Coolest. Fighter. Paintjob. Ever.

[TheMightyFavog]

Kickass!

[ewagner]

1. Let's see....

That a Panavia Tornado with German AF markings.

The paint job looks like it was done to honor Boelcke who, if I am not mistaking was the father of German Aviation in WWI?

Am I right?

and, yes...that is the coolest paint job ....EVER!

[TheMightyFavog]

3. Actually it's form Jagdbombergeschwader 31

The Squadorn is named after Boelcke.

IIRC, fighter pilots still study his book, Dicta Boelcke.

[Kellanved]

5. They seem to be pretty proud about their paintjobs.

http://www.alma312.de/BlueLightning.htm

http://www.alma312.de/BlackThunder.htm


http://www.alma312.de/Englisch.htm

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

8. That is because the modern Luffwaffe has nothing better to

do but tear up sky and paint planes.

[Kellanved]

9. true

And as far as I am concerned that is perfectly all right.

But "modern" ? With all those F-104s ?

[TheMightyFavog]

10. I thought they axed the F-104s

I think they all got phased out.

[Kellanved]

11. ooops, my bad : F4

Not the Starfighter; the Phantom.

[TheMightyFavog]

12. Right. Those'll get phased out

Once the Eurofighters become operational.

I know the Government is trying to cut back on defense spending, Hell, they're even eliminating national Service (Which is not making the hospitals and state-run retirement homes happy, BTW), but they are absolutley refusing to cut back on Eurofighter purchases.

[Kellanved]

13. that's not so certain

There is a pretty real chance that the 3rd Eurofighter order will be postponed. The German Air Force is too large anyway; there is no need to replace all Phantoms.


As for the Public Health /Social spending: the actual plans are a lot less dramatic than the media made them appear. The real point is that future rises in the public insurance fees will be paid by the employees, not the employers. (not that I'm too fond of the idea)
The German mix of public and private health insurance is hard to explain, but there is a possibility that the plans might improve the service.

Edit:
the Civil Service is being phased out; correct. It'll be interesting to see where this will lead. That's not so sure for the draft; but draftees aren't used as pilots anyway.

[TheMightyFavog]

16. I must have read that article wrong then.

Cut a brother a break, man! I've only been studying german for a little over a Semester!

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

14. Don't diss phantoms.... that is one awesome jet

with a new avionics package and a good pilot, it might do okay against most planes.
not to mention the ELINT it can carry out and the electronic warfare stuff

and they are good at ground support too.

[TheMightyFavog]

15. How long did we use 'em?

I seem to recall we used them in Desert Storm for Wild Weasel work.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

17. They made an appearance in Bosnia, IIRC

and I would not be surprised if they were still around somewhere in some state's ANG.

[MousePlayingDaffodil]

4. Yes . . .

. . . I think calling Oswald Boelcke the "father of German Aviation in WWI" is fair. Boelcke, who trained both Manfred von Richthofen and Max Immelmann, was one of the very first German pilots to test out Anton Fokker's synchronized (i.e., firing through the propeller) machine gun, and went on to become Germany's first ace. He was credited with shooting down 40 enemy planes before dying himself in October 1916, following a mid-air crash with another (rookie) German pilot.

[ewagner]

6. Saw some of that

on Discovery Wings..........

Amazing...fighter tactics use the same basic principles that Boelcke taught in 1914-15...............

[GOPisEvil]

2. Wow...go Luftwaffe! Nice paint job!

:thumbsup:

[boneygrey]

7. Wow

Awesome pics.