‘It’s pilot was martyred’

If the pilot was able to RTB and circle, why wouldn’t he have been able to eject when it became clear it wasn’t going to recover from it’s nose down attitude?

The Yak 38, Yak 141 and the F-35 can’t do this, nor would they be able to fly backwards as they must provide suffiicient air flow in to the lift jets.

The F-35’s main nozzle swivels to 100 degrees. It can hover backwards, it just can’t VIFF like a harrier in high speed flight.

The eagle is near the term of his life.

The USAF F-15E’s are expected to serve through 2020 when their role will be taken over by a regional bomber currently being studied. There’s no way the USAF will be flying 20 year old avionics in that aircraft.

The spitfire fly, the F-22 isn’t ready yet. So, is the spitfire a better aircraft ?

The F-22 was approved for full rate production with initial operating capability planned for later this year. Comparing to a spitfire is total idiocy.

Just because the F-15’s design is 30 years old doesn’t mean it’s junk.

Japanese pilots land on schools. American pilots shoot them up. 😀

Hi,
Was there ever a F-15 carrier version proposal?

The navalized F-15 was as stillborne as they come. The USN gave the concept a polite look, but it was never going to come to fruition and everybody knew it. The same thing was tried with a proposed navalized ATF.

It would be a different matter and far more feasible if the USAF dictated rough field capability to their aircraft like the Russians did with the Flanker and Fulcrum families since that same capability eases the transition to a naval based platform tremendously. Same thing with the Jaguar with the French Navy evaluating it before proceeding with the Super Etendard.

anyone have a link to a picture of the dreaded wing fences…can’t seem to find any myself!!

I’ve been looking for quite awhile as well. This is about the best top of the wing image I’ve found, but I can’t see any fences, just the wing fold hinges.

Also, I read an article while looking for these about how the had to toe out the pylons to help with separation issues. This photo REALLY shows that.

what so funny a m2 fighter can doge in and out and around a hornet. at highter speed than a f-18 aleast he or she can go 2x speed of sound if he or she need to.

The fact is most dogfights take place between 300 (dangerously slow) to just past M1 (dangerously fast in close quarters combat -risk of overshooting your target- unless you’re running away from a threat, then it’s too slow!). At M2, the G-load on an aircraft trying to turn hard would easily overstress both.

Any pictures of the Raptor in question with external tanks. I’ve seen diagrams stating the F/A-22 can carry up to four external tanks along with AIM-9’s and AIM-120’s on the four underwing hardpoints, but never any pictures aside from one with a pair of AIM-120’s under the wing.

I’m trying to find those pics now. In the meantime, here’s this small one:

I can’t find the REALLY good one I’ve seen where the Raptor is refueling with the tanks clearly visible.