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Link Posted: 4/21/2016 11:02:37 PM EDT
[#1]
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There was no adjusting of the probes either.

An interesting fact about the pitot probes; they appear to be about 10 inches long, but they are actually about 6 feet long.  They connect to a manifold accessed through a panel you crawled into near the gear.  They were very expensive and classified, due to their special shape.




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My BIL was a coating tech for the 117.

He said they were maintenance nightmares. Things like after every flight, the forward antennas had to be adjusted perfectly and any coating damage had to be replaced with specific panels and certain adjacent panels depending on where they were damaged. I don't remember all the details.

Evidently that was part of the huge operating cost.


We called them "martians".  The ram was maintained by the MARS shop (Material Application and Removal Specialist).

There were no forward antennas that had to be adjusted.




Maybe he's talking about the pitot probes.


There was no adjusting of the probes either.

An interesting fact about the pitot probes; they appear to be about 10 inches long, but they are actually about 6 feet long.  They connect to a manifold accessed through a panel you crawled into near the gear.  They were very expensive and classified, due to their special shape.







You guys are all wrong.  You have to adjust the holograph projectors.  If they are out of line the image is really fuzzy and less effective.
Link Posted: 4/21/2016 11:03:30 PM EDT
[#2]
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My understanding was that the shoot-down was due to some lazy planning and flying the same flight path night after night giving the A-A radar operator night after night to tune his radar to figure out what kind of return it was giving then fire at it.
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I thought I read that there were folks watching them take off from Aviano and letting the Serbs know, so they could reasonably estimate when they would be coming.  I guess the lesson is don't underestimate low tech solutions.
Link Posted: 4/21/2016 11:09:04 PM EDT
[#3]
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I worked on them for four years in the early 90s (Avionics) when they had moved from Tonapah to Holloman.  Ask me anything.



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What happened with the F-117 that crashed in Tularosa, NM?
Link Posted: 4/21/2016 11:22:01 PM EDT
[#4]
I am sooooo pleased with how this thread has gone.  

It makes my opening post so worthwhile.  We have a vast cross section of knowledge and experience here..I cannot imagine a better community. The infighting and politics get tiresome, but, what an incredible group. ( And I include myself in much of the nonsense that goes on).


Thanks to all who have made this the best topic I've ever started. Very entertaining.
Link Posted: 4/21/2016 11:55:04 PM EDT
[#5]
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You won the thread better than anyone ever has in arfcom history.
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You won the thread better than anyone ever has in arfcom history.

This.

Was on the Mall in DC during the victory parade when one flew over, one of the neatest sites I've seen.  Loud because he was pretty low.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:08:41 AM EDT
[#6]
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Awesome.  Thank you for your service.

My uncle (Mom's brother) was the commander of the 4450th Tactical Squadron (the first operational squadron) back in the mid 80's when they were still in test phase.  The family lived in Alamagordo NM, and he was flown out on Sunday night, usually came home Thursday night or Friday morning.    Obviously at that time it was "If I tell you I have to kill you:"

My uncle didn't like the F117.  He flew 105's in Nam, A7's in the late 70's, and F16's in the early 80's.  I don't remember too much specifically, he just said it wasn't fun to fly.  A couple of his friends were killed during testing back in the 80's.

My grandfather/ his dad was a lifetime pilot, ran a primary flight school for most of WW2, then flew B29's off of Tinian late the war.  He tried to get into fighters for the entire war but they kept telling him they needed him to run the school, and then when they finally shut down the school they put him flying B29's.  

Grandad and I used to build model planes when I was a kid and in the mid 80's Testors had an F19 Stealth fighter model that we put together.  

F19

My grandad showed it to my uncle and raised an eyebrow.  My uncle just smirked.

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Awesome.  Thank you for your service.

My uncle (Mom's brother) was the commander of the 4450th Tactical Squadron (the first operational squadron) back in the mid 80's when they were still in test phase.  The family lived in Alamagordo NM, and he was flown out on Sunday night, usually came home Thursday night or Friday morning.    Obviously at that time it was "If I tell you I have to kill you:"

My uncle didn't like the F117.  He flew 105's in Nam, A7's in the late 70's, and F16's in the early 80's.  I don't remember too much specifically, he just said it wasn't fun to fly.  A couple of his friends were killed during testing back in the 80's.

My grandfather/ his dad was a lifetime pilot, ran a primary flight school for most of WW2, then flew B29's off of Tinian late the war.  He tried to get into fighters for the entire war but they kept telling him they needed him to run the school, and then when they finally shut down the school they put him flying B29's.  

Grandad and I used to build model planes when I was a kid and in the mid 80's Testors had an F19 Stealth fighter model that we put together.  

F19

My grandad showed it to my uncle and raised an eyebrow.  My uncle just smirked.



I had that same model, too.

I remember seeing an F-117 for the first time in 2003, at the Dayton airshow.  Pretty cool to see in person.  Rear of the jet was in a hangar, which was roped off. Next up was seeing the Edwards test F-117 at the WPAFB Museum, same time frame.  But you couldn't get a shot of the rear at that time either. Don't know if there was anything classified back there, or just how they parked it.  

Saw one again at Maxwell AFB at a "closed" static display event in 2004.   This time you could walk even behind it.  Hmm.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:11:48 AM EDT
[#7]
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CFII was an OH-58 driver and now flies CH-47s.
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Probably, though the dude that posted a selfie taken while flying a U-2 is pretty close.  



So let's see. We have the following military pilots on here that I can think of.

F-15 aka Mach
F-16 aka Bull F16
A-10 aka Bull F16
F-117 aka ScottS
U-2 not sure screen name
AH-1 aka Snake Driver
CH-47 can't remember his screen name
AH-64 can't remember his screen name
UH-60 can't remember his screen name
CH-46 can't remember his screen name

I thought there was an F-4 pilot as well. I also thought we had a 160th SOAR pilot.

Who did I miss?

CFII was an OH-58 driver and now flies CH-47s.


The U-2 driver has posted in this thread.  There's some heavy drivers on arfcom, too.  Two E-3 pilots , at least one C-5 pilot, and I believe a KC-135 pilot. Might even have a C-17 pilot, too.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:25:14 AM EDT
[#8]
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He flew the space shuttle to Macho Grande if I remember correctly...
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Didn't CMJohnson fly F-16s?


He flew the space shuttle to Macho Grande if I remember correctly...



I LOL'd
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:30:09 AM EDT
[#9]
I was going to post something then decided not to.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:33:14 AM EDT
[#10]

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Obviously you have never heard an F-105 with its burner at max power



Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile
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Loud as fuck.


Obviously you have never heard an F-105 with its burner at max power



Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile


I live walking distance from an AFB. My vote would be a Lancer with full AB in the rain. You have to plug your ears inside the house.





 
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:38:00 AM EDT
[#11]
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Lancer with full AB in the rain.
.

 
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It's such a gorgeous bird.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:39:02 AM EDT
[#12]
The first time I saw one was as a young kid at the ~1999 Rochester Air Show.







Walked through the front gates and saw the thing there - roped off and guarded. I thought it looked like something out of Men In Black.




 
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:39:03 AM EDT
[#13]
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F-11 isn't missing; it just wasn't a very good aircraft.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/F11f_grumman_tiger.jpg

Began life as the F11F under the old USN system, became F-11 when the tri-service system was created.
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No idea why it was given a Fighter designation. Anyone?


Follow the trail.  
It ties in with the F-20 Tigershark, the F-19 designation, the missing F-11 designation and the "official" designations of the Soviet aircraft the USAF operated.

Start here.
http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/nonstandard-mds.html


F-11 isn't missing; it just wasn't a very good aircraft.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/F11f_grumman_tiger.jpg

Began life as the F11F under the old USN system, became F-11 when the tri-service system was created.


Sorry, I goofed that.
It was in the links, did you see it?

"Conclusion:
If one puts everything together, the only "valid" designation for Lockheed's stealth fighter would have been A-11A. The fact that this number is also "missing" certainly doesn't help ;-)!"
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:39:16 AM EDT
[#14]
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I live walking distance from an AFB. My vote would be a Lancer with full AB in the rain. You have to plug your ears inside the house.

 
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Loud as fuck.

Obviously you have never heard an F-105 with its burner at max power

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

I live walking distance from an AFB. My vote would be a Lancer with full AB in the rain. You have to plug your ears inside the house.

 

This thread has reminded me to take ear plugs with me next month to the Ft. Lauderdale Air Show.  I'll be in the photo pit snapping away.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:42:54 AM EDT
[#15]
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It used mostly F-16 avionics, F-15 landing gear, F/A-18 engines, it was pretty much cobbled together from "fighter" parts, and it was the same size/shape as fighters of the day.  It really should have been an A-117 but when's the last time we built a pure A aircraft?
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No idea why it was given a Fighter designation. Anyone?


It used mostly F-16 avionics, F-15 landing gear, F/A-18 engines, it was pretty much cobbled together from "fighter" parts, and it was the same size/shape as fighters of the day.  It really should have been an A-117 but when's the last time we built a pure A aircraft?


A-10. 1972-1984.  
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:44:58 AM EDT
[#16]
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:48:53 AM EDT
[#17]
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The SR-71 was the first stealth plane
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It's a badass jet. I was young during the first Gulf War but I remember thinking how cool it was we actually had stealth planes.


The SR-71 was the first stealth plane


Actually...The Horton HO bombers were the first "stealth" planes.

The first US "stealth" plane was the YB-49.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:50:36 AM EDT
[#18]
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KA3B spent a lot of time in some Navy jet. I have no idea what it was, though.  
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Ok, ScottS. Anything else I need to add?

Updated again.

F-15 aka Mach
A-10 / F-16 aka Bull F16
F-4 / F-117 / F-15 aka ScottS
F-4 aka Rodent
U-2 not sure screen name
F-18 aka Vallerhu
F-16 aka Powerstroke1999
EF-111 aka Sparkvark
AH-1 aka Snake Driver
OH-58D / CH-47 aka CFII
AH-64 can't remember his screen name
UH-60 can't remember his screen name
CH-46 aka H46Driver
KA3B spent a lot of time in some Navy jet. I have no idea what it was, though.  



It does not count since I was not a pilot.  
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 1:00:59 AM EDT
[#19]
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Do people make the same gripe about the 'vark?

It's an F designation not used as a fighter at all, afaik.  It got an air to air kill in Desert Storm by getting an Iraqi pilot to dig himself a whole in the desert.

I wonder how many guys on the ground would have rather gone into Kuwait in '91 without the air campaign that was literally lead by the 117.

I get inter-service rivalry. I get budget griping.  But let's not be revisionist faggots.  The 117 was a huge success and saved the lives of American soldiers and Marines.
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No idea why it was given a Fighter designation. Anyone?


Because Air Force


Do people make the same gripe about the 'vark?

It's an F designation not used as a fighter at all, afaik.  It got an air to air kill in Desert Storm by getting an Iraqi pilot to dig himself a whole in the desert.

I wonder how many guys on the ground would have rather gone into Kuwait in '91 without the air campaign that was literally lead by the 117.

I get inter-service rivalry. I get budget griping.  But let's not be revisionist faggots.  The 117 was a huge success and saved the lives of American soldiers and Marines.


LOL. Replace every  117 with 4 F16s in the gulf war, and what do you get? Better results.

Using the 117s in the Gulf War was stupid.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 1:03:55 AM EDT
[#20]
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Cool.
I was in Hawthorne at the same time but was in my twenties .
The F 117 had a  high-pitched whistling noise when I first started spotting it,{I heard this was later fixed.} so I new it was coming and would grab the binoculars and watch it and its escort cross the valley.

On a side note, I knew some of those guys at the radar sight. { It was Ford Aerospace if I remember correctly}.
I flew ultralights in those days and asked one of the radar techs once if my little ragwing was visible on his scope.
He said it was, barely, but that I was not the focus of their interest.

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Back in the 80's I was a kid in Hawthorne, NV. Place is surrounded by a huge early cold-war-era weapons depot (Navy then Army), tons of military land and facilities. The town is just a mile square of little houses in a hot, dusty place. People either work on the Base, at nearby mines, local community services, or collect a check in some....other fashion. I was an aircraft buff from day one like any other American kid, and did enough traveling around the state with my pops to see a lot of military stuff in action.
etcetcetc


Cool.
I was in Hawthorne at the same time but was in my twenties .
The F 117 had a  high-pitched whistling noise when I first started spotting it,{I heard this was later fixed.} so I new it was coming and would grab the binoculars and watch it and its escort cross the valley.

On a side note, I knew some of those guys at the radar sight. { It was Ford Aerospace if I remember correctly}.
I flew ultralights in those days and asked one of the radar techs once if my little ragwing was visible on his scope.
He said it was, barely, but that I was not the focus of their interest.



It's a small world for sure. I just remember the USAF enlisted uniforms. Ultralights. You didn't live on 5th across from the Lyon's park, did you?

Link Posted: 4/22/2016 1:24:08 AM EDT
[#21]
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Wasted on Panama, not on Iraq or Kosovo.  Unlike the US, eastern bloc armies put high quality folks in ADA
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It was a very interesting doctrinal procurement model.


It's the "buy whatever the fuck cool stuff you want to for the flying club" doctrine.

We spent billions to develop new technology, then wasted it on Saddam and Kosovo.

Epic boondoggle.

Only slightly more useful than women in the infantry.


Wasted on Panama, not on Iraq or Kosovo.  Unlike the US, eastern bloc armies put high quality folks in ADA


We don't invest in ADA, because, FW pilots and their outdated aircraft that would be rendered obsolete by a real tactical missile force and ADA.

We have divested 90% of SHORAD, because, Stealth.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 3:49:46 AM EDT
[#22]
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 4:50:34 AM EDT
[#23]
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LOL. Replace every  117 with 4 F16s in the gulf war, and what do you get? Better results.

Using the 117s in the Gulf War was stupid.
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No idea why it was given a Fighter designation. Anyone?


Because Air Force


Do people make the same gripe about the 'vark?

It's an F designation not used as a fighter at all, afaik.  It got an air to air kill in Desert Storm by getting an Iraqi pilot to dig himself a whole in the desert.

I wonder how many guys on the ground would have rather gone into Kuwait in '91 without the air campaign that was literally lead by the 117.

I get inter-service rivalry. I get budget griping.  But let's not be revisionist faggots.  The 117 was a huge success and saved the lives of American soldiers and Marines.


LOL. Replace every  117 with 4 F16s in the gulf war, and what do you get? Better results.

Using the 117s in the Gulf War was stupid.


Hahahaha. Tell that to the 56 Vipers that attacked the nuke facility at Tuwaitha and managed to get get one bomb into the berm around the place.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 4:52:03 AM EDT
[#24]
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Didn't CMJohnson fly F-16s?
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Updated again.

F-15 aka Mach
A-10 / F-16 aka Bull F16
F-4 / F-117 aka ScottS
F-4 aka Rodent
U-2 not sure screen name
F-18 aka Vallerhu
F-16 aka Powerstroke1999
EF-111 aka Sparkvark
AH-1 aka Snake Driver
OH-58D / CH-47 aka CFII
AH-64 can't remember his screen name
UH-60 can't remember his screen name
CH-46 aha H46Driver


Didn't CMJohnson fly F-16s?

I humbly submit that I flew the EP-3E, F/A-18, and the P-51 as some of my career highlights.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 5:06:04 AM EDT
[#25]
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I'm guessing the bases that tested the Phalanx/C-RAM don't have any problems with sparrows or pigeons.   That's seems to be the benchmark for how big something has to be on radar before it engages.   I can only guess how that was determined.

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...
On a side note, I knew some of those guys at the radar sight. { It was Ford Aerospace if I remember correctly}.
I flew ultralights in those days and asked one of the radar techs once if my little ragwing was visible on his scope.
He said it was, barely, but that I was not the focus of their interest.


I'm guessing the bases that tested the Phalanx/C-RAM don't have any problems with sparrows or pigeons.   That's seems to be the benchmark for how big something has to be on radar before it engages.   I can only guess how that was determined.



lol
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 6:38:19 AM EDT
[#26]
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LOL. Replace every  117 with 4 F16s in the gulf war, and what do you get? Better results.

Using the 117s in the Gulf War was stupid.
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No idea why it was given a Fighter designation. Anyone?


Because Air Force


Do people make the same gripe about the 'vark?

It's an F designation not used as a fighter at all, afaik.  It got an air to air kill in Desert Storm by getting an Iraqi pilot to dig himself a whole in the desert.

I wonder how many guys on the ground would have rather gone into Kuwait in '91 without the air campaign that was literally lead by the 117.

I get inter-service rivalry. I get budget griping.  But let's not be revisionist faggots.  The 117 was a huge success and saved the lives of American soldiers and Marines.


LOL. Replace every  117 with 4 F16s in the gulf war, and what do you get? Better results.

Using the 117s in the Gulf War was stupid.


Would those flights have been able to make stikes into Baghdad? And how much support would they have needed to do so?
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 7:07:08 AM EDT
[#27]
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LOL. Replace every  117 with 4 F16s in the gulf war, and what do you get? Better results.

Using the 117s in the Gulf War was stupid.
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Link Posted: 4/22/2016 7:49:01 AM EDT
[#28]
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Ok, ScottS. Anything else I need to add?

Updated again.

F-15 aka Mach
A-10 / F-16 aka Bull F16
F-4 / F-117 / F-15 aka ScottS
F-4 aka Rodent
U-2 not sure screen name
F-18 aka Vallerhu
F-16 aka Powerstroke1999
EF-111 aka Sparkvark
AH-1 aka Snake Driver
OH-58D / CH-47 aka CFII
AH-64 can't remember his screen name
UH-60 can't remember his screen name
CH-46 aka H46Driver
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Have a look at this thread - a ton of former and current .mil pilots posted.  Very cool!
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 8:07:33 AM EDT
[#29]
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Hahahaha. Tell that to the 56 Vipers that attacked the nuke facility at Tuwaitha and managed to get get one bomb into the berm around the place.
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Must have been shotgun terrain up there
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 8:12:17 AM EDT
[#30]
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The U-2 driver has posted in this thread.  There's some heavy drivers on arfcom, too.  Two E-3 pilots , at least one C-5 pilot, and I believe a KC-135 pilot. Might even have a C-17 pilot, too.
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So let's see. We have the following military pilots on here that I can think of.

F-15 aka Mach
F-16 aka Bull F16
A-10 aka Bull F16
F-117 aka ScottS
U-2 not sure screen name
AH-1 aka Snake Driver
CH-47 can't remember his screen name
AH-64 can't remember his screen name
UH-60 can't remember his screen name
CH-46 can't remember his screen name

I thought there was an F-4 pilot as well. I also thought we had a 160th SOAR pilot.

Who did I miss?

CFII was an OH-58 driver and now flies CH-47s.


The U-2 driver has posted in this thread.  There's some heavy drivers on arfcom, too.  Two E-3 pilots , at least one C-5 pilot, and I believe a KC-135 pilot. Might even have a C-17 pilot, too.


Oh yeah. Wasn't NapoleonTanerite a C-17 pilot?
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 8:30:15 AM EDT
[#31]
I'm way late to the party, but I was a mechanic on them from 2002 - 2005.

I'll answer any questions I can remember about maintaining that bird.

To all of the former martians on here.... I'm sorry.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 8:39:52 AM EDT
[#32]
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Oh yeah. Wasn't NapoleonTanerite a C-17 pilot?
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So let's see. We have the following military pilots on here that I can think of.

F-15 aka Mach
F-16 aka Bull F16
A-10 aka Bull F16
F-117 aka ScottS
U-2 not sure screen name
AH-1 aka Snake Driver
CH-47 can't remember his screen name
AH-64 can't remember his screen name
UH-60 can't remember his screen name
CH-46 can't remember his screen name

I thought there was an F-4 pilot as well. I also thought we had a 160th SOAR pilot.

Who did I miss?

CFII was an OH-58 driver and now flies CH-47s.


The U-2 driver has posted in this thread.  There's some heavy drivers on arfcom, too.  Two E-3 pilots , at least one C-5 pilot, and I believe a KC-135 pilot. Might even have a C-17 pilot, too.


Oh yeah. Wasn't NapoleonTanerite a C-17 pilot?


I think so.   Forgot about him.  Lol.
Edit - He flew E-8 JSTARS.  

Link Posted: 4/22/2016 8:41:47 AM EDT
[#33]
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The U-2 driver has posted in this thread.  There's some heavy drivers on arfcom, too.  Two E-3 pilots , at least one C-5 pilot, and I believe a KC-135 pilot. Might even have a C-17 pilot, too.
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Best brag post ever.
Probably, though the dude that posted a selfie taken while flying a U-2 is pretty close.  



So let's see. We have the following military pilots on here that I can think of.

F-15 aka Mach
F-16 aka Bull F16
A-10 aka Bull F16
F-117 aka ScottS
U-2 not sure screen name
AH-1 aka Snake Driver
CH-47 can't remember his screen name
AH-64 can't remember his screen name
UH-60 can't remember his screen name
CH-46 can't remember his screen name

I thought there was an F-4 pilot as well. I also thought we had a 160th SOAR pilot.

Who did I miss?

CFII was an OH-58 driver and now flies CH-47s.


The U-2 driver has posted in this thread.  There's some heavy drivers on arfcom, too.  Two E-3 pilots , at least one C-5 pilot, and I believe a KC-135 pilot. Might even have a C-17 pilot, too.

We have Marine Hornet pilots here also.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 8:54:59 AM EDT
[#34]

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The guy that designed/managed the program also did a few other you may have heard of.  Kelly Johnson was involved with the F-117, P-38, Constellation, U-2, SR-71, et all.  



The story of the SR-71 is really interesting. We built a plane to spy on the Russians....out of Russian titanium.  






I sincerely hope we found someone to take his place.

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No one could fill his shoes. In the era he was a product of there were a few other contemporary men, several German, English and Russian along with a handful of Americans had similar abilities. There simply is nothing in today's environment to produce such a man, certainly not with Kelly's skillset.

 
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 9:15:14 AM EDT
[#35]
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well written! The  "voice" in your writing,  is impeccable .
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Back in the 80's I was a kid in Hawthorne, NV. Place is surrounded by a huge early cold-war-era weapons depot (Navy then Army), tons of military land and facilities. The town is just a mile square of little houses in a hot, dusty place. People either work on the Base, at nearby mines, local community services, or collect a check in some....other fashion. I was an aircraft buff from day one like any other American kid, and did enough traveling around the state with my pops to see a lot of military stuff in action.

Some time around, oh, maybe '83-'85 window, a small USAF contingent showed up in town and had a small compound in Babbitt (enlisted/worker town, no longer extant) that consisted of a few white trailers and antenna arrays. The Base always had various "odd" military members using various bits of the facilities, so this wasn't a big deal. The personnel were radar techies and the like, and became members of the local community for a few years. One of them, "Mr. B", came to our church and even helped out with the little private school there. He brought a few of us through the radar trailers on a school field trip, totally awesome green tubed gear. Just a regular guy.

I paid attention to anything that flew - in that kind of isolated town you had to have interests or else risk running amok with your life. Around '85 or so, I started seeing a single aircraft fly over town at night east-west at a mid-elevation (probably ~5000-7000 AGL thinking back). Nothing obviously out of the ordinary, clearly military but not a super-fast mover like the guys out of Fallon. A couple of wingtip lights and a center red strobe IIRC. I slept outside a lot, so I'd see it frequently. In 1988 this thing started flying over town in the daytime, with a white T-38 chase in fairly close formation. Looked like an arrowhead, and was obviously a bit larger than the T-38. It was really exciting, and I can remember sketching it after I saw it the first time. Well, within a couple weeks it was making regular appearances and I started keeping track. I had a local sectional chart (to go with the hanging plastic models, balsa flyers, posters, and constant begging the local CAP guys to let me join as a cadet early), and it was easy work with a watch and compass to get times and flight paths plotted. Within a couple more weeks I had a daily schedule worked up with the flight path variations within visual range. It got to the point where I could say when and where the thing would appear, and where it would exit visual.

Some time (months, maybe) went by, but I distinctly remember running into "Mr. B" one morning while I was out delivering my papers and he was jogging around the town perimeter.
"He's USAF," I thought. "He'll be just as excited about this strange aircraft as I am!"
When I proceeded to lay it all out to Mr. B, and show him my little folded up schedule in my pocket, he seemed amused but not particularly engaged on the topic. I just could not understand why he wasn't all jazzed about it. I mean, this was an epic adventure for an 11 year old kid stuck in a desert town 2.5 hours away from the nearest shopping mall. Mr. B never brought it up again, and we ended up moving away a little over two years later. It wasn't long after that, however, that the T-38 started getting dropped from the flights, and the pattern become completely random. After a year or so of this, I stopped seeing it, and pretty soon the Testor's 1:32 scale model was hanging in my room along with every scrap of info I could get on Groom Lake. The USAF group ended up leaving soon as well, but I don't remember the timing exactly on that. Pretty sure at this point that their sole purpose was a test node for the program.

Now there is just sand and desert shrubs where the compound and white trailers were, and hopefully some other kid is running my paper route and dreaming of a larger world.  

well written! The  "voice" in your writing,  is impeccable .


I spent a few weeks in Hawthorn for work. Spot on.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 9:19:11 AM EDT
[#36]

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Oh yeah. Wasn't NapoleonTanerite a C-17 pilot?
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J-STARS. He's got <2 years left in the AF. For the record, he has yet to throw a jet down the runway to give it that "battle worn" look.

 
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 10:10:53 AM EDT
[#37]
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Lots of stories floated around from farmers and other living around the Smoky Hill bomb range outside Salina about funny looking triangular shaped black planes flying in and out of the range back in the early 80's before they F117 was made public.

From some people I know stationed at Nellis F117 might not be as retired as what folks have been lead to believe, apparently they're still seen flying over the bomb range at times.  
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We used to see what turned out to be the F-117 a lot at George AFB.  Almost every night after all our flying had ceased one or more aircraft would fly over the base at about 8,000, doing what looked like bomb runs on the larger buildings.  The aircraft were very distinct because in addition to the normal navigation lights, there was an orange glow that came from the front of the plane.  My suspicion was that it was some sort of target illuminator which operated in a visible mode during training so that the combat mode which could not be seen could not be determined by ground observers.

One thing that struck me about the F-117 bomb runs at George was that they were going after one multi-story office building almost every visit.  It didn't strike me a to why until the video was released during Desert Storm of the Iraqi office building taken out by a bomb down the elevator shaft.

Then I realized that the building at George they kept practicing on was the only building on base with an elevator equipment room on its roof.  I guess that tactic had been figured out several years before it was put to use in Iraq.

eta:  The F-117s that show up over the Nellis Range are used for testing and calibrating radars against stealthy targets, since the F-117 is a known quantity to work with as a baseline.  From what I've read there are only three or four of them that were put back into operation for that purpose.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 10:11:11 AM EDT
[#38]


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Quoted:Anyone who flew the Stink bug usually started out in some other fighter and usually came from a base that was closed down from either Vipers, Eagles, Vaarks or Hogs.  So ScottS should have flown something before the bug.








After, too.





http://i62.tinypic.com/2zr2alu.jpg
yet another brag post by ScottS   (not referencing the Eagle)









 
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 10:13:30 AM EDT
[#39]

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The loudest aircraft I ever heard was a B52 at a Boston airshow.  It was so loud there were car alarms going off in the parking lot as it flew over.

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I saw an F-14 do that at airshow in Cleveland in the mid-80s

 
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 10:20:03 AM EDT
[#40]
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yet another brag post by ScottS   (not referencing the Eagle)



 
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Quoted:Anyone who flew the Stink bug usually started out in some other fighter and usually came from a base that was closed down from either Vipers, Eagles, Vaarks or Hogs.  So ScottS should have flown something before the bug.


After, too.

http://i62.tinypic.com/2zr2alu.jpg
yet another brag post by ScottS   (not referencing the Eagle)



 


All good fighter pilots marry above their station in life.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 10:25:24 AM EDT
[#41]
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We used to see what turned out to be the F-117 a lot at George AFB.  Almost every night after all our flying had ceased one or more aircraft would fly over the base at about 8,000, doing what looked like bomb runs on the larger buildings.  The aircraft were very distinct because in addition to the normal navigation lights, there was an orange glow that came from the front of the plane.  My suspicion was that it was some sort of target illuminator which operated in a visible mode during training so that the combat mode which could not be seen could not be determined by ground observers.

One thing that struck me about the F-117 bomb runs at George was that they were going after one multi-story office building almost every visit.  It didn't strike me a to why until the video was released during Desert Storm of the Iraqi office building taken out by a bomb down the elevator shaft.

Then I realized that the building at George they kept practicing on was the only building on base with an elevator equipment room on its roof.  I guess that tactic had been figured out several years before it was put to use in Iraq.

eta:  The F-117s that show up over the Nellis Range are used for testing and calibrating radars against stealthy targets, since the F-117 is a known quantity to work with as a baseline.  From what I've read there are only three or four of them that were put back into operation for that purpose.
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Lots of stories floated around from farmers and other living around the Smoky Hill bomb range outside Salina about funny looking triangular shaped black planes flying in and out of the range back in the early 80's before they F117 was made public.

From some people I know stationed at Nellis F117 might not be as retired as what folks have been lead to believe, apparently they're still seen flying over the bomb range at times.  


We used to see what turned out to be the F-117 a lot at George AFB.  Almost every night after all our flying had ceased one or more aircraft would fly over the base at about 8,000, doing what looked like bomb runs on the larger buildings.  The aircraft were very distinct because in addition to the normal navigation lights, there was an orange glow that came from the front of the plane.  My suspicion was that it was some sort of target illuminator which operated in a visible mode during training so that the combat mode which could not be seen could not be determined by ground observers.

One thing that struck me about the F-117 bomb runs at George was that they were going after one multi-story office building almost every visit.  It didn't strike me a to why until the video was released during Desert Storm of the Iraqi office building taken out by a bomb down the elevator shaft.

Then I realized that the building at George they kept practicing on was the only building on base with an elevator equipment room on its roof.  I guess that tactic had been figured out several years before it was put to use in Iraq.

eta:  The F-117s that show up over the Nellis Range are used for testing and calibrating radars against stealthy targets, since the F-117 is a known quantity to work with as a baseline.  From what I've read there are only three or four of them that were put back into operation for that purpose.


Untrue. Pretty vanilla (and well documented) IR tracking system with a laser designator, invisible to the naked eye.

And certainly no "glow" from the front of the aircraft.

Except, of course, for the aura that eminates from all fighter pilots, but I was unaware that was actually visible.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 10:30:48 AM EDT
[#42]
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I think so.   Forgot about him.  Lol.
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So let's see. We have the following military pilots on here that I can think of.

F-15 aka Mach
F-16 aka Bull F16
A-10 aka Bull F16
F-117 aka ScottS
U-2 not sure screen name
AH-1 aka Snake Driver
CH-47 can't remember his screen name
AH-64 can't remember his screen name
UH-60 can't remember his screen name
CH-46 can't remember his screen name

I thought there was an F-4 pilot as well. I also thought we had a 160th SOAR pilot.

Who did I miss?

CFII was an OH-58 driver and now flies CH-47s.


The U-2 driver has posted in this thread.  There's some heavy drivers on arfcom, too.  Two E-3 pilots , at least one C-5 pilot, and I believe a KC-135 pilot. Might even have a C-17 pilot, too.


Oh yeah. Wasn't NapoleonTanerite a C-17 pilot?


I think so.   Forgot about him.  Lol.


E8 JStars
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 10:41:22 AM EDT
[#43]
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So, I was working the flight line at Mountain Home Idaho in the late 80's into the early 90's. Sure I was supporting the venerable old F-111A model. Sure, it was a training base pretty much at that time. Sure, I got to know a few of the pilots as I fixed their planes...

Imagine my surprise when I tune into the Discovery Channel or History Channel or PBS or whatever it was I was watching in the mid 90's and seeing a documentary on the F-117A... and then recognizing one of the pilots on the show as one that had been stationed at Mtn. Home for a few years as an instructor pilot. I thought it was kind of cool in a "hey! I know him" moment.

Yeah. I know. Cool story bro.

B-1's under full burner take off are loud. Impressive too. We had a squadron deploy to Mtn. Home one time for a few weeks. It was cool watching them launch their sorties. Big brother to the F-111.
F-104's are louder. And fast as hell. We had one land one day. It was a maintenance magnet and dozens of us gathered around it to take a look. Those J79 engines are just loud.
F-105's are loud.
F-4's are loud.
F-14's, 15's, 16's, 18's are loud too but they're a much higher pitch.
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I just listened to one take off. Common occurrence here.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 10:53:12 AM EDT
[#44]

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I think Sparkvark flew F-111's. You might want to ask him because I'm not sure if he did or didn't.

 
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Quoted:

Updated again.



F-15 aka Mach

A-10 / F-16 aka Bull F16

F-4 / F-117 aka ScottS

F-4 aka Rodent

U-2 not sure screen name

F-18 aka Vallerhu

F-16 aka Powerstroke1999

AH-1 aka Snake Driver

OH-58D / CH-47 aka CFII

AH-64 can't remember his screen name

UH-60 can't remember his screen name

CH-46 aha H46Driver
I think Sparkvark flew F-111's. You might want to ask him because I'm not sure if he did or didn't.

 
It might have been CFII, I'm not sure.  But my favorite picture posted here was the Kiowa pilot with the cockpit pic, with an M4 on the dash, and a statement that, "yeah, it gets used out the window".



 
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:13:22 PM EDT
[#45]
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The F-111's initial design was a multi-role fighter.  

How was my post being a "revisionist faggot"?  Do you know what revisionist means?

And, if you're going to talk about revisionism, the ODS air campaign was actually led (as in the first strike conducted) by AH-64s.


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No idea why it was given a Fighter designation. Anyone?


Because Air Force


Do people make the same gripe about the 'vark?

It's an F designation not used as a fighter at all, afaik.  It got an air to air kill in Desert Storm by getting an Iraqi pilot to dig himself a whole in the desert.

I wonder how many guys on the ground would have rather gone into Kuwait in '91 without the air campaign that was literally lead by the 117.

I get inter-service rivalry. I get budget griping.  But let's not be revisionist faggots.  The 117 was a huge success and saved the lives of American soldiers and Marines.


The F-111's initial design was a multi-role fighter.  

How was my post being a "revisionist faggot"?  Do you know what revisionist means?

And, if you're going to talk about revisionism, the ODS air campaign was actually led (as in the first strike conducted) by AH-64s.




And an MH-53.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:15:55 PM EDT
[#46]
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Wasted on Panama, not on Iraq or Kosovo.  Unlike the US, eastern bloc armies put high quality folks in ADA
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This....lots of studs in ADA and intel, unlike the US, where its either combat arms for non combat arms people or attrited aviators.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:19:14 PM EDT
[#47]
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We don't invest in ADA, because, FW pilots and their outdated aircraft that would be rendered obsolete by a real tactical missile force and ADA.

We have divested 90% of SHORAD, because, Stealth.
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So, SAMs and ADA are so effective that the Army won't buy any?
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:20:45 PM EDT
[#48]
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We don't invest in ADA, because, FW pilots and their outdated aircraft that would be rendered obsolete by a real tactical missile force and ADA.

We have divested 90% of SHORAD, because, Stealth.
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It was a very interesting doctrinal procurement model.


It's the "buy whatever the fuck cool stuff you want to for the flying club" doctrine.

We spent billions to develop new technology, then wasted it on Saddam and Kosovo.

Epic boondoggle.

Only slightly more useful than women in the infantry.


Wasted on Panama, not on Iraq or Kosovo.  Unlike the US, eastern bloc armies put high quality folks in ADA


We don't invest in ADA, because, FW pilots and their outdated aircraft that would be rendered obsolete by a real tactical missile force and ADA.

We have divested 90% of SHORAD, because, Stealth.


We divested 90% of SHORAD because the ADA got used to being the billpayer for bodies for every good idea to come out of the Mission Command CoE and Maneuver CoE.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:22:53 PM EDT
[#49]
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So, SAMs and ADA are so effective that the Army won't buy any?
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We don't invest in ADA, because, FW pilots and their outdated aircraft that would be rendered obsolete by a real tactical missile force and ADA.

We have divested 90% of SHORAD, because, Stealth.


So, SAMs and ADA are so effective that the Army won't buy any?


Just change the war games so there is no airbreather threat. Problem solved, problem staying solved.
Link Posted: 4/22/2016 12:24:20 PM EDT
[#50]
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Just change the war games so there is no airbreather threat. Problem solved, problem staying solved.
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We don't invest in ADA, because, FW pilots and their outdated aircraft that would be rendered obsolete by a real tactical missile force and ADA.

We have divested 90% of SHORAD, because, Stealth.


So, SAMs and ADA are so effective that the Army won't buy any?


Just change the war games so there is no airbreather threat. Problem solved, problem staying solved.


Good thing nobody has mobile LACMs
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