Darren Roberts Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 This should make for some good markings! Hornet purchase Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Interesting article and it certainly does open the door for some cool paint schemes. We can only hope! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mawz Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 If you want some cool paint schemes on ex-Aussie Hornets just wait, the RCAF bought 25 of them and no doubt will do some sort of heritage theme around that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Slartibartfast Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 "Australian retired F/A-18A/B Hornet fighter aircraft will be used to provide training services to the United States Air Force..." Say what? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mawz Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 36 minutes ago, Slartibartfast said: "Australian retired F/A-18A/B Hornet fighter aircraft will be used to provide training services to the United States Air Force..." Say what? The company provides Aggressors to the USAF. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Slartibartfast Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Ah. They also supplied F-16Ns? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mawz Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 11 minutes ago, Slartibartfast said: Ah. They also supplied F-16Ns? No, they currently operate Hawks, Alpha Jets, MiG-29's and L-59's Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Camus272 Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 49 minutes ago, Slartibartfast said: Ah. They also supplied F-16Ns? All F-16Ns were scrapped in 1996. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 All F-16Ns were operated by the US Navy, not private contractors. IIRC Lockheed may have provided maintenance support but the Navy owned the jets. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shion Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 I doubt it will work. ATAC recently lost a bid for Adversary training services where they proposed F-16 (the AM version). Their bid was way more expensive than the Tac Air's one (w/ modernised and improved F-5). If F-16 is too expensive to operate, I doubt F-18 could be a better solution. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
achterkirch Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 (edited) 11 hours ago, shion said: I doubt it will work. ATAC recently lost a bid for Adversary training services where they proposed F-16 (the AM version). Their bid was way more expensive than the Tac Air's one (w/ modernised and improved F-5). If F-16 is too expensive to operate, I doubt F-18 could be a better solution. That was for a navy contract. The Air Force one is way way bigger and includes, I believe, seven companies provide a large amount of red air services across several bases in the states. Edited March 22, 2020 by achterkirch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Colin K Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 On 3/21/2020 at 9:18 AM, mawz said: If you want some cool paint schemes on ex-Aussie Hornets just wait, the RCAF bought 25 of them and no doubt will do some sort of heritage theme around that. Nope. Aussie Hornets are receiving the standard CF-18 paint scheme. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mawz Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 8 hours ago, Colin K said: Nope. Aussie Hornets are receiving the standard CF-18 paint scheme. And at some point no doubt one or more of them will get an annual demo scheme, which is what I was referring to. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 That depends on if the birds are used for demos. Airshow displays don't pay what they used to and usually if the US Government is footing the bill, the companies involved try not to rock the boat and do anything extra. So you might see a jet at an open house or two, but not a flying display. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mawz Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 6 hours ago, Jay Chladek said: That depends on if the birds are used for demos. Airshow displays don't pay what they used to and usually if the US Government is footing the bill, the companies involved try not to rock the boat and do anything extra. So you might see a jet at an open house or two, but not a flying display. None of which applies to the ex-Australian RCAF birds, which will assuredly get used for a yearly demo scheme and were what Colin and I were discussing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 I think Colin is right. For those Canada buys. However not THIS year. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 2 hours ago, mawz said: None of which applies to the ex-Australian RCAF birds, which will assuredly get used for a yearly demo scheme and were what Colin and I were discussing. Assured by whom? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mawz Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 2 hours ago, habu2 said: Assured by whom? The Demo birds are typically rotated through the higher-time single-seat airframes in RCAF inventory. Considering that the Aussie aircraft will be 1/4 of the operational single seat fleet, it's a given that they will end up as demo birds at some point. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Colin K Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 (edited) On 4/9/2020 at 12:05 PM, mawz said: The Demo birds are typically rotated through the higher-time single-seat airframes in RCAF inventory. Considering that the Aussie aircraft will be 1/4 of the operational single seat fleet, it's a given that they will end up as demo birds at some point. Demo jets are chosen based on fatigue life, not how many hours they have on them. So they will try to take a jet with the most available fatigue life, as they really get beat up during the season. Not sure why it's a big deal if one of the Aussie jets gets picked as the demo bird. So far, they haven't been as reliable as some had hoped. Having said that; if you're hoping for fully painted demo jets, don't bet on it. Going to be tails only for the foreseeable future. Edited June 12, 2020 by Colin K Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K5054NZ Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 I'm just keen to get to do another 1/72 RAAF F/A-18 in demilitarized garb! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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