Contract gig for a company here that builds airplane parts. So hopefully I'll be able to find a permanent gig soon, although this one will last 12+ months if necessary.
However, leaving work today was cool to watch the F14s doing touch-and-gos and taking off from the airport, pulling massive turns then ripping past overhead by just a few hundred feet. 
Congrats!
Do we still fly F-14s?
In reply to z31maniac:
Congrats! Hope it's a good gig.
KyAllroad wrote: Do we still fly F-14s?
No, they are all retired. F-15s are my guess.
Well, not sure of the exact designation (maybe F16?), I'm not knowledgeable about war plane stuff.
What branch of military?
Marines and Navy use F-18
Air Force uses F-15 and F-16
My money is on F-18s.
Awesome.
How many engines?
2 = F-15/F-18
F-15:
F-18:
1 = F-16
First, congrats on the new job.
Second, F-14's retired at the end of '06. I can be a walking F-14 wiki page sometimes.
I'm thinking F16, but couldn't swear to it. Oh and thanks folks!
From the Tulsa International Airport Wiki page....
"The 138th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard is based at the co-located Tulsa Air National Guard Base"
The things you learn reading Wiki, apparently in 1930 (Tulsa as you may know was THE oil town of the country into the early 80s) Tulsa had the busiest airport in THE WORLD. Interesting.
turboswede wrote:
What's the deal with those side pods? Never seen those before.
EDIT: Found it. 3000 lbs of additional fuel. Also some cool variations out there with huge dorsal spines extending from the tail forward. I kind of love that they're just hanging more and more stuff off of these planes and they continue to be awesome more than 30 years after their introduction. With all the additional bits they're staring to look really Star Wars-y.
The ANG here in the PNW use F-18's.
yeah .. these "old" planes keep getting better and we keep throwing money at the F-35 
wbjones wrote: yeah .. these "old" planes keep getting better and we keep throwing money at the F-35
Look at it this way, if those ISIS morons ever use the devil's math to build an ultra-advanced supersonic VTOL fighter, or if WW2 breaks out a second time, you'll be ready 
GameboyRMH wrote:wbjones wrote: yeah .. these "old" planes keep getting better and we keep throwing money at the F-35Look at it this way, if those ISIS morons ever use the devil's math to build an ultra-advanced supersonic VTOL fighter, or if WW2 breaks out a second time, you'll be ready
except this …
https://medium.com/war-is-boring/test-pilot-admits-the-f-35-can-t-dogfight-cdb9d11a875
z31maniac wrote: However, leaving work today was cool to watch the F14s doing touch-and-gos and taking off from the airport, pulling massive turns then ripping past overhead by just a few hundred feet.
I'd a been like:
wbjones wrote:GameboyRMH wrote:except this … https://medium.com/war-is-boring/test-pilot-admits-the-f-35-can-t-dogfight-cdb9d11a875wbjones wrote: yeah .. these "old" planes keep getting better and we keep throwing money at the F-35Look at it this way, if those ISIS morons ever use the devil's math to build an ultra-advanced supersonic VTOL fighter, or if WW2 breaks out a second time, you'll be ready
The US military seems to consider dogfighting to be halfway into the dustbin of history and places a low priority on its importance. American fighters have generally been at a disadvantage to Russian fighters in the area of dogfighting for decades now. I don't know if it's the right approach, but it's not a new one.
In reply to GameboyRMH:
Yep, hard to win a dogfight if you can't even find the enemy plane.
rcutclif wrote: In reply to GameboyRMH: Yep, hard to win a dogfight if you can't even find the enemy plane.
In reply to GameboyRMH:
Yet, the F22 can shoot down any current generation fighter (worldwide) before it's even seen. You should see when they do the f22 vs F18 excercises. The F22 has locked on and fired before the F18 can detect it. It's all about radar packages and nothing is as advance as that fighter so far. And I always see the T-50 vs F-22 argument, just saying F-22 information is not all out there. This is from personal experience.
Better to have it and not need it.
Yep that's the plan for American fighter jets, to do the fighting unseen from a safe distance, and the F22 and F35 are the best at that.
but improvements in radar tech. is ongoing … stealth isn't ALWAYS going to be the answer … when a significant break through happens then you gotta beat um face to face
F-22 .. shrug … ok
F-35 … a boondoggle we'll be paying for long after it's proved worthless
If dogfighting ever becomes more important than long-range combat, all American fighter jets will be up E36 M3 creek. The F35 is going to be the last manned American fighter for sure though, and unmanned fighters will no longer be held back by having to accommodate a human so there will be plenty of room for improvement in maneuverability.
AI will also become a major factor in dogfighting performance. First, an AI will have a chance of beating a more skilled human drone pilot because the pilot will have to deal with lag and the AI won't. Second, I think that if two UCAVs get into a dogfight, one will start jamming satellite bands and switch to AI combat and the second will follow suit. So they'll get within jamming range of each other, lose communication, and the loser will never re-establish a connection.
If a UCAV goes up against a manned fighter, the pilot will have to be a whole lot better than the UCAV's AI to make up for the agility difference, and at some point there will be an AI that will match or exceed the pilot's smarts.
I agree the F35 is a waste to be honest.
In reply to GameboyRMH:
I dont know where you are drawing your information from, but the F/A-18 and F-16 are both super agile fighters.....and along with the euro fighter, are probably right on par with the best the Soviets can muster......they're still making Mig-29's and Su-35's, which are closer matches to the F-15(which is bigger/faster but less agile than its f16/18 brethren)
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