VFA-147 F/A-18 picture

[Andrew Maverick Taylor]

For the Hornet buffs out there...

I follow a page on Facebook (for my sins!) which routinely posts photos of Tomcats and Hornets.  I have no idea where the owner of the page gets their photos from but I suspect he/she rips off a lot of photos from other pages and google searches and as a consequence is always being corrected for incorrect information.

One this occasion the poster has included a photo that has me stumped.  The aircraft is from VFA-147 Argonauts but I am unsure if it is an upgraded F/A-18A or an early F/A-18C.  It has the straight blade antenna of an A but with the blisters of a C.  I can't find any information about the aircraft eg Bureau Number or when the aircraft was on cruise with NG404.  Could anyone shed some light on this?

 

 

[fasteagle12]

Only the 'C's have the extra antennas on the spine and nose, so it's, for sure, a 'C' .  The Argo's were on the Nimitz from November of '95 til May of '96. Google 'VFA-147 on USS Nimitz' and you can get more photos or info. 

Edited June 3, 2018 by fasteagle12

[john53]

The tail says it's a C to me.---John

[Brian P: Fightertown Decals]

At the time 146 and 147 had the newest C Hornets in the fleet. Lot XIV, iirc. I've got a lot of shots of them from work ups at Fallon and the boat prior to the Nov95 cruise. They were all low viz with no color. 

Brian 

[Andrew Maverick Taylor]

I figured it might be a C.  It was the straight antenna on the spine that threw me.  The tail and spine blisters are the obvious giveaways.