MAKO69

People are evacuating including the Iraqi Army. This will be nothing like the Civil War of your country or mine, because these people are going to kill everybody women children etc etc etc...

I don't know what news agencies you watch, but you couldn't be more wrong, these sh!tbums are marching unopposed, Iraqi security forces are deserting their posts. These guys are 36 miles outside Baghdad and are using captured weapons and vehicles of the Iraqi Army and security forces.

Of course to the Pacific Brass the plane would be a failure it's not what they wanted, they wanted all the hot planes that were going to Europe, but they would have to wait a couple of years. 2nd Lt. Don McGee USAAF said as long as you didn't turn with the zero on an equal altitude and had energy in the bank you could break away and run out. 1st Lt. Jack Jones USAAF, this guy said if he had the speed advantage over the zero he would turn with them and get them to scrub their speed and come back and wackem with 30 cal. and the 20mm cannon and save his 50 cal for the flight/fight home, sometimes they'd come back and the Japs would be attacking the field. Maj. Paul Betchel USAAF who stated the plane had it's short comings but when the pilots learned how to fight the plane they were very comfortable with it. Betchel a USAAF CO was stationed on Guadalcanal with Marine torpedo and fighter squads. Pilots cross trained on each others planes and even flew missions in mixed bagged formations with guys battling dysentery and some planes not just being able to fly due to no supply for parts it had to be done. When the Japs would attack what ever plane a pilot were closest to, that's what you were going to fly if you were a Marine pilot but standing next to a P-400 well that's what you were going to be flying when the air raid siren sounded. All acquired kills on Zeros with the Airacobra types. Russian Ace Alexzander Pokryshkin who flew several P-39 types and scored most of his 59 (48 or49 depends on the book you read) victories in Airacobras. He nick named the P-39 britchik (little razor). Grigory Rechkalov scored 40+ kills in the Cobra. Nikolai D. Gulayev 36 kills in the Cobra. The P-39 was faster than the zero the P-400 was quicker in a dive and with energy could run out. The guys that flew the P-400 said they had to be more careful and not scrub off the speed, they couldn't get it back as quickly as the turbocharged P-39s. Most dogfights in the Pacific and Russia were below 15K. It was known not to take the planes higher for a fight especially the P-400s, most of them didn't even have O2 but to patrol at or above 15K was common. The P-39s and P-400s were used as interceptors, fighters, fighter/bombers and bomber escort until mid 1943 when newer P-38s, P-51s, and F-4Us came on line. It may have been loathed by the Brass, but the pilots using them learned to use them and fight them.

I thought they were to fly until 2016, 2017 sometime, what happened?

I feel the same way, but we made the sh!t sandwich, and it looks like the US will have to take a giant bite of it. The ISIS are no slouches a lot of these scum bags have proper military or organized training and combat experience. They use both conventional and unconventional tactics. There are even reports they have an elite "special forces" division, I doubt that.

The plane didn't have a chance in Europe they were built without the turbochargers, kind of like castrating a bull. The Airacobra Mk 1 max speed was 358 mph @15K. 179 were taken back by the U.S./Bell and just over 100 were sent to the Pacific theater in Australia and given the designation P-400. The P-400 had a 20mm cannon in place of the 37mm more ammo and less prone to jamming when pulling G's and firing. The need for the 400's was so immediate that they were flown with RAF paint scheme and serial numbers. 212 were diverted to the Soviet Union as part of the lend lease program, 54 were lost in transit. The P-400 and her sister P-39s actually did very well were most of the flying and fighting took place below 15K. The Airacobra was a true "Mud Fighter" the plane was very maneuverable down low were she thrived, pilots who flew her said they could turn with the Zeros for a bit and could also outrun the Zero, but the boom and zoom tactic was the best for dealing with the Zero all pilots learned to stay at 15K or above and wait for the zeros to come in around 8-10K roll in with speed engage push through into a high speed shallow climb asses to re-engage or just run out with superior speed. The European theater was 15K+ the Pac and Soviet theater was 15K and under, that's why the P-39 and her sisters did well in those theaters.

2 more cities fell last night, more cities to fall ISIS promises to take Baghdad. Way to finish a job, we owed it to those people, for ripping their country apart. We needed to keep a presence for a few decades to give the country a chance and make sure the fledgling government makes it. http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/11/world/meast/iraq-violence/

Are you a U.S. Citizen?

I don't think its an over reaction alert, this sh!t happened, been happening.

We started this sh!t and it was half @ssed in finishing it. We have about 1000 defensive troops at the US Embassy complex w/support. I hate to send more troops but, we never should have left. This kind of action takes a generation or two to make sure it sticks. Thinking more to come.

Boeing Aircraft releases photos of new F-4 Supah Phantom II. I'm in!

C'mon

I can only imagine the feeling of the impending fight that was about to occur. 30 seconds to Hell or Heaven. The Greatest Generation.

Welcome home Sundowner 100, Its millah time, Its gonnah beah millah thrillah!

Why not develop a stealthy weapons pylon for said stealthy pod? Anyways I think that one pod is enough as I posted in an earlier statement.

Don't forget people, wing mounted stores on the Super Hornet have to be toed out 4 degrees due to weapons having a conflict (wanting to smack the plane) with airflow during weapon separation from the aircraft. I think the one conformal weapons bay would suffice. If one is going to be doing a stealth mission most likely they are not going to be destroying a whole neighborhood, more like a single to a few strategic targets. If fighter escort is part of the picture then a battle buddy Super Hornet could be outfitted with the weapons bay set up for air to air. Fighter cover could be provided with F-22s and or Super Hornets that are not to far away loaded conventionally for CAP/BARCAP.

I'm sure for the right price it could become mounted on the wings, but its massive isn't it.

It appears we already have 2, The F-16 Falcon and the SU-27 Flanker.

I don't know that weapon pod looks real big compared to other stores, twice as big as a fuel tank.

Only time will tell, I was thinking the same thing. The only draw back would be the more stuff you hang the more parasitic drag the airframe would encounter with a loss of range.

The American Embassy in Iraq is more than just a few buildings, Its more of a mini base which can accommodate several thousand Embassy "Security" troops and support personnel. We did leave Iraq, but we really didn't there are a few thousand US personnel in Iraq both military and civilian contractors, but no combat troops, just defensive security troops. USAF will be providing training for the Iraqi AF in the US and in Iraq.

If the plane is going to be stealthed out to do a stealthy mission, I would think the plane would be cleaned up pretty slick with no external hung/mounted stores, hence the stealthy weapons pod. Think out of the box and quit being a devils advocate. Well what if you hang weapons on an F-35, doesn't make sense does it. So why put that out there.

Your wrong, the Superhornet by itself is stealthy, not as stealthy as an F-22 or the F-35, but still harder to detect and find than a legacy hornet It's not only the shape of the plane but what is used to build, coat the aircraft, and how the pilot flies the plane that adds to the stealth. Like Toryu said, you hang missiles, bombs, fuel tanks, with not so stealthy lines and materials, well you know what that means. However add a weapons pod that has stealth designed into it then you have a stealth strike fighter, once again maybe not as stealthy as the F-35, but still stealthy and harder to find. http://ninjapundit.blogspot.com/2013/09/ash-super-duper-hornet-external-weapon.html

Who is this directed to? I personally could care less about the other users of the F-35 that's on them. As for the other air arms who are going to get or contemplating to acquire the F-35 in any form It's on them to decide how to employ it, but for us it will be a strike fighter 1st and an air defense fighter 2nd. It may not have the best range, best performance, best war load, but its a stealthy plane that's the key ingredient all the other planes would out perform the F-35 in a conventional fight or fly off, but that wasn't what it was designed to do! It was designed to be really hard to detect so it can fly around drop bombs or shoot missiles at other planes, not to fight its way in drop its load and fight it's way out. It was designed to cheat which works for me. For the US the JSF-35 will be a Joint Strike Fighter, a cog in the giant war machine that will have the support to carry out it's intended missions. I just want my guys to have the very best tools to complete their task and get home safely. Is that so wrong?

Wait are you Toryu too? Anyways I miss read, my bad. As for the planes you mentioned you were just making a valid point with those. My beef was comparing the F-104 to the F-35.