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Quoted: No love for the Phantom here? I'm sad. View Quote Just found this thread. So… Attached File I loved the last Navy version—the S. I would have loved to have flown that. Second is the F-15. A guy I went to school with earlier this year was an Eagle guy. In Bitburg. In the mid/late 80’s. The best possible place to be for a fighter pilot—possibly in the entire history of the world. It was his second choice coming out of the academy. He wanted the A-10. What a loooozzzerrrr! He’s a great guy so thats one AFA grad on the positive side of the ledger. |
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View Quote pretty much set the bar for wide-eyed kids in the '50's, that's for sure |
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Something about the B/A-26 always spoke to me. Not a fighter, but damn if it wasn't loaded... Attached File
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My grandfather was a gunner on an A-20 Havoc with the 85th Bomb Squadron in WW2 at Kasserine Pass, and the invasions of Sicily, Italy, and Southern France.
I would have to modernize things and go with the A-10 though. I went Army (where glasses don't automatically make you a second class citizen) instead of Air Force. |
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Sopwith camel, gentlemen of the air. I'm sure I'd have some modern innovations.
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Not the fighter I wanted but it became the fighter that became my life. F-111 and EF-111.
Mach 2.5 Capable of Indicated Airspeeds above 1200 knots at low altitude. The planes max speed was limited by skin temperature. Auto terrain following system at 200' AGL at speeds up to Mach 1.2. She could carry 4 B61s externally or 2 in the weapons bay for 355Knt of instant sunshine. She was a fast ship to go in harms way and kept me safe in many a combat mission. |
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Quoted: Not the fighter I wanted but it became the fighter that became my life. F-111 and EF-111. Mach 2.5 Capable of Indicated Airspeeds above 1200 knots at low altitude. The planes max speed was limited by skin temperature. Auto terrain following system at 200' AGL at speeds up to Mach 1.2. She could carry 4 B61s externally or 2 in the weapons bay for 355Knt of instant sunshine. She was a fast ship to go in harms way and kept me safe in many a combat mission. View Quote An F-111 is a big bird. One at 200 feet and mach 1 2 must be impressive. And LOUD. |
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Quoted: do you know what started their engines? nailheads https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/183309/buick_start_cart1-3079842.jpg View Quote That Abbotsford Airshow in 1986 was a a very big deal (Expo '86 Vancouver). There was an SR-71 there that flew a short display 3 times in 3 days. First time ever seeing one for me. Anyways, they put the SR-71 on static display surrounded by SEVERAL armed guards when the bird wasn't flying. What struck me was the 2 starting carts that the ground crew used, they both had 502 BBC power plants in them and the crew was very proud to show them off. They were not even available in passenger vehicles at that time. They were all chromed out, aluminum intakes and all had Holley carbs on them. Plus they were 'hopped up' and sound radical as HELL. That ground crew had a blast, they were firing up the starting carts every hour or so and showing them off to the crowd and everybody loved that part. I hung around that exhibit for 3 days. LOL |
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Quoted: That Abbotsford Airshow in 1986 was a a very big deal (Expo '86 Vancouver). There was an SR-71 there that flew a short display 3 times in 3 days. First time ever seeing one for me. Anyways, they put the SR-71 on static display surrounded by SEVERAL armed guards when the bird wasn't flying. What struck me was the 2 starting carts that the ground crew used, they both had 502 BBC power plants in them and the crew was very proud to show them off. They were not even available in passenger vehicles at that time. They were all chromed out, aluminum intakes and all had Holley carbs on them. Plus they were 'hopped up' and sound radical as HELL. That ground crew had a blast, they were firing up the starting carts every hour or so and showing them off to the crowd and everybody loved that part. I hung around that exhibit for 3 days. LOL View Quote yep, started with Buicks and ended up with those hotrod mills |
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Quoted: That and looking like something out of a science fiction fantasy. Hell, even bailing out looked futuristic. Sorry, thought you were referring to the Hustler https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/183309/hustler1-3079888.jpg View Quote The entire cockpit capsule ejected in the Vark. As long as you didn't have a large sink rate in the pattern you were always in the ejection envelope. It had a huge chute and lots of airbags for both land and flotation bags for a water landing. |
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Quoted: The entire cockpit capsule ejected in the Vark. As long as you didn't have a large sink rate in the pattern you were always in the ejection envelope. It had a huge chute and lots of airbags for both land and flotation bags for a water landing. View Quote Even had a bilge pump in the capsule because apparently Rick Sanchez has ditched in water. Though in his case it was probably filled with sharks. |
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Quoted: The entire cockpit capsule ejected in the Vark. As long as you didn't have a large sink rate in the pattern you were always in the ejection envelope. It had a huge chute and lots of airbags for both land and flotation bags for a water landing. View Quote I had forgotten that. Was the Hustler the first with "capsule" ejection? I know the B-70 had it, but it clamshelled on the pilot or copilot's arm? |
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Quoted: Even had a bilge pump in the capsule because apparently Rick Sanchez has ditched in water. Though in his case it was probably filled with sharks. View Quote Yes, the bilge pump could be connected to the aircraft commanders stick. You could move the stick forward and aft to pump out water. It would also ask as an air pump for your flotation bags if they needed to be reinflated. |
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North American BRONCO YOV-10D NOGS |
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For me, two choices:
1. Eagle Squadrons, flying Spitfires with the RAF in the Battle of Britain, or 2. F-86's in Korea, the last guns-only air combat, in battles with 100+ aircraft in the fray |
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look at the wear on that tank! |
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A10.
Dos Gringos - I Wish I Had A Gun Just Like The A-10 |
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Quoted: The entire cockpit capsule ejected in the Vark. As long as you didn't have a large sink rate in the pattern you were always in the ejection envelope. It had a huge chute and lots of airbags for both land and flotation bags for a water landing. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: That and looking like something out of a science fiction fantasy. Hell, even bailing out looked futuristic. Sorry, thought you were referring to the Hustler https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/183309/hustler1-3079888.jpg The entire cockpit capsule ejected in the Vark. As long as you didn't have a large sink rate in the pattern you were always in the ejection envelope. It had a huge chute and lots of airbags for both land and flotation bags for a water landing. The crew capsules were built by McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis. |
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Quoted: I had forgotten that. Was the Hustler the first with "capsule" ejection? I know the B-70 had it, but it clamshelled on the pilot or copilot's arm? View Quote I believe it was the first. A lot of the technology in the F111 was ground work for the B1. The B1A was going to have a capsule ejection system. The F111D was a total glass cockpit. It was the prototype for the B1A. When Reagan restarted the program they decided to fix the intake so the aircraft couldn't fly supersonic at low altitude so no need for the capsule so they went with ejection seats. |
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Quoted: de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/279984/85938_1649559522_jpg-3079837.JPG View Quote This, fast enough to out run most other planes, and hard to pick up on radar. |
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I Wish I Had a Gun Just Like the A-10 |
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A desk.
I tried out for an aviation contract for OCS. Didn’t work out |
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Quoted: Not a fighter though. Well, unless you're in some alternate universe where they slapped a big ion gun on the bottom and used it to intercept things in orbit. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: B-58 Hustler. Handled like an F-102. Nothing faster. Brings the crowd pleaser. Not a fighter though. Well, unless you're in some alternate universe where they slapped a big ion gun on the bottom and used it to intercept things in orbit. If it's not a fighter, why did it have a stick, j-79s, ejection seats, and the trainer was an f-104? |
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They would have been tits in Afghanistan. |
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