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  • New military jets

    A little off topic from the usual props and pistons discussion but no where could I get better info than from all of you here at AAFO!

    Okay...few questions. (and I may have asked one or two of these before)

    1. When will we see the F22 and the JSF at our local air shows? I have become quite fond of and fascinated with these jets in the past year.
    (So has my 3 year old...yea..I addicted him to aircraft through these remarkable die cast planes from the Maisto Tailwinds series hehe)

    2. Will we ever see the Thunderbirds in Raptors and if so will they be doing any of those EAA maneuvers that can be achieved through thrust vectoring?

    3. Will the Blue Angels ever fly JSF's and doing STOVL and EAA maneuvers.

    These my friends are my questions.

    Thank you for your time!

    Cheers!

    -Keith

  • #2
    Re: New military jets

    Keith,

    I believe you will start seeing the Raptor at airshows starting with heritage flights next year. It is my understanding the USAF will include the Raptor to the program. After that it is uncertain. Perhaps you will see Raptors performing demos in 07. JSF is going to be down the road a ways I am affraid. I would be surprised if you saw a demo team before 2010. I doubt if the Thunderbirds will be changing aircraft anytime soon. Even though the Raptor is now an operational fighter she is still very raw to flying units. Maintenance being the critical element to the fighter, The learning curve is very high for this hybrid. I doubt they will outfit the Thunderbirds with a Raptor for several years if at all. Sorry this may not be the response you wanted, but I am a realist and I do have some experience with the military. I hope we see Raptors filling the skies soon.

    Dave

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: New military jets

      The F-22s are already appearing at airshows. There was supposed to be one at Travis AFB this year in California, but I didn't attend so I don't know if it made it to the show or not. The Edwards show had one scheduled too.

      The Joint Strike Fighters are still in development and not in production yet, so it may be awhile before we see one making flybys at airshows.

      Will the Blues or T-birds ever use them? It's always possible, but your kid may be a teen or adult up by the time they do. The Angels flew A-4 Skyhawks long after the F-18's came out, and the Thunderbirds flew the F-5s/T-38s well into the 80's.

      Incidentally, there's some AWESOME F-22 pics for your kid to view at the 'Southern California Airshow Page' website. I'm going to use the one with the F-22 and F-15 Eagle in formation for my desktop:



      .

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: New military jets

        This year at Nellis.

        The Raptor was also in heritage flights at two other shows this year, Edwards and ?

        I have to agree with Dave, I don't think we'll be seeing the Tbirds or Blues with anything new for a long time.

        Hmmmm, TBirds in F-15's, or how about retro TBirds back in F-4's
        http://www.pbase.com/marauder61
        http://www.cafepress.com/aaphotography

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: New military jets

          Originally posted by Victor Archer
          Hmmmm, TBirds in F-15's, or how about retro TBirds back in F-4's
          Better yet....how about a Thunderbirds and/or Blue Angels "Retro Heritage Flight"?

          Can you imagine? The T-birds flying a Hun, a Phantom, both kinds of F-84's?

          Oooooh, yeah.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: New military jets

            Originally posted by speeddemon
            Better yet....how about a Thunderbirds and/or Blue Angels "Retro Heritage Flight"?

            Can you imagine? The T-birds flying a Hun, a Phantom, both kinds of F-84's?

            Oooooh, yeah.
            Don't forget the Thud!
            Never mind. Maybe next year

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: New military jets

              The Blues went from A-4's to F-18A/B's when the fleet transitioned to F-18C/D's. They will probably go to C/D's when the whole fleet is equipped with Super Hornets (E/F). Pretty much, the history of both teams has been to be one generation behind the regulars, and in line with the lower level of the reserves. They don't tend to fly more complex types (except when the Blues flew Phantoms which they traded for Skyhawks), so I really doubt if they will ever upgrade to one of the big twins.

              So, forget about F-15's, Tomcats, and Raptors. Both teams will probably transition to F-35 Block 10 models around 2025-30.
              Eric Ahlstrom

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              • #8
                Re: New military jets

                Actually the Blues went from A4s to F4s to F18s.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: New military jets

                  Originally posted by Tin Man
                  Actually the Blues went from A4s to F4s to F18s.
                  Actually, they went from F-4 Phantoms, to A-4 Skyhawks, to the F-18. That is a fact my man. Not trying to bruise any egos here, just keeping the facts straight. They were in the A-4 for a long time too. The actual chronology of airframes as far as birthdates were not the same as their intro to the Blue Angels.
                  Never mind. Maybe next year

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: New military jets

                    Yup, Bills right. They flew the F-4's from '68-73, and the A-4's from '74-86. The switch was purely economical due to the fuel crisis. Same reasons the T-birds downgraded from F-4's to T-38's.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: New military jets

                      Originally posted by Air Race Addict
                      Actually, they went from F-4 Phantoms, to A-4 Skyhawks, to the F-18. That is a fact my man. .
                      you are right.I went to fleet week in s.f. every year since 1985?.
                      I never saw the blues fly the F-4 but, I remember the skyhawks

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: New military jets

                        Originally posted by speeddemon
                        Yup, Bills right. They flew the F-4's from '68-73, and the A-4's from '74-86. The switch was purely economical due to the fuel crisis. Same reasons the T-birds downgraded from F-4's to T-38's.
                        I yeild to the experts.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: New military jets

                          Originally posted by Tin Man
                          I yeild to the experts.
                          Tom,
                          No harm, no foul. That's what makes this place great. We all get to learn a little bit from time to time. Even the "experts".
                          Never mind. Maybe next year

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: New military jets

                            I thought the Blues went from Skyhawks to Phantoms and then back to Skyhawks before transitioning to the Hornet. I guess some internet research is in order! Personally, I think the Blues should go back to the Skyhawk as their performance in that airplane was better than anything they do with the Hornet, IMHO. They flew much closer in and they did much more formation stuff with all 6 jets, including that awesome formation landing. I'm glad I got to see a few Skyhawk performances before the change came, loved it!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: New military jets

                              Originally posted by Chad Veich
                              I thought the Blues went from Skyhawks to Phantoms and then back to Skyhawks before transitioning to the Hornet. I guess some internet research is in order! Personally, I think the Blues should go back to the Skyhawk as their performance in that airplane was better than anything they do with the Hornet, IMHO. They flew much closer in and they did much more formation stuff with all 6 jets, including that awesome formation landing. I'm glad I got to see a few Skyhawk performances before the change came, loved it!

                              Ah....a youngster! :-) Spoken only as someone who never saw the Blues or Birds fill the sky with the Phantom. Nothing like it before...nothing like it since. NEVER to be duplicated.

                              LOUD. Black smoke. HUGE planes that literally presented a 'solid' formation, with nothing visible through it.

                              The Skyhawks were graceful. The Phantoms were just plain impressive.

                              I personally wish I could have seen the Birds flying F-100's.

                              Comment

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