Italian fighter jets broke sound barrier to intercept Air France Boeing 777 to Paris

Lawman said:
They also didn’t use a Sidewinder. They used a L7 Hellfire (radar guided). Which is wasteful enough but it’s worse with AIM-9. Sidewinder is a 200 lbs missile.

That’s 2 Hellfires you aren’t taking to the fight, and in the case of the Cobra (especially the W and earlier models), that’s a lot of not my job you’re bringing with you and leaving actual job tools behind for.

Same reason we stopped the Stinger ATA package on our helicopters. Weight/dollars/training dedicated to a non type critical mission taking away from the real mission needs to be evaluated a lot better than it unfortunately is.

It’d be like if they came out and said “we’re gonna give you an anti ship capability with missile _____.” Is just be dumbfounded going “what about my better sight and self protection suite we’ve been screaming to get?”


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AIM-9 was a waste of a pylon for me. Same with the ECM pods. For ECM, am not operating at altitudes where they make a difference for me, among other limitations. Would rather be hanging a piece of air-ground ordnance on station 1/11. If I was forced to go air-air, that's what the gun is for.
 
MikeD said:
Lawman said:
They also didn’t use a Sidewinder. They used a L7 Hellfire (radar guided). Which is wasteful enough but it’s worse with AIM-9. Sidewinder is a 200 lbs missile.

That’s 2 Hellfires you aren’t taking to the fight, and in the case of the Cobra (especially the W and earlier models), that’s a lot of not my job you’re bringing with you and leaving actual job tools behind for.

Same reason we stopped the Stinger ATA package on our helicopters. Weight/dollars/training dedicated to a non type critical mission taking away from the real mission needs to be evaluated a lot better than it unfortunately is.

It’d be like if they came out and said “we’re gonna give you an anti ship capability with missile _____.” Is just be dumbfounded going “what about my better sight and self protection suite we’ve been screaming to get?”


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AIM-9 was a waste of a pylon for me. Same with the ECM pods. For ECM, am not operating at altitudes where they make a difference for me, among other limitations. Would rather be hanging a piece of air-ground ordnance on station 1/11. If I was forced to go air-air, that's what the gun is for.
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But but but.... Red Flag!


That’s kinda like when I had a guy ask “what is your counter air strategy” in case we got jumped by a MIG. He didn’t like that my answer was “I’m counting on the Air Force doing it’s job today the same way it has for the last 69 years.”

So far the record for Helicopters against fixed wing planes is pretty one sided. Giving me a stinger or a winder or any other toys isn’t looking to shift the scale the other way.


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Cptnchia said:
Flyinthrew said:
a) That's totally awesome. The sound of Freedom creates feelings inside people that they themselves cannot explain.
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I live right under VR-1074. I get to hear the sound of freedom on a regular basis. There is no noise quite like a flight of Harriers out of Cherry Point or New River tear assing over the house at midnight no more than 200ft off the deck. Its fracking awesome!
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Are you old enough to remember the F-4s out of CP? 8)


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MikeD said:
Cptnchia said:
How old do you NOt think I am?
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In my area, I remember F-4s and A-4s at Yuma, and F-4s and F-104s at Luke. As well as Willie being a base.

Getting old.
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I think at this point if you’ve seen something in US service with a Delta wing flying you are on the other side of a fence from those that haven’t.

Next few years it will be swing wing with the exclusion of the B-1 which is still around.


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Lawman said:
I think at this point if you’ve seen something in US service with a Delta wing flying you are on the other side of a fence from those that haven’t.

Next few years it will be swing wing with the exclusion of the B-1 which is still around.


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Ha! Delta wing. I remember like yesterday having Montana ANG F-106s sitting air defense in the alert barn on the south side of DMA here. And can vaguely remember Texas ANG F-101Bs doing same when Montana needed backfill here.
 
Lawman said:
I think at this point if you’ve seen something in US service with a Delta wing flying you are on the other side of a fence from those that haven’t.

Next few years it will be swing wing with the exclusion of the B-1 which is still around.


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My father started his AF career in F-86s and ended active duty flying the F-104. Flew all Century fighters in between. Even spent two years flying Mirages with the French AF as an exchange pilot.

Wish I had written down all the stories he told :(
 
MikeD said:
Lawman said:
I think at this point if you’ve seen something in US service with a Delta wing flying you are on the other side of a fence from those that haven’t.

Next few years it will be swing wing with the exclusion of the B-1 which is still around.


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Ha! Delta wing. I remember like yesterday having Montana ANG F-106s sitting air defense in the alert barn on the south side of DMA here. And can vaguely remember Texas ANG F-101Bs doing same when Montana needed backfill here.
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Yeah at one point in my life the FLAANG F-106s were normal, and then suddenly we were looking at new shiny sleek Vipers.

Same with the 111.


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I can remember F-4's at George and seeing the odd SR-71 drop into Palmdale now and again.

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trafficinsight said:
I can remember F-4's at George and seeing the odd SR-71 drop into Palmdale now and again.

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What’s crazy is when the SR wasn’t acknowledged.

We had one park at Patrick for an emergency during its “we’ve got it but we don’t talk about it” phase. Media freaked out and had vans parked off the highway taking photos and video.

The pilot got a piece of white chalk and drew the state of Florida in the tail fin and everybody lost their minds.


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Lawman said:
trafficinsight said:
I can remember F-4's at George and seeing the odd SR-71 drop into Palmdale now and again.

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What’s crazy is when the SR wasn’t acknowledged.

We had one park at Patrick for an emergency during its “we’ve got it but we don’t talk about it” phase. Media freaked out and had vans parked off the highway taking photos and video.

The pilot got a piece of white chalk and drew the state of Florida in the tail fin and everybody lost their minds.


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I think it must have been well after it was common knowledge, they'd fly over our house on downwind in broad daylight.

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MikeD said:
Too bad the EA-6 Prowlers are just recently gone. the last of the straight-turbojet (no fan bypass crap) turn-JP-into-noise, non-Stage 1 noise compliant, sound of freedom jets in our inventory.
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For part of OAF, I was living in the tent city on Aviano. Every time a package would launch, those bastards would wake me up. It sucked 6 times a day.

That’s when my favorite plane became the C-130 since I could sleep through the takeoffs.
 
MikeD said:
Too bad the EA-6 Prowlers are just recently gone. the last of the straight-turbojet (no fan bypass crap) turn-JP-into-noise, non-Stage 1 noise compliant, sound of freedom jets in our inventory.
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I was driving a combine on the edge of a cliff when pair of Prowlers went through the canyon below me on VR1350. Absolutely amazing! They use Growlers now still pretty damn spectacular to watch.
 
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