Super Hornet question

[Stefan buysse]

Hi,

 

I don't have the Meng F/A-18E kit yet, but I have been looking at the sprue shots.

I see there are alternate parts. The heat blanket/bard stack choice is clear to me, but what about the two types of exhausts? I see the familiar exhausts with the straight petals, but there are alternative petals.

I have not seen these in my references yet.

What is that about? A new type of engine? Just new exhausts? Are these being retro-fitted or do they start from a certain BuNo? 

 

Cheers, Stefan.

[jetmanf14]

If you look across the fleet, I think you'll see so many variations on the exhaust. I'm pretty sure they all began as the straight (no notch) or maybe the other way around. After some time you see they have to replace petals and I've seen many with both the straight and the notched ones. The kit has an option for straight petals for both, notched for both, or a mixture of either. So basically, depending on what plane you do, you'll have to check references and see. I plan to do VFA-151's new CAG bird, and it's got a mixture of each on both engines.

[Stefan buysse]

Thanks, Jetmanf14.

 

I figure the straight ones were first as I'd not seen the notched ones before.

 

Cheers, Stefan.

[jetmanf14]

No problem. I'm pretty sure if you look at the A-D models, they all now have the notched petals. Here's the example I was talking about:

 

 

Edited April 10, 2021 by jetmanf14
Flickr link didn't work, picture attached.

[GreyGhost]

The notched petals started showing up about 6 or so years ago.

Sometimes, both types of petals would be on the same engine.

 

-Gregg