Posted on 08/25/2009 9:08:42 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
VTOL will always be a hard, hard technology.
It is close to Helicopters: they don’t fly, they just beat the air into submission.
When you ask a lot of a little, don’t be surprised if there is an occasional failure.
/mark
So I was asking myself “what is the fighter at the top?”
Then I check the image URL and said “YAY ME!” I can usually identify an Hornet when I see one :)
I will go even as far as to say that is an older Hornet and not the SuperHornet that is pretty much in use today.
And, dang, I miss the F-14!
Can’t see intakes but based upon size alone, I believe you are correct re: Hornet. The Indian Sea Harriers also look like earlier versions and not the McDonnell-Douglas AV-8B Harrier II models that the Marine Corps and RAF fly (actually the Brits fly a BAE-built variant).
Here's a good look at the INS Viraat, showing the angled forward flight deck for launching aircraft. She's a lot smaller than American aircraft carriers (743 feet long, displacing 23,900 tons), and was originally built in the 1950s as HMS Hermes. She participated in the Falkland Islands campaign in the 1980s before being sold to India. The ship is 50 years old, and the Harriers she carries are around 25 years old.
The F-14’s were cool.
The IN purchased a handful of Sea Harriers in the 90s. And there are about 10-14 British Sea Harriers in cold storage.
The IN operates the British built Sea Harriers FRS-1 variants.
I remember from the 90s was that McDonnell-Douglas built the Harrier better so the British bought ours.
Back to basics; you can cross a rock with a hawk, and get a wort hot. You can cross a rotary wing concept with a hawk, and get a Harrier.
No one liked A 10 for a long time, the hype qas great, the ship was un flyable. A10 grew into its mission caus the platform was over designed understanding that the mission would largely exceed original specs. Helpfull that technology was never a real prob.
Harrier tries to fly on the hope that technology will finde it. Sometimes theirs a bridge to far.
Rab
But the harriers took out the Argie Mirages pretty well, didn’t they?
parsy, who knows nothing
It’s a Super Hornet from VFA-102. Even if you can’t see the intake you can tell from the size of the lex.
ping
fyi, helicopters do not beat the air, they actually fly.
take a real good look at a helicopter blade, it is actually shaped like an airfoil aka airplane wing.
the rotor generates relative airspeed over the airfoil and voila, you get lift from the airfoil while the rotor overpowers the drag
And you'd be wrong.
And you'd be wrong.
These doggone (probably commie) eyeglass wipes did it to me AGAIN?
It's a S/H after all? I (again using my aging eyeballs) seem to see the S/H as more elongated, from cockpit to jets.
But you can't negate my love of the Tomcat, even though VG was a great idea whose time has passed :)
What a beautiful craft!
Hey thanks for helping me through it.
I am the biggest fan of milcraft and the more I learn, the more I learn (lol).
God gave me the funniest set of thoughts: Love of milcraft and fear of heights. But I do fly domestic a lot ( + 2 million miles). But if you were to put me in a milcraft I suspect I would faint.
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