This is where I blog about all things aviation- military mostly- and both gain and give valuable andunique insights into the world thereof:

Airshow Static Display Fighter Pilots: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Airshows are good. The noise, heat, port-a-potty lines and souvenir prices are the bad. That some airshow static display pilots are such jerks is downright ugly. Here are some of my Good, Bad and Ugly experiences at Air Shows..

The F-14D
People just getting to know me will be surprised to know my first aviation love was actually the F-14 Tomcat. I remember the first time I saw on of the brand new Deltas at an airshow at Salt Lake Airport #2. There was one guy in a foldup chair sitting under the jet. I was stoked. I went up to him and began asking him about his new plane. His words answered innumbers and facts, but his voice said, "Look, I was caught hitting on the Admiral's daughter, or Bulls-Eyeing the Intruder pilots' barracks, or something like that, and mypunishment was to come here. The less you talk to me the less my punishment will be."

I left him alone. He was an ugly.

F-15E crew (with James)
My buddy James (um, the one with glasses) and I went to another air show together. SL#2? Maybe, don't remember. But there was a line for the Strike Eagle, and everyone was talking to the pilot. No one noticed a ladder on the other side of the jet, where the WSO was perched up on and being, much to his pleasure, ignored. James and I had no qualms disturbing his peace. At first he was reluctant, but as we began asking about IP altitudes, Lofting modes and Drag and Wing Loading factors, we became the best of buddies. It started to rain, and the lines dispersed to the tents, but the WSO just took us under the wing of his jet and ...well... wouldn't shut up. It was awesome. He was a good.

F-15C pilots
I had always regerded the F-15 as one of the best fighter planes ever. First model I ever bought myself was an F-15. I couldn't wait `til I net a pilot and got to ask him questions.
Finally, at an airshow at Hill AFB I made a bee-line to the Eagle display. I saw the Eagle pilots- tall, lean, perfectly pressed flight suits, like they'd stepped off a recruiting poster. Woooowwwww.
But when I tried talking to them I felt like an unrepentatn sinner trying to get God's attention. They IGNORED me. Totally. I wasn't even there. And these guys weren't being punished or anything... I just don't think they communicated with anything under 5,000' off the ground. You know, where their egos were. I branded them "Ego-Pilots" and went over to the F-16 display, where the Viper drivers were far friendlier and interesting. These guys were bad.

Active F-16C pilots vs. Reservist F-16C pilots
Now, at Hill AFB there used to be 3 active AF squadrons and 1 reservist squadron. The Reserve squadron always got the AF's leftovers and didn't necessarily always get to play in the big games (read: Wars) that the active boys did.
But that all changed in the early 90s when the reservists got Lightning II pods for their jets. You see, the active jets there had LANTIRN pods- the first ever pods hung on an F-16 to drop LGBs in a war zone. But, being the first page in that technology book, the pods had severe limitations, and only really worked on targets who wanted to get bombed, in low-threat environments, and in ideal weather conditions. The Lightning II pod addressed all those issues, and well, hey- it was better than what the USAF boys had.
I asked the active boys about it. They said, "It incorporated different technology from a newer manufacturer and served well to compliment the LGB ability they had already established long before they (the reservists) ever had such a capability," or words to that effect.
I asked the reservists pilots about it, and they were more straightforward, "We finally got a pod to drop LGBs and tey're sour we got one better than theirs- it stays locked on while we manuever, works day and night, has spot tracking and stuff they've been asking for. We're happy when they come along on our vul time flights to buddy lase for them. Oh, they didn't tell you that, did they? " Smile.
I brand these good an' ugly.

Navy EA-6B
Back to SL#2 Air Show- a circle of civvies are staring at a Navy EA-6B navy jamming plane. It's like some kind of stand-off, til a kid begs his dad to ask what the jet does.
What happened then, I'm not sure. But half an hour later I felt admiration and excitement for that jet above all others and was asking if I was too old to sign up and fly Prowlers when he was done.

But I snapped out of it. But, wow, he was good.

Navy SH-60
These poor guys. They were surrounded by all these sexy jets, and all they had was an SH-60 with a bunch of ugly bumps and pods on it. I wouldn't realize until later how cool and exciting it is to kill subs from a Seahawk. But that was my loss- these guys were dyin' to talk about their ride and I snubbed `em. That made ME the ugly one here.

The AH-64 Apache
I regard this experience as one of my life victories. At Provo, UT Municipal airport there was an air show once. They don't do it anymore, but they used to. And at that show there was an AH-64 Apache. I wanted in it. Bad.
I asked to ge tin it. They saidm "No, we're only letting children sit in it." I said, "OK, let my 2-year-old sit in it." They said, "OK," and I handed him up in there. Of course I had the next part planned. I said, "Whoa- he's gonna cut his head open on a switch or something in there- I better get in there with him." Heh heh heh. They fell for it and let me climb into the pilot's seat with him on my lap. I got photos, but they didn't develop for some reason. But I sat in an AH-64A cockpit. Oh, and my son, too. Heh heh heh. They were ugly, but moreso cuz so's their helicopter. Ugly and deadly.

OV-1 pilot (Aurora Airport)
OK, with modern-day pilots gettin' them to talk is hit-or-miss. But the vets....dude. Ask the Vets. The old ones. They have the best tales. Seriously. Single these guys out , butter `em up a little and then watch `em go. They rock. They're good.

ORANG F-15 pilot
So I was new to Oregon and had finagled my way onto the 142'nd's Guard Base for some open gate event or another and got in line to talk to the pilot. I really wasn't expecting much with my previous F-15 pilot experiences (i.e. theone above, which had repeated itself a few times). but the Guard pilots? Wow. They talked. They answered my questions, and kept going. They thanked me for asking intelligent questions (beyond where the fire button was), and when I tried to step aside after a while to let the next person up, he kept talking to me. It was like trying to break up with a desperate girlfriend. He wouldn't let go. Besides, there would be future opportuinites- and there were. Guard pilots rock. Good, good, good.

Col. Dean
Colonel Dead was squadron commander of the 123rd Fighter Squadron back in teh early 2000s. I'm so glad I got to meet him. The men and women who served under him spoke of him more as a father figure than a commanding officer. And he was, too. It was a kind of respect for love and commitment thing he had. You'd never guess he was as ambitious and driving as he was. A couple years later, he was Wing Commander. Then, he was promoted over entire Oregon National Guard. Now, he's a General over the ENTIRE National Guard. Love the man, I do. He's awesome in a very good way.

So, there you have it. At air shows I've learned about people, technology, and even taken time to face the bads and uglies about myself. But overall, it's been a good eperience.

Not All That Fun- My First Tour of an Air Force Base

Today I'm going to talk about the incredibly educational event when I first stepped onto an Air Force base, talked to an Air Force pilot, and laid my hands upon an actual, real-live air force jet. It did not go anyway like you'd think it had.

It was boring.

It shouldn't have been, but it was. Boring, unexciting, no one was happy... it was like... everyone was depressed. What was up with that?

It was a class field trip. From my making the suggestion to the teacher to the actual trip's date seemed to take forever. To me, the 1 1/2 hour bus ride took even longer. We got there, went through security checks, got a tour of the base. But something wrong... these men were not excited about their job. I was too young to get any kind of hint or anything, but it would slap me hard and cold in a little bit.

Finally we got to go out onto the flight line and stand around one of their jets. A magnificent A-7D Corsair II. Go ahead and chuckle, but that white-bellied, 3-tone camoflage-top Corsair II was my first.

An officer started to brief us on their mighty, mighty strike aircraft until he stopped and told us a solemn side story. As it went, just the day before there had been a major accident on base. An airman who had just finished prepping an A-7 for takeoff stepped across one of the magic yellow lines on the tarmac as the jet was throttling forward to pull out and he was sucked into the jet. He died immediately. As another airman commented to us later, "All that came out the other end was a red puff."

I was too young to really grasp the fulness of the tragedy, but I felt bad. Someone had lost their life serving their country... protecting me. It was not all glamour- it was a dangerous job with heavier machinery than most. The kid who died was liked by all, command had high hopes for him. The officer said they'd forgotten about our field trip or they would have cancelled it. We got a tour anyway. Everyone tried to be understanding of us. We saw a storage hangar. We saw the maintenance hangar- looked right thru a Corsair with its engine removed. It was still cool. I don't remember any jets taking off- not military jets anyway. Ops had probably been suspended...

Yeah, last week I half-jokingly, half-seriously encouraged the reader to think of everyone and anyone who worked on an Air Force Base as a steely-eyed MiG killer since they all make important contributions to the kill chain. But the the point I'm making this time around is totally serious: Be sure to thank, and treat, all military servicemen as if their job was dangerous. Because it is.

Next week's blog: Airshow Static Display Fighter Pilots: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Would you like a side of pilot with that F-15 Burger?
"Hey, that plane ain't gonna park itself!"
That's a line I heard once at the beginning of an airshow at Utah's Hill AFB.  I'd left the house early, anticipating heavy traffic, but I not only beat the crowd, I beat the air show. The gates were open and I got in while the flightline was still still getting set up.
A young, baby-faced F-16 pilot was climbing up into his jet- while an old, crochety sergeant with more stripes than I wanted to count was barking at him.
"Hey, that plane ain't gonna park itself! Get up there and help us steer this jet...."
You could tell he didn't need that young leiutenant in there. He was just having fun ordering an officer around. Any airman could have climbed up there and just released the brakes, but this leather-hearted non-com was used to getting his way- like he was getting it now. The Viper-baby put on the jet  and the process began. I chuckled sadly, then wandered away and around the rest of the displays.

Where am I going with this? I'm going to explore a field of aviation that is virtually always overlooked: people and planes.

Planes need pilots. Pilots are people. Pilots break planes. Aircrews fix them. Firemen stand by in case the pilot REALLY breaks them. Logistics get the plane gas and parts. ATC tells the pilot in the plane the airmen maintain when to take off with the fuel the logistics got him... They're all part of a team.

The Team.
"Dog" heralded his team...
In 1999 a USAF F-16 pilot shot down a MiG-29 over Europe. However, instead of walking the zipper-suit god strut, he spread the warm fuzzies: he credited his "flight members... crew chief... weapons and munitions folks... The AWACS controller..." He thanked everybody. He refused to even show his face in a group photo afterward. This guy flew on top of the World, but kept his feet on the ground and showed that he never forgot the incredible system he was only a part of.

The pilot and crew all determine the effectiveness. A fighter plane may be capable of a 250-ft diameter pirhouette at 350 knots, but how many pilots can do that? Has the plane been maintained to withstand the structural stress of the advertised performance? Have the missiles been properly stored and transported... the gun ammunition kept clean... etc... etc...

Sometimes mistakes happen. For instance, in 1991, an F-15 tried firing 3 missiles at an attacking MiG. None of them worked- they all just clung to the jet's belly, and the World's deadliest fighter turned tail and ran. The pilot was not only denied a kill, he could have died as well. Only swift reaction time by his wingman prevented that. More team work from that Eagle, and ITS crew.

Yes, it's the pilot who mashes the red button and makes the final decision to kill (and, has to live with it), and it's the pilot who always gets the best view. But without the whole team, he's just a 1-seat, high-performance airline.

So thank anyone in uniform as if they are a steely-eyed MiG killer. In a way, they are.

Aviation blog- F-22 vs ...?
F-22 vs F-15
Pppt. Splash one Eagle.
F-22 vs F-14
Pppt. More dead geese.
F-22 vs F-16
Just Pppt. But nice try.
F-22 vs GIVE UP. The first 6 of you are already DEAD and the rest are too demoralized to fight.
See ya next week-ish.

Super Hornet vs Super Tomcat
How does The Navy expect to fulfil its role with a less capable jet?

The debate upon which this entry is based is old, bitter and crusty. The F-14D/E  vs F/A-18E/F. Better fighter/strike/recon/etc platform. Been there, done that. We all know that wisdom and reality went separate directions.
So what's to be blogged about then?
The point of blog today is... Okay, so we have a lower performance jet defending our borders, fleets and allies. How on earth are we now going to make due?
Well, I found the answer in history, and like it did for me, I think it will bring you great comfort.
In World War II, the Pacific air war was being won by the F4U Corsair. The Corsair was a fast, stable, long-legged fighter that, except for landing, was a marvel to fly and an excellent killing machine. While not the tightest turner, it could out climb and out run anything the Japanese had, tnerefore it could kill anything tney had. And it did. But like somany other great things, it had to change. The Corsair had to be replaced.  

Its replacement was the F6F.

The F6F was slower. It had shorter legs. It was uglier (but that's always been a Navy standard).

It still shot down the evil Nihon Hordes, and we still won the war in the Pacific.

Why? How? Because- within Reason, it's not about the plane- it's about the pilot. The USA's defence agency continually recruits, trains, pays, rewards and otherwise appropriates the best talent they can find and trains it at great expense. It floats flies and otherwise manuevers across (and under) the big deep blue with ambition and force to be the best in the World. THAT's what makes it the best.
The US Navy will make great things happen with the Super  Hornet... The length of the wars it engages in will be more up to politicians than combat ability. So, let's not worry. The Navy will do just fine.

F-14 vs. F-15 Which Is the Better Plane? Part 1
A friend of mine who works at an F-15 base recently criticized the F-14 calling it "useless".
I'm not judging him. If you work at an F-15 base and you're aren't gung-ho about the jet, theres something wrong with you. Maybe loading C-17s is more your thing, or the ocean. Yeah, maybe you belong in the Navy. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
But I digress...
F-14 vs. F-15. It's a much more interesting dabate than the 'ole F-14 vs F-18 Super Hornet (An argument that was lost by the winner). Let's take a look:
Off the chocks-
F-14A had Phoenix, the AIM-54, which meant back in 1972 it could -theoretically, and with some cooperation on the enemy's part- shoot down 6 enemy aircraft from 100 miles away. Seriously- it could.  Many cold war retirees (read:admirals and naval strategists) suggest it was one of the top 3 conventional deterrents to a Soviet invasion.
But it was underpowered with its TF-30 engines. Great lifting body, but poor thrust. Other issues stemming from the off-axis engines, like flat spins demonstrated in Top Gun were also serious issues and resulted in the accidental loss of numerous fighters. Later upgrades in the 90s gave it better thrust with the GE F110, and digital controls helped it become a more serious dogfighter and airshow stopper.
F-15 was born with only had Aim-7 and -9 to fight with. This meant more in-close dogfighting at close range and higher potential for losses. I said potential. But the Eagle's P&W F-100s have better thrust-to-weight- 1:1 even, which is important. Unfortunately those also had engine issues with throwing blades. Finally, the original APG-63(v0) had a bad reputation for conking out when it got tired or strained. These issues were also fixed with the F-15C's APG-70 and the v-1 thru v-3 series of APG-63. Then there's the AIM-120 Slammer. These improvements finally gave the F-15C all the capability the F-14 was born with. So, was the Eagle the lesser bird? Hmmm, let's stop juggling plates and serve up the meat and potatoes of this argument- How have they fared in actual combat?

F-14 vs. F-15 Which Is the Better Plane? Part 2
Combat Experience-
The USN came to blows with the F-14 when Moamar Qaddafi sent 2 SU-22 ground attack aircraft to rattle sabers with 2 F-14s. It was stupid, and they were shot down maybe just for being so stupid. A few years later Libya sent out an actual challenge- MiG-23s. While not as stupid it was still pointless and they were shot down, too.
Additional USN Tomcat kills include 3 x MiG-28 somewhere over the Mediteranean Sea Circa. 1986, and two Japanese Zeros out in the middle of the Pacific, but these kills have not yet been substantiated by the DoD.
The Iranian record with the F-14 is generally regarded as successful. Especially by the Iraqi AF. So successful, that in Desert Storm 1991 if Iraqi pilots detected the USN F-14's AWG-9 they'd just turn and run. Kills were nearly zero (a helicopter. Gee.), but the fear factor was high. IRAF MiGs just wouldn't come near it. That's saying something.
But again, I digress.
Now lets take a look at the IIRF's F-14 kill record:
According to Iranian Air Force sources including Tom Cooper's interviews with Iranian fighter pilots, Wikipedia and the Imperial Iranian Air Force's web site (who all three are the only sources I could find for this info. I know, but this is just a blog entry that's already eaten up more of my time than I planned), 159 planes have gone down in flames, all Iraqi, to the IIAF's F-14s. In one case, 1 Iranian AIM-54 reportedly took out 4 Iraqi fighters! Naturally, it's difficult to confirm or substantiate these claims. The DoD feels the same, and has gone on record to confirm only four of those kills.
Moving right along, Israel provided  McDonnell Douglas with the F-15's  first combat experience, which made for great advertising for exporting the jet to other nations if only the IAF weren't so secretive about what actually happened. But unlike that other country, the US has backed Israel's claims of over 60 official air-to-air kills with their Eagles.
The USAF would then go into Iraq in 1991 and impress the Russian Air Force- I mean Iraqi AF with the Eagle by shooting them all down. The Russians were only there as advisors. "...And then, comrade you maneuver behind his 3-9 line at mach 2 and evade his- AAHHHHH!!! BOOMSKI!!!"
Bottom line is between Saudi Arabia, the IDF/AF and the USAF the Eagle has over 100 A-A kills. And that's only the official tally. I'd bet my boss's house there are more that couldn't be documented due to lack of findable wreckage, gun camera footage or something.
And it's never been shot down in air-to-air combat.
But this doesn't necessarily translate to never been undefeated.
Air Combat Losses
Two Israeli F-15s are on record as having taken serious battle damage and being forced to withdraw from the fight. In one case a MiG (-21?) stitched the wing of an F-15 with its cannon and the Eagle had to bug out. In another, an F-15 chasing its damaged prey into the ground to make sure he died, then was struck by an AAM as he pulled out. The jet gracefully limped home and returned to fight on after repairs in both cases. But it remains that they were hit by weapons from an enemy aircraft and forced to withdraw...
F-14 downed by enemy fire? Chkl, chkl. Sorry, U S Navy- the IIRF really screwed your perfect F-14 record. Royally. Pun intended.
The IIRF claims only 2 of its F-14s were downed in A-A combat. I mean, one was shot down, another stalled out and maple-leafed into the ground during a dogfight. In the USAF and IDFAF when a plane you're fighting hits the ground, it's chalked up as a maneuver kill. Therefore, its a kill. Other 3rd party sources list as many as 20 Iranian Tomcats shot down or damaged during the war.

F-14 vs. F-15 Which Is the Better Plane? Part 3
Conclusion-
Both aircraft entered service in the early/mid-70s.
F-14As actually covered the US withdrawal from South Vietnam in 1972. Aside from hundreds of harassing flights in the Med Sea, none saw action until 1981 when they expertly downed 2 Libyan SU-22s and later in 1986 when they shot down 2 MiG-23s. Upgrades turned them into fighter-bombers in the USN, but I'm not comparing the F-15e in this; the pure Air-to-Air aspect of the F-14 in this comparison gets foggy. So, I'll just ignore it for argument's sake.
While the Tomcat was used regularly to harass soviet-built fighters flying under whatever flag, that's all they really did. The Iranians did their best to use it as long as they could. Military rumor has it they turned to Russia to help, and they of course were all too eager to. And to this day they fly a handful of their original Tomcat fleet with Ruski and Iranian indigenous parts. There are rumors they are also falling apart, but the bottom line is they're still flying and providing a credible threat to anyone thinking about invading. But with Russian engines and computers... again it just gets foggy for me.
Now in the US Navy the F-14 was officially retired in 2006. The scope of this circumstance and its replacement the Super Hornet have gone on ad naseum and will not be repeated here. Suffice it to say it was replaced, IMHO, by a lesser plane... which, while it carries no weight in this intry due to its political nature, will nevertheless result in a soon-upcoming blog entry of its own.
The F-15 was introduced into service 2 years later than the Tomcat, in 1974. The IDFAF quickly put it to use and began knocking MiGs out of the sky with it in 1979. It may have taken Israel's enemies a little longer, but soon they quit flying if they thought Israeli F-15s were anywhere near.
In 1991 the Iraqi  Air Force again developed the same fear of the F-15 that they earned over the previous decade for the F-14 but over a better record- they just couldn't take even one out.
Final Test- the Entertainment Industry-
The movie Top Gun (1986) had real fighters and possibly the best aviation cinematics anywhere- ZOOM- WHOOSH- BOOM- but the worst script which portrayed the US Navy's pilots as, well, as a bunch of mavericks. Undisciplined, whiney, egotistical hotheads. So, aplus and a minus..
On the other hand, Air Force One (1997) had, well, were those models? Fairly good models. A few real F-15 shots. But yeah, the action scenes were shot with models. I think. CG? Hm. I don't... look, bottom line is the exterior visuals of the F-15s just don't hold a candle to the shots in Top Gun. But the professionalism and sense of duty of the pilots BLOWS Top Gun AWAY. These Eagle drivers don't whine or dance shirtless... they are consummate professionals... one even gives his life to protect President Indiana Jones. Or.. something... I was only paying attention to the jets to be honest.
So, which one's the winner?
It's impossible to say I'm biased. My first aviation love ever was the F-14. I was 3 years old and the newspaper ran an article on the brand new fighter, photo and all. Flies off carriers... Shoots down multiple enemy planes from 200 miles away... Pretty red and white. I made my Mom cut it out and I took it everywhere with me. Geez, I even slept with it- until after a few days one I awoke morning with it spit glued to my face. It tore when I tried to remove it... Really cried.
On the other hand I recognized the F-15 early on for its killer ways... but despised the USAF's Eagle static displays at Air Shows because they (the pilots) never seemed to actually notice people talking to them... their nickname "Ego-driver" was very well earned (it wasn't until about 3-4 years ago that I found some ANG F-15 pilots who actually responded to my that this stereotype began to lift in my eyes). But, that'll be another blog entry later.
Again, I digress.
I will call the winner... The F-15 Eagle- but it's not by a lot.
The Tomcat's fear factor and capability out of the gates was superior to the F-15's in the 1970's. I realize now that I never even got into FDLs- Flight Data Links- another feature the f-15 wouldn't get for 20 years... but the F-14A was born with.
But the F-14's combat record can't stack up against the F-15's- it was  too badly tainted by that joke of an air force in Iran. General reliability was also a big factor. In the mid-2000's Tomcats were leaving bigger goopy messes on the tarmac than Eagles were. Carrier decks would actually have brief flash fires after Tomcat ops. I think that's bad.
But the deciding factor was longevity. The last USN F-14 flew into the sunset in 2006. Yeah, Iran still flies them but they've been frankensteined with Ruski and Iranio- parts. Plus, they're flown by our enemy. For how long?
Until we go to war with them and our F-15s and F-22s b-slap them out of the sky. That's how long.
The F-15 fleet now shading USAF and ANG bases around the World have been remanufactured to keep flying with abilities Tomcat crews thought were science fiction past 2025. Giving it twice the Grumman product's life span. I therefore rule the Boeing/McDonnell-Douglad F-15 Eagle the superior jet of the two.
Now someone if someone would just go make a good F-15 movie we'll all be good.

But... We Need Those F-15s There In Case Canada Invades!
So last month (earlier this month) I mistakenly browsed an aviation article that said- so I thought (spoiler: I was wrong) that the newly organized F-15C ANG in Montana, the 120th Fighter Wing, was disbanding and moving its birds to a base somewhere in California.
I thought, "Wow, that's a really big waste- I mean, they just barely traded their F-16s for F-15s 2-3 years ago, and now they're being picked up and moved?"
I thought on, "I mean, are they going to displace all those Montana Guardsmen and -women to Southern California? Rip them away from their homes and families, and expose them to the culture shock of mountain-man lifestyles to Spoon-gagging California? That's gotta be demoralizing not just to that unit, but to the entire Nation's Air Guard's Units, once they see their missions have become so fragile! (note to reader: No, they're Units of the State and Guardsmen can't be displaced like that. Their equipment and mission can, but not the Guardsmen themselves)
And then, my scariest thought of the moment: "But, what if Canada invades?"
Why was it a scary thought? Hey- Canada has a good Air Force. I remember once talking to some Viper pilots from Hill AFB in Utah. The local paper reported they'd just come home from Maple Flag - the cleverly named, Canadian version of Red Flag, where many of the Wing's pilots had taken their Lockheed mounts up to Canada to train with/against some of their CF-18 boys.
The pilots were a little uncomfortable at first, but they seemed to open up. "The Canadians were good, surprisingly good. They put up a fight and taught us some lessons," was the course of the conversation. These weren't men playing up an ally- these guys had been humbled. "Canada has a good air force," they assured me, "It's a good thing they're on our side."
Now, how bad the whupping had been, I don't know- no one will ever tell. Classified, I'm sure. But there I was, Wowed by the CF-18s up North, thankful, indeed, that they were on our side.
Yet, wary also.
So when I learned in Combat Aircraft Magazine (Volume 11 Number 3-currently sold out, but one of the most beaufitul pictorials on the jet EVER) that the 120th was trading their F-16s for F-15s, I'll admit I was a bit relieved. The F-16 is a fine jet, of course, but a little too close to par with the Hornet (though still supoerior). The F-15, with its radar, weapons load and range was more of an overmatch, and would certainly teach those Canadians to keep their lesser Boeing jets up where its cold. It was THE deterrent needed in the very stretch of land Red Dawn took place in- but far more realistic since the Canadians wouldn't need the intercontinental logistics chain Russia needed.
Those F-15s are needed in Montana. We need that line of defence! Something had to be done, and I would be the start of that something... something BIG.
So I decided to write my congressman. To begin the letter, I began fact-gathering.
And then I found out I was wrong.
It wasn't the 120th Air National Guard Wing, but the 366th Fighter Wing of the active Air Force, the next state over, in Idaho. They were moving the last remaining F-15C squadron, which was sister to two F-15E squadrons, to somewhere in California or something-something which didn't matter to me since I don't like California that much with all its sunshine, ocean views and warmer weather. The 120th FW was staying right where it was. I sighed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, they come south now, we still got those F-15Cs in Montana to beat their jets back, and the Strike Eagles from Idaho can go up there and teach them how WE speak French!"

The F-35 Lightning II- Lethal Killer or Fiscal Flop?
So everybody's been following the new F-35's development, and seen both the articles slamming it for its cost and butter-burned capabilities. Well, I've been following it, too. What's the truth behind all the hype?
The truth is every major, successful fighter program has gone through the same wringer. The F-15 was often beat up by the press for its price of over $15 million a copy! Some nick-named it the gold-plated fighter, and joked that its gold plating made it too heavy to fly let alone dominate in combat.
Then someone got the great idea of letting the Israelis have it, knowing they'd put it to use soon enough and then the World would see its prowess in the air. Sure enough they did, but the Israelis were mistaken by the defense industry as a gimmick, poster boys of McDonnell-Douglas, but insteadthe IDF took its homeland defense seriously, and kept very mum about its victories. It wouldn't be until the 1991 Gulf War that we would see the F-15 truly show its potential. And don't get me started about the weak or untrained Iraqi Air Force. There were airbattles where the airspace was very, very aggressively challenged, and we came very close to losing a few F-15 Eagles. But the point is, the F-15 was called over-expensive, incapable and unnecessary. Sound familiar?
Yes- fast forward to 2011. Virtually every article you read about the JSF is about 60% about its cost, 35% about how its behind development and production schedule, and 5% about its actual capabilities. Well, that's the press for ya. But if you focus in on that 5%, and other articles that somewhat mention the development of the jet's individual propulsion, electronic, aerodynamic and SA features, you'll begin to see this is an amazing jet- in some aspects even a threat to out own F-22 fleet.
F-16 pilots have been quoted that the F-35 can easily out-accelerate them. Their radar can not only detect and track F-22s, but jam them as well. Their turn radius is reported to be closer to an F-18's than an F-15's or F-16's max rate circle, and then there's that helmet, and that cockpit. Wow.
And it's the industry- Lockheed Marton, Raytheon, so forth, saying this stuff. The common line is, "Of course they're boasting it up- they want to sell more of them!" But they boasted up the F-14, F-15 and F-16 in their day, too, and they not only all turned out to be right, their most glowing praise for their baby jets was nothing compared to how their jets turned ou after the 25+ year marks. And you know what? They same thing will happen with these jets.
Want me to comment on their actual cost? Oh, I will. But that's for another entry.

New F-15s For Everybody, Sort Of
The first F-15 left the production line back in 1972. How on earth are they still flying?
Back a few years ago Congress decided that the USAF's request for 380+ F-22s was too much. They cut the whole buy down to 187 jets. The F-22 was meant to take the place of the F-15, of which we had over 350 at the time. The along came the BRAC- short for Butt-ugly Reductions in Aircraft for Combat (actually it stood for Bases Re-Alignment Committee, but my interpretation is more accurate). The F-15 force was halved. In 2009, we actually had fewer F-15s on line than how many F-22s were to be produced. Ouch!
But there was kind of a reason. These F-15s were old. Even the latest -Cs were built in the mid-early 80's. Combat aircraft aren't like Cessnas, which are flown by retired, rich grandpas and their eager grandsons so they could last 30..40... sometimes 50 years (Yes, there are 50 year old private planes flying over our freeways and cities, folks). These are big, hard-working jets that perform regularly at or above their performance design standards.
So USAF heads decided they needed to 4th Gen up their F-15s as much as possible, because they now needed to last a LOT longer, and they were already at their breaking point- literally. One jet breaks apart in flight, from a poorly machined fuselage support and a brave man's career was over from the injuries incurred. The fleet was grounded and other jets were found with similar defects. It was salt on the wound.
So after I'm sure was an interesting chain of meetings, a compromise was made- the USAF would get all its F-15s re-built from the ground up and get all new avionics, with cost-cutting measures where possible, of course. The cockpit itself wouldn't change much, but what those three little displays could show would. A new scanning array RADAR would provide incredible amounts of data to its pilots. New networks would open simplify flight leads, wingmen and AWACs commanders jobs while vastly increasing their lethality. New Star Wars helmets and missiles increase the killing talons and flexibility to an unknown measure.
But that wasn't all. The planes structures didn't care how many more fancy lights were in them (and then there's the weight of that new radar in the nose)- they were OLD. So a nice big check was cut and all the planes were taken apart and anything that showed wear and tear was taken out and replaced with factory fresh replacements (this was possible since so many countries are still buying new Strike Eagle variants). Worn out vertical or horizontal tails were replaced with brand new ones. Wing and fuselage spars were replaced with new ones. The planes, all at or near their 8,000 hours of flight lives, were pronounced spring Eagles and granted another 8,000 hours of life. Yes, these Eagles were going to be in the air until around the year 2025 and possibly beyond.
But so what about that? And what about the new radar that weighed nearly 3 times the original APG-63/-70? It was replaced with an all new, non-rotating array of radar elements that could scan almost the entire hemisphere of space in front of the jet, detect dozens of air and ground targets, identify them, classify and target them... even stealth aircraft were no longer safe. They could jam enemy EW sensors. They can even extrapolate- it has been said- what and how many missiles and bombs a target aircraft is carrying, and target as many enemy aircraft as it wanted, at least as many missiles as it was carrying at the time.
Then there's the helmet, and the new missiles- both the -D AMRAAMs and the -9Xs.
Whew. I'm just gonna have to come back and finish this. My heart's pumping and my hands are all in knots. Summary line for this entry? The F-15s flying over you not only know what you had for lunch, they knew it when you were in an airliner they've been shadowing from 80 miles away and 20,000 feet higher.
Feel safe, America. These ain't your Daddy's Eagles. They're much, much deadlier.

Stealth and Electronic Spooks
With the Internet, nano-technology and stealth, a whole new generation of aircraft has come along that goes way deeper than pretty lines. The entire World is beginning to "catch up" with American military aviation. Both Russia and China are testing their first fighters with stealth as their main design feature. And Both AM&ST and Popular Science sell extra copies when they run articles on modern stealth aircraft.
Wow. But why would we be flying a super-advanced stealth UAV around Afghainstan?
Well, look at a map. Who around Afghanistan has a sophisticated RADAR and missile defense system that could only be defeated by a stealth UAV? Not Afghanistan, that's for sure. But a little to the West, and we see Iran. Ah-ha. Maybe...
I've argued since before the Spring of 2003 on that the only reason we would ever have to invade Iraq would be to have a foothold next to Iran to strong-arm them into compliance. I keep catching snippets here and there about Iran complaining about US intelligence aircraft being chased out of Iranian Airspace. Then there was that one STUPID US Senator (who in my mind, should be tried for Treason) who came out and said we had special forces running around Iran spying on their nuclear and military programs. But this ain't The Unit- I bet those guys had very expensive little smart phones that could guide UAVs into harm's way and gather intel. And those little UAVs were all stealthy and invisible- perhaps even tuned especially to the new Russian-designed surveillance and tracking RADARs they're (Iran) reported as having.
But how is Iran out business? Well, their current President has sworn to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth. And they're developing Nuclear weapons (Oh, come on- yes they are! Why else would you distribute weapons-grade uranium plants across the country, bury them hundreds of feet deep while simultaneously developing long-range ballistic missiles that carry not big 2,000 lbs warheads, but little 500 lds. warheads- like the size of a nuclear warhead. It's only facts and logical conclusion), and yeah, as the first nation in the World to ever use those ... things, we have an obligation, equal to their destructive force, to prevent anyone else from using them.
Which brings me to the OTHER aspect of stealth and international spookery- computer viruses. The Iranian nuclear development program suffered a huge attack a year or so ago when a virus found its way into their computers and forced some of their equipment (along with other damages) to malfunction and destroy it self. Who wrote this virus? The US is saying, "Not us," and Israel, whom Iran's leader has sworn to destroy, said, "Virus? What virus?" But I think it's safe to presume (a presumption being a conclusion based on some evidence, but not defining enough to provide beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt proof) that aboth were in on it. And I'm okay with that, uh-huh.
OK, but how do viruses fit in with an aviation blog? I'll tell you how- modern day radars have become so much more sophisticated... the days of a big dish sweeping back and forth broadcasting electrons and measuring doppler shifts in returns... is over. Almost all US fighters now feature AESA RADARs- not on mechanically-steered dish, but a big face 3x3 feet wide composed of hundreds of small, powerful, magnetically-steered elements that scan the air at the same time. This means dozens... hundreds of targets can be tracked at the same time! And the beams goin out aren't just big electron blasts..no, sir- these are digitally manipulated, enhanced and even PROGRAMMABLE beams that extract far, far more information from their returns.. and can even be used to plant or retrieve information through targetted radars into their driving computers and misdirect or take control of them. This capability is known to exist in the E/A-18G's systems, and suspected of being planned for the F-15C, F-22A and F-35A-C AESAs. Yes, now escorting fighters can plant viruses as well. Wow.
I used to kid when the old F-15As and F-16Cs would fly over, "Kids, you just got swept a few times by a fighter radar. Anybody feel ill?" But now, its, "Kids, you've just been swept a couple hundred times by the AESA radar sets in those Eagles. Let me know if any tumors show up inthe next few hours!"