turkeydriver 4 Posted October 27, 2007 The reason I say the SH is a trainwrecck as an airframe is because the wing, though bigger than a legacy Hornets, i still designed to cruise at a high Mach number, and the stores carried for any mission, plus the fact that they are canted out, mean the airframe is super draggy, so the wing will rarely operate at its most fuel efficient state. If you look at the old tomcat's wing, it is much thicker, because it is designed for a slower cruise and loiter speed, the weapons are carried in tandem in low drag configuration. With the E/A-18G, that was supposed to be able to operate in the swing role and also drop bombs( it wont, as it is too expensive to risk), will carry the HUGE draggy ALQ-99 pods, canted out, on the same wing designed for supersonic flight and high subsonic cruise. No one really thinks as to what a HUGE waste of resources(fuel) this is. So a draggy, unnefficient, tanker configured SH has to tank these guys all the time. I'll give it five more years before the tanker configured jets start cracking to pieces. I seriously doubt the Growler airframes will last longer than 12-15 years at the very most. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Viggen 644 Posted October 27, 2007 The reason I say the SH is a trainwrecck as an airframe is because the wing, though bigger than a legacy Hornets, i still designed to cruise at a high Mach number, and the stores carried for any mission, plus the fact that they are canted out, mean the airframe is super draggy, so the wing will rarely operate at its most fuel efficient state. If you look at the old tomcat's wing, it is much thicker, because it is designed for a slower cruise and loiter speed, the weapons are carried in tandem in low drag configuration. With the E/A-18G, that was supposed to be able to operate in the swing role and also drop bombs( it wont, as it is too expensive to risk), will carry the HUGE draggy ALQ-99 pods, canted out, on the same wing designed for supersonic flight and high subsonic cruise. No one really thinks as to what a HUGE waste of resources(fuel) this is. So a draggy, unnefficient, tanker configured SH has to tank these guys all the time. I'll give it five more years before the tanker configured jets start cracking to pieces. I seriously doubt the Growler airframes will last longer than 12-15 years at the very most. So your saying we should upgrade the Prowlers? Hel I'm for that and my neighbor wouldn't be out of the job then! He flies the Prowler. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turkeydriver 4 Posted October 27, 2007 Oh no, I'm a tomcat guy. give us an upgraded tomcat-the ultimate swing role platform! J/K, a prowler redesigned from the ground up would be nice, but the mission doesn't require 4 crew anymore. Three at the most. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ironroad 218 Posted October 27, 2007 I have a pic in a book of a F15 pilot sitting in his seat with the crew chief beside him and the pilot is adjusting the rifle scope. I'll try to find it again. Check this vid out. I always thought those were cams next to the A model hud..but you be the judge. You will see several pit shots throughout the video. This stuff is early to mid 80s vintage. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MiGMasher 0 Posted October 29, 2007 A question for all... What is the difference between the F-4E's TISEO and the F-14's AXX-1 TCS? They both look the same and both are made by Northrop. Is it just the acronyms or something more? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turkeydriver 4 Posted October 29, 2007 I know the tomcat TCS will slave to the radar target or will "track" a target the RIo designates- I don't think it can provide any target information though. It's described to have a 10x zoom and allows crews to ID aircraft as far as 70 miles out for a big jet down to around 15-20 miles for a small aircraft. I thought the TISEO was for A-G weapons, like TV mavericks, but I don't know much about it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Typhoid 231 Posted October 29, 2007 (edited) I know the tomcat TCS will slave to the radar target or will "track" a target the RIo designates- I don't think it can provide any target information though. It's described to have a 10x zoom and allows crews to ID aircraft as far as 70 miles out for a big jet down to around 15-20 miles for a small aircraft. I thought the TISEO was for A-G weapons, like TV mavericks, but I don't know much about it. that's all I know too. I'm not familiar with the TISEO. Much earlier we had rifle scopes bolted inside the cockpit of the F-4's and the Topgun "Mig-4's and Mig-5's" which, in the F-4's, were boresighted to the radar boresight. It allowed the pilot to ID aircraft at about 15nm. Edited October 29, 2007 by Typhoid Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
