Saw the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels today

shawn474

At the air show at Andrews Air Force Base. Been going for a few years and it is the coolest day ever. Took the whole family and couldn’t wipe the smiles off of our faces. Just awesome.




I wish I could figure out how to post the videos....

pitdogg2

So cool... I'd pay a good dollar to go balls to the wall in one of those planes...

kharp1

Was able to take girlfriend and her granddaughter over to Pensacola to watch them about a year ago. Was happy we were able to catch them. Makes me proud.

BlueFox

Hope everyone wore hearing protectors.

WagnerRC

Good times and they rock and roll.

audioluvr

Lucky you! Awesome to be up close and personal.

nooshinjohn

pitdogg2 wrote: »

So cool... I'd pay a good dollar to go balls to the wall in one of those planes...

It was the ride of my life, man... imagine the most insane rollercoaster you have ever been on and then forget about it because it ain't even close.

I feel the need...

JayCee

Had the pleasure of flying in an F-15E Strike Eagle in the late 90's. Clocked 8 G's, wasn't supposed to go over 5, did negative G's (like floating in space).

I had the choice of flying in an F16, B-1 or F-15E. 16 pilots like to make you puke, B-1 is cool but not a fighter and the F-15 pilot was my group commander. Think "Marlboro Man" from the 70's commercials. This guy was a man's man and his goal was to let me experience it and learn about the weapons system I spent so much time analyzing.

The 15E has amazing avionics. Great learning experience from a much different perspective. I was exhausted and slept for 12 hours after the sortie.

nooshinjohn

The AF will be flying Eagles for the next 40 years, and are still taking deliveries of new airframes through 2027....

shawn474

I have a coworker whose sister flies the f15e strike eagle for the us Air Force. Did training for the Royal Air Force as well. Short of it is - she is a bad a$$

JayCee

Have seen many air shows since I was a kid and biased for the Air Force...I'll always say "Go Blue!". However, there's nothing like the Blue Angels and the F-18 Hornet when it thunders overhead. The power and unique sound signature are exactly what airshow demonstrations are about. The Thunderbirds are great but the F-16 just isn't as menacing. At power, you have to hunt in the sky for the 16...the Hornet...you know it's coming.

nooshinjohn

...unless the Hornet is traveling at high sub-Mach. Then all you hear or see is this wicked high pitched squeal that seems to come from nowhere and everywhere until it appears directly overhead and shatters your world and eardrums as it roars past.

I still think the A/C series Hornet is the best looking fighter jet of all time.

pitdogg2

watched a show the other day about the F35 and the F16. In air to air combat F35 lost 97% of the time. If the F16 had the avionics the F35 has it would be all over. I was very surprised to hear that watching the show.

afterburnt

F/A-18=Air Force Reject LOL! Cool that you got to see both teams at the same time. That's pretty rare.

JayCee

Toured the F-35 production plant, in Fort Worth, TX, when the initial run was rolling off the production line. The Marines were getting their first jump jet variant (vertical takeoff). Buzz Aldrin (astronaut) had toured prior to us and they had him sign inside the avionics section of the nose cone. Pretty cool to see his signature and know that aircraft has a bit more history to it.

The virtual reality tools used to create the aircraft are mind blowing. They let us use it and simulate loading weapons in the weapons bay. The VR sensors track you in real-time and place you in/under the aircraft. They used it as a case study to show us the power in pre-production. They'd previously brought in weapons loaders and discovered the bay configuration caused problems with the work. Engineers immediately redesigned the bay and made changes that years prior would've been fleshed out in a physical prototype. Saved numerous man-hours and millions of $$$'s.

Also witnessed the last of the F-16's being produced. If memory serves, they were sold to Egypt.

JayCee

pitdogg2 wrote: »

watched a show the other day about the F35 and the F16. In air to air combat F35 lost 97% of the time. If the F16 had the avionics the F35 has it would be all over. I was very surprised to hear that watching the show.

F-35 wasn't designed for air-to-air, F-22 was and to replace the F-16. True statement but not same missions.

afterburnt

Is the USAF still buying F-15's, if so why?

afterburnt

@nooshinjohn no, this is:

pitdogg2

JayCee wrote: »

pitdogg2 wrote: »

watched a show the other day about the F35 and the F16. In air to air combat F35 lost 97% of the time. If the F16 had the avionics the F35 has it would be all over. I was very surprised to hear that watching the show.

F-35 wasn't designed for air-to-air, F-22 was and to replace the F-16. True statement but not same missions.

Very true and to my knowledge we are not building anymore F-22's. The test was because we've sold so many F-16's around the world the likelihood the F-35 will go up against one is very good. Pilot training is everything.

According to the show the F-35 is supposed to do it all and replace the F-22. We'll see how that goes. They did mention they were buying many more F-15E F or G's whatever letter designate. The F15's we have now have tons of hours on the airframe and are starting to show big-time.

JayCee

afterburnt wrote: »

Is the USAF still buying F-15's, if so why?

Didn't know the answer until now....no, but as of this month, Boeing is reviving the production line in case the new defense budget appropriates for it.
https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/04/22/boeing-prepares-st-louis-plant-for-likely-air-force-f-15-orders/

My guess is the cost of F-35 vs F-15 is the driver. All the new stealth based acft are uber expensive.

I worked with the B-52 and B-1. The B-1 and B-2 bombers were supposed to collectively aid the 52 retirement and result in the 52 being sent to AMARC, the big graveyard in Arizona, by 1999. Well, that didn't materialize because of Mr. Sadam and, going forward, we still have a major fleet of 52's. Prediction is they'll be around through 2050 and it'll be approximately 100 years old!!! The 52 of today is not the the 52 of years ago. To the detriment of the B-1 for many years $$$ slated for the B-1 was funneled to modernizing the 52.

Generally speaking, modernization of avionics, weapons, etc. makes keeping the older aircraft very attractive when compared to new multi billion (or more) $$$ weapons systems. My guess...the current inventory of stealth based technology peppered with conventional aircraft is attractive from a monetary and EVOLVING doctrine standpoint.

afterburnt

@JayCee word on the street is the B-21 Raider is in line to replace all of them. Crazy that the Buffs are usually older than their pilots. I guess the same can be said of the Bones at this point.

PS that F-15 is pretty long in the tooth, that design is almost as old as me.

shawn474

The f22 raptor is the most impressive machine I have ever seen in person. Talk about a sound signature!!!!! That was a live demonstration two years ago at the same show and nothing has lived up to it since. That last hurricane in Florida took out 10% of the total inventory apparently......and they are no longer doing demonstrations. That is the most impressive display of awesomeness that I have ever witnessed in person.

JayCee

afterburnt wrote: »

@JayCee word on the street is the B-21 Raider is in line to replace all of them. Crazy that the Buffs are usually older than their pilots. I guess the same can be said of the Bones at this point.

PS that F-15 is pretty long in the tooth, that design is almost as old as me.

Haven't kept up w/recent designs and just Googled the B-21. Interesting. I thought you were joking about an older WWII era acft. LOL.

I had a couple of opportunities to work the secret squirrel stuff where they keep the "alien" aircraft but declined because I didn't want to live in Vegas or work off-site from my family. Had co-workers that did when the F-117 and B-2 were black. Would've been cool to be a part of what's to come. Had a boss that was on the 117 program in the 80's, pre public, and pretty wild to hear his impressions of being a 20 something and his first look at the 117. In the realm of, "holy shi!!, I'm looking at something the world's never seen."

When I was a kid I lived at Edwards AFB and my grade school memories revolve around seeing the F-15, F-16, A-10, space shuttle, watched the maiden flight of the B-1 and other test acft. One of my 3rd grade friends dad was a test pilot...I witnessed his plane crash while waiting for the school bus. Copilot bailed out. Her mom came to our school to get her a short time later. Learned later he saved the copilot and avoided even more casualties on the ground. Sad. On a more positive note most of the airshows I attended were here. Even saw Col Austin's space suit from the X-24B...Lee Majors, aka "The Six Million Dollar Man", a prop from the TV show. Exciting for a young me.

https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-six-million-dollar-man/

My dad worked for the Army on the Blackhawk test flight program at Edwards and now my son is a Blackhawk MEDIVAC pilot. Back in the day my dad never thought he'd have a grandson flying it.

afterburnt

Cool stories, my best was seeing General Yeager break the sound barrier for the 50th anniversary and then some chick do it in a Black Bird.

You should have took the Area 51 job, you could tell stories about flying Null Set airlines, but no one would believe you. Ha ha, as if you were "aware of any such activity or operation... nor would you be disposed to discuss such an operation if it did in fact exist"

nooshinjohn

JayCee wrote: »

afterburnt wrote: »

Is the USAF still buying F-15's, if so why?

Didn't know the answer until now....no, but as of this month, Boeing is reviving the production line in case the new defense budget appropriates for it.

There was no need to restart production of the Eagle, as it is still being built, with current projections showing orders for the jet through 2022. The F-15X Super Eagle project will equip new airframes with the electronics package from the F-35, allowing it to serve as a flying weapons platform for the Lightning II. It will also have some stealth characteristics added with a modernization of the aerodynamic features of the jet. This will have Boeing building variants of the aircraft through 2028. While the new Super Eagle has not been greenlit as of yet, the project is seen as vital to ensuring air dominance going forward.

afterburnt

@nooshinjohn do you know anything about the tactics employed to use it "as a flying weapons platform for the Lightning II"?

nooshinjohn

The Stealth jets (F-22/F-35) hooks 'em and the Super Eagle fries 'em… It can carry up to 24 air to air missiles in just one of the load-out scenarios. In others, it will carry bombs and missiles of various types. The Raptors and Lightnings lock the targets up and sends the acquisition data to the F-15, which will fire on the targets.

Boeing further states the new variant will be able to remain in service for more than 40 years! This means the mighty Eagle will potentially serve in one way or another for more than 80 years.

With regards to the Tomcat being a Good looking aircraft, it is about as ugly as they get. I have tremendous respect for them and their capabilities, but they were never easy on the eyes. The Hornet just flows so well from curves to flat surfaces, especially the A and C series birds. They are just beautiful to look at and a treat to see in the air. The F-14 looks like a swiss army knife... useful, but everything was added on almost as an afterthought.

afterburnt

nooshinjohn wrote: »

The Stealth jets (F-22/F-35) hooks 'em and the Super Eagle fries 'em… It can carry up to 24 air to air missiles in just one of the load-out scenarios. In others, it will carry bombs and missiles of various types. The Raptors and Lightnings lock the targets up and sends the acquisition data to the F-15, which will fire on the targets.

I don't get how the 15's can be in missile range and not be targeted themselves?

nooshinjohn

afterburnt wrote: »

nooshinjohn wrote: »

The Stealth jets (F-22/F-35) hooks 'em and the Super Eagle fries 'em… It can carry up to 24 air to air missiles in just one of the load-out scenarios. In others, it will carry bombs and missiles of various types. The Raptors and Lightnings lock the targets up and sends the acquisition data to the F-15, which will fire on the targets.

I don't get how the 15's can be in missile range and not be targeted themselves?

Hypersonics… I could say more but then, well, you know what I would have to do next.

afterburnt

@nooshinjohn mach 5 missiles? Far out!

nooshinjohn

They strike with such velocity that a warhead is redundant... They should come online in the next couple of years.