LoneSailor
Registered User
The car shenanigans just crack me up. :icon_lol:
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Classic Fighter Fling Video
- Thread starter HeyJoe
- Start date
navyao
Registered User
Harrier-Dude,
I was an AO in an F-14A squadron prior to the Tomcat taking on the A/G role. To answer your question about aircrews being anti-mud moving, you better believe it. Our pilots considered themselves fighter pilots and that's it. Their only function was to be fighter pilots. They fought their jets constantly! That's also why my squadron went away, well not the only reason. I was with VF-114 "Aardvarks." We didn't fly F-14's that were capable of flying TARPS pods.
I was an AO in an F-14A squadron prior to the Tomcat taking on the A/G role. To answer your question about aircrews being anti-mud moving, you better believe it. Our pilots considered themselves fighter pilots and that's it. Their only function was to be fighter pilots. They fought their jets constantly! That's also why my squadron went away, well not the only reason. I was with VF-114 "Aardvarks." We didn't fly F-14's that were capable of flying TARPS pods.
Harrier Dude
Living the dream
That's what I figured AO. The air force F-15 dudes freak out if you even say "bomb", "bomber", or any number of other words in their bar. It's taboo. I'm torn between wanting to see them hang REAL ordnance on their jets and enjoying seeing them ride the pine in the GWOT.
navyao
Registered User
Harrier Dude said:
The 27th FS at Langley is standing up their new F-22A's as we speak. I think that's who VFA-103 got the guns kill on awhile back, anyway...As you know the Raptor is both an A/A and an A/G platform. So the current F-15 pilots will have to start letting the term "strike" into their vocabulary again, wether its in the ready-room or the O' club.
I have to agree with you on the "riding the pine" or hanging REAL ordnance on their jets. We, (Navy/Marine Corps) have proven that dual purpose a/c and integrated TACAIR is the real-deal. My question is, when the 27th FS finally deploys to either OIF or OEF will the Air Force brass let them get their billion dollar resource "down and dirty" with the grunts? For some reason I can't see F-22's doing straifing runs in the Sunni Triangle, can you? Here's another question, does the Air Force have a corrosion control workcenter? I've never seen a "weathered" Air Farce a/c unless it's in the boneyard.
Harrier Dude
Living the dream
navyao said:
My last post was actually about hanging bombs on the F-15C (currently A/A only) itself, although it'll be moot when the get the Raptor anyway. The F-15E guys can (and do) carry an ASSLOAD of steel. I sat in the pits next to one at Jaber while we fueled up (with loaded ordnance and full flare buckets by the way) and was truly impressed. He had been fueling for 10 minutes when I got there (on fumes) and was still fueling when I left. Bombs all the way to the hor-stab. Cool.
Isn't it funny that the F-22 was about to be cancelled, then it became the F/A-22 and went into full production? Did it always have an A/G mission from the start, or was that a last ditch add-in to get the funding? I'll bet it did have it the whole time, but the last minute name change shows how politically astute they are.
The air force probably doesn't need a CC shop. When the plane gets dirty, they just buy a new one.
VFA-203 Forever
So You Like To Put fishsticks in your mouth?
navyao said:
I thought that was a Red Ripper who got the kill on the Raptor?
LoneSailor
Registered User
I'm interested to know the story behind the gun kill, someone care to spend a minute or two in explaining it? Thanks!
navyao
Registered User
My bad...I haven't heard that one. You'd think they would just make more F-15E's instead of hanging ordnance on the C mods, whatever. Yea the E is a weapons platform isn't it? I have a friend who was an exchange guy. He went from being a B/N in A-6's to a WSO in F-15E's, what a change!
Thanks for that trip down memory lane about being in the pits, God I miss it. What I wouldn't do to be around turning airplanes again, including an AV-8B! You're flying one hell of an airplane.
You know I didn't know anything about the Raptor flying A/G until just recently when I read about the 27th FS receiving its Raptors. Without hardpoints on the wings I can't see where they'll hang GP munnitions? The weapons-bays must be freaking huge!
Thanks for that trip down memory lane about being in the pits, God I miss it. What I wouldn't do to be around turning airplanes again, including an AV-8B! You're flying one hell of an airplane.
You know I didn't know anything about the Raptor flying A/G until just recently when I read about the 27th FS receiving its Raptors. Without hardpoints on the wings I can't see where they'll hang GP munnitions? The weapons-bays must be freaking huge!
navyao said:
Raptor has 4 external hardpoints (mainly for tanks for ferry missions, but they can carry eight heaters in a ferry conditon above the tanks as well). The main bay can carry six compressed carriage AMRAAMs internally and the side bays carry a heater apiece. When they called it the F/A-22 briefly (it's now F-22 again), they were crashing on developing Small Diameter Bomb (250# class GPS munition) to give them better numbers of A/G weapons (note diagram on left below does not show SDB, but more recent drawing on right does).
navyao
Registered User
Thanks HJ, the pics help...I would imagine they'll carry the GBU-33 quite a bit, although it sounds like that's the weapon of choice right now of the TACAIR guys flying CAS missions in the box. Having the hardpoints on the wing stations defeats the purpose of stealth though, I would guess we'll never see an F/A-22 flying with ordnance on its wings. I can however see the external tanks being necessary, especially when they fly it from conus.
Bumper365
New Member
In my opinion, my favorite fighter fling videos are between 2004 or 2002, i love it in 2002 when the pilot in his full outfit walks into the adult videos store and then salutes the road worker. But 2004 is a great goodbye video of the Tomcat. Not much of a welcoming of the Hornet though lol.