“Clearly, the Flanker would never be selected for political reasons…….. “”
29th December 2008 15:09

Then how did it make the short list from a field of around 10 or so aircraft?
Then also explain how the F-35 which AGAIN… WAS NEVER OFFERED TO AUSTRALIA in the first place, nor on the short list of contenders, was suddenly selected?

So the Su-30 wasnt selected for “political” reasons… and the F-35 (a “paper” aircraft with no prototype built at the time it was selected) was selected on its “merits” ??

Oh please….. the whitewash was complete and the government should’ve faced an inquiry as to how it came to this conclusion.

Yet again the thread has turned into an F-35 thread thanks to the usual person who will remain nameless….

Seemingly as outsiders you appear to know how the F-35 was selected for the RAAF. When its apparent you know nothing about the subject on how it was “selected”.

“”Indonesia accepted delivery yesterday, of two Su-30MK2’s, at Sultan Hassanuddin AB.

Two SU-30’s versus a squadron of semi-serviceable F-111’s. I make it even money””

Semi-serviceable?? Again little or no knowledge…. And again how does the SU-30 role compares to the F-111?

Around 2001/ 2002 the whole request for proposals was dumped by the then Australian Government. The short list comprised of 4 aircraft , (The SU-30 series was one of them!).

The F-35 WAS NOT OFFERED TO AUSTRALIA NOR WAS IT ON THE SHORT LIST FOR SELECTION. We then paid a $100MILION NON-REFUNDABLE deposit to “buy into” the project and suddenly the F-35 was “our” selected aircraft!

Numerous recently retired RAAF personel whose rank were higher then Air Commodore has since spoken out against the selection process and how the RAAF IS NO LONGER INVOLVED in selecting what it wants!

A bunch of public servants now do everything on behalf of defence…..

You forget…. drop tanks were “dropped” 2yrs ago in order to save costs on the F-35. SO the “RAAF” wont get drop tanks for their F-35.

Single engine over water …… Try convincing all those Hornet pilots who have had to shut down one engine for various reasons over the years.

And again the F-35 flag wavers keep sayin how great it is for us “aussies”

Totally agree with you….. the bottom line is that people simply no longer care about their actions. What we have a careless and thougthless society.
Though one could say that the nations which feature predominantly in the top of the lists (no doubt everyone will be up in arms ) are the USA, England and Australia.

We all seem to follow a dangerous path where our schools are the laughing stock of the world… our health systems appaulling…. have the highest rates of obesecity…. the divide between rich and poor ever increasing…. the demise of the “middle” class…..

Its not that people are “incompetent”, but more…. less informed? less caring..

Most people seem to be happy to bump about todays world in their own little world. This is very highly apparent when you watch peoples driving habbits.

Just the other day i watched a dumb teenage girl drive through the boom gates at a rail crossing as the gates went up. Sadly for her the level crossing is also controlled by traffic lights which were also still red. 5 cars followed her though while the traffic lights were still red.

That girl was also on her “P” plates…. another case of too stupid to care.

Cant say I’ve ever seen a sidewinder mount outboard of the wing drop-tank.
Normally mounted inside position of the drop tank. Does this mean it would be possible to fit 4 winders?….

Have only ever seen a Swiss Hunter with a missle launch rail on both positions, though normally the outer rail had a Maverick, with the inside rail having the AIm-9

You gotta admit its a classy aircraft from any angle! 😀

WOW…. fantastic to see another aussie sabre being restored.
I was fortunate (?) enough to be in Adelaide a while back and got to see my first sabre up close and personal at the museam there.

Keep up the good work!

Also and its a long shot…. sometimes manuals show up on evil bay (eBay) from time to time.
Though people tend to bid like crazy when they do!

There is only one privately owned Mirage III that i know of. Lives at a Museam in Adelaide. And one more in Darwin i think? Two more that i know of reside in other Museams in the country. None of which are airworthy.

All other Mirages were sold to Pakistan (of which some still survive today and still fly).

This one is complete and has had its engining running up until a few years ago. Was 3yrs when i visited so i dont know its status now.

There is a CAC Sabre there as well, which was airworthy until the late 1990s from memory.

I know of at least one other Sabre in Australia but no clue as to where it is or its airworthyness…

My vote goes the F-4….

The Viggen would be there close 2nd….

The F-14A had a troubled life in the 70s….
The F-15A was only good at job of Interception…
F-16…. as stated no BVR
Mig-23 and Mig-27 were reasonable in their day
Su-15 and Mig-25 were pure interceptors…
Mirage series were limited….