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militaryaircraft

F-14 pilot tells the story of when he landed his crippled Tomcat with the wings swept back

by Till Daisd October 20, 2023

‘Since the wings weren’t budging, we were getting ready to have one wild landing.’ Mark Vizcarra, F-14 Tomcat pilot

Needing an interceptor’s high speed while carrying this heavy ordnance, Grumman produced the highly effective variable sweep wing of the F-14, enabling it to operate at a wide range of airspeeds.

Could you land a Tomcat with her wings swept back?

Mark Vizcarra, who is one of the very few Tomcat pilots who landed his F-14 with the wings swept back (you can hear more great Tomcat stories at F14Tomcats.com), recalls;

In tactical aviation, it’s not if you’re going to have an emergency, it’s just a matter of when you’ll have one. Strangely, I had an intuition when I was flying the F-14 I would one day have an emergency with the variable swept wings. I recall when I was going through training to get qualified in the Tomcat I scoured the manuals to learn everything about this unique weapon system. Oddly enough, I discovered there were no recovery procedures if the wings suddenly failed in the swept position. I remember even asking instructors what we were supposed to do if the variable-swept wings failed, but I was always told it has never happened in the history of the Tomcat so I shouldn’t even worry about it. They’d also point out I could always default to direct manual control of the wings if it failed. I wasn’t buying it, so at every opportunity I would manually lock the wings back and practice shooting different approaches in the simulator trying to create my own procedures if this emergency was ever to occur. Thank God I did because four years later, I found myself in that position and I used the very procedures I developed to execute an emergency recovery of something that was preached could never happen.

Landing a flying bullet: former F-14 pilot explains how he was able to land his crippled Tomcat with the wings swept back — The F-14 Tomcat that landed with the wings swept back in the story featured in the article was attached to VF-201 Hunters

It was 1992 and I was operating in an Air Force exercise training with F-15 Eagles over an air range in Arkansas. In aerial combat, speed is life. As the lone Navy Tomcat simulating a SU-27 going against a nest of Eagles, I was already close to supersonic when the “Fights On” call was made. Due to the range location, all aircraft had to stay subsonic, but since I was close to “The Number” (MACH 1) my wings automatically controlled by airspeed were swept back almost as far as they could go. When I merged 180 degrees out with one of the Eagles, I instantly pulled in the vertical upon spotting his wingmen in combat spread high and to the north of me. The Tomcat had a natural tendency to buffet under high G with the wings back, but it would always diminish as the wings adjusted to their optimum position. I knew something was wrong when the buffeting never subsided. I quickly took my eyes off the Eagles to check my wings and sure enough, they were still swept back. I immediately took manual control of the wings and maneuvered the wing lever into the proper position while staying in the fight and pulling the maximum Tomcat G. I knew I was in trouble when I glanced back and noticed the wings hadn’t moved. I hastily called “Knock it Off” to stop the engagement and recovered the Tomcat to level flight. As I scanned my control systems in the cockpit, my Radar Intercept Officer (RIO), Rick “Rico” Jordan radioed we had an emergency and were RTB (return to base). Since our squadron was based out of Naval Air Station Dallas, we had plenty of time to plan exactly how we were going to safely recover the F-14 on deck. Unfortunately, since the wings weren’t budging, we were getting ready to have one wild landing.

As my RIO and I flew our crippled Tomcat back to base we went over the procedures to get those wings moving, but nothing was working. We now had to figure out just how we’re going to land this flying dart because with the wings back, we had no flaps and or use of our wing spoilers to slow us down once on deck. I had flown this scenario numerous times in the trainer so I was well aware we’d be landing a speeding bullet. The slowest I’d be able to get without stalling was about 200 kts (230 mph) compared to the normal 135 kts (155 mph) approach, but the real dilemma was how to slow down and not blow since the max speed on the tires were 190 kts. Our home base runway was only 8,000 feet and although there was arrestment gear at the first quarter of the landing strip to take a trap similar to the carrier, the maximum speed the gear could take was 178 kts (205 mph).

Brothers who flew together in the F-14 produce the ultimate documentary on the mighty Tomcat — Mark “Viz” (left) and Mike “Scar” (right) Vizcarra with an F-14A from the Black Knights (VF-154) at Fightertown USA in 1988

“Rico” was already pulling out the approach plate for Carswell Air Force Base when he intercom’d, “with their 12,000 ft strip, you’ll be able slow her down before rolling off the runway”. I transmitted back, naw…I got this. We can get her back to base. Needless to say, he thought I was crazy as he radioed base to inform we were RTB (return to base) and declaring an emergency. He thought I was crazy, but after I told him my plan on how I was going to touch down right where the runway started, he conceded the 2,000 ft before the arrestment gear would most likely dissipate our airspeed enough to safely take a trap.

We dumped fuel to lighten the weight to get the approach airspeed as low possible, but I saved enough gas to make it to Carswell if my plan didn’t work and I had to wave off. As we started our approach, the Commanding Officer radioed me the emergency vehicles were in position and that LSOs (Landing Signal Officers) were on station and ready for recovery. Luckily, all those approaches I practiced in the trainer helped me land the Tomcat exactly where I wanted and sure enough, it worked. My hook snagged the arrestment cable right at the maximum allowable speed and it operated as advertised even though I pulled every inch of available cable down the runway.

We were able to get the Tomcat fixed and we discovered that the titanium gear controlling the wings had cracked. Some of my closest friends are LSOs and they were the reason I was able to get aboard the carrier safely on many nights during bad weather and choppy seas. The funniest thing I remember about this emergency was my LSO debrief. They came up and shook my hand and said “man…you’re like a bullet with tires–we didn’t even have time to transmit back when you called the ball!”

Photo by US Navy and Mark and Michael Vizcarra

Other awesome F-14 stories are featured in the documentary Tomcat Tales available to purchase here.

October 20, 2023 0 comment

F-14 Tomcat

Tomcat RIO tells the story behind this famed F-14 Cockpit Selfie

by Till Daisd October 15, 2023

written by Till Daisd

‘Here’s the story behind one of my selfies that has gotten much more exposure than I ever expected. (Exposure, get it?),‘ Dave “Bio” Baranek, former F-14 Tomcat RIO

A selfie is a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media. Selfies are often casual in nature (or made to appear casual).

Although the word “selfie” didn’t come into popular use until the early 21st century, people have been taking self-photos since the dawn of photography. Pilots (and other aircrew) took selfies back in the day, and Wikipedia even shows a selfie that astronaut Buzz Aldrin took during a spacewalk in 1966.

I started carrying a camera shortly after I joined my first F-14 squadron (VF-24, 1981) and got comfortable enough in the jet. Pretty soon I was taking selfies. Being a RIO, I had a lot of space to work with: the whole area above the radar display was open, and with that spacious canopy I was limited only by my arm’s length and ability to push the shutter while holding the camera out. I shot with a typical 35 mm camera – it wasn’t too heavy, and with a little practice I could manage the shutter. Here’s one of my early attempts:

That’s our wingman in the background. I might have gotten better results if I’d taken multiple shots or been more diligent evaluating the results and adjusting my technique. But this was during a deployment in 1981-82 and of course I was shooting on film, so it was about three weeks between the time I took the photo, mailed it to the USA for processing, and got the photos back. Selfies just weren’t a priority for me.

Another photo from that tour may be interesting, not as a selfie but because it gives a sense of what the F-14As’ TF30s looked like in zone 5 … at night … from the cockpit. In case you can’t quite tell what’s what, that’s my blurry face in helmet and oxygen mask on the left side of the image, and one of our tails above the burner glow. My tinted visor was up since it was night time. As I look at this now, I think of photos that I could’ve taken if someone had invented the digital camera about 20 years sooner.

After VF-24 I reported to Topgun as an instructor, where I managed to get a few decent selfies in the F-5F before and after the dynamic dogfights that filled our demanding flights. The F-5F had a roomy cockpit for such a small aircraft. This shots shows Topgun’s other two F-5Fs alongside my jet.

In 1987 I reported to my second F-14 squadron, VF-2, and was able to pursue photo ideas that had been percolating – including more selfies. By the way, we generally called them “face shots,” which was also the slang term for forward-quarter Sidewinder missile shots. At VF-2 I tried a few more dramatic shots such as this one taken just after the cat shot:

I was most likely influenced by the work of other RIOs, especially “Tumor” Twomey, who created some of the best “face shots.” His work can be seen in the commemorative book, Grumman F-14 Tomcat: Bye-Bye Baby…! Some pilots also took good selfies, such as “Nick” Nickell, who published some of his along with a great article on The Drive website.

After looking critically at my images, I realized that I needed a wide angle lens and a way to mount the camera at a distance greater than my arm’s length. The wide angle was easy, as I recall it cost around $40. The camera mount took a little thought, but eventually I took a collapsible tripod and used zip ties (cable ties) to securely attach a Vise Grip tool to one leg. Once we were airborne, to use the tripod I unstrapped from my ejection seat and clamped the Vise Grip to a metal tab on the back of the pilot’s ejection seat! Believe me, I coordinated with my pilot before doing this, and I selected a tab that wasn’t movable. I also used a 6-foot cable release to take photos.

I was always looking for opportunities to get more coverage for VF-2, and one of the best publications at the time was the Tailhook Association magazine, The Hook. So I came up with the idea to take a photo of myself reading an issue of The Hook in the cockpit. The new wide angle lens and tripod rig were perfect for this shot. Our combat air patrol (CAP) flights over the Indian Ocean provided the opportunity to get the shot, since they were often solo airspace patrols, involving no “combat” and sometimes not even any training. I discussed the photo with my pilot, Pager, and he was game. I set up my equipment, got out a copy of The Hook, and shot about 10 frames as Pager did the gentle roll we’d discussed.
Three weeks later when I got the pictures, I saw one keeper:

None of the other shots were good, mostly because as we rolled inverted the cockpit was in shadow and no details could be seen. I sent in the photo and was happy to see it published in The Hook. Once we returned from deployment I gave the negative to the Miramar Photo Lab, which sent it in the Navy Office of Information in the Pentagon. Not much else happened until the Navy digitized their photo collection a few years later and made it available online. After that, this photo appeared in several publications, websites, and collections of humorous military photos – none of which crossed my mind when I shot the photo in 1987.

Looking at it now, there are two things I wish I’d done differently. First, I should’ve turned the other direction so the magazine front cover was more prominent, instead of the back cover. Second, I wish I’d made my own name visible somewhere; nametag, oxygen mask, something. But I can assure you, that’s me.

In addition to the Hook magazine photo, I used the rig to take a few other photos, such as this shot when I was flying with Lumpy in 1989 on a humid day above the Indian Ocean. The vapes on top of the wing and wingtip vortices were fascinating to see and I was glad to capture them.

If you’ve ever seen that photo of the aviator reading the magazine, now you know the full story. One more thing: The Hook is still a great magazine!

One sharp-eyed reader pointed out that the issue of The Hook magazine that Bio is reading in the cockpit selfie was the Spring 1989 issue, and he’s correct! That means the photo was taken in 1989 while flying with Lumpy, instead of 1987 while flying with Pager.

Bio is author of two books, Topgun Days and Before Topgun Days. He’s working on a third book of F-14 Tomcat experiences.

October 15, 2023 0 comment

Carriers

Clear Photo Of People’s Liberation Army Navy Air Force’s J-35 Carrier-Capable Stealth Fighter appears on Chinese social media

by Till Daisd October 13, 2023

written by Till Daisd

The picture in this post features the clearest image to date of China’s future carrier-borne stealth fighter known as the J-35

Surfaced last week on Chinese social media Weibo and likely taken at the Harbin Aircraft Industry Group test facility in Harbin, the picture in this post features the clearest image to date of China’s future carrier-borne stealth fighter known as the J-35.

Designed by Shenyang, the twin engine aircraft will be flown by the People’s Liberation Army Navy Air Force (PLANAF) from China’s future Type-003 Fujian-class aircraft carriers.

According to Naval News, the high-resolution picture shows the third J-35 prototype with tail number 350003 as well as several other interesting details:

The fighter features an IRST sensor under the nose. It looks similar to the F-35’s Electro-Optical Target System (EOTS) and likely has a similar role.
The engines feature sawtooth nozzles. This is to reduce heat signature and therefore improve stealth in the infra-red (IR) spectrum.
The main landing gear is “beefed up” to allow for CATOBAR operations. Sadly, the front landing gear is hidden by a technician and we cannot see the presence of a “launch bar”, typically used for catapult launch. But previous, lower quality, images of the J-35 in flight showed the launch bar on the front landing gear.
The radar dome (at the nose) appears to be canted. This likely indicates the presence of a tilted Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar antenna.
The cockpit shows the presence of a good old head-up display (HUD), while on the F-35, the HUD is replaced by an advanced helmet mounted display system (HMDS).
The canopy configuration and its opening are similar to that of the F-35.
The tip of the vertical stabilizer shows the “flying shark” logo, typically seen on J-15 carrier borne fighters currently deployed on the PLAN’s Liaoning and Shandong carriers.

The folding wings featured by the airframe were clearly visible in the earlier pictures of the unpainted aircraft. Folding wings are used to reduce the footprint when stored onboard the carrier. But this is almost impossible to tell when looking at the picture of 350003 (potentially indicating a high level of quality).

Although most open sources call it “J-35” or “J-XY, according to Naval News, the official designation of China’s new twin-engine stealth fighter aircraft is not known yet, some even calls it a variant of the FC-31. A full-size mock-up of the stealth plane first appeared in June 2021 on a full-sized mock-up of a real Chinese Navy aircraft carrier, located at Wuhan land based testing facility.

The aircraft will be operated from the Type-003 Fujian-class aircraft carriers the first of which was launched in June. The Type-003 is China’s biggest most modern and most powerful aircraft carrier. As reported by News18, at 80,000 tons and 318 meters, the Fujian is named after the Chinese province that sits across from Taiwan.

Unlike Liaoning and Shandong, the other two People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) aircraft carriers, that feature a ski jump (a ramp at the bow of the ship that helps jets take off from the carrier’s short runway), Fujian is reported to have electromagnetic catapult launch systems (EMALS).

The ski jump launches are extremely restrictive as they impose big constraints on the size, weight and payload of the aircraft being launched. Instead EMALS’ main advantage is that it accelerates the aircraft more smoothly, putting less stress on their airframes. Furthermore, it weighs and costs less and also requires less maintenance than a steam piston-driven system. It also reduces the carrier’s requirement for fresh water, thus reducing the demand for energy-intensive desalination. Most US carriers have steam-driven catapults except the new USS Gerald Ford class.

Photo by Weibo

October 13, 2023 0 comment

Airshows

Meet Lt. Amanda “Stalin” Lee, Blue Angels first woman F/A-18E/F Super Hornet demonstration pilot

by Till Daisd October 11, 2023

written by Till Daisd

Lt. Amanda “Stalin” Lee makes Blue Angels history as the first woman to fly in a demo F/A-18E/F Super Hornet with the team

Lt. Amanda “Stalin” Lee makes Blue Angels history as the first woman to fly in a demo F/A-18E/F Super Hornet with the team.

On Jul. 18, 2020 the US Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron announced six new officers to join the team for the 2023 air show season. The squadron selected two F/A-18E/F Super Hornet pilots, an events coordinator, a C-130J Super Hercules pilot, an aviation maintenance officer and a flight surgeon to replace outgoing team members.

As reported by Pensacola News Journal, although hundreds of women have served with the Blue Angels in a variety of capacities over 55 years, Lt. Amanda Lee, of Mounds View, Minnesota, will be the first woman to serve as a demonstration pilot.

LT Amanda “Stalin” Lee grew up in Mounds View, Minnesota. While attending the University of Minnesota in Duluth and working at UPS, she decided to enlist in the Navy, graduating from Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois in 2007. Her successful enlisted career as an Aviation Electronics Technician led to her selection into the Seaman-to-Admiral (STA-21) Commissioning Program. LT Lee received a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry at Old Dominion University, and earned her commission in August 2013. She was designated a Naval Aviator in April 2016 and recently completed a deployment aboard the USS HARRY S. TRUMAN (CVN 75), in support of Dynamic Force Employment (DFE), Operation INHERENT RESOLVE (OIR), as well as numerous exercises with NATO Allies.

In 2019, Lee was part of the first ever all-female flyover as part of the funeral service for retired Navy Capt. Rosemary Mariner, one of the first female Navy jet pilots and the first woman to command an operational naval aviation squadron.

“Capt. Mariner really was the starting point of female aviation,” Lee said at the time. “She’s one of the first eight original female pilots allowed in the Naval pipeline … young kids growing up and not thinking whether they can do something or not because of their race, gender, ethnicity, they just go out and say, ‘This is what I wanna do,’ and that question isn’t really in their mind, it kinda all starts back with Capt. Mariner and some of the doors that she broke down.”

While Lee is the first woman who will fly an F/A-18E/F for the squadron, she isn’t the first woman to take to the skies with the Blue Angels.

That honor goes to Marine Maj. Katie Higgins, who flew the team’s C-130 Fat Albert transport plane 2014 to 2016.

The selected 2023 officers include:

F/A-18E/F Demonstration Pilots:

• Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Zimmerman, of Baltimore, Maryland, is currently assigned to the “Red Rippers” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 11. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2009.

• Lt. Amanda Lee, of Mounds View, Minnesota, is currently assigned to the “Gladiators” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106. She graduated from Old Dominion University in 2013.

Amanda-Lee-1182x1536-1 — The US Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, selected six new officers to join the team for the for the 2023 air show season. Lt. Amanda Lee, of Mounds View, Minn., is currently assigned to the “Gladiators” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106.

Events Coordinator:

• Lt. Cmdr. Brian Vaught, of Englewood, Colorado, is a naval flight officer currently assigned to the Naval School of Aviation Safety. He graduated from the University of Colorado in 2008.

C-130 Demonstration Pilot:

• Marine Corps Capt. Samuel Petko, of Osceola, Indiana, is a KC-130J Hercules pilot currently assigned to the “Sumos” of Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 152. He graduated from Indiana University in 2014.

Maintenance Officer:

• Lt. Cmdr. Greg Jones, of Cary, North Carolina, is an aviation maintenance officer currently assigned to Pre-Commissioning Unit John F. Kennedy (CVN 79). He graduated from Elon University in 2008.

Flight Surgeon:

• Lt. Philippe Warren, of Williamsburg, Virginia, is a flight surgeon currently assigned to the “Fighting Griffins” of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 266. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 2014.

Blue-Angels — Blue Angels F/A-18 Super Hornets

New team members will report to the squadron in September for a two-month turnover period. Upon completion of the 2022 show season, which concludes in November with the Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show at NAS Pensacola, the team will embark on a rigorous five-month training program at NAS Pensacola and Naval Air Facility El Centro, California.

2022 is the team’s 76th anniversary.

In 1946, the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Chester Nimitz, had a vision to create a flight exhibition team in order to raise the public’s interest in naval aviation and boost Navy morale.

In the 1940’s, the Blue Angels thrilled audiences with our precision combat maneuvers in the F6 Hellcat, the F8 Bearcat and the F9 Panther. During the 1950’s, the team refined its demonstration with aerobatic maneuvers in the F9F-8 Cougar and F11 Tiger and introduced the first six-plane delta formation, still flown to this day.

By the end of the 1960’s, the Blue Angels were flying the F-4 Phantom, the only two seat aircraft flown by the delta formation. In 1974, the team transitioned to the A-4 Skyhawk, a smaller and lighter aircraft with a tighter turning radius allowing for a more dynamic flight demonstration. In 1986, the team celebrated its 40th Anniversary by unveiling the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet.

The Blue Angels, conducted the final flight on the F/A-18 A/B/C/D “Legacy” Hornets on Nov. 4, 2020. The final flight of the Legacy Hornets marked the official transition of the Blue Angels to the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet platform.

Photos of Blue Angels getting fuel on their way home to NAS Pensacola show that the team is still flying one F/A-18 tandem seat Legacy Hornet

Photo by U.S. Navy

October 11, 2023 0 comment

Civil

When a British Airways Captain got sucked out of a BAC One-Eleven a flight attendant grabbed his legs and avoided him going out completely

by Till Daisd October 10, 2023

written by Till Daisd

With the captain pinned against the window frame for twenty minutes, the first officer landed at Southampton Airport

British Airways Flight 5390 was a flight from Birmingham Airport in England for Málaga Airport in Spain. On Jun. 10, 1990, the BAC One-Eleven 528FL suffered explosive decompression resulting in no loss of life. With the aircraft flying over Didcot, Oxfordshire, an improperly installed windscreen panel separated from its frame, causing the plane’s captain to be blown partially out of the aircraft. With the captain pinned against the window frame for twenty minutes, the first officer landed at Southampton Airport.

‘On Jun. 10, 1990, the windscreen blew out in front of the captain of British Airways Flight 5390 shortly after takeoff from Birmingham, England,’ George Smith, an aviation expert, says on Quora. ‘The change in pressure sucked Captain Tim Lancaster (age 42) out of the aircraft, but his legs were grabbed by flight attendant Nigel Ogden. Without such heroics, Lancaster would have fallen to his death or been sucked into the plane’s engine.’

Nigel Ogden recalls in an article appeared on The Sunday Morning Herald;

‘He had been sucked out of his seatbelt and all I could see were his legs. I jumped over the control column and grabbed him round his waist to avoid him going out completely.

‘Everything was being sucked out of the aircraft: even an oxygen bottle that had been bolted down went flying and nearly knocked my head off. I was holding on for grim death but I could feel myself being sucked out, too. [Steward] John [Heward] rushed in behind me and saw me disappearing, so he grabbed my trouser belt to stop me slipping further, then wrapped the captain’s shoulder strap around me. Luckily, Alistair [Atchison], the co-pilot, was still wearing his safety harness from take-off, otherwise he would have gone, too.’

Lancaster was exposed to the equivalent of 345 mph winds and 1.5 F (-17 C) temperatures.

Ogden continues;

‘I was still holding on to Tim but the pressure made him weigh the equivalent of 500 pounds [about 200 kilograms]. It was a good thing I’d had so much training at rugby tackles, but my arms were getting colder and colder and I could feel them being pulled out of their sockets.

‘I couldn’t hold on any more, so [steward] Simon [Rogers] strapped himself into the third pilot’s seat and hooked Tim’s feet over the back of the captain’s seat and held on to his ankles. One of the others said: “We’re going to have to let him go.” I said: “I’ll never do that.” I knew I wouldn’t be able to face his family, handing them a matchbox and saying: “This is what is left of your husband.” If we’d let go of his body, it might have got jammed in a wing or the engines.

‘I left Simon hanging on to Tim and staggered back into the main cabin. For a moment, I just sat totally exhausted in a jump seat, my head in my hands.’

At the same time, Atchison put on his oxygen mask and managed to land the plane 22 minutes later. Everyone survived, including Lancaster, 81 passengers and four crew.

Ogden concludes;

‘The paramedics had Tim in the cockpit on a stretcher and I went in to see him.

‘He was lying there, covered in blood, but to my amazement I heard him say: “I want to eat.” I just exclaimed: “Typical bloody pilot.” Luckily, he’d been in a coma throughout the ordeal, his body had just shut down. I went out onto the front steps, and shouted at the others “He’s alive!” and then I cried my eyes out.’

Lancaster had frostbite from exposure to the extreme cold and several fractures. Ogden also suffered frostbite and had a dislocated shoulder.

Within five months Lancaster was flying again and he became a pilot for easyJet.

Ogden returned to work after a break but suffered post-traumatic stress and took early retirement in 2001 on the grounds of ill health. He then became a night watchman at a Salvation Army hospital.

In 1992, a report was published showing that a BA engineer, working under pressure, had fitted a new windscreen with bolts that were too small.

Photo by screenshot from YouTube video and Rob Hodgkins via Wikipedia

October 10, 2023 0 comment

Airshows

After a Blue Angels’ F/A-18 Super Hornet caused $180,000 in building damage while performing the “sneak pass,” the team had to change their show

by Till Daisd October 3, 2023

written by Till Daisd

The sneak pass maneuver has been safely performed for decades at air shows around the country, and the El Centro incident is the only known incident of damage

The US Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels modified their routine after an F/A-18 Super Hornet accidentally shook up a few buildings last year at Naval Air Facility El Centro, California, causing $180,000 in damage and injuring a dozen people, Task & Purpose reports.

The Blue Angels’ new Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets are set to make their Seattle debut in this year’s Seafair air show over Lake Washington. The jets are 25% larger than the legacy Hornets they replaced, and festival promoters are touting them as “Bigger. Louder. Faster.”

The Blue Angels’ stunts and formation flying — with as few as 18 inches between wingtips — have long been a highlight of the festival.

According to The Seattle Times, this year, as in some years past, the Blue Angels have received initial approval to perform the “sneak pass,” a popular maneuver that involves one of the six Super Hornets breaking out of formation and flying as low as 50 feet off the water at close to the speed of sound.

The F/A 18 E/F Super Hornet aircraft can unleash a more powerful sonic air — or pressure — wave compared with its predecessor. This was inadvertently demonstrated on Jan. 21, 2021. During a practice run of the maneuver at the Naval Air Facility El Centro in California when a Blue Angel pilot veered slightly off course, the Rhino (as the Super Hornet is dubbed by its aircrews. The “Rhino” nickname was previously applied to the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, which was retired from the fleet in 1987), which passed within 100 feet of buildings, caused more than $180,000 in damage.

According to a Navy investigative report, the destructive impact, detailed in witness statements, included knocked-down ceiling tiles, cracked windows, fallen shelves, nails pulled out of plywood and dislodged sheathing in two shear walls designed to help a base fire department building withstand earthquakes.

According to the report, the close flyby of base buildings also injured a dozen personnel, who initially suffered ringing in the ears and headaches that then abated.

US Navy investigators said the jets create a “noticeably larger localized sonic airflow signature” than the predecessor Hornets, which increases the “probability and severity of future occurrences” such as the damage sustained at El Centro.

Rear Adm. Robert Westendorff, Chief of Naval Air Training, accepted four safety measures, including a slight reduction in the maximum speed for the low-flying sneak pass and banning the maneuver within 200 feet of any structure, vehicle or personnel to prevent another such incident.

The incident investigation and recommendations were released in response to a federal Freedom of Information Act request from Glen Milner, a Washington peace activist and researcher with the Poulsbo-based Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action.

Milner has protested for years what he calls the militarization of Seafair, and sought to find out more about the Super Hornet aircraft.

“Seafair was saying they would be coming, and would be louder, so I was wondering — how much louder?” Milner said.

The sneak pass maneuver has been safely performed for decades at air shows around the country, and the El Centro incident is the only known incident of damage, US Navy officials said in a written statement.

Navy officials said that the new safety measures will prevent a reoccurrence of the incident.

A final decision on whether to perform the maneuver in Seattle will be made by a commanding officer who will assess the conditions during Seafair before proceeding, officials said.

Developed by McDonnell Douglas, the Super Hornet, which first flew in 1995, is a twin-engine carrier-capable multirole fighter aircraft based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F twin-seat variants are larger and more advanced derivatives of the F/A-18C and D Hornet.

The Hornet and Super Hornet share many characteristics, including avionics, ejection seats, radar, armament, mission computer software, and maintenance/operating procedures. The Super Hornet is largely a new aircraft at about 20% larger, 7,000 lb (3,200 kg) heavier empty weight, and 15,000 lb (6,800 kg) heavier maximum weight than the Legacy Hornet. The Super Hornet carries 33% more internal fuel, increasing mission range by 41% and endurance by 50% over the Legacy Hornet.

As the Super Hornet is significantly heavier than the Legacy Hornet, the catapult and arresting systems must be set differently. To aid safe flight operations and prevent confusion in radio calls, the Super Hornet is informally referred to as the “Rhino” to distinguish it from earlier Hornets.

Furthermore the Super Hornet, unlike the Legacy Hornet, is designed to be equipped with an aerial refueling system (ARS) or “buddy store” for the refueling of other aircraft, filling the tactical airborne tanker role the US Navy had lost with the retirement of the KA-6D Intruder and Lockheed S-3B Viking tankers.

The EA-18G Growler is another variant of the F/A-18 Super Hornet that combines the proven Rhino platform with a sophisticated electronic warfare suite.

Photo by U.S. Navy

October 3, 2023 0 comment

Airshows

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the first supersonic flight, USAF and NASA Jets will compete to determine which will be first to go supersonic during Edwards AFB Airshow

by Till Daisd October 2, 2023

written by Till Daisd

The event will commemorate the 75th anniversaries of the Air Force and the first supersonic flight, by then-Capt. Chuck Yeager in the skies over Edwards AFB

Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) will hold its first airshow for the first time in 13 years on Oct. 15 and 16. Besides the US Air Force (USAF), NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center will be participating as well, Alert 5 first noted.

According to Bakersfield.com, headlining the free two-day event will be the Air Force Thunderbirds flight demonstration team. They will be joined by a vast array of aerial performance and static displays representing nearly every aircraft in the USAF inventory, Chase Kohler of the 412th Public Affairs office said.

“It’s a rare opportunity to get pretty much every aircraft in the Air Force inventory either in the air or on the ground,” he said.

The F-22, F-35, T-38, F-16, B-1 and B-52 bombers and KC-135 tanker are among the aircraft expected. NASA will also be providing a number of aircraft.

The event will commemorate the 75th anniversaries of the Air Force and the first supersonic flight, by then-Capt. Chuck Yeager in the skies over Edwards AFB.

As we have already explained, Chuck Yeager used to open the Edwards AFB Airshow with a sonic boom. He flew in a USAF fighter jet and kicked off the show with a very nice pass.

Yeager was chosen to fly the secret Bell X-1 experimental aircraft, built to test the capabilities of the human pilot and a fixed-wing aircraft against the severe aerodynamic stresses of sonic flight. On Oct. 14, 1947, over Rogers Dry Lake in southern California, he rode the X-1, attached to a B-29 mother ship, to an altitude of 25,000 feet (7,600 metres). The X-1 then rocketed separately to 40,000 feet (12,000 metres), and Yeager became the first man to break the sound barrier, which was approximately 662 miles (1,066 km) per hour at that altitude.

He passed away on Dec. 8, 2020.

To celebrate that first sonic boom and take advantage of holding a rare air show beneath a supersonic corridor, the air show will feature Air Force and NASA jets “going full steam” to see which can break the sound barrier first.

“We want to heighten that and showcase that, because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime for air shows to be able to actually go past Mach .99 and actually hit that sonic boom,” Kohler said.

The crowd will not be able to see the aircraft as they will be at altitude, but “they’re definitely going to hear them and feel them,” he said. “We’re just really excited to showcase that unique part.”

Air Force photo by Chad Bellay.

October 2, 2023 0 comment

Airshows

Meet the “Dream Viper,” the new special painted F-16AM belonging to the Belgian Air Force F-16 Solo Display Team

by Till Daisd September 23, 2023

written by Till Daisd

The cool photos in this post feature the “Dream Viper,” the new paint scheme of the F-16AM belonging to the Belgian Air Force F-16 Solo Display Team

Taken on Jun. 9, 2022 by our friend Andrew Timmerman from Finn Aviation Photography, the cool photos in this post feature the “Dream Viper,” the new paint scheme of the F-16AM belonging to the Belgian Air Force F-16 Solo Display Team.

With the start of the new 2022 air meeting season, the Belgian Air Force has a new demonstration pilot in command of the F-16 Solo Display Team.

According to the Belgian Air Force F-16 Solo Display Facebook Page, Aviation Commander Steven ‘Vrieske’ De Vries, of the 31st Tiger Squadron at Kleine-Brogel Air Force Base, will be able to represent the Belgian national colors as an ambassador for the next three years at numerous air events in Belgium and abroad.

Like his predecessors, Steven, as the 19th F-16 demonstration pilot since 1979, also receives a unique-painted aircraft. The aircraft’s design was created by Aviation Commander Steven De Vries with the graphic contribution of Nico De Boeck. The fantastic painting is from the painters section of the Kleine-Brogel Air Base.

After a period of technical inspections and detailed painting, the aircraft with the tail number FA-87 and named “Dream Viper” had been unveiled on Thursday, Jun. 9, 2022 to colleagues, guests, media and aviation enthusiasts under the approving eye of the Air Component Commander, the Major General Aviator Thierry Dupont.

‘Senior Captain Steven “Vrieske” De Vries will together with his team be displaying the Dream Viper around Europe and amaze the crowds with his breathtaking flying skills. The highlight would be the Negative loop that he flies in his display,’ Timmerman explained to #AW#.

Vrieske and the Dream Viper debuted this past weekend during the Cosford Airshow at Royal Air Force (RAF) Cosford, UK. The next chance to admire the Dream Viper will be at the Danish Air Show in Karup, Denmark.

For the biggest fans, a reference book of the Belgian Air Force’s F-16 Solo Display Team, containing the most beautiful photos and souvenirs of the 2022 season, will be available this fall.

September 23, 2023 0 comment

F-14 Tomcat

From the F/A-18 Super Hornet to the F-14 Tomcat: all the Fighter Aircraft featured in Top Gun: Maverick

by Till Daisd September 19, 2023

written by Till Daisd

This time, it looks like Maverick and the rest of the Navy crew in “Top Gun: Maverick” will face the Sukhoi Su-57, NATO reporting name Felon

Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel to the 1986 classic puts Pete “Maverick” Mitchell back in the cockpit to train a new group of young aviators. Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it.

The original Top Gun featured the iconic F-14 Tomcat, the nimble A-4 Skyhawk, and the famed, black painted MiG-28 that never actually existed: in fact, the part of the MiG-28 was played by the F-5E Tiger II.

As explained in an extensive piece that appeared on Sandboxx, this time, it looks like Maverick and the rest of the Navy crew in “Top Gun: Maverick” will face an actual foreign aircraft: the Sukhoi Su-57, NATO reporting name Felon.

Sukhoi Su-57 Felon

The configuration of the Sukhoi Su-57 Felon is an evolution of the Su-27’s shape adapted for the requirements of low visibility and supersonic speed and agility.

As explained by Piotr Butowski in his book Russia’s Warplanes, Volume 1, the main solution to reduce radar visibility is the internal carriage of weapons. Radar blockers reduce reflections from the engine inlet guide vanes and are installed in the engine air intake ducts. The shape of the airframe has been selected to reduce the number of directions in which electromagnetic waves are reflected and to ensure these directions are the safest.

Another group of stealth measures concern the fighter’s equipment. The surfaces of the NO36 radar arrays are deflected from the vertical plane, thus deflecting the enemy radar’s radiation aside. The domes of the arrays are selective — they let their own signal pass through and block other frequencies. In addition, the compartments for these arrays feature radar-absorbent coatings on their edges to absorb ‘freak waves’ (which occur when a wave is amplified after multiple reflections within an enclosed space). In order to reduce their total number, the available arrays are used by multiple systems simultaneously, for example, the radar, ECM and IFF systems. Within the antenna-feeder system, use is made of antennas that do not protrude outside the airframe outlines, and the vertical empennage serves as an antenna for the communications suite. The turret of the 101KS-V IRST is rotated backwards in cruise configuration, and its rear hemisphere is covered with a radar-absorbing coating.

Although it seems all but likely that “Top Gun: Maverick” will paint the Su-57 as a formidable foe, potentially even a straight-up over-match for Maverick and co’s F/A-18 Super Hornets, and even if as we have already explained the Su-57 is marketed as fifth-generation fighter, the Felon is not a true stealth fighter and it can’t be compared to the US-made F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II. The Su-57 Felon has the same RCS of a clean F/A-18 Super Hornet (and 1,000 times bigger than that of the F-35).

F/A-18 Super Hornet

The original “Top Gun” may have left moviegoers pining for the cockpit of the F-14, but with the Tomcat’s retirement in 2006, Maverick’s new ride for the movie is the F/A-18E Super Hornet.

The F/A-18 Hornet is the US first strike-fighter. It was designed for traditional strike applications such as interdiction and close air support without compromising its fighter capabilities. With its excellent fighter and self-defense capabilities, the F/A-18 at the same time increased strike mission survivability and supplemented the F-14 Tomcat in fleet air defense.

Maverick Still Feels The Need for Speed: Check Out the Official Top Gun Sequel Trailer

The newest model, Super Hornet, is highly capable across the full mission spectrum: air superiority, fighter escort, reconnaissance, aerial refueling, close air support, air defense suppression, and day/night precision strike. Compared to the original F/A-18 A through D models, Super Hornet has a longer range, an aerial refueling capability, increased survivability/lethality, and improved carrier suitability. [Capability of precision-guided munitions: JDAM (all variants), JSOW and JASSM].

Gone are the days of the RIOs. (If you watch the trailer, the plane at the very end is a Tomcat, present thanks to CGI magic.) The radar system is improved enough that the pilot can fly the plane and use the radar at the same time, no Goose needed.

Super Hornets come in two variants: a single-seater and a two-seater, meaning that unlike a Tomcat, which engineers designed around a two-person crew, a pilot can fly an F/A-18 all by themselves. The two-seaters, technically known as the F/A-18F, can host a “weapons systems officer” in the backseat (abbreviation: WSO, pronounced “whizz-oh”). Alternatively, that backseat can be outfitted with all the controls a pilot would need to fly the Super Hornet.

While the Tomcat is powerful, the Hornet and Super Hornet are more agile. If an F/A-18 and F-14 were to fight, the former would have an advantage in that realm. And with a modern aircraft comes a plane easier to fly: the Tomcat was challenging to fly well, while the Hornet is easier to be good in.

F-35C Lightning II

Paramount film crews working aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln also confirmed that “Top Gun: Maverick” will feature the Lockheed Martin F-35C.

In August 2018 in fact a film crew from Paramount Pictures was aboard aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) the same time the Navy began launching F-35C jets off the ship interchangeably with F/A-18E/F Super Hornets as an integrated air wing.

At the time six F-35Cs were operating aboard Lincoln and the film crew almost certainly got an up-close look at the Lightning II – operating alongside the Super Hornets, the EA-18G Growlers, the E-2 Hawkeye, and the C-2 Greyhound.

Thanks to the F-35C Lightning II for the first time in US naval aviation history, radar-evading stealth capability comes to the carrier deck. The F-35C carrier variant sets new standards in weapon system integration, lethality, maintainability, combat radius and payload that bring true multimission power projection capability from the sea.

The F-35C combines lessons learned from previous aircraft with technology breakthroughs to produce a fighter that retains its stealthy advantage with minimal low observable maintenance, even in the harshest shipboard conditions.

The F-35C matches 5th-generation survivability with major advances in network-enabled mission systems, reliability, and interoperability. It is a first-day-of-the-war fighter with the capability to dominate adversaries in the air or on the surface while surviving the most formidable threat environments.

SR-72 Son of Blackbird (or Darkstar)

Based on an assumption made thanks to the Matchbox toyline, Top Gun: Maverick will also feature the SR-72 Son of Blackbird (or Darkstar).

The aircraft shown only briefly in some of the movie’s trailers is very clearly not based on anything in operation today… but that doesn’t mean it’s without an analogous real-world platform.

The SR-72 is envisioned as a manned or unmanned, reusable hypersonic ISR and strike aircraft capable of Mach 6 flight, or nearly double the speed of its predecessor, the SR-71 Blackbird. As we have previously reported, NASA is funding the validation of a previous Lockheed study that found that speeds up to Mach 7 could be achieved with a dual-mode engine that combines turbine and ramjet technologies.

This exotic-looking aircraft will introduce hypersonic platforms to the Top Gun universe.

P-51 Mustang

“Top Gun: Maverick” doesn’t only feature advanced new fighters and aircraft, it’s also got an appearance from Tom Cruise’s personally-owned P-51 Mustang.

The Mustang was among the best and most well-known fighters used by the US Army Air Forces during World War II. Possessing excellent range and maneuverability, the P-51 operated primarily as a long-range escort fighter and also as a ground attack fighter bomber. The Mustang served in nearly every combat zone during WWII and later fought in the Korean War.

The P-51D version incorporated several improvements, and it became the most numerous variant of the Mustang with nearly 8,000 being built. The most obvious change was a new “bubble-top” canopy that greatly improved the pilot’s vision. The P-51D also received the new K-14 gunsight, an increase from four to six .50-cal machine guns, and a simplified ammunition feed system that considerably reduced gun jams.

The P-51 Mustang featured in “Top Gun: Maverick” is not a P-51D, but rather a P-51K (different propeller and canopy shape), but that’s just a bit of picking nits.

F-14 Tomcat

While Tom Cruise got top billing in the first film, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat was the real star. Now, it looks a lot like the F-14 is making a comeback in “Top Gun: Maverick,” and in what may be the craziest split-second of footage you’re apt to find on television today, it might be squaring off against Russia’s Su-57.

Advancements during the Cold War in Soviet long-range patrol and bomber aircraft dictated a requirement for a fleet defense fighter that could engage high-altitude bombers from well beyond visual range. The iconic F-14 Tomcat was Grumman’s answer. Equipped with long-range AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missiles, F-14s could engage multiple hostiles over 90 miles away. Needing an interceptor’s high speed while carrying this heavy ordnance, Grumman produced the highly effective variable-sweep wing of the F-14, enabling it to operate at a wide range of airspeeds.

The F-14 saw its first combat in August 1981, downing two Libyan Su-22 fighters over the Gulf of Sidra. It saw considerable duty in the Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The last F-14D Super Tomcat retired from active service with the US Navy in 2006, when it was replaced by the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, an evolutionary upgrade to the F/A-18C/D.

However, the F-14A remains in service with the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF).

How would an old F-14 fare in a fight against the latest and greatest fighter Russia has to offer? Well, that’s hard to say. The F-14’s variable-sweep wing design was a relic of a pre-stealth era, and the aircraft is said to have a radar cross-section comparable to that of the still-in-service F-15.

That might not sound too bad… but it is.

Suffice it to say, the Su-57 would see the Tomcat coming long before even the Tomcat’s massive AN/AWG-9 radar could see the Felon.

Although Russia’s avionics may be dated, this time, the Russians likely would have the technological advantage.

The interesting video in this post features the 6 fighter aircraft that according to Paramount Pictures will appear in Top Gun: Maverick.

Photo by: Paramount Pictures and Asobo Studio/Xbox Game Studios

September 19, 2023 0 comment

Carriers

Former Naval Aviator explains why Green Shirts show pilots the gross weight of their aircraft on the catapult before every launch

by Till Daisd September 18, 2023

written by Till Daisd

‘Usually, the planned or estimated gross weight before taxiing will be written in chalk on the aircraft’s nose-gear door,’ John Chesire, former Naval Aviator

An aircraft catapult is a device used to allow aircraft to take off from a very limited amount of space, such as the deck of a vessel, but can also be installed on land-based runways in rare cases. It is now most commonly used on aircraft carriers, as a form of assisted take-off.

In the form used on aircraft carriers the catapult consists of a track, or slot, built into the flight deck, below which is a large piston or shuttle that is attached through the track to the nose gear of the aircraft, or in some cases a wire rope, called a catapult bridle, is attached to the aircraft and the catapult shuttle.

Other forms have been used historically, such as mounting a launching cart holding a seaplane on a long girder-built structure mounted on the deck of a warship or merchant vessel, but most catapults share a similar sliding track concept.

What is the green shirt (actually green shirts are responsible for Catapult and Arresting Gear aboard an aircraft carrier) in the photo of this post showing to the F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot before catapult launch?

‘He is showing to the pilot what he believes is the gross weight of the aircraft on the catapult. This weight is extremely important. It needs to be known for proper setting of the catapult,’ says John Chesire, former Naval Aviator, on Quora.

‘Usually, the planned or estimated gross weight before taxiing will be written in chalk on the aircraft’s nose-gear door. The guy in green will show this weight to the pilot for confirmation. If the pilot agrees with that weight displayed, he will give a “thumbs up”. If the pilot knows that weight shown to him is incorrect, he will signal with his hands to raise or lower the displayed weight until it matches the correct gross weight. He then will give a thumbs up; the catapult crew will set in the proper adjustments for that weight, and the aircraft will soon be shot off the deck.’

Chesire concludes;

‘This occurs on every flight and launch.’

Photo by U.S. Navy

September 18, 2023 0 comment

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