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I see the beer has arrived.
Carrier Landing (without carrier or landing gear)
- Thread starter Shannow
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No beer here, still at work unfortunately. 20 mins to go and I'm outa here. Eat out night, kid's having a sleepover with MIA (they do come in handy). Wife deciding where to go. Short list is Thai, Pakistani/Afghani, Vietnamese, or Ethiopian/Eritrean. Just so long as I don't have to choose for a change.
I should have known better. A woman was deciding and of course she changed her mind. Went to none of the above. Those married would not be surprised. Have a good weekend...s
You could say it's a blend of both. Remember, modern aircraft don't (aren't allowed to) age like a mass-production automobile. I have flown EA-6Bs from the earliest production batches that have been totally rebuilt several times and existed in multiple, totally different configurations. I've also flown ones that were among the last built, and virtually factory fresh at the time. Operationally, you really can't tell the difference. Yeah, there are some subtle "feel" differences, and they smell different, but if anything, I'd say the old ones seemed to be a bit more reliable than the really new ones (maybe Grumman was slipping in the later years...). Sure, I imagine that the Australian budget won't allow the turnover of planes like we have, but properly kept and upgraded, a jet like this will be every bit as effective as some of the newer stuff that's flying. Eventually, it will get left behind, but that's a while off yet.
[ July 21, 2006, 09:46 AM: Message edited by: ekpolk ]
I reviewed the pictures, and this guy did indeed perform an arrested, gear-up landing. Obviously, for an F-111, this works well. My hat's off to the young pilot. He saved the Australian taxpayers an irreplaceable asset, and he's earned the right to tell one heck of a "war story" to his grand kids (several decades from now...).
His grandson may end up flying the same plane.
With all the spare F-111 parts at Davis Monthan...
I wouldn't be surprised if they kept flying for a long time.
I wouldn't be surprised if they kept flying for a long time.
No against all the smart advice the bean counters are dropping them soon even though still spending hundreds of millions every year upgrading them. Apart from stealth an F35 wouldn't blow wind up it's @ss.
I still have fond memories of the big, ugly, smokey F-4 Phantoms.
We flew leased F4E's till the F111's were ready. U.S offered the whole lot to us plus all the spares we had for $50 mill. Govt at the time didn't take up the offer. In retrospect one of the dumbest decisions ever.
Some of the F-4E that Australia leased were eventually modified into F-4G Wild Weasels
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