Jug

Who ever did the good deed, good on you. Now Dave can get back to griping about other things. Could be one of those perpetuating tasks though, Dave. You now have to do something good for someone else and pass it on. Tough job!

Many happy returns Fixer.

You just gotta love guys with a sense of humor!!!!

Ditto

Well, I signed up and for the hours of enjoyment I have received from our wonderful and talented modder community and it has been worth every cent and then some. I will be glad to sign up for some worthless toad that cannot see the value added from his/her contribution. Lots of talk about honor here and respect for honor. Time to show what you're made of. If you are a person that sees themselves as a person of honor, then you have to act like it. You cannot maintain the facade long, even in your own mind, if you don't. Cough up guys, because it is the right thing to do.

Flew out, snicked a few flicks, flew home.

zagnut, you take care. Got a family to come home to and this motley crew as well. You get a shot at Osama, take it. We'll still recognize him with a bullethole in his eye. God bless and keep you every day!

Thoughts and prayers for our Aisan friends here and elsewhere......................

Is anybody really surprised????

Time for crunch, groan, smack, pop, dirt, blood, sweat, and tears. SEC rules!!!

Great cockpit pics. I have never seen the cockpit of a Su-25/39, but it still is interesting to note that the Russians have yet to learn a thing about cockpit ergonomics. Quite a few things block the pilot's field of view looking forward. Instrument mounts if absolutely needed at eye level can be made with just as strong and "skinnier" mounting hardware. Look at all that crap................wow! If we model it right, all of us SF flyers will see what I mean. Don't get me wrong, it is still great work, but it is still..........amazing!

That is what I thought...............a Russian version of the A-9 (the Northrup loser in the A-1 Skyraider replacement sweepstakes some years ago). Still looks sweet!!!

I was in pilot training when the T-Birds put on a graduation show for the folks of the great state of Mississippi. The J-79 had a real unique howl, even in idle, and when they spooled up the earth shook. The close formation takeoff of the Birds or the Angels in the Rhino was something felt more than heard. The BAE Lightning had the same effect. Had the privilege of being close enough to the runway when a brace of them ripped the sky up over RAF Binbrook and got my hair foo-fooed in the process. Ah....those were the days when the sound of freedom was loud and clear.

I read somewhere that the Su-15 pilot that shot down that KAL 747 committed suicide. Not a great deal of honor as a warrior shooting down a clearly marked commercial aluminum overcast. If it had been me, my missiles would have malfunctioned.....all of them. Of course, I come from a different military background.

You know, this thread is full of excellent thoughts, observations, and quoted sources, but at the end of the day, the SR-71 was a huge target for the Sovs and they wanted a kill against one in the worst way. It never happened. Vary the intercepts, vary the SAM type, vary the number of shots, etc., etc. None were ever shot down! Whatever the bird really could do and whatever the Sovs wanted to do to it, the Blackbird escaped and the methods to prevent its escape did not work. Case closed, game over. On the issue of the MiG-21 vs my awesome Thud, remember that success in the sky is totally dependent on the driver, not the machine. MiGs may have killed Thuds because the Thud pilot screwed the pooch or because the MiG pilot was lucky. From a machine standpoint, the Thud was unmatched as a worm-burner, period. Ok, guys cut loose on that.

You know, I don't get quite the same number of SAMs as the rest of the crowd since I ingress at 200' AGL. I take the jet away from the autopilot early enough for the bad guys not to know you're coming, then I drop down to watch the ladies hang out the laundry. AAA is usually too late for a hi-speed pass and SAM radar doesn't work that good at low altitudes. One pass and haul ass. Drop all the stuff at the same time and egress at low altitude (no burner). Challenging the SAM radars is a bad idea. No trouble with the frame rate then!

Cie bene? Good articles sell newspapers and magizines. Actual truth is hard to find in all that paper.

A very wise instructor told me once that you could think the various engine-out thing to death. Look at the far end of the runway or at a point off in the distance off the nose and do what you have to do with the rudders to keep the nose on that point. You automatically overcome the engine out, what rudder to use, how much thrust can I use, etc., etc. If rudder alone will not keep your nose on the point then use a little bank. Rule number one in an emergency, FLY THE JET! Keep the pointy end pointed where you want to go and use the controls as necessary to make it do so. I know of, at least, two aero majors that ended up in smoking holes, because they augered in thinking out the deal and not remembering rule number one.

Victor's book was titled "MIG Pilot" of mid to late 70's vintage.

I am not sure the MiG-25 can get to 80K. If the engines become sensitive above 60K and shell out above 2.83 Mach at that altitude, how the heck can you do any "dogfighting" above 70K. Cannot user burner above 60K, cannot touch the throttles, and change in the Angle of Attack of the aircraft influences (badly) the airflow through the MiGs intakes. The airflow is already sensitive at 60K so a high altitude high speed fly-by is all that is possible for the airframes to consider in a "dogfight" above 70K. Gets down to who has the best missile aboard. One pass and (keep) hauling ass. I do love the boss-hog MiG-25, but it is not really capable of doing those things. Side note, met Victor two or three times to discuss Soviet tactics against US high altitude recon and some of the above are his thoughts paraphrased.

You took the words right out of my mouth. What a place. Keep me hanging around for a long time..................Not sure if that is good or bad, but it's good for me!

May we be so fortunate as to walk in the company of such men. RIP

Keep in mind that the only air to air kill the Iraqi AF got against the US was a MiG-25 which hosed down a bug (Hornet). The AVG proved time and again that it is the driver, not the jet that wins the fight.

Happy Birthday!