Myths of Aviation

Thought I’d do something a little more creative for post # 6000. Here’s some popular aviation myths, and the evidence to dethrone them. Some of these are more widespread than others, so you may or may not have heard of them all before. I have, and they’re constantly irritating 😀

Myth #1-The FOXBAT was intended to counter the XB-70A Valkyrie bomber.
…Absolutely false. It might have been thought of, but the MiG-25P was fully intended to intercept the A-12 OXCART reconnaissance aircraft. The irony here is twofold-1, the A-12 never did overfly the USSR; and 2, by the time the MiG-25P reached full scale service, the OXCART was a thing of the past, replaced by the standoff SR-71A.

Myth #2-the AIM-54 is ineffective when used against fighter aircraft.
…Absolutely false. Go research Iranian Tomcat use during the Iran-Iraq War. Granted, a lot of this has to do with the inferior SOviet equipment (to include RWR gear) used by the Iraqi AF, but nevertheless the AIM-54 did score numerous kills against Iraqi aircraft, to include a large number of fighters.

Myth #3-the Concorde was the first SST to earn revenue.
…Absolutely false. While the Concorde was the first SST to earn revenue carrying passengers, it was the Soviet Tu-144S CHARGER that was the first revenue earning SST (not to mention the first to fly, the first to go past Mach 1…). Revenue service carrying mail and freight began on December 26, 1975, on the Moscow to Alma-Ata route, beating Concorde to the bank by almost a month.

Myth #4-the aircraft in the picture is the MiG I-2000.
…Absolutely false, and I have no idea why this one keeps popping up. This is a project of the Mukhamedov design bureau, and is called the Integral. There are various configurations and iterations of this design.

Feel free to add your own aviation-related myths. I’ll post more here when I think of ’em.