch to the X-47B or MQ-8 for the Blue Angels.

Why pay to train a Blue Angel when you can just program one? The next feat of aerial acrobatics will be done by Java, Python, or Html5. /sarcasm

Until the first mishap... Then TRA will end the show all together. There's still enough good will for the blues (and the Tbirds) that people come out to see them after they plant a jet during a performance. You won't see that kind of good will after a drone crashes during a show.

 

[wlawr005]

It's not like the Blues will be flying half supers, half legacy. They'll all be in the same jets with the same performance characteristics. From the nitnoid standpoint the show will probably change some with respect to exactly how they set up between each maneuver and timing. They'll have more gas now though, so they might go longer. I don't think anything will change for the average eyeball at the air show.

 

[sevenhelmet]

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

There is a difference between the two in how the deploy (slats typically slide on tracks, while flaps just hinge), and slats usually (if not always) have a small gap between the wing and the actual moving surface, where leading edge flaps don't. There are structural and aero reasons for both.

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

They're not supposed to be due to classification, but it wouldn't surprise me.

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.

There have been a couple of near-mishaps more recently as well. The Blues do things that are outside normal NATOPS limits during the demo (gear speed, lat stick inputs for greater than 360 degrees of roll, etc.), so the show sequence itself is something that has to be tested, as well as the mods.

 

[Python]

From having just switched from Charlies to Supers I do have a fresh eye on it. The planes' performance is very similar but the Rhino is slightly less maneuverable. It is not a tremendous difference, but it is definitely noticeable.

I think at one point the Blues' website mentions that while the Rhino is newer they still prefer the Charlie for its "light weight and slick maneuverability." Thought it was interesting that they posted that.

 

[nittany03]

There is a difference between the two in how the deploy (slats typically slide on tracks, while flaps just hinge), and slats usually (if not always) have a small gap between the wing and the actual moving surface, where leading edge flaps don't. There are structural and aero reasons for both.

I know; that was just a joke. Tough crowd. . .

 

[ChuckMK23]

You gotta think a bigger airframe will make for a better show. There are 107 A's and C's in AMARC right now. Are you telling the Blues can't cherry pick 12 solid airframes to fly 7 from?

 

[sevenhelmet]

You gotta think a bigger airframe will make for a better show. There are 107 A's and C's in AMARC right now. Are you telling the Blues can't cherry pick 12 solid airframes to fly 7 from?

Like I said earlier, this is why I think it'll be a few years before we see them in Rhinos.

 

[Treetop Flyer]

You gotta think a bigger airframe will make for a better show. There are 107 A's and C's in AMARC right now. Are you telling the Blues can't cherry pick 12 solid airframes to fly 7 from?

I would hope the ones in the desert are in need of life extension. It seems like there are plenty of operational units that would like some airworthy A' and C's

 

[Brett327]

How many Marine Hornet squadrons are out there? I know USN is down to just a handful.

 

[jmcquate]

How many Marine Hornet squadrons are out there? I know USN is down to just a handful.

14 (including the VMFATs), 4 of those with Deltas.