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So the day after I spent an afternoon watching Ospreys from a beach, four of them fly on to the Reagan to hitch a ride back to San Diego.  First time I've seen Ospreys landing on a carrier. Even their landing style is a mix of fixed wing and helo - they come up from behind following the fixed wing approach path, directly into the landing area (albeit very slowly), but then hover and set down like a helo. It was cool getting to look at them up close. One thing I realized is that, in the unlikely event that they replace C-2's with V-22's, the V-22 has a hell of a lot better visibility from the cockpit. That's especially nice to have during carrier ops when there are a lot of planes in a very small chunk of sky.
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Aug 9, 2014 02:22
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Do they snag a wire then go up and twang it like a guitar? 
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Aug 9, 2014 02:33
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I'm now searching Kickstarter for projects related to airships, and am kinda regretting it.
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Aug 9, 2014 02:48
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Nebakenezzer posted:I have no idea how that maps onto a A-10's flight envelope. Top speed and ceiling are amusingly nearly identical between the two Thunderbolts (like 5 knots and 2000 feet difference for level and clean, though I can't find a "wings fall off" speed for the Jug; for the Hog, Never Exceed is 450kt with a full load), but the A-10 climbs twice as fast and has twice the wing loading. So it'd be a fair fight performance-wise heading into the merge, but the Hog probably has better acceleration and turning that its namesake, so it'd beat the Jug to the second pass. There is the small matter of armor and guns (for fairness, I'm assuming we're limiting it to guns, otherwise the P-47 would be smoked by a Sidewinder from beyond gun range); the non-exploding 30mm wouldn't be as hard on an airplane as you'd think, though -- there's a lot of empty space in the wings and tail, and radial engines can survive having entire cylinders shot off and conrods flapping in the breeze, so you'd have to put one through the crankshaft or pilot for a hard kill. Whatever the case, they already fly the two together in heritage flights at airshows, they should totally do a little BFM demo too. Edit: there's also the fact that the Hog is about half again the size of the Jug, so the one makes a smaller target, but the other you have to shoot it a lot more to, for example, saw off a wing or something. Chillbro Baggins fucked around with this message at 04:00 on Aug 9, 2014 |
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Aug 9, 2014 03:55
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Bad Angus! Bad!
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Delivery McGee posted:Top speed and ceiling are amusingly nearly identical between the two Thunderbolts (like 5 knots and 2000 feet difference for level and clean, though I can't find a "wings fall off" speed for the Jug; for the Hog, Never Exceed is 450kt with a full load), but the A-10 climbs twice as fast and has twice the wing loading. I imagine if it came to that, they could very easily crank out some HE rounds for the Avenger.
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Aug 9, 2014 04:02
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Fucknag posted:I imagine if it came to that, they could very easily crank out some HE rounds for the Avenger. Combat mix is something like 4:1 AP:HEI in DCS A-10 I assume thats accurate for real world. Commence war thunder thread level ammo belt sperging.
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Aug 9, 2014 04:06
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Delivery McGee posted:the non-exploding 30mm wouldn't be as hard on an airplane as you'd think, though What makes you think the GAU-8 only fires non-exploding rounds? Normal anti-armor loadout is a mix of API and HEI, but it can fly with straight HEI (as it often does when tasked for CAS)...and even the armor-piercing stuff has an incendiary effect on top of the AP.
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Aug 9, 2014 04:08
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hobbesmaster posted:Combat mix is something like 4:1 AP:HEI in DCS A-10 I assume thats accurate for real world.  Party Mix Wow there's a phrase I haven't thought about in years (in regards to that).
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Aug 9, 2014 04:20
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I'd be curious to see how an A-10 holds up against some of the heavier autocannons fitted to the Yak-9 (such as the NS-37 and NS-45). Also, this discussion reminds me of the time somebody on another forum claimed that the MK103 was superior to the GAU-8.
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Aug 9, 2014 07:36
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LostCosmonaut posted:I'd be curious to see how an A-10 holds up against some of the heavier autocannons fitted to the Yak-9 (such as the NS-37 and NS-45). Wehraboos. Can't escape them anywhere.
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Aug 9, 2014 07:38
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Snowdens Secret posted:I'm curious how well an early-rev Sidewinder would resolve a Zero. For what it's worth I've personally witnessed an airshow demo where a bench-mounted Sidewinder seeker head (I think this would've been 1980s vintage) enthusiastically tracked a smoldering cigarette. That little robot really wanted to help eradicate lung cancer.  Locking onto piston engine exhaust against a background of sea (relatively cool) and sky (ditto) seems reasonably plausible to me.
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Aug 9, 2014 08:11
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vessbot posted:Is there any truth to that, though? Sounds to me like there was an effective scary movie shot, and someone got too eager to hear an exciting story about it being real and started an urban myth that way. From IMDB's trivia page to The Final Countdown: The script called for the Japanese pilot to try to force the F-14 into the water. The pilot who basically did a hammerhead and pulled out real close to the water was Richard "Fox" Farrell (VF-84 XO), now retired. He did kick up quite a bit of seawater and was really pushing the envelope with the Tomcat. WWII ace-in-a-day Archie Donahue was one of the Zero pilots. The Zeroes (converted AT-6 Texans) were flying with the throttle to the stops and the F-14s were flying at stall speed (note wings fully extended in most scenes). That was so they could get both aircraft in the same shot at the same time (remember, no CGI stuff back then!).
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Aug 9, 2014 08:34
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BobHoward posted:Locking onto piston engine exhaust against a background of sea (relatively cool) and sky (ditto) seems reasonably plausible to me. Not so much the exhaust as the engine itself. I'd imagine an air-cooled two-row radial runs a bit warm. Well, if it can see the pipes it'd go for them, but shooting a half-decent '80s Sidewinder at a Zero in the merge should work well enough. For the people too lazy to google the jargon: "the merge" is the initial head-on pass that is the starting scenario of your classic furball-type dogfight. To wit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C5EsK1cpiw "Darkstar" is the placeholder AWACS callsign, "Judy" is "I'm taking control of my own intercept, I don't need you to guide me from here." are the important things, just ignore the rest of the acronyms/codewords (or maybe one of y'all USAF guys could explain them). If you've only skimmed the thread, Dos Gringos are a rock band fronted by two F-16 pilots, they're pretty awesome. Edit: some of you may have driven a proper fast car or been on the Aerosmith rollercoaster at Disney. 0-60 in about 3 seconds. Pfft. A cat shot off a carrier is the ultimate thrill ride, 0-150+ in under 2 seconds/350 feet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch5z3DMC3RA Dos Gringos has a song for that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch5z3DMC3RA Chillbro Baggins fucked around with this message at 08:59 on Aug 9, 2014 |
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Aug 9, 2014 08:39
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Delivery McGee posted:For the people too lazy to google the jargon: "the merge" is the initial head-on pass that is the starting scenario of your classic furball-type dogfight. To wit: "Flipped the switch to outboard" is slang for putting in burner BVR - Beyond Visual Range, shooting missiles past when you can see the target, typically performed by radar guided missiles like the AIM-120 "a mort" - slang for "dead guy" during an exercise ("a mortality") HUD - Heads Up Display, screen on the forward looking windscreen of modern fighters that displays things like airspeed, attitude, altitude, and gunsight...basically slang for gunsight Fox 1 - Brevity call for semi-active radar seeking missile (i.e., AIM-7)...in the context of the song, he's calling anyone who would use a BVR missile over a gun an inferior fighter pilot ("a pussy") Rivet - slang term for a HAS 20 mike-mike - slang for 20mm, M61 ammo...self explanatory (I hope) Step - slang for stepping to the jets to go fly DACT - Dissimilar Air Combat Training, AF slang for going to dogfight an aircraft different than the one you are flying (i.e., utilizing things like F-5s and A-4s to serve as "aggressor" aircraft) And yeah Dos Gringos is pretty awesome...the poo poo they made during ONW/OSW is hilariously archaic (or maybe not), even though they theoretically took place only a little over a decade ago Also after eating at the Far East at KAF I went in for guns on the cadillac shitters on Golf Ramp, also after eating on the Boardwalk.
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Aug 9, 2014 08:58
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God drat KAF is such a lovely place. Going to the boardwalk just depressed me whenever I went. The only thing that cheered me up was being able to see all sorts of planes and choppers every day.
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Aug 9, 2014 09:08
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Pretty sure it's revet, which is the actual medieval term for such things. Also, you missed "Big Fat Fucker", presumably a B-52. Fun fact: the B-52 originally had a quad .50 mount in the tail, and a guy back there to operate it; the G-model had the tail gunner up front with an ejection seat and remote-controlled turret; the B-52H had a 20mm Vulcan instead of the .50s, and they removed the tail guns in the '90s.
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Aug 9, 2014 09:09
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Mike-o posted:God drat KAF is such a lovely place. Going to the boardwalk just depressed me whenever I went. The only thing that cheered me up was being able to see all sorts of planes and choppers every day. Only times I went to the boardwalk in 6 months on KAF were to either buy pizza and icees for my guys or the one time I got pseudo-ordered there because we were having a going away at TGIFridays. Incidentally the meal at TGIFridays is the time I had to go in for guns afterwards. The Tornadoes, Block 60 Vipers, Mi-26, NASA WB-57, Afghan and Russian Mi-17s, and other random choppers/planes were pretty cool though.
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Aug 9, 2014 09:15
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Delivery McGee posted:Pretty sure it's revet, which is the actual medieval term for such things. Didn't they remove the tail guns because of the "In Harm's Way" incident?
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Aug 9, 2014 12:08
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Flikken posted:Didn't they remove the tail guns because of the "In Harm's Way" incident? Hilarious tail gun action for the Hustler. Bullets would fire back and the plane's speed would cancel out the bullets'. It's still one of the coolest supersonic jets in history. Flew Toyko to London in 8 hours...
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Aug 9, 2014 12:32
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Delivery McGee posted:Pretty sure it's revet, which is the actual medieval term for such things. I don't think he was referring to a BUFF, considering he was looking to shoot it down. But yeah, love that line about any pilot would be a pussy to Fox-1 such an easy target.
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Aug 9, 2014 13:36
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iyaayas01 posted:Only times I went to the boardwalk in 6 months on KAF were to either buy pizza and icees for my guys or the one time I got pseudo-ordered there because we were having a going away at TGIFridays. gently caress those IL-76's every time they came in though. Loudest cocksuckers on the planet. Ospreys and Rafale's were pretty cool too. The frogs would sometimes pull some pretty hard Gs right after rotation.
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Aug 9, 2014 14:35
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YF19pilot posted:I don't think he was referring to a BUFF, considering he was looking to shoot it down. But yeah, love that line about any pilot would be a pussy to Fox-1 such an easy target. I'm sure they "shoot down" BUFFs all the time in training, which is what he seems to be referring to.
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Aug 9, 2014 15:58
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hobbesmaster posted:I'm sure they "shoot down" BUFFs all the time in training, which is what he seems to be referring to.
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Aug 9, 2014 16:05
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hobbesmaster posted:I'm sure they "shoot down" BUFFs all the time in training, which is what he seems to be referring to. I must've misunderstood the song then; didn't realize it was about training.
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Aug 9, 2014 16:49
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Ruse posted:gently caress those IL-76's every time they came in though. Loudest cocksuckers on the planet. Anything with a Soloviev D30 is pretty loving loud. They're definitely louder than an IL-62M. I still think there are louder Russian engines though, Kuznetsov NK-8 comes to mind. Regardless, they're not so bad inside, unless someone decides to start them with the cargo door open... That's a special experience.
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Aug 9, 2014 17:48
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Mike-o posted:God drat KAF is such a lovely place. Going to the boardwalk just depressed me whenever I went. The only thing that cheered me up was being able to see all sorts of planes and choppers every day. Kandahar Air Field? Don't see where else there would be a mix of American, European, and ex-Soviet military planes.
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Aug 9, 2014 18:43
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Darkstar is an actual AWACS callsign, squadron callsign for the 965th. And "Judy" literally means shut up. I've only actually heard it used once and I assure you, that controller received a never ending amount of poo poo for getting judied. "The AWACS guy was out to lunch so I couldn't get no decs"... AWACS will often be able to positively identify an aircraft before the fighter can, for a number of reasons. Some of the well known options are bogey, bandit, and hostile...the fighter pilot wants an aircraft "dec'd" hostile so he can shoot. For any of a thousand reasons the AWACS controller can't/won't so the fighter is just getting closer and closer to a potential bad guy who's probably got missiles of his own. "Dark Gray WIC support"... He's in Nevada as an extra supporting the F-15E squadron at the Air Force Weapons School. F-15Es focus their training mostly on air-to-ground, but still have to train air-to-air. In this case they're fighting F-16s. Godholio fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Aug 9, 2014 |
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Aug 9, 2014 20:35
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Cat Mattress posted:Kandahar Air Field? Don't see where else there would be a mix of American, European, and ex-Soviet military planes. Yep, Kandahar airfield.
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Aug 9, 2014 22:39
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The little Evergreen/whoever lot at KAF always killed me with the KA-27 parked there. It had shiny paint like it was just the News Chopper 5 for the Kandahar Fox affiliate.
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Aug 9, 2014 23:33
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Mike-o posted:Yep, Kandahar airfield. I can only imagine how lovely the boardwalk is there no beach all the hot girls are in burkas Lamb kebabs that are all greasy but not spicy enough And the Midway! It's like all those lame haunted houses with guys in rubber masks jumping out to scare you, but the locals don't really know who Dracula and Frankenstein are, and they ad-lib these bizarre characters
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Aug 10, 2014 01:23
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That is exactly what it is like, except there's a lot more Canadians playing hockey. Seriously.
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Aug 10, 2014 01:27
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At least we could always drive by the British barracks and try to catch girls sunbathing topless 
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Aug 10, 2014 01:33
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Mike-o posted:At least we could always drive by the British barracks and try to catch girls sunbathing topless We can not confirm or deny the existence of OPERATION BONERLORD.
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Aug 10, 2014 01:42
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Zhanism posted:I've always wondered how if an A-10 Warthog would do dogfighting with WWII fighers.  http://i.imgur.com/dNgj79i.jpg
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Aug 10, 2014 02:11
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Ambihelical Hexnut posted:That is exactly what it is like, except there's a lot more Canadians playing hockey. Seriously. Canadians are gone, so's the Tim Hortons. Hockey rink is still there though, and there's still a coffee shop where Tim Hortons was...different name but the food/coffee is just about the same. Hell, I think even the Aussie compound (with their green lawn of real grass) is gone now too. Mike-o posted:At least we could always drive by the British barracks and try to catch girls sunbathing topless There was a directive that came down when I was there that we were forbidden from going on social visits to the RAF 904 EAW compound on the north side because of some shenanigans involving a stripper pole.
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Aug 10, 2014 02:34
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What's so special about an A-10 in perfect flying condition?
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Aug 10, 2014 02:49
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Safety Dance posted:What's so special about an A-10 in perfect flying condition? Not quite perfect - if you look closely, the gun is slightly dented.
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Aug 10, 2014 03:42
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Wingnut Ninja posted:Not quite perfect - if you look closely, the gun is slightly dented. Well, crap, some son of a bitch just ruined the Crew Chief's evening. Do you know how much polish and how many airmen it's gonna take to buff that out?
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Aug 10, 2014 04:03
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Nebakenezzer posted:I can only imagine how lovely the boardwalk is there I prayed every night that a rocket would just detonate inside the TGI Fridays (when it was empty). I was only ever forced in there once, and it was just like the rest of the Middle East. Bunch of Filipino girls running around "Can I help you thirrr?" Christ.
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Aug 10, 2014 05:22
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Ruse posted:I prayed every night that a rocket would just detonate inside the TGI Fridays (when it was empty). I was only ever forced in there once, and it was just like the rest of the Middle East. Bunch of Filipino girls running around "Can I help you thirrr?" lol they were Uzbek or Tajik or Kyrgyz or some other Central Asian ethnic group when I was there e: It, along with like 95% of the boardwalk food shops (KFC, the burger joint, most of the pizza places...basically everywhere except for Kebab House, the old Tim Horton's, and the smoothie shop), got temporarily shut down when COMKAF sent some food inspectors in there as a one-time "health and welfare" type inspection, since COMKAF didn't have regular oversight on them unlike the chow halls. Among other really disgusting things they found out was that the restaurants were turning off their food storage refrigeration at night to cut electrical costs. This was in Kandahar in July.  The best part is that even after getting told this, people were still bitching about the restaurants being temporarily shut down. iyaayas01 fucked around with this message at 10:11 on Aug 10, 2014 |
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Aug 10, 2014 09:53
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