The Airplane Thread

[Llarry]

Addendum to the Skyraider story:

Douglas' first effort was the SB2D -- way too complex with double gun turrets for defense -- see photo.

The next effort was the BTD, which was the SB2D without the gun turrets and single seat. That's what Heinemann went to D.C. to sell. Still too big and too complex, though the Navy bought a few dozen. See photo.

The number one export customer in the 1950s was the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, which operated the AD-4W from carriers as the Skyraider AEW.1 -- photo attached.

Of course the biggest customer later became the VNAF in the 1960s and 1970s with used Navy A-1s.

Finally, the number one competitor to the AD was Martin's AM Mauler, which was somewhat similar but bigger and powered by the huge Pratt & Whitney 28-cylinder R-4360 engine. The Navy bought 139 of them and they served with several squadrons, who were all happy to get Skyraiders to replace them a few years later. My Dad was one of the AM test pilots at the Naval Air Test Center in 1947-48.

EDIT: One more oddball photo from the period: An Eastern TBM-3E converted to a single canopy version and belonging to the Tactical Test division of the Naval Air Test Center photographed in January of 1946. The speculation was that it was an attempt to make the TBM competitive in the new era of single-seat soon-to-be-attack aircraft. That clearly wasn't going to happen; the TBM had a Wright R-2600 radial engine with far less power than the rivals, and was larger and heavier as well. Since my Dad was attached to Tactical Test from 1947 to 1950, I wish he were still here to ask about this, but he's long gone. The white object under the wing is an APS-4 radar pod, introduced during WWII and common in the fleet through the latter 1940s.

[Lady Jane]

Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focke-Wulf_Fw_189_Uhu

[Jbrown7403]

Terrifying and Amazing is right!
.

[asianF22]

A10 Warthog...

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by asianF22

A10 Warthog...

Looks like Pensacola Airport. There's a Naval Air Station near-by as well.

[Llarry]

In loving memory of my Dad, who would be 100 years old this year had he lived. Gone 23 years now and I still miss him. Happy Fathers' Day!

The first photo is of a very young (22-year-old) Dad; already an experienced F6F Hellcat fighter pilot with 3 victories against the enemy and recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal; now back in the States flying the F8F Bearcat and getting ready to do another combat tour, which thankfully did not happen as the war ended when the squadron was in Hawaii making final preparations for their next deployment.

The second photo is the only one I have of him airborne in a Navy airplane: October 18, 1959 landing a VA-23 FJ-4B Fury at the Naval Air Station Atsugi, Japan. Photo by an unknown Japanese plane spotter.

A 150-gallon Aero-1 fuel tank under the left wing, as well as several (two visible) small practice bombs; a 200-gallon North American fuel tank under the right wing. This asymmetric configuration was quite common to the FJ-4B.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

My Dad passed away almost five years ago. A fighter pilot who flew Sabres, Starfighters, Voodoos and others... //snip//
A little montage I made:

So in addition to his other talents, was he an avid photographer?

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by Llarry

So in addition to his other talents, was he an avid photographer?

I don't know about "avid" but he did take a lot of pictures, mostly kodachrome. My Mum still has lots of carrousels full of slides. I have his old Canon SLR that he bought in 1972.

[Lady Jane]

On this day in history, June 18, 1983, astronaut Sally Ride (1951-2012) becomes the first American woman in space.

{And on June 18 2023, some still don't know what a woman is.}

T-38 Talon.

[asianF22]

CH-47 Chinook...

[Llarry]

The Lockheed-designed F-104 Starfighter was one of the iconic combat aircraft of the 20th century and saw service with many air forces. A total of 2,578 were built in a number of countries.

The XF-104 first flew in early 1954 and was revolutionary. For one thing, the wing area was quite small. In addition, the -104 used the new General Electric J-79 engine that would go on to fame powered the F-4 Phantom, among other aircraft. It also was the first aircraft to use the M61 20mm Vulcan cannon, which has become standard in U.S. fighters.

The F-104 had a protracted development -- understandable given its revolutionary design. Two XF-104s were followed by YF-104A development aircraft and production F-104As were not delivered to U.S. Air Force squadrons until 1958. Production for the USAF was limited; the F-104 was a lightweight fighter and the Air Force was more interested in heavy fighters like the F-101 and F-105. The U.S. Navy briefly got into the -104 business early on at the Naval Ordnance Test Station at China Lake, California, since NOTS had invented the Sidewinder infrared-homing air-to-air missile which was used by the F-104 and other fighters.

But the F-104 sparked considerable interest elsewhere and a number of countries selected it -- in improved F-104G form -- for their air forces. Canadair and several European consortiums started production and by 1960 the Starfighter was being adopted in various corners of the world. Early users included the Pakistani Air Force, which got 14 ex-USAF aircraft in 1961, and the Republic of China Air Force on Taiwan, which also got early-production F-104As from the U.S. Both these countries' F-104s saw combat in the 1960s: Pakistani Air Force F-104As and two-seat F-104Bs in combat with Indian Air Force aircraft and ROCAF F-104s in tangles with Communist Chinese fighters in the Taiwan Strait. The small number of Pakistani F-104s lasted until 1972, but Taiwan ultimately operated 282 F-104s, including later F-104G and F-104J models, until 1997.

The largest user became West Germany, with a total of 916 F-104s delivered to the Luftwaffe and the German Navy. Many other NATO air forces also used the F-104G and two-seat TF-104G; it essentially became NATO standard. Many of the NATO F-104Gs were assigned nuclear bomb delivery missions; the Royal Canadian Air Force was typical, with CF-104s assigned nuclear delivery and reconnaissance missions from 1962 to 1971, following which the mission was modified to include conventional weapons. The Luftwaffe, concerned about a scenario where runways would be unusable due to Soviet attacks, even experimented with zero-length takeoffs where the F-104G, complete with four external fuel tanks and a B43 nuclear bomb, would be launched by rocket booster. (see photos)

By 1986-87, most NATO countries and Japan had replaced their F-104s with newer fighters. Starfighters continued in service in Italy, Turkey and Taiwan.

Japan was another purchaser, buying 230 F-104Js and two-seat F-104DJs for use as interceptors. Japan was the exception in having a very low accident rate with the -104, losing only 3 to accidents during 1962-1986. The F-104 had a high accident rate with virtually all other users, earning it uncomplimentary nicknames such as 'widowmaker' or 'flying coffin'.

The U.S., alarmed by the transfer of MiG-21s to North Vietnam in 1964-65, deployed a squadron of F-104Cs to South Vietnam. They never met MiGs in combat but were used to escort other aircraft and for close air support missions for a year or two until replaced by F-4 Phantoms. The American F-104Cs ended their service lives in the Puerto Rican Air National Guard, serving until 1975.

The ultimate F-104 was built in Italy. The Italian Air Force started with NATO-standard F-104Gs but produced an improved F-104S starting in 1969 and progressively modified these aircraft; they transferred some to Turkey which stayed in service until 2004. The Italian F-104Ss were capable of firing radar-guided air-to-air missiles, the only version to have this capability.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockhe...04_Starfighter

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...hter_operators

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by Jbrown7403

Terrifying and Amazing is right!

Great video! A bit older... the Blues have now transitioned to the F/A-18E Super Hornet. This video shows them in the older Hornet.

It's been thirty years since I've been able to catch the Blue Angels show; I'd love to see them again!

[flybigjet]

Originally Posted by Llarry

The Lockheed-designed F-104 Starfighter was one of the iconic combat aircraft of the 20th century and saw service with many air forces. A total of 2,578 were built in a number of countries.

[/url]

Also known as "The missile with a man in it" by pilots.

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by Llarry

The Lockheed-designed F-104 Starfighter was one of the iconic combat aircraft of the 20th century

Dad's former daily...

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by Llarry

It's been thirty years since I've been able to catch the Blue Angels show; I'd love to see them again!

The Blue Angels will be buzzing my house starting probably on Thursday, for their performance at the NY Air Show on the other side of town (at my wedding chapel) next weekend. Also performing will be A-10's, F-15's, and an L-36 among the jets.

What sucks for the paying attendees with post-COVID air shows here is that the airport they're performing over is a GA airport with no runways to accommodate jets or larger planes, and they base the good planes at a former USAF base a few miles away where the attendees can't see them on the ground.....

[Llarry]

Top Gun F-16s on the road at the Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, training F/A-18 aircrew. Great color schemes!

[Lady Jane]

[QUOTE=Llarry;30234461 Great color schemes![/QUOTE]

Russian adversary colors in blue, Middle-East adversary in brown is my guess.

[Llarry]

The Hawker Hunter is perhaps the most iconic UK Royal Air Force aircraft of the 1950s and served long after that decade. The prototype first flew in 1951 and the Hunter entered service with the RAF in 1954, seeing service world-wide.

The Hunter also enjoyed considerable export success. Major export customers included India, Sweden and Switzerland, all of whom bought 100 or more Hunters. Indian Air Force Hunters saw combat in clashes with Pakistan on a number of occasions and were not retired until 1996.

The trainer version of the Hunter was somewhat unusual in featuring side-by-side seating and saw service well into the 1990s.

There was also a thriving secondary export market for used Hunters which saw them in service with a large number of third-world air forces for years.

[3798j]

.

[Llarry]

A brief overview of some of the UK Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm carrier-based aircraft of the 1950-60s:

-- The De Havilland Sea Venom was an all-weather fighter used on the the RN's aircraft carriers. It was a twin-tail boom aircraft with a crew of two.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Sea_Venom

-- The Supermarine Scimitar was the final product of the Supermarine Aircraft of Spitfire fame. It first flew in 1956 and was in service until 1969. A handsome aircraft, I would say.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Scimitar

-- The De Havilland Sea Vixen replaced the Sea Venom as the FAA's carrier-based all-weather fighter. It featured swept wings and an unusual offset pilot's cockpit with the radar officer beside but below the pilot. It was a transonic aircraft and was replaced by the American Phantom.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Sea_Vixen

-- The Fairey Gannet was an unusually versatile aircraft used for antisubmarine warfare, airborne early warning, electronic countermeasures and carrier onboard delivery (COD) transport purposes. It had two gas turbine engines side by side, each driving a separate set of propellors; one engine could be shut down and that prop feathered for endurance. The AEW version used the same radar as that of the previously-used Douglas Skyraider: The tried and tested APS-20 search radar. A note on the Gannet's folding wings -- Royal Navy carriers had limited overhead height on the hangar deck and so the Gannet's wings had a compound fold to minimize overall height.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Gannet

These aircraft were exported to Australia, France, Indonesia and West Germany.

[Llarry]

The UK retired its fleet carriers in 1979, with HMS Ark Royal the last to go. But in the 1960s, they procured more advanced aircraft to replace those in my last post: The McDonnell Douglas Phantom fighter and the Blackburn Buccaneer strike aircraft.

The Royal Navy's Phantom varied considerably from the U.S. version; rather than GE J-79 engines, it was powered by larger and more powerful Rolls-Royce Spey engines, requiring considerable revisions to the aircraft. The radar was similar to the U.S. Navy's F-4J, but British-built. The other easily seen difference was the extended nose gear when catapulted from a carrier that increased the angle of attack, made necessary by the smaller size of the RN carriers.

The RAF also bought Phantoms and operated them far longer than the Navy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonn..._in_UK_Service

The Blackburn Buccaneer was also Spey-powered (in the S.2 version) and designed as a nuclear bomber. After carrier operations ceased in 1979, the RAF took over the Buccaneer fleet and operated it until 1994.

The Buccaneer was also exported to South Africa in small numbers before the arms embargo was imposed on the apartheid government.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackburn_Buccaneer

[Llarry]

Speaking of UK-designed and -built aircraft, one that I have always found interesting is the Avro Vulcan bomber. In the mid-1970s I saw one in a spectacular flying display and that has stayed with me.

The Vulcan was originally conceived as a pure delta wing aircraft, but was later modified with a complex leading edge with varying sweep. See attached planform. The view of the nose shows the black-colored terrain following radar antenna and refueling probe.

The Vulcan became operational in 1956 and 136 were built. Along with the two other RAF V-bombers (Victor and Valiant) they were the backbone of the UK's nuclear delivery mission for some years.

In addition to nuclear weapons, the Vulcan could deliver conventional weapons, as it proved during the Falklands war with Argentina in 1982. Both then and on other occasions, Vulcans flew extremely long range missions.

Even after the Vulcan was retired in 1984, a single example was retained for public displays until 1992. I've included a video of a flying display by a Vulcan. Doesn't it look like something Batman would fly around in? (I apologize for the video's length; you may wish to skip ahead.)

Amazingly, the last flying Vulcan was civil-registered and continues to do air shows; the cost to support the aircraft must be prodigious.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Vulcan