F-18 Low Flying

[straitman]

Doesn't really fit in as AFF related but I'm sure there are many here who will be interested in looking at this F-18 Low Flying.

[h=1]F-18 Pilot Puts Low-Level Flying Skills On Display[/h]
I also read a few comments from some former F-111 pilots who basically said 'Too much like hard work. Just put the TFR* on hard ride and 200ft and let it do the work for you.'


* Terrain Following Radar.

 

[jb747]

Well the bomber pilots would say that, but then the auto TFR isn't going to give them anywhere near that level of manoeuvring. Nice at night. And 200' is in the stratosphere!

We did that sort of flying in the A4, as do the boys in blue in their Mirage/F18. The rolling inverted is simply to get the energy vector of the aircraft pointed down...you can pull 7 or so positive g, but only a couple of negative, so it's much quicker to roll and pull, instead of pushing.

Great fun.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Many years ago I was swimming in Katherine Gorge NT, seemingly a million miles from anywhere, when suddenly a RAAF Mirage seemingly flew down along the gorge. The noise was deafening as the engine noise reveberated down along the canyon.

It was a bit surreal like the scene out of Life of Brian when the alien spaceship suddenly appears. Quite stunning, but a also a WTF moment!

 

[Grogan]

That the view from my office does not go past that fast is a disappointment.

 

[jb747]

I was once called to the CO's office, and told 'bring your hat'...which was navy speak for you're in the poo. Wondering what I've done, I arrive in the boss's office, where he has a wonderful framed picture of an A4G on his desk. About 45º angle of bank towards the photographer, and the background is totally motion blur. And somewhat below the photographer too. The pilot's helmet is a glowing blue...which narrowed it to a choice of one.

So, after a little discussion about the photographic merits of the image, I was tasked to go and find out the height of the bridge deck of an RAN DDG. He added 5 feet for the photographer's height....and then took away about 15' because he was looking down. The upshot was that I was doing about 500 knots at around half of the authorised 50 feet. Duty boy for a week....

The picture was hung in his office! I've always wondered what happened to it.

 

[Boris spatsky]

I was at Pearce on the day that the RNZAF A4s flew back to NZ and they were retired. We had a great night in the bar before (story for another day), then the Kiwi CO told us to stand on the roof of the accommodation blocks for their midday departure the next day. Well; i think from memory there were 12 aircraft, and they all departed below the height of the roof - i would estimate 30 feet or so. Was spectacular - they clearly didn't care about their jobs as Helen Clark had decided to retire all Kiwi fastjets anyway. Most of those guys transferred to the Aussie Hornet world as far as i know.

 

[juddles]

...We did that sort of flying in the A4.....

jb, if you ever feel inclined to do that in the A380, please give me warning so I can stow my gear properly, tighten my seatbelt, open my window shades, charge my glass, and select appropriate music

 

[jb747]

The Kiwi/Oz A4s live on. Whilst some are in museums, others were bought by a mob called Draken in the USA. So they're (mostly) still flying as aggressors. One of the Kiwi TA4s crashed at Las Vegas just the other day. Pilot ejected.

 

[love_the_life]

Stunning but I nearly suffered from motion sickness watching it

 

[jb747]

Stunning but I nearly suffered from motion sickness watching it

And you're missing the best part....the g. He goes negative for a second at one stage, and when running along the river the aircraft hits the 'judder' so probably about 7g. The roll rate of a Hornet is slower than the earlier series aircraft (like the A4 and Mirage)!

Just to add to the comment about roll rate. I just had lunch with a test pilot and an ex Mirage/F18 pilot. The roll rate is under half of what the earlier aircraft could achieve... It didn't seem that fast at the time!

 

[love_the_life]

Now I am really feeling green around the gills :shock:

 

[Austff]

Very impressive , great to watch the shadow of the plane.
Thanks jb , your comments are great.