Never Thought I'd See This - Aviation Stuff

[Seahawk]

Please no Parfidity...Just cool pictures. My business partner is an old Turkey driver, Top Gun Instructor. I sensed a tear in the email he sent this morning

From the link:

Here are some images I wasn’t expecting to see this century. It shows the Su-27s of the Russian Knights aerobatic team being escorted by Iranian F-14 Tomcats and F-4 Phantoms. Talk about bizarre. Two of America’s legendary Cold War fighters being flown by one of its biggest 21st Century adversaries alongside two Soviet-designed jets that were meant to shoot them down.

Read more: http://defensetech.org/2012/01/30/monday-eye-candy-tomcats-and-sukhois-what/#ixzz1lEiduTlu
Defense.org

[cairns]

Saw that on English Russia and thought it was pretty cool too. Wonder where they're getting spare parts for those toms......they were flying Phantoms too.

http://englishrussia.com/2012/01/30/the-russian-knights-flying-over-iran/#more-89562

[romad]

One week and Iran's air force would be a smoking heap. 4 days, if Israeli are involved. Makes you wonder why their bother?

[Henry Schmidt]

Originally Posted by romad

One week and Iran's air force would be a smoking heap. 4 days, if Israeli are involved. Makes you wonder why their bother?

[BReif61]

Beautiful airframes, all three.

[BE911SC]

Ask yourself how the Iranians get spare parts for their American-made fighter planes. Yep, Americans sell them the parts on the black market. Hey, a buck is a buck.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by BReif61

Beautiful airframes, all three.

I've flown in the Tom and the Phantom. Never as the PIC.

The Russian jet looks the business...even though it is all about avionics and missiles these days.

romad is right...if they ever climbed to fight. I just love seeing the old girls in flight.

[flipper35]

All very capable aircraft for the missions for which they were designed and then some. There is a reason the F4 serverd with all the fixed wing services and the F14 would still do well in the theater for which it was designed but I am not sure that theater exists any longer. I suppose if Hugo decided to attack...

[svandamme]

[svandamme]

Who would have thought that the Iranians at some point would be the ones flying the cool jets...

[romad]

Always loved a "well sorted out" MiG21

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

I've flown in the Tom and the Phantom. Never as the PIC.

The Russian jet looks the business...even though it is all about avionics and missiles these days.

romad is right...if they ever climbed to fight. I just love seeing the old girls in flight.

The Su27 had some pretty innovative avionics and missiles too.

Laser assisted, IR targeting for stealth attacks
And helmet-mounted sight was pretty innovatative especially in combination with the R-73/AA-11 "off-boresight" capabilities.

How a SU27 would have done against a Tomcat or Phantom ,dunno but they did had a couple of interesting things in the avionics and missile business.

The biggest difference after all was the idea that a pilot in the west was allowed to think for himself, whereas a Ruskie was just a stick man awaiting orders from teh controller on the ground..

[Hawkeye's-911T]

By Seahawk: I just love seeing the old girls in flight

For me, there will always be something magical (in a menacing sort of way) about the look of an F-4 Phantom. I had the pleasure of seeing them fly at the Abbotsford Airshow (way too many years ago). A friend of mine used to refer to them as "thunder buggies". I really enjoy these threads with an aviation theme. Many Thanks Paul.

Cheers
JB

[HardDrive]

Always loved the F-4. Beautiful machine.

[daepp]

There was a story about a local famous air museum trying to get an F-14. No go.

I would be very surprised if Americans are able to supply spares.

Anyone know how many Iranian Tomcats are operational?

[svandamme]

I doubt anybody but the Iranians and the CIA know that for sure.

[cgarr]

Maybe it would be a good thing to supply the spare parts if you know what I mean ;-)

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by svandamme

The Su27 had some pretty innovative avionics and missiles too.

Laser assisted, IR targeting for stealth attacks
And helmet-mounted sight was pretty innovatative especially in combination with the R-73/AA-11 "off-boresight" capabilities.

How a SU27 would have done against a Tomcat or Phantom ,dunno but they did had a couple of interesting things in the avionics and missile business.

The biggest difference after all was the idea that a pilot in the west was allowed to think for himself, whereas a Ruskie was just a stick man awaiting orders from teh controller on the ground..

The Tomcat would have them scrambling 100 miles out if they were allowed to. Medium and short range the Tomcat and Phantom would have a really tough battle ahead of them. Did the Phantom ever get fitted with the AIM 120 or other medium range fire and forget?

The F4 should be painted matte black and have Lord Vader painted under the canopy.

[romad]

Originally Posted by svandamme

The Su27 had some pretty innovative avionics and missiles too.

Laser assisted, IR targeting for stealth attacks
And helmet-mounted sight was pretty innovatative especially in combination with the R-73/AA-11 "off-boresight" capabilities.

How a SU27 would have done against a Tomcat or Phantom ,dunno but they did had a couple of interesting things in the avionics and missile business.

The biggest difference after all was the idea that a pilot in the west was allowed to think for himself, whereas a Ruskie was just a stick man awaiting orders from teh controller on the ground..

Russian pilots did a pretty good job of it in Korean and Nam. yes really. Heads up we generally had an equipment advantage, but don't kid yourself about their skills. Russian pilots were ever bit as good as ours.

[t6dpilot]

Originally Posted by romad

Always loved a "well sorted out" MiG21

Talk about riding a rocket! There was one based at our little aerodrome some years back. Hotshot young pilot. First landing the drag chute failed and he went off the end of a 7,500' runway - and well off. Told me that on 1/2 mile final, you are committed to landing as the spool up time was too long to go around.

He also told me of flying at an airshow one year after doing a low pass in the waivered airspace, he pulled up to 10,000' and split essed back to show center. Said that as soon as he was pointed back at the ground, he did not think he would complete the maneuver. He did, but not with much room to spare considering a max performance pull - 1700' AGL iirc. Ain't a lot of room for error at those speeds.

Loved watching him fly it, but was always fearing for the "other shoe to drop."