Pretty cool. But I just HAVE to point out that the F-18 is a derivative of the YF-17 which lost the fly-off to the F-16. So the Navy picked up Air Force cast offs. But even then, they did pretty good! F/A-18 is pretty tough aircraft.
You are correct Sir. ;-) I think it worked out the best for both services. I agree with the critics of today that are saying that the approach of the F-35 is not the best path.
It did work out best for all of us. Sef Def McNamara attempted "commonality" in the 60s and tried to push the F-111 on the Navy. There was no way to land it on a carrier with that huge nose. So the AF would up with an aircraft that was over-designed for runway landings and the Navy got a jet they couldn't use. The F-16/F-18 split was a better way to go about that idea and both aircraft have been very successful in their roles.
I still hold out hope for the F-35. It is really advanced technology; a leap forward not an incremental change. The cost, though, is going to kill it.
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Nickolas 10 years ago
Awesome!
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ahnyerkeester 10 years ago
Pretty cool. But I just HAVE to point out that the F-18 is a derivative of the YF-17 which lost the fly-off to the F-16. So the Navy picked up Air Force cast offs. But even then, they did pretty good! F/A-18 is pretty tough aircraft.
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Nickolas 10 years ago
Some pretty interesting trivia can be found on this site. http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/planes/q0145a.shtml">http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/planes/q0145a.shtml
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ahnyerkeester 10 years ago
Great, brief article! Thanks for sharing that. So, while an over-simplification of the process, I'm still right. :)
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Nickolas 10 years ago
You are correct Sir. ;-) I think it worked out the best for both services. I agree with the critics of today that are saying that the approach of the F-35 is not the best path.
Reply
ahnyerkeester 10 years ago
It did work out best for all of us. Sef Def McNamara attempted "commonality" in the 60s and tried to push the F-111 on the Navy. There was no way to land it on a carrier with that huge nose. So the AF would up with an aircraft that was over-designed for runway landings and the Navy got a jet they couldn't use. The F-16/F-18 split was a better way to go about that idea and both aircraft have been very successful in their roles.
I still hold out hope for the F-35. It is really advanced technology; a leap forward not an incremental change. The cost, though, is going to kill it.
Reply