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Vmfa-134?
- Thread starter VFA-203 Forever
- Start date
AircraftGeek513
Active Member
Upgrade didn't start until Navy was out of the Legacy Hornet Business. Only about 3-4 squadrons are getting the upgrade. Canadian Hornets are getting it as well
Nope, best we got was APG-73 with old mission computers and old CRT DDIs. Some of us didn't even have that
I flew in a few of the non-HOL Rhinos at NAWDC. Yuck.Nope, best we got was APG-73 with old mission computers and old CRT DDIs. Some of us didn't even have that
Yeah, those jets were basically big charlesburgers. The LRIP one (can't remember the modex, 105 maybe?) didn't even have the canopy rail handle that the production F's and G's got. To be fair, they were normally "up" jets, unlike the HOL jets at that point in time. I'll say that my one claim to fame of my career is perhaps having gotten to fly every production lot of the A-G and every single model (A/B/C/D/E/F/G), to include the weird esoteric Marine ones (A+, A++, D+, D-, etc), and then I guess LRIP non-HOL Rhino and every other one. When the kids talk about loading a "brick" (now a nice little DTU), there are some of us who still remember loading the real literal 5 lb brick on this old whirry box with all these blinking lights. And you had to stuff this other big ass MX brick into the right side of the jet near the LOX bottle. In conclusion, old guy yells at cloud, but we were not better tactical aviators by any means. I'm jealous that they get to start their careers at the baseline we are at now. Words don't even begin to describe how much better they have to be than I had to be.
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AIRMMCPORET
Plan “A” Retired
So your the one?
AircraftGeek513
Active Member
I've heard about the A+. Never heard of the A++ or the D- and D+. Details on these. (keeping in unclass obviously)
Definitely unlocked my memory about the real brick. Insane to think we actually used that thing.
Edit: also jealous you completed the full gamut. I got ‘em all except the G.
All Marine specific. A++ was a further adaptation of the A+ (which the USN also received/flew operationally). All the A/A+/A++ share common guts, because they were all originally just straight A's, with the A+ and A++ being post production mods completed some years later. The fuel system is slightly different than the C/D, some other random differences, and most visually apparent, the engine/fuel gauge is all analog (same one they got in the F-117 as well). But with the A+ most importantly was capable of carrying AIM-120, it had the upgraded mission computers from the C/D IIRC, digital moving map (the straight A and B's had this bizarre microfiche printed map squirrel cage thing with a backlight) and it got "plumbed" to carry JDAM/GPS guided weapons. The A++ got the big motors (F404-402), MIDS, JHMCS, APG-73, NVG compatible cockpit lighting, and also full color DDIs (like the Super Hornet got). I only flew it a handful of times, but it was a mean jet, and configured USMC style with the Litening G4, it was pretty great at air-to-ground stuff too. The D+ was the "night attack" D model with WSO hand controllers in the back. I kinda forget now what they referred to as D-, I think it might have just been a fun Marine way of saying it was a trainer configured dual control jet (what we'd call a D(T) or an F(T) or a G(T) in the Navy).
haha yeah no kidding huh? I'd forgotten all about that stupid finicky brick loader box thing until I wrote that. Only thing you missed in the G is the "beep beep boopity boop"s and the third (AEA) menu. Otherwise it is just like an F
Also for the record, lot 10 C/D's had the microfiche paper moving map as well, and the bright shitty interior lighting. Another fun difference between A/B and C/D was the cockpit video recorders. They were giant elbow cams in the A/B, that you'd bang your arms on and get bruised up. You had to actually manually adjust the aperture between day and night, and these recorders could tattle on you since they captured any reflection off the face of the DDIs.......you'd be able to see your own head position in the right sun reflection angle. "Why aren't you looking over there right now??" C/D got the digital recorders, rather than the creepy peep show cameras of the A/B. It is a question in my mind what the white ball things mounted on the front of a small black box mounted to the canopy rails were though.
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And in those A's and B's you only got like 8 editable waypoints- all lat/long D.M.S- and one line to connect them, and there was no real way to check and see if the brick loaded. And they were pure INS birds, so you had to update it before you shut it down so you didn't screw the next guy over. (Hence why all the parking spots had Lat/Long painted next to them).
But they were light as a feather.
AircraftGeek513
Active Member
Found footage from a 2014 video from VMFA who flew them. Can see the upgrades displays