The Airplane Thread

wyshyvanuk wrote

If there is one thing I've learned on this board, it is that it does not pay to cross the Nurse.

Nurse crossing ;~).[/QUOTE]


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vreihen16 wrote

Honda only made small bikes back in the stone ages. My guess is that Llarry bought a 1965 S65 Sports Cub (not to be confused with a Piper Cub)

Same approximate horsepower.

R.

Here's a chart that shows the number of active aircraft in the U.S. Air Force, the USAF Reserve and the Air National Guard as of the beginning of the current fiscal year. The numbers will have changed since September 30, 2025 -- for instance, the T-1As have been retired. Presumably Boeing has managed to deliver a few more F-15EXs, And so on.

Has anyone else been following the drama of the pugnacious Cessna Citation (N30CV) pilot at Torrance, California for the past week? The dude pulled some sort of sovereign citizen attitude at several levels of ATC operators, refusing to follow their instructions, violating LAX airspace and shutting down their departures, declaring a fake emergency, and then refusing to take down the pilot deviation phone number or provide fuel/souls for the emergency report? When he came back to fly out a few days later, the Torrance tower again gave him the pilot deviation phone number and told them that he didn't need clearance to take off VFR and was heading to a runway via a certain taxiway. I think the entire Internet is waiting to see the FAA yank his commercial license for blatantly ignoring ATC and ground crew instructions, falsely declaring an emergency, and being a danger to everyone both in the sky and on the ground.....

vreihen16 wrote

Has anyone else been following the drama of the pugnacious Cessna Citation (N30CV) pilot at Torrance, California for the past week

Predictions are that the initial B-21A Raiders will arrive at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, sometime in 2027. The 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth currently operates about 30 B-1Bs at the base. Once the B-21As arrive, it's likely that most of the B-1Bs will fly off to the boneyard in Arizona, thereby reducing the B-1B force by half.

The 28th has two assigned Bomb Squadrons: The 34th Bomb Squadron "Thunderbirds" and the 37th BS "Tigers". I suspect one of these squadrons will become the formal training unit and the other will become an operational bomb squadron.

Ellsworth AFB has been getting quite a few upgrades in preparation for their new stealth bombers.

As we know, Boeing has had problem after problem in recent years. The KC-46A tanker, the 737MAX issues, etc.

Preoccupied with difficulties elsewhere, the largest Boeing 777 variant -- the 777X or 777-9 -- has suffered. While earlier/shorter versions of the 777 have done well in the sales market, the 777X has seen delays. Conceived in 2013, the 777-9, first flew in 2020 and was scheduled to be certified and enter service soon after. That did not happen and ETOPS certification for the 777-9 was pushed back to 2026. Lufthansa and Emirates refused delivery of 2019-produced airframes which have languished and now require updates to enter service. About 30 early-production aircraft now require rework before entering service. There is talk of bargain prices for airlines willing to accept these early aircraft after modification.

Could be an old one:

Final Mission and Retirement Details

• Final Science Flight: Completed its last major deployment (the ASIA-AQ air quality mission) in April 2024 and returned to NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center on April 1, 2024.
• Final Operational Flight: Flew its final ferry flight to retirement in May 2024.
• New Home: Transferred to Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho, to serve as a training airframe for their Aircraft Maintenance Technology Program.
• Service History: Operated as part of NASA's Airborne Science Program for 37 years after being acquired in 1985 and put into service in 1987
• This aircraft first flew with Alitalia. (1969-1979) then Braniff Airways. (1979-1982)
• NASA acquired the airframe in 1985 from Quiet Nacelle Corps, a noise reduction company. The engines were replaced by CFM56 turbofans.

Daddy's Daily.

Canadair CF-104 Starfighter tail number 12870 (later re-seriated as 104870) was initially assigned to No. 444 (Fighter) Squadron at RCAF Station Baden-Soellingen in Germany, and later flew with No. 427 Squadron and No. 430 Squadron during its service in Europe.


QUIZ: Can you identify the castle?

smokinjoe64 Did you know that Daddy's daily had full length leading edge slats made of titanium and so razor sharp that they had to be covered on the ground so ground crews would get a shave? However he still couldn't land at Courchevel.

Lady Jane wrote

smokinjoe64 Did you know that Daddy's daily had full length leading edge slats made of titanium and so razor sharp that they had to be covered on the ground so ground crews would get a shave? However he still couldn't land at Courchevel.

Some years ago, I was at an air museum (McMinnville, Oregon, I think) and I gingerly tested the "razor sharp" story on an F-104. I can report that the leading edge of the -104 that I sampled was NOT razor sharp. In fact, I think that it would be difficult to draw blood at all on the leading edge.

That is certainly not to disrespect any F-104 driver. I don't think any of them was testicularly challenged!

Great head-on photo, by the way!

Llarry wrote

Some years ago, I was at an air museum (McMinnville, Oregon, I think) and I gingerly tested the "razor sharp" story on an F-104. I can report that the leading edge of the -104 that I sampled was NOT razor sharp. In fact, I think that it would be difficult to draw blood at all on the leading edge.

That is certainly not to disrespect any F-104 driver. I don't think any of them was testicularly challenged!

Great head-on photo, by the way!

From the Starfighter site: ( You can check-out the links)

The leading edges of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter wings were so thin and sharp that they could easily cut human skin.
Design and Safety

• Ultra-thin profile: The wing leading edge measured only about 0.41 mm to 0.5 mm thick, comparable to a thick butter knife or heavy metal sheet, but sharp enough to slice skin on impact.
• Ground covers required: Crew chiefs and ground personnel had to slide special padded protective guards over the wing edges while the jet was parked to prevent accidental cuts.
• Supersonic purpose: The radical thinness reduced aerodynamic drag and prevented severe shock waves from forming during high Mach number flight

EDIT: It looks like Bimmerpost doesn't like links. Not much I can do about that... But you are computer savvy enough to find the answer.

EDIT 2: The Canadair G Series were fitted with automatic surfaces to reduce the turns at low speed. What my dad used to call a " A three country turn".

Lady Jane wrote

Daddy's Daily.

Canadair CF-104 Starfighter tail number 12870 (later re-seriated as 104870) was initially assigned to No. 444 (Fighter) Squadron at RCAF Station Baden-Soellingen in Germany, and later flew with No. 427 Squadron and No. 430 Squadron during its service in Europe.

QUIZ: Can you identify the castle?

Thas easy 😛 => Hohenzollern Castle near Stuttgart

...what do I win⁉️ 😆

Lady Jane wrote

smokinjoe64 Did you know that Daddy's daily had full length leading edge slats made of titanium and so razor sharp that they had to be covered on the ground so ground crews would get a shave? However he still couldn't land at Courchevel.

Hey Lady Jane I'm no stranger to LES 🛩️

Two of my fav platforms flown used LES spanning nearly the entire wing:Yeah...104 drivers were certainly 'manned-missle' drivers; insane numbers

• Approach speeds nearing 200mph
• Runway lengths ~2mls, in many instances more

By contrast, my A-4 & EA-6B defined TO & landing lengths ~200ft at "the boat"

smokinjoe64 wrote

Thas easy 😛 => Hohenzollern Castle near Stuttgart

...what do I win⁉️ 😆

My utmost admiration.

Here's me saying "Hi" at the entrance.

Lady Jane wrote

smokinjoe64 wrote

Thas easy 😛 => Hohenzollern Castle near Stuttgart

...what do I win⁉️ 😆

My utmost admiration.

Here's me saying "Hi" at the entrance.

Nice pic 🙌🏾
Toured some years ago on a Stuttgart trip.
Amazing what can be accomplished with 'slave labor' right⁉️

The venerable -- and much loved by ground troops -- A-10C Warthog continues to be reduced in numbers. The 355th Wing in Arizona, which was essentially "Hawg Central" for many years, has just given up their last remaining A-10Cs. The U.S. Air Force plans to retain two squadrons of A-10s until 2030 with just 36 aircraft total: 18 at Moody AFB and 18 in a reserve unit at Whiteman AFB.

There is or was a squadron at Osan AB in Korea. I'm unsure of the current status. The Idaho Air National Guard also had a squadron; again, they may be gone.

The A-10 was designed as the premier anti-armor aircraft. At its peak it was notably assigned to the 81st Fighter Wing at RAF Woodbridge in the UK. The 81st -- the largest wing in the USAF -- had six squadrons with 108 A-10As with the mission of stopping Warsaw Pact armor if a European war ignited. With the end of the Cold War, most of those A-10s returned to the USA. The A-10 proved effective in the Middle East wars that followed.

flybigjet wrote

Funnily enough, my FO today was a COD driver who got out a couple of years ago and got hired by us.

We were discussing the COD and the Osprey taking over today and he mentioned that the carrier fini-flight was yesterday, with the final flight sometime next month.

He was..... not super impressed with the Osprey.

Can't say that I blame him.

R.

C-2A Greyhound has served the US Navy incredibly well. While the design itself is about 60-year old, 39 new aircraft were built between 1985 and 1989. The typical age of C-2A in its final flying years was approximately 40 years old with service-life extension upgrades.

There are 2 reasons - both strategic - why US Navy made the decision to retire C-2A:

- CMV-22B can carry F-35 engine. US Navy is transitioning to F-35C
- CMV-22B can land on destroyers, amphibious ships. No need to distribute cargo from the carrier by helicopter

But - there are concerns and risks.

- V-22 has not been particularly reliable with gearbox failures, clutch failures and other documented issues
- CMV-22 cabin is not pressurized; generally operates at lower altitudes
- Very strong downwash from 2 props requires strict operating procedures and training

smokinjoe64 wrote

Nice pic 🙌🏾
Toured some years ago on a Stuttgart trip.

Check your mail box.

Lady Jane wrote

Check your mail box.

👌🏽

• The aircraft pictured belongs to the 421 "Red Indian" Squadron and is identifiable by the tail number 104868.
• This specific paint scheme was applied in 1983 to commemorate the squadron's 40th anniversary. (That's two years before I was born.)