Question About A Real Rhino

[stearmann4]

ROK F-4s

The South Koreans were still flying Phantoms at K2 as of a year ago.

 

[McGillicutty]

Show an arresting cable to an AF fighter guy and he gets physically ill. Especially when he considers trying to catch it at night in a sea state 3.

He'll regain his composure (after blowing his cookies) when you show him a 9K ft runway.

Haha! I knew he was gonna say some stupid sh*t like that.

 

[Gorilla]

WHY the heck doesn't the stupid U.S. Govt sell off surplus military aircraft, unless they're first torch cut or chopped into little pieces? Are they afraid that some dude in Idaho is going to buy a T-37, F-4, F-105, and declare independence based upon his private air force? There are so many cool jets waiting to get airborne again. What a shame.

 

[Weasel Keeper]

You can buy surplus aircraft from foreign countries that the US sold to them. I believe a lot of privately owned fighters (F-100s, F-104s, T-38s, etc) came from Canada and/or elsewhere.

 

[stonewall]

Show an arresting cable to an AF fighter guy and he gets physically ill. Especially when he considers trying to catch it at night in a sea state 3.

He'll regain his composure (after blowing his cookies) when you show him a 9K ft runway.

Bud in my unit took an approach end cable after blowing a tire on takeoff last week. No shakes, no puking, no Mayday calls...just a standard approach end cable arrestment with a shredded left tire. Amazing.

 

[SIG600]

Bud in my unit took an approach end cable after blowing a tire on takeoff last week. No shakes, no puking, no Mayday calls...just a standard approach end cable arrestment with a shredded left tire. Amazing.

Must be contageous. I had to take a field arrestment last week too. However according to Dave, I wasn't nervous at all. Uh huh... as I cinch down my lap belts and double check the position of the party handle.

 

[bcangf16]

Talked to an F-4 guy at our airshow recently. F-4's are still flying using contract pilots to ride while being remotely piloted. This is so they can check out on a console while a pilot can still take over if needed. Kinda like riding on the back of a motorcycle..........Mostly for Tyndall drones.

 

[skybert]

That must suck when they shoot the drone down..

 

[727C47]

its a non-union shop...

 

[Huggyu2]

Remember: just ignore Dave. Pretend his posts do not exist.

 

[ExAF]

Yeah

Remember: just ignore Dave. Pretend his posts do not exist.

And quit quoting him so those of us who ignore him don't have to see his dribble.

 

[Big Wave]

A litttle background on the whole "drone" thing, hopefully answering some questions:

--F-4s are given a "return to service" inspection at Davis-Monthan ("the boneyard"), and then sent to Mojave to be given remote-control capability by BAE (becoming "QF-4s")
--The 82d Aerial Target Squadron (Tyndall) and its Det 1 (Holloman) are America's last F-4 phylers--they are active-duty units charged with administering and supervising the drone operations and maintenance contracts
--QF-4 "riders" are officially called "safety pilots"; with a click of the autopilot disconnect paddle (front of the stick), the "QF-4" becomes an "F-4"--quick disconnects are a real necessity under high G/low altitude/dynamic maneuvers (or worse, during botched landings)
--QF-4s are flown "manned" for the following reasons: to give remote-controllers (all Lockheed-Martin contractors; all highly-experienced ex-fighter pilots) their continuation training (area maneuvers and takeoffs/landings); to fly "dress rehearsals" of live-fire missions (to ensure that both shooter and target achieve the required parameters of the shot); and between one and hundreds of "data gathering" missions (where QF-4s are placed in front of whatever missile/sensor is being tested, in order to validate lab-bench data)
--Most of the missiles fired have instrumentation packages vice warheads; a large percentage of the unmanned QF-4s launched are also landed (to be used again another day)--as missiles/sensors get better, this recovery rate drops
--USAF QF-4s do not have a "camera" in the nose; the remote-controller has instrumentation similar to any PC flight sim; when QF-4s are flown unmanned, they are escorted through the takeoff and landing process by a manned QF-4 (to act as additional "eyes and ears" of the controller)
--Live-fire testing against "full-scale" targets (i.e. converted fighters) is required by Title X, United States Code (otherwise, we would use the much-less-expensive subscale drones--MQM-107 and BQM-34--all the time)
--'Tis a much more honorable fate for these mighty airplanes than being turned into bulk scrap in the Arizona desert

 

[stonewall]

A litttle background on the whole "drone" thing, hopefully answering some questions:

--F-4s are given a "return to service" inspection at Davis-Monthan ("the boneyard"), and then sent to Mojave to be given remote-control capability by BAE (becoming "QF-4s")
--The 82d Aerial Target Squadron (Tyndall) and its Det 1 (Holloman) are America's last F-4 phylers--they are active-duty units charged with administering and supervising the drone operations and maintenance contracts
--QF-4 "riders" are officially called "safety pilots"; with a click of the autopilot disconnect paddle (front of the stick), the "QF-4" becomes an "F-4"--quick disconnects are a real necessity under high G/low altitude/dynamic maneuvers (or worse, during botched landings)
--QF-4s are flown "manned" for the following reasons: to give remote-controllers (all Lockheed-Martin contractors; all highly-experienced ex-fighter pilots) their continuation training (area maneuvers and takeoffs/landings); to fly "dress rehearsals" of live-fire missions (to ensure that both shooter and target achieve the required parameters of the shot); and between one and hundreds of "data gathering" missions (where QF-4s are placed in front of whatever missile/sensor is being tested, in order to validate lab-bench data)
--Most of the missiles fired have instrumentation packages vice warheads; a large percentage of the unmanned QF-4s launched are also landed (to be used again another day)--as missiles/sensors get better, this recovery rate drops
--USAF QF-4s do not have a "camera" in the nose; the remote-controller has instrumentation similar to any PC flight sim; when QF-4s are flown unmanned, they are escorted through the takeoff and landing process by a manned QF-4 (to act as additional "eyes and ears" of the controller)
--Live-fire testing against "full-scale" targets (i.e. converted fighters) is required by Title X, United States Code (otherwise, we would use the much-less-expensive subscale drones--MQM-107 and BQM-34--all the time)
--'Tis a much more honorable fate for these mighty airplanes than being turned into bulk scrap in the Arizona desert

Good summary. I worked a lot with the 82d when I was doing OT out of Eglin. Pretty cool capability, all in all. Of course, I'm dreading the first time I shoot a missile at QF-16, but I know the day will come.

 

[Mud Eagle]

deletedhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Hacker15E/AIM-7MH2v1.jpg

 

[DaveGriffin]

Bud in my unit took an approach end cable after blowing a tire on takeoff last week. No shakes, no puking, no Mayday calls...just a standard approach end cable arrestment with a shredded left tire. Amazing.

I'm sure it was a spectacular recovery, but without the possibility of a ramp strike or crashing into 8,000 ft. deep of cold ocean water, I bet it didn't have the same sense of urgency that every Naval Aviator faces on every routine carrier landing.