CorsairMan Posted April 30, 2017 Share Posted April 30, 2017 8 hours ago, TaiidanTomcat said: Its looking like a buy, because typically fighters aren't "made to order" for a lease. they are leased when their is an excess in inventory, and Super Hornets are being used by the USN heavily so there is basically no excess. There is talk that they could "theoretically" sell them back to the USN "someday" but there is absolutely no agreement on such a thing. Nor is there an agreement for any future Super Hornets in the US to be bought for the purpose of leasing to Canada. Which is where all of this starts to graduate from ridiculous to absurd. Canada concluded as did others years and years ago that a mixed fleet is more expensive to operate. They are talking about spending billions of dollars on "interim fighters" from a CF-18 replacement budget allocated at 9 billion total, that will create a mixed fleet (as we all know Super Hornets and Legacy hornets have very little commonality.) They will also hold a competition in the future that could select the F-35 leading a a fleet of 3 different types, 2 of them in transition to full service as the last is retired. Not only are they spending more day to day, they are blowing the CF-18 replacement budget on a solution they themselves say is "temporary" and holding a competition that will cost tens of millions of dollars in the future, while SOLE SOURCING Super Hornets anyway. Bottom line? Canada pays more, and gets less. You are attaching logic and experienced management techniques to a situation where those do not exist or are being asked for. I do not understand the strategy of politicising defence purchases but I guess that is why I scrape by in a silly job and build models in my spare time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Cartwright Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 (edited) 8 hours ago, gary1701 said: Gents, Here's some footage of the same sortie. Looking at the weather I would guess this was probably Thursday! Gary Thanks for the video. Something I that caught my eye that I don't recall seeing on other aircraft is that the wing lights on the F-35s would light up with two levels of intensity. Also, the lights on the two different aircraft seemed to be almost in sync with each other, which was a little surprising. Edited May 1, 2017 by Ken Cartwright Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gary1701 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 4 hours ago, Ken Cartwright said: Thanks for the video. Something I that caught my eye that I don't recall seeing on other aircraft is that the wing lights on the F-35s would light up with two levels of intensity. Also, the lights on the two different aircraft seemed to be almost in sync with each other, which was a little surprising. Ken, I never noticed that before. They certainly have got powerful strobes, which tend to stand out against a dark sky, like the last few days! Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TaiidanTomcat Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 22 hours ago, CorsairMan said: You are attaching logic and experienced management techniques to a situation where those do not exist or are being asked for. I do not understand the strategy of politicising defence purchases but I guess that is why I scrape by in a silly job and build models in my spare time. Point taken. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TMReich Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 (edited) Pics were from Beaufort Air Show this weekend. I need to figure out how to post without it linking back to my album. I will get them back up soon. Edited May 2, 2017 by TMReich Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TMReich Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 (edited) see above Edited May 2, 2017 by TMReich Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 22 hours ago, Ken Cartwright said: Something I that caught my eye that I don't recall seeing on other aircraft is that the wing lights on the F-35s would light up with two levels of intensity. Also, the lights on the two different aircraft seemed to be almost in sync with each other, which was a little surprising. Draw your own conclusions... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Matt Foley Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 8 hours ago, habu2 said: Draw your own conclusions... Those are going to be a challenge to recreate the tiny rivets when I eventually build one.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
boom175 Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 9 hours ago, habu2 said: Draw your own conclusions... That looks likes a real pain in the fool to change that light bulb! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Matt Foley Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 8 hours ago, boom175 said: That looks likes a real pain in the fool to change that light bulb! I bet they cost a pain too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MarkW Posted May 2, 2017 Author Share Posted May 2, 2017 They are supposed to be long life LEDs, and the whole unit goes back for repair as a LRU. And yeah, not cheap. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TMReich Posted May 3, 2017 Share Posted May 3, 2017 At Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station Air Show this past sunday VM16 was on display VM14 Flew a demonstration The difference in the two grays didn't seem as strong as some others. Both aircraft had these black sections above the starboard intake Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted May 3, 2017 Share Posted May 3, 2017 14 hours ago, boom175 said: That looks likes a real pain in the fool to change that light bulb! If by "rivets" you mean the tiny black dots, those were actually drawn on with what looked like a Sharpie pen. I think they were contemplating modifying the masking pattern around the light, but that's just my theory. And MarkW is right, they are LED assemblies. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MarkW Posted May 3, 2017 Author Share Posted May 3, 2017 The black sections noted above are unlikely to ever be another color. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CorsairMan Posted May 3, 2017 Share Posted May 3, 2017 On April 30, 2017 at 3:50 PM, gary1701 said: Gents, Here's some footage of the same sortie. Looking at the weather I would guess this was probably Thursday! Gary Fake My Prime Minister said these would never fly! Nice try. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted May 3, 2017 Share Posted May 3, 2017 1 hour ago, CorsairMan said: Fake My Prime Minister said these would never fly! Nice try. A clever variation of the compression lift theory from the XB-70 program. The two F-35s are supported by the shock waves generated by the F-15s. :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gary1701 Posted May 3, 2017 Share Posted May 3, 2017 Gents, They haven't flown today, and apparently there is a US bound NOTAM in the system for tomorrow that may be them, so that could be it this time around. Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Cartwright Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 F-35s fly the Mach Loop: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Cartwright Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 This maybe belongs more in the Canadian Hornet Replacement thread, but there are several references to the F-35 in it, such as the US Navy cutting back on orders, seemingly in conjunction with more Super Hornet orders: Under Trump, Super Hornet gets a boost: Production set to double http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/08/super-hornet-production-set-to-double-as-trump-gives-program-a-boost.html Earlier this year, Navy officials disclosed that two out of every three F-18 fighter planes in its fleet are out of commission on any given day, awaiting repairs. They've been flown hard in a post-9-11 world, which coupled with maintenance backlogs tied to budget cuts, has resulted in a serious maintenance bottleneck for all planes. That coupled with delays for the naval variant of the F-35, which is now expected to be operational in 2018, and the Navy faces a fighter jet shortfall. This is the reason, analysts point out, the service has been pursuing more Super Hornet purchases as it pairs back F-35C orders — even before Trump entered the Oval Office. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MacStingy Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 (edited) Thanks for the info. The Canadian Hornet Replacement thread got gassed as it became too political. Could you possibly imagine such a thing? This seems to be the only thread left for this subject, so tread carefully. Here in Canada everybody has gone to sleep about this issue and nothing has happened. We are all dreaming about pot - much more important apparently. Out Paul Edited May 8, 2017 by MacStingy Spell Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Raceaddict Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 46 minutes ago, MacStingy said: We are all dreaming about pot - much more important apparently. And don't forget about taking selfies while aiding the disaster relief efforts... very important too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 Mach loop video was cool! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TaiidanTomcat Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 (edited) Quote “Even if you were in an Eagle or J-20... You felt the same thing,” a senior Air Force official with an air superiority background told me after my flight—referring to the feeling of utter helplessness of being attacked by an invisible enemy. “Because of the security cloak, it's just impossible to explain. If everyone really knew and we asked to ‘choose their weapon’—there would be no doubt.” Flying back to Langley, the experience was an eye-opener. I have been covering the Raptor and the F-35 since beginning of both programs. It is one thing to intellectually grasp the power of stealth, but seeing it in action makes one a believer—our flight had no idea, no warning from the AWACS or GCI that we were about to be hit until it was all over. It’s nearly impossible to fight an enemy you can’t see. While the Raptor would be the most formidable fighter in the world due to its raw performance even without stealth, it’s now clear to me that even the F-35 with its mediocre kinematic performance will be an extremely dangerous foe in the air due to its low radar cross-section and sensors. “If the pilots of both could carry a 9mm and open the canopy inflight, they would have 15 more kills per sortie,” the senior Air Force official told me. “It's like fighting Mr. Invisible.” Dave Majumdar breaks an ankle jumping back onto the F-35 band wagon, Learns what people in the know have been saying all along. still manages to get a dig in with "Mediocre". Riddle me this Canada, IF the F-35 has "mediocre" performance but performs like a Hornet/viper, how Mediocre is the Super Hornet which is not as nimble as the original? Edited May 9, 2017 by TaiidanTomcat Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bill Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 On 5/4/2017 at 0:02 AM, Ken Cartwright said: F-35s fly the Mach Loop: That's what I have been waiting for. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Murph Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 (edited) On 4/27/2017 at 1:29 PM, TaiidanTomcat said: But they don't work and are terrible People forget, choose to ignore, or never knew that when the F-15A arrived at Langley in the 1970s, they would fly them down, pull the engines out, truck the engines back up to St Louis and put them in another airframe for delivery. Wash, rinse, repeat. Langley had a huge portion of the fleet initially sitting there without engines. Meanwhile the F-16 was earning the Lawn Dart nickname, and "One a day in Tampa Bay" was an often heard saying. And no, that wasn't referring to the B-26. Regards, Murph Edited May 9, 2017 by Murph Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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