F/A-18F's with 2 sticks?

[flyboy21]

Just out of curiosity...I heard someone saying that all the F/A-18F's, not just the trainers, have 2 sticks--1 for the pilot and 1 in front of the NFO. Just wandering if this was the case for all the 18F's rolling off the line each year. And if there are 2 sticks, what's the reasoning for giving the NFO one? Is it possible for the NFO to have control of the plane, or is the stick just for weapons selection? Thanks.

 

[Fly Navy]

Could be a control for his weapon systems. Some cockpits that have WSOs have these.

 

[JKD]

F-14 has more of a Joystick than any type of flight controls in the back seat. If someone just glanced, and didn't know much about the difference, they could think it had to do with flight systems (which it doesn't).

 

[NavyOCS]

Do th f-18`s have an NFO or just a pilot? I have a calender that features a different plane every month with the specs., and the hornet is listed as having only a pilot for the crew.

 

[EA-6B1]

I believe it's the B,D, & F(super hornet) models that have a crew of 2. And yes, there's an NFO in the back of the two seater. He's called a Weapons Sensor Officer (WSO).

 

[flyboy21]

About the flight controls vs. weapons systems joystick, I guess I need to clarify. I was told by a Tomcat RIO that the 18F's are gonna have 2 sticks. And since I'm thinking about going NFO, he was telling me that'd I'd still get "stick time" flying in the F/A-18F even as an NFO. Anybody got any word on this?

 

[bigpete]

I got a few back seat rides in a super hornet. Each of the super hornets had two seats. The NFO seat in the back had a joystick for weapons selection and other weapons functions but no yoke.

 

[Vandy7]

Got a chance to fly a production model at VX-9 in China Lake...Yes, there is no yoke in the back seat, usually...but look down...you will see the stub of the control column wriggling around, about half a foot off the floor. Also, the rudder pedals move (which is why they have to use that crappy VOX instead of a far more useful foot pedal ICS switch like I am used to). The guy that flew me said that every F can be converted into a two-seat trainer in about a day--put in the stick and a throttle quad.

 

[Vandy7]

Originally posted by flyboy21
About the flight controls vs. weapons systems joystick, I guess I need to clarify. I was told by a Tomcat RIO that the 18F's are gonna have 2 sticks. And since I'm thinking about going NFO, he was telling me that'd I'd still get "stick time" flying in the F/A-18F even as an NFO. Anybody got any word on this?

Not in your fleet squadron. See my other post.