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3 hours ago, DutyCat said:

Well, it will be interesting seeing them in SH's...essentially an aircraft almost as big as an F-15.  I don't think it is going to look all that great.  The SH seems to be a step down in terms of agility, except at really low speeds.  The best I have ever seen the BA's look is when they were flying A-4's.

Honestly, I don't really expect to see much difference at all.  For the show the Angels fly, the difference in perfomance will likely be negligible.  Yes, the SH is about the same size as an Eagle, but it's not THAT much larger than the current legacy Hornet.  It's not like moving from an A-4 to a Hornet, or a Phantom to an A-4.  

 

I don't even expect the paint scheme to change significantly from the current one.  Think about it - the Blue Angels have used the same basic scheme since the Tiger days,  Why would you expect them to redesign it now?  That would make about as much sense as "New Coke" did back in the 80s...

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Throws eraser at Habu. (although I did get a laugh out of that)

 

I did just realize that we might already be past the point of hearing "Dad, what is an eraser?" or "Grandpa, what is a chalkboard?"

Edited by Rex
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 Just a note about military demo birds.  The F-4E ( Thunderbirds ) had the gun and radar removed and had lead weight installed in the nose in order to keep the CG. in place.

 

 When they were returned to the rest of the USAF they did not come back with those items , therefore they were only good for making holes in the sky .

 

 Cheers, Christian .

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It's Congressionally mandated that the Thunderbirds and Blues both be able to be returned to combat-ready status within 72 hours now. There are photos out there of F-16A's in T-birds markings fully loaded with iron bombs and with soot on the gun gas doors. Take the smoke tank out, replace the gun, repaint and you are good to go. 

 

Aaron 

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Maybe so, but I can tell you for a fact ( since I was there )  that the when the birds got rid of the F-4E, they went to MacDill and were not returned to full mission capable status.

 

Aparently, the law and reality sometimes diverge from each other.

 

Cheers, Christian

 

 

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that law was changed sometime between the F-4 and now.

 

The Blue Angels F-4 had a front end that caused the aircraft to go to squadrons that didn't deploy. ("lead nosed" Phantoms)

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2 hours ago, Rex said:

that law was changed sometime between the F-4 and now.

 

The Blue Angels F-4 had a front end that caused the aircraft to go to squadrons that didn't deploy. ("lead nosed" Phantoms)

 

Yup, some went to PMTC, China Lake, etc ... 

 

 

-Gregg

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VX-4 got at least one of them, too. I am building it as one of my ringers. It has the smooth radome of the F-4K/Blue Angels, and the Stripe and Stars markings of the Vandy One,,,,,on a LGG over White airframe. I just need to find out which engines it had, and I am ready to go on it.

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On 2/11/2017 at 0:51 PM, Chris L said:

Maybe so, but I can tell you for a fact ( since I was there )  that the when the birds got rid of the F-4E, they went to MacDill and were not returned to full mission capable status.

 

Aparently, the law and reality sometimes diverge from each other.

 

Cheers, Christian

 

 

That is why I stated now in my initial post. I have no doubt about what you are saying with the F-4's.

I think when the demo teams went to what was considered front-line fighters with F-16's and F/A-18's (and the limited numbers the Navy and Air Force had of them at the time) Congress decided that they could no longer afford to lose the combat capability of that many aircraft, and so mandated that any changes made to the aircraft be able to be easily reversed. 

 

Aaron 

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