From WWII to Current (photo)

[Migz]

I've been in love with aircraft since I could pickup a book. These are some very cool pics. Frankly I was rooting for the YF-23 when they were having the compitition when I was in high school. We have a Air National Guard base here in Fresno and a naval air station here in Lemore so I've see military aircraft flying in and out of here pretty much all my life and frankly the sound of an afterburning turbo jet or fan is music to my ears. It looks like the base here is making a switch though from f-16 falcons to f-18 hornets. Also I remeber watching Final count down on TV when I was little and I thought it was one of the coolest time travel movies ever. I like how they do that whole time loop thing and how they bring in time paradoxes and how it effects you average joe in the movie.Frankley if I had clout in Hollywood that would be one of the movies I would remake.

[BeaverEater]

Well, really the F15C, as the Raptor is primarily an air superiority fighter. Too bad we just arent buying enough of them. It's pretty stupid to not just buy a bunch, as the majority of the costs (R&D) have already been paid for.

having a ton of them would be worthless since most of the fighting today is located in cities and buildings. What we really need is better gear for the average grunt. Not billion dollar planes.

[Steelrat]

having a ton of them would be worthless since most of the fighting today is located in cities and buildings. What we really need is better gear for the average grunt. Not billion dollar planes.

Who is to say what the next conflict will be? I'd hate to get in a shooting match with China, and find out all we have is bomb trucks to fight their Sukhois. I'd love to get the grunts more good too, but we can't get tunnel vision and start thinking every future war is going to be an urban counter-insurgency.

[maxama10]

call me ignorant but id think we could blow china out of the sky with anything we have at the moment?

Edit: hmmm i take that back, I googled Sukhois.... I suppose we should be buying a few more of these raptors eh? How many of these things does china have though?

[Steelrat]

call me ignorant but id think we could blow china out of the sky with anything we have at the moment?

Edit: hmmm i take that back, I googled Sukhois.... I suppose we should be buying a few more of these raptors eh? How many of these things does china have though?

Take the google results with a grain of salt. I'm sure the first result had to do with the COPE INDIA 2004 exercise, where the Indians claimed their Sukhois trashed our F-15s. Keep in mind that they were exercises, with certain ground rules, and not just plane on plane free-for-alls. We didn't send our best AESA Eagles, werent allowed to simulate AMRAAM shots, and flew at 4 to 1 (or worse) odds, not to mention that certain missions naturally put one side at a disadvantage. We exercise to learn, not to win.

That being said, the Indian Su-37s appear to have been better than expected. China supposedly has several hundred Su-27 variants, though they are sure to buy (or make) more of them. They also have a home-grown J-10 (with those bastage Israelis helping them out, may they burn forever) which is supposed to be decent.

I don't want a close fight if push comes to shove. I want raptors to annihilate everything in the sky so the mud movers can take care of business.

[sean33]

i like the propellar planes better, They jsut seem cooler

[BeaverEater]

I realize that if it comes down to a fight with china, we will need more of them. But we need to focus at the problems at hand first before we look at the future. And since all the R&D is done with, it wont take too long to crank out some more.

[Steelrat]

I realize that if it comes down to a fight with china, we will need more of them. But we need to focus at the problems at hand first before we look at the future. And since all the R&D is done with, it wont take too long to crank out some more.

It's not like a production line just sits there waiting for more orders. Once the line is closed, it's VERY hard to start it up again.

Buying F-22s isn't whats screwing our troops. It's giving tax cuts in wartime and spending gobs of money on crap programs like the perscription drug benefit plan. Axe that stuff, and buy our troops some of the great South African wheeled APCs like the Buffalos the EOD guys are using, instead of the Humvees that were never meant to do what they are doing.

[Recon by Fire]

My Grandfather was a pilot during WW2. Has tons of old momentos like flight logs, pics, a nifty German Luger, etc... He has flown about every US plane from fighters to bombers and almost a half dozen German planes after the war also. I asked him once what plane would be his choice for combat, his immediate answer was the P-47 Thunderbolt!


It was the A-10 of its day, a flying armored tank that put serious heat down range. Me, I favor the SBD for BF1942 play, LOL.

[Steelrat]

My Grandfather was a pilot during WW2. Has tons of old momentos like flight logs, pics, a nifty German Luger, etc... He has flown about every US plane from fighters to bombers and almost a half dozen German planes after the war also. I asked him once what plane would be his choice for combat, his immediate answer was the P-47 Thunderbolt!


It was the A-10 of its day, a flying armored tank that put serious heat down range. Me, I favor the SBD for BF1942 play, LOL.

Gotta love the ol' Jug! I remember reading a great account from a German pilot who was chasing a damanged P-47 accross the english channel. The German has expended all his cannon rounds, and only had his 7.9mm machine guns left. The German literally emptied his guns into the Jug, with no real effect. He then pulled up next to the plane, and looked at the American pilot, who had tucked himself in front of his armored seat. The German saluted the American pilot, then returned back accross the channel.

[magman007]

the f22 is cool, and thank god we wised up and still put a cannon on it.

Each technological advancement in aviation that is made, always seems to revert back to the good ol dog fight. Sure we have tricks up our sleeves, but so does everyone else. I dont even want to recall the f4 fiasco..

sure the AMRAAM is an awesome misile with amazing capabilities, as is the phoenix, and yes many times it should work, but when you are up there, going through every emotion a human being can feel, you want the most you can get.

The f22 is a bad arse, no doubt about it, its what the f-117 should have been. the scariest thing though, and see if you can find footage of it, as i do know it is out there, is when the f22 leaves the operabale envelope. Shut off the flight computer, and you are dead in a minute of seconds. No pilot is going to keep it in the air.


I can recount stories from my friends father, whom was part of the skunk works project with the f117, one of the test pilots. He mentioned that while flight testing the beast, and through out the flight computerless tests, he had never been so scared in his life, this includes time in nam flying the f4, jet 1 in the thunderbirds, and making an emergency landing in an A330.


btw, corsair>all great uncle flew em and the jug in ww2. he loved that aircraft, until the one day that toe hook snapped :) theres nothing funnier than old black and white photos of a corsair floating in the water behind a carrier, with a huge smile on his face :)

[FromTheBack]

Here is my idea of modern-WW2 retro:



Splash one Zero!

Ahh what movie is that...I saw the begining of it in my childhood and it haunts me to finish the damn thing...the concept seems so great if not hilarious.

[Recon by Fire]

Final Countdown......modern aircraft carrier goes back in time to the attack on Pearl Harbor, do they keep out of history or defend their nation....a little of both :)

[RoadDawg]

This is my favorite plane.

[bleachit]

the f22 is cool, and thank god we wised up and still put a cannon on it.

The f22 is a bad arse, no doubt about it, its what the f-117 should have been. the scariest thing though, and see if you can find footage of it, as i do know it is out there, is when the f22 leaves the operabale envelope. Shut off the flight computer, and you are dead in a minute of seconds. No pilot is going to keep it in the air.

the f1117 is what it is. a first gen stealth aircraft designed to blow stuff up.

Most modern military aircraft would be a pain to fly without the flight computer. the f-16 would do the same thing, it being the first fly by wire aircraft. they are designed to be unstable so they can be highly controllable and therefore maneuverable.

and any aircraft that is flown outside of its envelope wont be pretty, thats why its outside the envelope. its not supposed to fly there. hardly something new to the f-22 design.

gah, I miss airshows... was flippin working so I couldnt make sun n fun this year.. they had an f22 there. In Niagara Falls there were some sweet airshows I went to. 4-5 years ago they had an f-16 flying side by side to a P-51. Most of my pics are in NY, I have some pretty nice ones from over the years.

anyone ever have the pleasure of a b-2 fly by? can barely hear it at all. and trying to find it while its coming towards you is near impossible until its VERY close to you. Then when its turns, it becomes huge due to is design. Very interesting to watch fly.

and the f-86 owns all. thats my favorite fighter of all time.

as far as a war with China?

American pilots are some of the best trained in the world. previous wars have proven time and again the better pilot will prevail more often than not, even against a better armed and more numerous foe. Not to mention the US has the advantage of the AWACS aircraft and massive data sharing between aircraft. way back in the mid 90's i think, there was a popular science article on the f-22. One of its capabilities was to basically shut off its radar and pick up radar signals from other aircraft. so basically the massive radar on the sukois could easily become its greatest weakness against the f22, assuming the info was correct and that is actually possible.

meh, then there is the jsf... that one is coming in larger numbers than the f22, or supposed to. it basically is a continuation of the f22 design.


I love airplanes. just finished my first semester at FIT for aeronautical science. w00t