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| Science & Technology |
| Test Pilots: F-35's Blind Spot Will Get It 'Gunned Every Time' |
| 2013-03-08 |
| The pilots, who formerly flew A-10s and F-16s, didn't seem interested in excuses. Their comments, quoted in the report, are scathingly direct. "Difficult to see [other aircraft in the visual traffic] pattern due to canopy bow," one said. "Staying visual with wingman during tactical formation maneuvering a little tougher than [older] legacy [jets] due to reduced rearward visibility from cockpit," another added. Said a third, "A pilot will find it nearly impossible to check [their six o'clock position] under G [force]." "The head rest is too large and will impede aft visibility and survivability during surface and air engagements," one pilot reported. Most damningly: "Aft visibility will get the pilot gunned every time" during a dogfight. |
| Posted by:Uncle Phester |
| #10 back in the Viet Nam war, the F4's were not initially fitted with anything but missles, thinking that machine guns and cannons were a thing of the past. After the soviet MIG's intercepted our Fathoms we had to go in and retro fit them with 20 mm gatling guns. This was apparently related to ROE's. It's pretty amazing that they were using ANG draftees as cannon fodder for this kind of nonsense. LBJ is easily one of the worst presidents we've had: To compound the problem, rules of engagement in Vietnam precluded long-range missile attacks in most instances, as visual identification was normally required. Many pilots found themselves on the tail of an enemy aircraft but too close to fire short-range Falcons or Sidewinders. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2013-03-08 16:45 |
| #9 In the meantime, the Buffer is still flying, sometime 32 hour sorties without any gun:) I believe there are now 3 generations of Buffer crews from the same family. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2013-03-08 16:09 |
| #8 Phantoms :) |
| Posted by: texhooey 2013-03-08 13:54 |
| #7 back in the Viet Nam war, the F4's were not initially fitted with anything but missles, thinking that machine guns and cannons were a thing of the past. After the soviet MIG's intercepted our Fathoms we had to go in and retro fit them with 20 mm gatling guns. |
| Posted by: texhooey 2013-03-08 13:53 |
| #6 The only reason for dogfights is the ROE. One of the reasons that the Top Gun movie was so funny is that the F-14 was a missile platform designed for fleet defense. It carried six AIM-54 Phoenix missiles that could reach out to 120+ miles. In one of the tests, the F-14 simultaneously launched on six supersonic maneuvering aircraft at a range of 120 miles. It killed all six with the last one going down at 80 miles. The only reason for "dogfighting" was the requirement to "visually" ID the target before engaging. One of many problems caused by too many lawyers. |
| Posted by: rwv 2013-03-08 10:10 |
| #5 Have they thought about putting a rear facing camera on the plane? I thought there were cameras everywhere on the plane and you could "see"* through the floor. *Using goggle HUD |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2013-03-08 08:03 |
| #4 Excellent point SteveS. A gimbal requires no headrest. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-03-08 01:28 |
| #3 Planes with actual human pilots? Ain't that kinda old skool? |
| Posted by: SteveS 2013-03-08 01:23 |
| #2 To pile on -- if someone proposed cancelling the F-35 and buying a huge bag of F-18 F/G's for the Navy and F-15's with RCS updates for the Air Force, we would get about the same capability for less money. (and no, I do not own any Boeing stock.) But to simply tear down the Lightning II as it grows through its teething phase is pointless. |
| Posted by: rammer 2013-03-08 00:41 |
| #1 Oh please. Haters just gonna hate. In the meantime, suck my six. This is not the 60's. Any pilot who gets close enough to the enemy to have them on their six is already dead. (Test pilots, think about it.) The visibility out of the F-35 is better than the F-2000 Frenchy fighter or the SU-35, and as I said, if you need visibility there then call your wingman, break, or die. I am so tired of this endless dribble about how the F-35 is a bad plane. It is not. It is more expensive than current planes, has one engine (which is dumb), is new and has new problems to sort out, and is not quite as nice as we planned when we speced it out. But really, it is pretty sweet and will out-fly anything in the world but an F-15 and an F-22. |
| Posted by: rammer 2013-03-08 00:28 |