Plane Nerds Thread

[NavyDood]

Originally Posted by Apex Chase

Russian knockoff of an actually bad ass 'merican plane. The B1 does one awesome "show of force" fly by.

Originally Posted by 66olds442

The B-1 is more of a tactical level asset because it primarily carries precision guided munitions, while the TU-160 typically carrys strategic level missiles. There are currently around 30 flying, so they are a rare sight to see.

The B1 Lancer program was one of the many great things that Ronald Reagan made happen during his Presidency. IMO he was easily at the top of best Presidents in American history.

Originally Posted by BullF-16

1880 hrs F-16, 93-03, blocks 25, 30, 42, 50 and 52.

The hotrod of fighter jets. Go fast and turn fast. It is cool as heck that you flew that many different block numbers of the F-16. Did they ever resolve the lack luster rudder control performance when in a vertical? I knew a few elite active component Navy reserve pilots (NSAWC pilots) that said once you got the Falcon into a vertical that rudder control was pretty much gone. They loved forcing the Falcons into a vertical because they were pretty much a sitting duck then. With then vert stab and rudder being so small, that was a lot of the problem.

Originally Posted by SteveRS

since i can never be a fighter pilot i can only ask.. whats the feeling like?? throttling up on the runway and that first pull back taking you into the air?? whats it like bein a sim instructor?? how can i get into a sim someitme hha

The closest I ever got was taking a F/A-18 to the high power pad with nothing more than a 50,000 lb thrust rated chain holding me in place. I got to do it on the ship a few times also.

[66olds442]

Originally Posted by BullF-16

I actually enjoyed Cannon AFB. Nice small town community with alot of high school football and youth football pride. My boy started his football career there in 6th grade. he now plays division I college ball at the AF Academy. He is #45 and plays linebacker. Is the "shifty fifty" still screwing up the town? Looks like Cannon is now a big special ops base now.

Yea, i have probable taught a number of guys you know now at Cannon.

I'm 24 and single, so this town is pretty much the last place I'd like to be. Granted I believe I have one of the best jobs in the Air Force. Ya, things are pretty screwed up due to the shifty fifty. Base probably has the same buildings as when you were here, despite all the money being pumped into this base. Also being at 4200 ft, isn't good flying for a lot of the airframes we have here.

And despite this town being non-existant if it wasn't for the base, the locals despise the military. I constantly have to deal with my airmen getting jumped or beat up just because the locals roam around targeting military people.

[SSBUSDRVR]

How to land a plane in less than 4" or maybe not.

[Maxspeed]

Originally Posted by SSBUSDRVR

Thanks for starting the thread! Great airplane you are flying there. Only doing bench flying now through you all. Very long story but medically retired since Nov.( A book could be wrote on it) Should have passed 20k hours this year and just turned 50. :( It is going to be a struggle to get a 3rd class cert to fly anything let alone my special issuance 1st class back. Sux but still alive and kicking and that is the main thing
Heres another thread I started awhile back. Imho some great videos and pictures. Thanks again Safe flying.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=197982

I was wondering when you would notice!

[CamaroKid300]

Well just met my solo cross country minimum hour requirement! I did the 3 cross countries, but finished them in 6.3 hours and I needed 8.5 I believe. So did my last one from KAUO-KCTJ-KSCD-KAUO.

I now have two more lessons to review all my maneuvers and I'm in for my checkride!!!

[SSBUSDRVR]

I was wondering when you would notice!

Yeah just a little slow.

Well just met my solo cross country minimum hour requirement! I did the 3 cross countries, but finished them in 6.3 hours and I needed 8.5 I believe.So did my last one from KAUO-KCTJ-KSCD-KAUO.

Congratulations. Keeps us posted.

[SteveRS]

Im soo eager to do some flying.. I hope i get back to virginia so i can start flying at langley!!

[BullF-16]

Originally Posted by NavyDood

The hotrod of fighter jets. Go fast and turn fast. It is cool as heck that you flew that many different block numbers of the F-16. Did they ever resolve the lack luster rudder control performance when in a vertical? I knew a few elite active component Navy reserve pilots (NSAWC pilots) that said once you got the Falcon into a vertical that rudder control was pretty much gone. They loved forcing the Falcons into a vertical because they were pretty much a sitting duck then. With then vert stab and rudder being so small, that was a lot of the problem.

I think when you say a vertical, you mean slow speed fight. The rudder on the Viper is useless at low speed/high AOA fighting. It has nothing to do with the size of the rudder or the vertical stabilator. The FLCS (flight control computer) is there to prevent departing controlled flight. It will cut out any rudder inputs at high AOA. Also at high AOA the FLSC drastically cuts back on G available(basically nose authority). If you stay near corner velocity in a Viper there aren't any 4th gen fighters that can beat it if flown properly.

If your are dumb enough to get slow vs a Hornet then you deserve to die(simulated of course). I have fought countless hornets and if you stay above about 300KIAS and flare off their AIM-9 shots then you know when they are slow and when you have exclusive use of the vertical. I.E. beat them down on airspeed then climb in full AB to about 10,000 above them. Pirouette down from on high and they will lose every time.

Its the young guys who get impatient and get slow vs a Hornet that get their asses handed to them. I learned early on not to do that!

[NavyDood]

Originally Posted by BullF-16

I think when you say a vertical, you mean slow speed fight. The rudder on the Viper is useless at low speed/high AOA fighting. It has nothing to do with the size of the rudder or the vertical stabilator. The FLCS (flight control computer) is there to prevent departing controlled flight. It will cut out any rudder inputs at high AOA. Also at high AOA the FLSC drastically cuts back on G available(basically nose authority). If you stay near corner velocity in a Viper there aren't any 4th gen fighters that can beat it if flown properly.

If your are dumb enough to get slow vs a Hornet then you deserve to die(simulated of course). I have fought countless hornets and if you stay above about 300KIAS and flare off their AIM-9 shots then you know when they are slow and when you have exclusive use of the vertical. I.E. beat them down on airspeed then climb in full AB to about 10,000 above them. Pirouette down from on high and they will lose every time.

Its the young guys who get impatient and get slow vs a Hornet that get their asses handed to them. I learned early on not to do that!

It is amazing how small of a world we live in at times. A lot of what you said was verbatim of what the NSAWC pilots would say. At one time the Navy NSAWC school had F-14's, F/A-18's, F-5's and F-16's. A couple of the pilots that came to us that were NSAWC instructor pilots that also played the adversary role flew all of the jets I mentioned. They always said the Falcon was the most fun to fly, but if they had to go in the thick of things they would always take a Hornet over anything else.

[TCAT]

Originally Posted by yzrider58

You've already dedicated a good portion of your education and efforts to the medical field. Remember that you can be a medical professional and fly for fun on the side. Lot's of people never fly professionally and have a big passion for aviation. Since aviation is their hobby, they keep the passoin for many years. I've seen some guys in the professional world who lose the "fun to fly" feeling and it would suck to lose that.

Thanks, I appreciate the response. That's true, I have dedicated a good deal of time, money, and effort in my current field. I do love my field, but it's my second love. I am a level headed guy, and I don't want to move careers irrationally if it's not necessary. However, I could definitely join the two passions like you suggested, which I've wanted to do for some time. I do have some concerns about doing so though. It is expensive to fly as much as I would like between the cost of airplane rental, and fuel. I could buy my own airplane, but that has many other costs associated with it that I don't think I'm ready for unless multiple people joined in on the purchase of a cheap plane, but mechanically sound one (we could build hours much faster owning one luckily). In my field, the pay isn't great, but it's manageable. It doesn't allow enough room in the funds department for frequent flying, which I would need to train at a pace that is fast enough to not relearn concepts, and therefore spend more money. I have a feeling that flying just as a hobby wouldn't give me the air time I would like. I believe I would like it to be my career. Many of my friends who are pilots often tell me how flying for fun is obviously different than flying for a living. Instead of going wherever you want, you have to go where you're told, and you have to deal with the industry itself, which is can be tough sometimes (for many different reasons that you guys are aware of). This is what you explained as well, and I could completely see where this would get tough on pilots. They could easily loose their passion and love for flying. From what I've been told, the industry and the job in general is not what it used to be. However, I would love to be at my "office" at 30,000+ feet, rather than on the ground . Luckily, I know the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Then again, I may never know if I would have loved it as a career (even with any downfalls that may come with the territory), if I don't try. I'm not in a huge rush, as the hiring spree in the flying biz isn't exactly stellar right now, and it hasn't been over the years. Over the last few years the pay has been significantly cut, the benefits changed or eliminated all together, and there has been increased flight hour minimums to get hired. With all that, people may think I'm insane for attempting to get into that career path, but it's something I want to work toward and do everything I can to make it happen. I need to just ensure that I do it smart, strategically, and as debt free as possible (which is difficult considering training is unbelievably expensive now-a-days. Most people either pay as they go and get into the better positions later, or others take out loans and get their hour minimums quickly but have trouble paying the loans since the salary is so low). We'll see how it pans out, but I am definitely tossing around the idea. I definitely envy all you guys flying every day. It takes sacrifice, hard work, and training, but it sure seems worth it in the long run only if the passion for flying is strong, and undeniable.

[yzrider58]

Tcat it seems you've done your homework. Hopefully the airline industry will start to rebound and start sucking up more pilots. As long as gas prices stay where they are its going to be tough. I've noticed that most of the flights I've been on in the last couple years are almost always completely full. So they must be making some money.

Something I forgot about is that the military is keeping pilots longer. Whenever the industry picks back up some of them will be jumping ship. Unfortunately, they have the advantage over those of us that had to pay our way. Everyday I wish I could have passed the Air Force flight physical, but its something us civilian pilots have to deal with.

[bhall82]

Proud member of the Mile High Club... nice to meet you all

[THUMPER20X]

Originally Posted by BullF-16

Here is my background

836 hrs A-10 from 89-92 back when they were green. (Myrtle Beach AFB)

1880 hrs F-16, 93-03, blocks 25, 30, 42, 50 and 52(Spangdahlem AB Germany, Luke AFB AZ, Cannon AFB, NM

1260 hrs AT-38A/C, 03-08 Sheppard AFB, TX

B737 type rating

Currently AT-38C simulator instructor ENJJPT Nato fighter pilot training(talk about a low stress fun job!!!). Retired 3 1/2 years ago and have been doing this since.

I was gonna do the airline thing and had interviews set up with Southwest, hired by United pending face to face interview....decided that lifestyle was not for me. the airlines arent what they used to be! Even the majors. Got lots of buddys doing it and they hate it.

That's so awesome. The A10 is my favorite plane ever. Thats wicked.

[Weezerj]

this is what I fly. Its quiet and doesn't cost much....