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BAM'n'IVM

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Posts posted by BAM'n'IVM

  1. Not today, but Monday the 15th...between 5:45 and 6:00pm directly over I-35E in north Dallas (near Royal Lane, a few blocks south of I-635) - five Blackhawks in an echelon formation flying south right down the path of the freeway, low enough that I could make a positive ID in the near-dark. Anyone know what was up with that?

  2. Not today, but yesterday - heard HEAVY rotors, looked up, and saw an Mi-24 Hind fly over in formation with a WWII era fighter or trainer I didn't recognize. Looked like a stretched P-47 with a squared-off rudder. But the Hind had most of my attention - not a common sight in North Texas.

  3. F-22 can carry Small Diameter Bombs - it's had that capability for at least the last couple of years - and possibly other precision bombs. It's why the aircraft was briefly the F/A-22 - an effort to highlight this capability.

    When the F-117 was retired, it was stated that the F-22 could perform the stealth strike mission while also fighting its way in and out of the target area. Add to this the mission overlap between F-117s and B-2's, plus the acquisition of the F-35, and you have what passes for justification in a Congressional decision.

  4. Did you ever wonder why the F-117 was retired and the F-15E keeps flying?

    Because the stealthy strike mission is supposed to be undertaken by the F-35 and to a lesser extent the F-22. The F-15E will continue the precision non-stealthy "bomb truck" mission as it always has. Next question?

  5. Stupid question... if there's a bug in the F-22's O2 system that needs to be worked out, why couldn't it be removed and replaced with proven systems removed from some of those old F-15A/B's waiting for their turn at the scrapper? We already paid for it and know it works, so it might be an expedient way to get 'em flying safely while we work out the longer-term problem...

    Because those O2 systems were not designed for the Raptor, so in order to shoehorn them in, you'd need an extensive redesign of both the O2 system and the Raptor's guts in order to make everything work - which translates to months of design work, testing, test-fitting, test flying, approval, retrofitting the entire F-22 fleet...

    Millions of dollars later, rather than fixing the O2 system that was designed to work in the F-22 in the first place, you've waded into an expensive, time-consuming boondoggle to use a system that may or may not even be capable of being made compatible (one that was designed for a McDonnell-Douglas product, not a Lockheed product)...

    Since car analogies are being used a lot here, let's rephrase your question. "Man, my brand new Roush Mustang's air conditioner isn't working. I'm gonna go to the junkyard and pull one off a '77 Camaro to replace it with."

  6. No, I don't. I never saw them in that camouflage, and never receieved any photos of them in trade either.

    Scott W.

    Pity. It was all kinds of striking and unique. Still...you've got some excellent pics both in subject matter and composition.

    KursadA - yes, that's the one! Along with two Huey's (a slick and a gunship), a Cobra, a Sabre Dog, and now an F-16.

  7. ...and just so I'm not asking but not giving, here's my only recent Phantom shots that aren't already in this thread - the Phantom on a Stick at Camp Mabry, TX - formerly of the 147th TFW, Texas ANG:

    dcp_4332.jpg

    Eh...sorry 'bout the tree.

    dcp_4331.jpg

    Same Phanom, with my kids hiding the pole...

    Phantom01.jpg

    And finally, with a bit of Photoshop tossed in. :thumbsup:

  8. I do have some others of the 704th jets in both the checkers and later red/white/blue fin flashes. I'll dig them out later.

    Scott W.

    You mean the Texas Flag tail flashes... :thumbsup:

    Please do dig those photos out. I love those jets. Childhood memories of Phantoms from Bergstrom buzzing the house...

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