What's the difference between all the "F" class fighters?

[HEyHEY]

And are all of them being used these days?

[arcadian]

1. Are you talking about military aircraft?

n/t

[HEyHEY]

3. yeah

[Redstone]

6. Current: F/A-18, F-16, F-15, that's all.

F-22 and F-35 coming on board, as soon as we're willing to bankrupt what's left of our economy to pay for them.

F-14s are retired. The A-10 and EA-6B are still soldiering on, as is the S3 Viking (the one bushyboy rode in onto the carrier to show us how accomplished the mission was, and how much he could stuff the front of his flight-suit pants).

Redstone

[HEyHEY]

8. f-18s are used the most, right?

[Redstone]

9. Yeah, that's what the Navy has standardized on. The new "super" version actually has some

decent range (which the earlier models lacked), so they're planning to use them as jammers to replace the EA6B Prowlers (carrying the good old ALQ-99 jammer pods, which the same I helped design a long time ago).

My only question (and I have a professional interest in this) is if the attack version of the Super F/A-18 will be able to fly in the kind of horrible weather that the A-6 could. It was legendary for that.

Redstone

[ScreamingMeemie]

14. Wrong spot

[MrScorpio]

21. The F-22 is in service as well

[MicaelS]

2. Global Security.org

Has a comprehensive list.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/fighter.htm

[GOPisEvil]

4. I thought the F-14 was retired.

The F-8 Crusader was a Navy plane.

[ScreamingMeemie]

15. The F-14 is not retired and very much in active service here at

Selfridge. BabyG can pretty much tell anyone anything they ever wanted to know about planes...and then some. He is our resident FlyBoy.

[Pierre.Suave]

20. They are very much retired

Sadly.

[ScreamingMeemie]

25. Just saw two flying overhead with 2 F-16's...

Tomcats in the air every day here.

[DS1]

27. They're retired from active missions

I'm sure they're still very useful as training planes, something for the F16 jocks to attack.

[ScreamingMeemie]

28. WannaB was CAP. Spent a lot of time on base.

The F-14's are what they send out to patrol the Detroit River. Someone might want to tell them then that they're not supposed to do that, because that is what they're doing. It's an every day occurence here. They use a couple of really dopey looking A-10's for training. BabyG is a flyboy and can recite to you exactly what they do at Selfridge every day. :)

[DS1]

29. I don't dispute that, I'm just saying

http://www.google.com/search?q=f-14+retired

:)

[ScreamingMeemie]

30. What kind of trouble will they get in for not retiring them at Selfridge??

It's interesting because they are active here.

[DS1]

31. Eh. It's Air Guard. The Guard always uses hand-me-downs

They were shooting with the Vietnam version of the M16 in the early 90s, which says a lot.


Good for them though, I always liked the form of the F14

[ScreamingMeemie]

32. Oh, okay...although one of the pilots is active AF.

I like the F-14's best and hope they never stop using them here. They are also much quieter (especially at 3AM) then the F-16's.

[Pierre.Suave]

33. The AF does not fly F-14s

they fly F-15s and F-16s.

The air guard would also not fly F-14s, they would also fly F-15s and 16s that have been handed down.

The F-14 is a navy plane, with two engines, two tails and wings that "swing" or move from a straight out position to a swept back position.

F-14:



F-15:



Selfridge AFB:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selfridge_Air_National_Guard_Base

[ScreamingMeemie]

34. I kid you not. They're flying them. Now I have to go rifle up the pictures

of BabyG and his pilot friends. BabyG is a flyboy and can identify more planes than even his uncle can (Lt. Col Ret.) so I hope you don't mind if I go with my son, and my visits to the base (less than 5 minutes away). Yep, jasonc, they're using them. I'll get that picture for you. There are currently the F-14's and the F-16's I was talking about earlier and often two and two fly patrol up the Detroit River to Lake St. Clair, where we live.

[Pierre.Suave]

35. Alright

I will take your word for it...

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

23. I think I saw a nice F-18 over Belle Isle

for the kickoff of the Gold Cup races. If I remember right, the F-14's vertical stabilizers are vertical, and the F-18's are at a slant. This plane had slanted stabilizers.

I guess I just assumed it was someone from Selfridge.

Anyway, it made a lot of noise, flew straight up, straight down, barrel rolls, and roaring down the river and up over the lake. Good entertainment.

I could be way off. My knowledge gets real fuzzy after the F-100.

:hi:

[ScreamingMeemie]

26. There are 4 F-16's and 4 F-14's at Selfridge.

We are directly in their landing path. Cool for BabyG, annoying for me.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

39. Apparently, the F-18 over Belle Isle was from out-of-town

Active Navy, the shows put on with the F/A-18 enhance the Navy recruiting effort.

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS155105+08-Jul-2008+PRN20080708

The planes must have used Selfridge as a temporary base, unless they snuck a carrier into Lake St. Clair.

[BrotherBuzz]

5. I believe the F 51's fighting days are over but there is a lot of race left in them girls

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

22. Any difference between F-51 and P-51?

looks like a nice Mustang

[BrotherBuzz]

24. Brain fart

you are correct and I have no idea what I'm talking about!

:rofl:

[Angleae]

43. Same plane.

It's just at that time the military decided to change the designation from P (pursuit) to F (fighter). The P-80/F-80 got caught in the change too.

[Inchworm]

7. F goes from here to there, right?

it's like saying sedan.

:hi:

[Swede]

10. F is for fighter.

A is for attack,B for bomber etc.

[BrotherBuzz]

11. T for trainer and C for cargo

X for experimental? (X-1 X-15)

[pokerfan]

12. P for pursuit (not used post wwii)

[BrotherBuzz]

13. Yes!

The sexy P-38 fits that category nicely.

[pokerfan]

16. Yep, the Fork-Tailed Devil!

When it comes to WWII fighters, I'm a big fan of the P-47 (the A-10's ancestor) with its big radial engine:

[BrotherBuzz]

19. Like the A-10, beauty is in the eye of the beholder

The 'Jug', like the warthog, was a old tough bird - that's the one fact that can't be disputed.

[taterguy]

38. I love the P-47

Until I think too much about what it was used for of course

[pokerfan]

41. One can say that about any war machine

At least close air support isn't area bombing and most seem to agree that WWII was necessary though I have heard arguments against it.

Like I said, what I like about the Jug was that it was all engine, 2000 turbocharged horses in that big double row radial engine. Where the P-51 was sleek, the Jug was just brute force.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

36. I own a couple of P-38's

But not the P-38 airplane.

Not even the Walther P-38 handgun.

They are the legendary P-38 can opener from the delicious/nutritious C-ration.

http://www.georgia-outfitters.com/page52.shtml



not "sexy", but they'll open cans.

:rofl:

[sarge43]

18. A for attack A-10 aka Thunderbolt II aka Warthog.

Yup on X and of course B for bomber.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

37. R for Reconaissance?

Like the SR-71 Blackbird?

[taterguy]

40. SR stands for Smithereens and Replacements

They named the plane for a couple great bands from the 1980s

[southpaw]

42. These were always my favorites!

Put DiNizio at the controls and Westerberg as RSO...

[taterguy]

44. Well you sure as hell wouldn't want Westerberg at the controls

[otherlander]

17. Delete because I asked a stupid question