Why I Fly What I Fly When I Fly

I'm kind of a nut of a flight-simmer. I was born in US Navy/USAF air base land on the East Coast, and saw more fighters going over my head during play time than I saw my friends. I've always loved fighter planes, and been amazed by aircraft in general.

Skip a lot of boring mid-story, I now fly Strike Fighters 2 in many of its carnations. I know, I know, it's not the most technically involved flight sim, but its flight models, fuel usage and WEZs are the most accurate of any combat sim out there, there I fly it. QED.

So with all the versions of SF2, I will not fly in 2 theaters: Vietnam and World War II Europe.

Silly, right? Those are two of the most engaging, history-rich air combat regions in the entire World! I know that. I've read the books. I've seen the movies and documentaries, but I won't fly there. Matter of fact, I didn't even install SF2: Vietnam.

It's not a logical thing, you see. It's an emotional connection I have there. I have two late uncles who fought in France. Normandy Invasion and everything. And too many of my high school teachers fought and lost buddies in the Vietnam War. So, while I kinda celebrate this whole air combat thing, I don't like, respect, render sacred, whatever, certain of the killing grounds it's taken part in.

But I'll still take a Thud over Europe...

...an F-15E into North Korea (Very Falcon 4-ish)...

...an F-22 as well...

---even an F-15 over Norway...

---but I won't touch Vietnam jets over Vietnam, or WWII planes over Europe. I'm just that way.

The "F-15 Hasn't Battled Its Peers" Argument- Invalid!

People are jealous of the F-15's battle score. They may talk like skeptics. They might try to sound like thoughtful, learned military historians. But in the end, they just all come out sounding jealous.

The F-15 has won without loss, consecutively, consistently, because it is the best air combat fighter in the World. Until lately, it has had no peer, and most of the peers are allies anyways, so it doesn't matter.

Here's the reality of the issue: "Has it, the F-15, ever faced a peer?": 

If there's a bully in a school, no one challenges him because he's the meanest kid. There are other kids that are as big as him. There are maybe kids that are stronger than him. There may be kids who are bigger. But the bully is the bully, because he takes his size, his strength, combines it with a bully attitude, and becomes the meanest that there is. Are there peers this was or that in his school? Yes, maybe, maybe not. Point is, he's beat up everyone in the school and no one can do anything about it. This is the F-15's story. Wanna talk to the bully about what peers he's encountered? Well, truth is he doesn't have any, because he's the bully. Period.

Sp maybe on paper there's another jet that's deadlier, i.e. higher and tighter sustained turn rate, longer range radar, larger payload. But does that airplane have a 104:0 kill ratio? No? Then it's not there. It's not as tough. It's not as proven as the F-15 Eagle Air Superiority Aerial Bully. 

104:0 Bro. If you can beat that, you can have the title.

Feel free to comment in the space below!

The F-35 Lightning II- An Updated Look

The F-35, for those who are monitoring the actual progress and testimonials of the jet, is turning out to be an amazing, fantastic multi-role fighter.

For example, I have a military magazine where a current F-35 pilot/former F-16 pilot boasts it out-accelerates F-16s while carrying all the same pods and payload-per-weight. And he's flown side-by-side with Vipers to see this for himself. What's that saying? Speed is life: More is better!

At a briefing before Congress, a Navy Lightning pilot said it turns like an F-18. It's a longer video, but informative well worth the watch!

And, depending on who you talk to, ranges with them, or slightly farther than either.

The SA tools on this aircraft are coming into their own, and the targeting system is da bomb!

...and... 

And 95% of the weapons delivery and other payload related tests have either gone according to plan or better. Find me another weapons development program with that kind of record?

Now I'm not stupid: This thing has taken a long, too long time to come about. And the cost has been way, way up there. But really, are they developing a single aircraft program with three versions? Or is it more like three different combat aircraft programs that kinda look alike? (See my previous entry, The F-15A/B/C/D/K/E/SG/SE/S/SA/WUT?)

And what else? A RADAR system that can track and jam F-22 radars while still looking for other aerial AND ground threats... what other super-secret capabilities does this aircraft have that can't tell us about? I'll bet the farm there's tons.

Are people looking for a new jet that goes Warp 6 and pulls 20G while keeping the pilot coherent enough to drop the bomb on the general in the train window while shooting down 50 Chinese fighters? Well sad news for ya- aircraft performance, in general, has been maxed out. Mach 2ish has worked just great for the last few decades (we can't make a metal that doesn't melt at higher speeds). Furthermore pilots can't turn more than 9 Gs more than a few times in a flight, and some only once at all. And despite the fun G test we all like to watch on the ground, routinely pulling 9 Gs (or even 7-8 Gs) while maintaining SA in a dogfight, watching out for other enemies, watching your target, monitoring your flight or wingman, etc. is even a real trick for most current aviators. So, yes, aircraft performance is maxed out, and the F-35 meets that max line just fine.

So take a look at the facts and relax. The F-35 is turning out to be the deadly strike fighter is was always projected to be, and more.

Feel free to comment in the space below!

The F-15A/B/C/D/K/E/SG/SE/S/SA/WUT?

The F-15 Eagle. Amazing plane, isn't it? 104.5 official kills. Some 30-50 more claimed but NON-official kills more. And no defeats in the air-to-air arena. Russian- and french- built jets have been running from it or falling in flames behind it for some 30 years now.

And now, with its amazing airframe and the advances in modern aerial electronic wizardry, there are all new versions of the jet coming out. The Israelis have several different versions now. The Saudis have the F-15S, and are getting all-new fancy F-15SAs, too. The Koreans have the F-15K Slam Eagle. And let's not forget the Singaporean F-15SGs, across the board considered the newest and best iteration of the Mighty Mighty Eagle.

And what is America stuck with? The F-15C.

Wut?

Yeah, the F-15C. The F-15C came out back in the 80s. It included an engine upgrade (from P&W F-100-100 to P&W F-100-229), radar processor upgrades (from APG-63 v0 to APG-63 v1, and a few APG-70s), increased fuel (several hundred more pounds), more capable ECM housework (don't really follow ECM tech, tho I should. But you can see additional antennas under the nose and around it), and the ability to carry AMRAAM and track/kill multiple targets simultaneously.

And if you check modern records of what the F-15Cs of the USAF/ANG units are flying, they are still flying F-15Cs. Same jet inside and out for almost 25 years now, right?

Nope.

Matter of fact, combined with the general rebuild of the entire Eagle fleet that happened in the late 2000s, these are entirely new jets. They might still have a few leaks, and a few hangar queens, but the Eagles sitting in hangars at ANG bases and so on are completely different fighters than the upgrades of the fleet in the 80s. Are they F-15Cs? No, they should be called something different- F-15Fs or something. Allow me to elaborate the whys:

Look at the other jets in the fleet: F-14s (RIP), F-16s and F-18s.

The F-14 Tomcat:

Three basic versions, but a couple more in reality. The F-14A had the famous AWG-9 radar system, TF-30 engines, extending glove vanes that worked with the sweeping wings at high mach speeds to restore COG lift, and a weak ACM suite. Basic model.

The Tomcat then got bigger engines, GE F-110 engines with more thrust, some computer upgrades with new HUD symbology, and some tweaking to the ECM. These changes alone got the jet a new designation, the -B.

F-14C was skipped for reasons I've long forgotten.

But then a bigger, more sweeping series of upgrades came to the aircraft... all of which were under the -D designation. New radar, newer computers, cockpit upgrades with newer screens and bigger, multi-function displays. Engines were tweaked more and the glove vanes were sealed shut, in some cases removed and built over completely. Faster, better, deadlier, smarter. Wow. Ladies and gentlemen, the F-14D Tomcat.

Wait. I mean, Bombcat. LANTIRN pods were added. Minor, and very clever, computer upgrades were added. Wiring and software for bombing was added, in phases, until the jet could drop (almost) every dumb and smart bomb in the US' inventory. As Tomcats deployed for war, bom drop pallets were being manufactured and uploaded onto the carriers as they loaded the `Cats too.

But wait, there's more! ROVER and GPS were added, allowing Bombcats greater troop communication abilities. Should some of these upgrades earned the venerable Naval Cat a new designation? Well, I think so. How's "F-14E Super Cat" strike you? Shoulda been.

And then it was retired.

And then there's the Iranian Tomcats, originally -As, that Russia helped them keep running with Russian Tumansky engines, Russian radars, arming them with SAM missiles, etc. No way of knowing (for the lay person) just how many different versions the Iranians are flying now.

Then the F-16. Baseline model, F-16A. upgrade its radar and give it newer, bigger engines, bigger computers, and it's the -C Viper. BUT... then upgrade its computer and engines again and start hanging all sorts of HTS and Lightning pods on it? Well, according to the F-14 model, it kinda qualifies as a new designation. But they didn't.

Not until they started shipping new F-16E/Fs (Block 60 or 50+) to other countries did it get a new designation. New AESA radar, hardware for overwing fuel tanks, built-in FLIR pods, new ECM suite built into the spine... See it? Looks really different, too. New designation, then.

Then there's the F-18.

Despite my personal, opinionated dislike for the Hornet, I am forced to admire it. But there have been SO. FREAKIN'. VARIATIONS. Even in USN service alone. F-18As, F-18A+, F-18B, F-18C, F-18D, F-18E, F-18F, F-18S, CF-18, I don't even know the Swiss or Kuwaiti designations off the top of my head. And how many different software and hardware (engine, radar, computer, ECM, etc.) upgrades has it gotten? Good grief!

And then there's the jump from F-18C/D to F-18E/F. It was sold as having 80% parts commonality with the older vanilla Hornets. But come on, in reality, it is an entirely new aircraft. Bigger wings, big strakes, cockpits 50% different, more store stations canted outward at that weird angle (I know, to prevent vibration and stores collisions on weapon release). Boeing was recently forced to admit there's only really about a 20% commonality of pieces. No kidding, this was not an upgrade. It was a different jet. Entirely. F-27 or something.

I could go on, but I've probably already killed the point.

Back to the F-15.

These new F-15 Eagles we have. Here, I'm referring to upgrades that all happened in the 2000s. Well, these upgraded and re-built F-15s that we have, aren't your daddy's -Cs anymore. They all have new engines. Upgraded with digital input/controls that make an already higher thrust engine work turns, climbs and so on more efficiently and efficiently add a "fake" couple hundred pounds of thrust.

And there are three different kinds of radar across the fleet now: The APG-63 v1, -v2 and v-3. The -v1, if I'm not mistaken, is the same mechanical dish with upgraded software. The -v2s are AESA radars (longer range, tons more reliable, etc.) , and the v3s are better AESAs that track and guide AMRAAMs onto stealthy targets. Targets like cruise missiles, T-50s, J-31s, and F-22s at Red Flag (Yes, the F-22 has lost its advantage at Red Flag).

The ECM suites have also been upgraded- you'll notice the antenna farm under the nose in 2000+ Eagles is different than the 90s Eagles. Included are new antennas and bumps on the back of the Eagles now... some of them. "Command Jets" I've heard them called, as they carry a kind of SADL local network for flights within 10-20 miles, in addition to the Link 16-based communication/SA link.

Then there's JHMCS (I didn't mention this for the -16s and -18s, but they have it too). This isn't some independent system a pilot just stick his head into. It's an integrated part of the aircraft. It's an expensive integrated part of the aircraft. And it is amazing how it lends such incredible SA to the pilot.

No, this is not an F-15C. At least, an F-15F, or more.

So why wasn't it re-designated? One word: Politics. (I hate politics)

Congress is kind of full of dumb people. Most of whom will go the way the prevalent wind is blowing. In an atmosphere of fund cutting for the DoD, Congress will not buy "new" military hardware. Congress would never fund all the new systems if they were numbered like brand new combat systems. "New stuff?" they would shriek in fiscal terror, "We can't afford new stuff!" So the DoD, in order to do the job they have to do (which includes protecting the dumb people) says, "New? Oh, no, sirs. This isn't new, we're just putting a new sticker on something we already have. It's  not new. No, sirree bob! Nothing new to see here!" They have to do this because it's easier to get Congress to fund new stickers to slap on aircraft, than it is to get them to fund an entirely new combat system. Nothing fancy, just dummy psychology.

Perhaps if the DoD had called the Raptor an upgrade to the Eagle... F-15R? ...we'd have gotten all 400 like we need.

Feel free to comment in the space below!

The Movie Stealth- Not So Stealthy At All!

OK< before I go any further, I want to make one thing perfectly clear- this movie sucked. It violates me. It's horrible. And it took me years to see the entire movie, and even then it was in small, max 15 minute clips. It was that horrible.

First of all, a look at the "stealth" aircraft:



Gaps, gaps and more gaps. That gap between the engines above might actually amplify radar waves before propigating them arounf the aircraft shell and then out to any receiver. The huge gaps in the swing wing? Yeah, radar reflector. The engine... thing? Opening? No, IR broadcaster there.

And its aerodynamics: The way its wings fold forward to go "hypersonic"? Nope, CoG shifts BACKward when you go through the sonic barrier, even hyhpersonic, so this aircraft would tumble and probably destroy itself in the attempt. That nose? Oh, that nose, would aerodynamically force itself schnozz first into the end of the carrier deck, or the pretty blue waves in front of the carrier. Aerodynamically, this thing is as big as an airfoil flop as are George Lucas' X-Wing fighters. Maybe even worse. X-Wings could at least go ballistic.

The engine shape might look cool, but I see no space for a round engine in that bay whatsoever. I could be wrong, but I do know about the loss of thrust when converting a round column of thrust into a big, flat exhaust like that.

Then there's the attack scenes, where the "FA-37s" drop to within hundreds of feet to deliver rocket-propelled smart bombs. Hey, Hollywood, stealth doesn't matter if the stealth aircraft attacks in daylight, within eyeball range. Ever notice how the LGB footage seems from so far away? Because that's part of being stealthy, being far away when the bombs hit. And yes, the USAF and Navy DO have rocket-propelled LGBs, and they're delivered from even FARTHER away.

And the big solution to bombing the skyscraper with some bad guys underneath it in a bunker turned my brain into an alchemist's delight- all sorts of strange metals were seeping out my ears, nose and mouth. Fly up, then straight down, and make the bomb have a max velocity through the.... I have to stop, it's too ridiculous. And ridiculous here is like saying "cute" compared to what I want to say.

Well, that's the end of the review. In short, this movie has no redeeming qualities. At all. None, it so patently, effortfully, destroys all factuality and true suspense of what a real futuristic aviation movie should be, well, it sucks so bad I had to make words up to avoid a blue streak.

Well, it does have Jessica Biel in a flight suit and a bikini. Watch for those scenes...



But outside of those, screw it. You like it? Wow, please don't respond. But tell your friends to come and check out my blog!

Watch for more movie reviews coming soon! Including" Soar Into the Sun, Red Tails, Top Gun, and more!

Winter Jogger

So back a few years ago when we lived in Wilsonville OR there was this huge snowfall- lasted a few days, and longer than that afterward to get your car out to drive anywhere.

But since my wife and I are both experienced snow drivers, we packed up ourselves and our 3 boys in our big blue MAV (Mormon Assault Vehicle) and went for it. And we did well, of course. Until the jogger incident.
As we came down and around a gentle bend, I saw the stop light was about 50 yards ahead and I began to gently apply my brakes. The temp was right above freezing and there was a layer of wet, shiny ice on the road. As I tapped my brakes I was not only gently slowing the car, I was testing IF I could slow the car. Naturally there was no response at first, then the car began to gradually slow... And that was when I saw him.

A jogger.

Yes, a jogger bolted out from behind a house, across a crosswalk that was buried an inch of snotslick ice, right in front of me, on a collision course with my van's bumper. I knew if I hit the brakes only parts of my van would change speed (not necessarily slowing down, but possible speeding up) and I'd spin into something else, endangering my family at the risk of this stranger who didn't notice the 2.5 ton van heading down above described treacherousslope toward him. So I opted instead to lean on my horn and alert him of what was more his predicament than mine. My wife gasped- she can do that fast 'cuz you know how women are- and as quickly as he appeared, he was on the other side of the van, still running, but flipping us the bird, then pointing at the crosswalk sign, indicating we were obligated to stop for him, and that he had the right of way regardless of the inclement weather conditions or his stupidity.

Well, the point is, all of us were different levels of shocked by it.

"If only," I thought "We had a couple of A-10s over us, I could order  an air strike on this idiot. Come on, it would be awesome! Two A-10s setting up a squirrel cage around this guy, diving in on him and taking turns strafing him into little crunchy bits. And then painting a running stick figure, or maybe a running shoe on the side of the jet.

No, of course we didn't call in the air strike. Why? Because Oregon is F-15 country and I don't believe they know anything about strafing.

But for the record, that's all that stopped me from trying.

Airshows- Who's the Funniest?

Airshows are awesome in so many ways. The jets. And the other jets. Oh, and those jets over there we forgot are here sometimes. Wow.

And if that's not enough, I like to spice them up with little contests. My favorite one? Who's got the coolest, or funniest story.

At this year's Oregon Air Show, we had 5 contenders: F-15 guy, AV-8B guy, A-10 guy, F-18F guys, and T-6 trainer dude

The F-15 guy, "Tupac", kinda acted like an active USAF guy. Tough getting him to... well, talk at all. Hey, I 'm just callin' it like I see it. But he signed my book so that was cool- he was really careful with it, too, when I handed it to him. And now that I have TWO signatures on that pic of F-15A 040 (I got "Pyro" to sign 2 years ago), the personal value of the book has quadrupled. And then he sounded out about how he had many hours in jet 040, but now it was sitting in the boneyards of Davis-Montahn AFB. OoooOOOooohhh... that was cool. But too short, not quite a story, but definitely our first contender.

A-10 guy... Was cool with the facts, and interacted with my 6 yr-old really well. You see, my son said in advance that he wanted to ask an A-10 pilot about the `ole Gator bombs that he saw in a Youtube video. So, he asked the Warthog driver, who leaned over all fatherly-like and answered him in kind. Made my boy's day, but did not count as a cool or funny story. I even pushed him, by asking about all the dents in the `Hog's nose, but he just explained it... a little too tactfully in my opinion.

AV-8B guy...Ok, I'm a closet Harrier fanboi, and I told him this. So we both got all "Cooooool jet, bro," but I got no stories. I even told him about some interview I read about Eagle drivers who got frustrated trying to AIM-9 a Harrier but the wings block the exhaust and all the wiggling and viffing those jets can do... he said he'd been there, but didn't seem to want to go there. Hmmm, felt a little let down, but, hey, bro- cool jet anyway. Dead solid hover to 500 knots- very cool trick. But no story.

The Superbug pilot wasn't even anywhere around. Ppt. No- it was a TWO-seater so Double Ppt.

OK, T-6 Trainer dude, what have you got for me?

So we walked up to T-6 Texan guy, who was doing a recruiting bit with some parents and their son. And their daughter who was in the High School pipeline, too, I think. My 6-year-old wanted to go elsewhere. The plane had no guns, bombs, missiles or anything. But I'm thinking, "Help me T-6 Texan Trainer guy, you're my only hope."

And well, well, well if he didn't come through.

He told me about a great little experience he'd had just a few minutes before I walked up. Evidently, a Mom walked up to him and asked him what base he trained at. He answered. She said, "Oh my son trained there, but he flunked out."

See where this is going?

Trainer dude inadvertently asked, "What's his name?" and suddenly realized that may not have been a smart thing to do, but it was done. The mother said her son's name. He recognized it right away. Because the prospective pilot had nearly gotten them both killed. Well, he didn't say that, but he said he remembered the whole flight, and stated that pilot had made a series of mistakes culminating in one big mistake, bigger than normal, and he took control of the plane and flew them back in a dead quiet cockpit.

But instead he simply replied that there were a lot of candidates and it was difficult to remember them all. Good save.

Not.

Minutes later, the father came up. Father was big and upset. He explained he had encouraged his son to aim high and that he could achieve anything he set his mind to, and he wanted a personal explanation about why his first born son had been flunked out of pilot training.

Now, T-6 trainer dude was not a short guy- some inches taller than me, but he was an older, leaner guy and he expressed some concern to me about this upset father's size and demeanor. But he's a professional United States Air Force Instructor Pilot (with 20+ years on the job experience/thousands of hours of stick time) and explained to Dad why his son didn't simply fail the flight, he was flunked out of the entire course.

Dad wasn't any happier when T-6 dude elaborated by saying that his son could not even re-apply again due to the gravity of his error. Father was upset, but moved on like a good citizen after some fuming. And trainer dude made it clear to me that at the moment it was tense, but half an hour later it was actually funny.

And that made him my winner of the Airshow Pilot Funniest Story Contest.

Feel free to comment in the space below!