Reddog

The F-35 has a weapons bay, the X-35 I don't think does, it was the demonstrator that flew here at Pax. I remember watching it taxi by and I never say a panel line or anything that would look like a weapons bay and I stood right next to it several times. The X-35 is a smaller version/concept verification model of the F-35 so there isn't much room for a weapons bay. Reddog

You are correct, it used the same MHU-191 but had a different adapter/cradle that could be jacked up. Reddog

I don't think it has a weapons bay, never say it when it taxied by and or when I drove past it. It's sitting out here at the muesum here at Pax River, will have to look at it again on the way home from work but I'm sure it doesn't have one. Reddog

Right below where the drag link meets the main strut. The drag link is the strut that goes aft. The launch bar will turn with the nose gear and the nose gear should not be turned more than 90 degrees left or right, that is what that yellow stripe on the side of the strut is for. Reddog :D

The little nup on the front is the fuze cover, it is painted red and has a red remove before flight flag on the very tip. I haven't seen a rockeye model that didn't have the fuze cover molded on it. Also, the Navy used them a lot in DS1 against armor with great effect, think about the highway of death. We (Saratoga) sent out a flight of F-18's with Rockeye and desimated an Iraqi vehicle column one night, they worked perfectly. They are still in use today with the Navy and Marines but most of them have been converted over to the FMU-140 CBU-99/100 variants. The only way to tell a Mk 20 from a C

Yep, kind of figured it was a Hornet thing, them plastic lego kits do build up static electricity sitting around. :D Reddog

The only time we grounded our birds is when we were loading/downloading ordnance, fueling/defuleing (including hot pitting) and when they were in the hanger on the beach. We never had our's ground while just sitting on the, flight line, flight deck or in the hanger on the boat, and that went for the whole CAG. The only other time we would ground it is if the maintenance procedure we were doing called for it specifically. The only shops in the squadron who had grounding straps (cables) was us (ordnance shop for loading/downloading), AME (seat shop for doing seat mainteance in the shop) or the L

When did that start, or that squadron/CAG specific?

USN aircraft are usually grounded only during fueling and ordnance loading/downloading operations. The only other time they are usually ground is when they are in the hanger while on the beach. There may be other times but they are very few. Reddog

LAU-127's are kindo of pointed in the front and flat in the back. Here's some links; http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...l%3Den%26sa%3DN http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...l%3Den%26sa%3DN The LAU-127's on the wing tips are the same as the one's that would go on the pylon and LAU-115's. HTH Reddog The three types that Dave stated are the LAU-127A/A (pointy nose one), the LAU-127B/A (up grade/beefed up A/A) and the LAU-127C/A (HIPAG launcher, doesn't use a nit bottle). The B/A and C/A noses are more rounded. If you have one type on one wing, the other wing has to be of t

The stripes are yellow and brown for a live missile, blue if it's a training missile. The stripes are two inches thick on the real missiles. The yellow stripe will go around the warhead and the brown stripe will go around the rocket motor. The nose is flat white, not gloss. The wings and fins are a dark steel color. Reddog

The S-3 just completed it's last cruise but is not scheduled to be retire until around the end of 08, they got about a year left of taxing around and sucking up FOD. :D Reddog

That was our standard load for ACM out in the fleet so I would think they would fly the same load. Usually we would have a CATM-9 on the left side and a Pod on the right side or a CATM-9 on the upper left station (sta 1A) and a Pod on the lower station (sta 1B). You could move them over to the right side but hte CATM-9 would always be on the upper station. HTH Reddog

Look here http://www.topedge.com/panels/aircraft/sit...ail-extfuel.htm Reddog

None of my Tomcat references have the length but from memory (and this is a ballpark answer), the tank went from the the back of the main mount struts to about four inches forward of the intake lip. That's the best I can give you for right now. Reddog B) Edit: My bad, the tank goes from the middle of the daily door to about four inches forward of the intake lip. The link I posted says it's 181 inches long. Can't remember how long it was when I was loading them, I just remember how heavy they were because there was always some fuel in the bottom.

No, they can only be loaded on parent rack, they can not be loaded on TER's. GBU-31's are the 2000 lb variety and a TER can only handle 1000 lb weapons per station. Also, you can not put a GBU-32 (1000 lb JDAM) or a GBU-38 (500 lb JDAM) on a TER either, there's no way to hook up the umbilical cable. So the short answer is no, you can't load JDAM's on a TER. Reddog :D

I prefer my Cat's without tanks and with Weapon Rails, makes them look even meaner. Reddog

I've never seen streaks on the wings all the years I worked on them. Usually, it was diryt foot prints, grime and touch up paint spots. There was a couple of times where we had a jet or two with the stars and bars upside down, good ole corrosion makes fubars everyonce in a while. If you want to do streaks then I would suggest have them with the wings out, the aircraft would be a slower speed and would most likely have everything "down and dirty". Reddog

Looks great to me, like the real thing. Reddog

The Hornets use a different launcher on their wing tips then the F-16's do. On the F-18A-D the launcher is the LAU-7 and is only capable of launching the AIM-9 Sidewinder. The F-18E/F uses the LAU-127 and is only cleared to fly the AIM-9 on the wing tip, the AIM-120 is not cleared, which means it's capable, just not authorized. As far as weight, there's only about 120 lb difference between the AIM-9 and AIM-120, the wings are stress for that weight. Reddog <_<

John, Always gald to help. Reddog :blink:

The below link shows a line drawing for the drop tank rack used on the F-14A and B, the MXU-611. The pic is of the port (sta 2) MXU. Sta 7 (starboard) would be a mirror image of the port one. For the F-14D, they used MXU-776 and MXU-777, which were externally identical to the MXU-611. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...l%3Den%26sa%3DN Also check out this sight. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/lib.../14313_ch15.pdf HTH, Reddog :)

The launcher TACTS Pod is mounted on is a U.S. LAU-7 bolted onto the MIG's pylon. As far as scratching building a pod I would recommend just cutting off the wings and fins of a sidewinder, shaping the nose and adding the probe. ACMI Pods basically use the body of a Sidewinder and have a different nose. A TACTS Pod will have the probe on the nose and a ARDS Pod just has a slightly pointed/rounded nose, no probe. TACTS Pods are usually painted orange with a black nose and chrome probe, ARDS Pods are usually white with a silver tip on the nose. HTH Reddog Edit: Pic of a TACTS Pod http:/

Yes it is. The first pic is of a TACTS Pod (Tactical Air Combat Training System). The second is of a ARDS Pod (Advanced Range Data System). Both are variants of ACMI Pods. Reddog

Do one that we never see, do a SLUGGER, the original VF-103. :D Reddog :)