Another "praise the Raptor" article

[skidkid]

This doesnt sound like news really. How many traspac/translant flights have the jet types done where every bird arrives on time without a delay or divert? I know when we take birds across the country it goes about as well as depicted above, sometimes not as well.

 

[A4sForever]

Now, generally, Air Farce weenies are all the same, but....The 27th Raptor guys, as a whole, were and are the coolest Air Force guys you will ever meet. They are as close to being Naval Aviators as one can ....

Don't bet your last dollar on that ... we fought, embarrassed, and laughed at the stupidity (tactics, procedures, BAS--- i.e., who would go horizontal against an A-4???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????) of the Air Force's finest .... their Fighter Weapons School @ Nellis ... when we repeatedly bested them in their F-15'a with our old A-4's and our still older bodies ...

Believe it.

 

[Schnugg]

Good stuff:

Launch on Saturday was uneventful (except they could only get 9 airborne). Problem came when they approached the International Date Line. As the first two flights cro ssed over all of their computer driven systems went tango uniform. Essentially had a bunch of multi multi million dollar day vfr only jets loitering over where they knew not. Utilizing their trusty Hawaii ANG Tankers they all made it back to Hickam for assisted
approaches...on the wing of the two who did not cross over to the dark side and were unaffected. Hate to think of what it would have been like if we had the same weather we did a few weeks back. Will be very interesting to see how this comes across and what the fix is.

Like the old navy joke...they crossed the date line and the jet went into Phase while we were flying it...oh crap.

We used to lament that the engines would quit and all the panels would pop open in flight.


We had similar software problems in the F-14D. No MAGVAR tables in the INS for west of the dateline or something sismilar.

 

[JustAGuy]

Don't bet your last dollar on that ... we fought, embarrassed, and laughed at the stupidity (tactics, procedures, BAS--- i.e., who would go horizontal against an A-4???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????) of the Air Force's finest .... their Fighter Weapons School @ Nellis ... when we repeatedly bested them in their F-15'a with our old A-4's and our still older bodies ...

Believe it.

Not sure what you are telling me not to bet on. They are very cool and humble guys, very much unlike the F-15C guys.

 

[snake020]

http://www.f-16.net/news_article2199.html

It's great that the engine mx takes about 1/3 the time on an Eagle. Too bad it's the generator breaking, or the canopy, or the computer...

 

[Brett327]

Would have been interesting to sit in on the A/A TACS replay/debrief for that flag.

Brett

 

[thull]

Good post..and an incredible jet. would you rather fly the raptor or JSF and why?

 

[MasterBates]

JSF. Because the 35 B will have a tailhook.

 

[raptor10]

JSF. Because the 35 B will have a tailhook.

F-35C, so I can still be Navy...

 

[Brett327]

JSF. Because the 35 B will have a tailhook.

Lot of good that hook is going to do ya when you lose that engine.

Brett

 

[jmac12]

I agree. Single engine and over water is not where you want to be. I know they say that the F-35 engine is the most reliable engine ever, but the titanic was supposed to be unsinkable. They call the F-16 a lawn dart for a reason.

 

[Single Seat]

They call the F-16 a lawn dart for a reason.

And it has nothing to do with engine failures. Look at the statistics. A-4, A-7, F-8, AD-1, and a whole generation of other attack and fighter aircraft did just fine with one motor. As well as the T-45.

 

[HeyJoe]

And it has nothing to do with engine failures. Look at the statistics. A-4, A-7, F-8, AD-1, and a whole generation of other attack and fighter aircraft did just fine with one motor. As well as the T-45.

Agreed. Some are G-LOC related and many are certainly CFIT (at least one during Desert Storm is suspected to be fatigue/CFIT)

As far as losses being attributed to loss of engine, the F-16 has done what few single engine jet aircraft have done...recover after losing the engine. It has an emergency (hydrazine powered) power option that allows the "electric jet" to have control authority after losing a motor. In the mid eighties, one gent lost an engine after take-off and was able to turn around and land with the wind (kinds like a button hook move). Note: Kids...don't try this at home!

 

[Single Seat]

Agreed. Some are G-LOC related and many are certainly CFIT (at least one during Desert Storm is suspected to be fatigue/CFIT)

As far as losses being attributed to loss of engine, the F-16 has done what few single engine jet aircraft have done...recover after losing the engine. It has an emergency (hydrazine powered) power option that allows the "electric jet" to have control authority after losing a motor. In the mid eighties, one gent lost an engine after take-off and was able to turn around and land with the wind (kinds like a button hook move). Note: Kids...don't try this at home!

There's a video rolling around on the internet from a Viper HUD of (I think) a Shaw AFB guy dead sticking one. From what I remember of T-45 land you weren't allowed to dead stick it because the RAT which powered the flight controls, couldn't keep up with the hyd demand as a/s bled off.

I have also heard an urban legend of an A4 dead sticking on the boat. Bueller? Bueller?

 

[Squid]

In the mid eighties, one gent lost an engine after take-off and was able to turn around and land with the wind (kinds like a button hook move). Note: Kids...don't try this at home!

The story I heard there was the correct action was to get out of the jet, but there was a civilian that saw it and said something about him saving lives by not getting out, and the pilot ended up with an award of some sort. Otherwise it would have gone very bad for him at the long table.

There's a video rolling around on the internet from a Viper HUD of (I think) a Shaw AFB guy dead sticking one. From what I remember of T-45 land you weren't allowed to dead stick it because the RAT which powered the flight controls, couldn't keep up with the hyd demand as a/s bled off.

Again, the story I heard was that the RAT was never flight tested as the only source of hydraulic power at approach speeds at low altitude. Therefore no one "knew" how it would react. Similar analog DEL in the hornet.

Take all this sh!t with a grain of salt. Those are all 3rd person stories. I believe at least the second one.