Aviation Pictures: A-Seven-th Thread--CorsAirin' Through Time and Airspace

[Daryk]

I never realized they tried canards on the F-4... nice find! :)

[I am Belch II]

That F4 with the  Canards looks pretty cool. Way better than the F15 with the Canards.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Good sirs, I used to have bookmarked a website full of colored images of various fighting aircraft from all over the world, organized by country and era, from examples of Sopwith Camels to Su-57s. I lost track of it after a harddrive crash and my Google-fu is weak. It was a Russian web domain IIRC. See attached image for example of the style of images. Anyone this site or at least one like it? Thanks!

[worktroll]

Ah, the YF-4E. One of so many intriguing Phantom developments that never were. At least the F-15 was a good successor.

And the Vought V-507?? Okay, the missiles look Tornado, but the plane screams Mirage Mirage F-1 to me.

[chanman]

Ah, the YF-4E. One of so many intriguing Phantom developments that never were. At least the F-15 was a good successor.

And the Vought V-507?? Okay, the missiles look Tornado, but the plane screams Mirage Mirage F-1 to me.

Naw, the size is a big thing. F1s are small planes. The tall single tail, high-mount swing-wing, razorback two-seat cockpit, and stub radome all look very Tornado-esque to me with the most obvious difference (and most unique detail) being the extreme anhedral of the stabilators

[chanman]

One of the dwindling J-7 'Fishcan' (has a separate reporting name than the MiG-21)  still in service. Unguided rockets always make for dramatic photos


NATO jets in Europe would have likely relied heavily on them for ground attack missions through the 80s. Look through period footage of Hornets and Vipers, and most ground attack stores are going to be unguided bombs and rockets.

CF-104, CF-5, CF-18 firing CRV7 rockets




The ultimate hot shot. F-106 firing an AIR-2 Genie

[worktroll]

Imgur's saying the first photo isn't available.

[chanman]

Imgur's saying the first photo isn't available.

Should be fixed now

[worktroll]

Much more "fooosh!" 

[Daryk]

"Foosh" indeed! :D

[I am Belch II]

The F106 firing the Genie, is great because it might be the nuke armed one. 

[glitterboy2098]

The F106 firing the Genie, is great because it might be the nuke armed one.

did they ever do a live fire test with the nuclear version?

[worktroll]

Plumbob John. Featured in "Trinity and Beyond."

[Fat Guy]

B-2 Rose Bowl flyover, from above.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Is that an undoctored picture?  The B-2 looks almost like a digital insertion.

[ANS Kamas P81]

Probably taken by a blimp over the game for the TV network.

[Daryk]

That's possible, but MLO4H isn't wrong... ;)

[chanman]

It's the lighting. Because the photo flattens the depth out of it, the B-2 looks inconsistently lit relative to the rest of the scene.

[I am Belch II]

I don't know what the spaceing is. But when a plane flies over, its usually a 1000 feet above the ground, so I wonder how high the Blimp was?

[Fat Guy]

Professional photographer in a Cessna 206: https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-force-b-2-rose-bowl-flyover/

He got it over the parade earlier that day as well.

[Elmoth]

Nice shot. I fail to see how that geometry is very stealthy, but then I am a radar ignorant.

[phoenixalpha]

A very wierd (and expensive both cash and engineering time wise) combination of having Radar Absorbing Materials (RAM) which absorb radar energy (well certain wavelengths of radar) and having no flat angles to return a radar signal to its source. The angles deflect any radar waves away from the source so it reduces the detection signature

[chanman]

The fighting in Ukraine makes me think there might be room for the return of light attack helos. Instead of expensive (as in jet fighter expensive) dedicated fast/armoured/sensor-integrated platforms, we're talking about converted light utility/scout machines with a few ATGMs (4-8 seems common) with a sensor ball and a role to provide ATGM overwatch/supplementary night vision over/slightly behind friendly lines.

Might be vulnerable to attacks by FPV drones if they don't move around though. The idea goes back a long ways, and Syrian Gazelles equipped with ye olde AT-3 'Sagger' missiles gave the IDF a nasty surprise back in the early 80s. 6 helos for 30 tanks isn't a bad trade in terms of cost or lives, with the caveat that pilots probably take longer to train than AFV crews. Commercially popular platforms (thousands made in many cases) also helps a lot with maintainability, and also gives the option of expanding a force with airframes off the commercial/used market, or de-militarizing surplus platforms for sale to recoup some costs when downsizing.

South Korean MD500 Defender with a nose sensor ball, and I think 4x TOW


OH-58D showing Hellfire mount


Z-9 (AS365 Dauphin 2 license-produced by Harbin in China) with selection of local ATGMs, gun pods, and rockets


Bulgarian navy Dauphin 2


AS565 Panther variant of the Dauphin 2


2009 AS365 Dauphin 2 fitted for oil & gas work for sale, currently marked at 2 million Euros


Boeing's been marketing a dedicated attack variant. Here's a Saudi one with a pair of Hellfires.


One with a bit-o-everything


Another option in Europe is the French Aérospatiale Gazelle. Light, made into the 90s, saw some decent service and almost 1800 made. Even using Soviet AT-3 Saggers rigged to them, the Syrians managed to cost the IDF a fair number of tanks in the fighting in Syria back in the day.



Killer eggs!

[PsihoKekec]

Syrian Gazelles equipped with ye olde AT-3 'Sagger' missiles gave the IDF a nasty surprise back in the early 80s.

Syrian Gazelles used HOT missiles. Malyutka missiles were used on Yugoslavian Gazelles, but there is no record of their use against armour in Yugoslav wars.

[chanman]

Syrian Gazelles used HOT missiles. Malyutka missiles were used on Yugoslavian Gazelles, but there is no record of their use against armour in Yugoslav wars.

Got my wires crossed. Seems to be something the Romanians worked on adapting their Alouette IIIs for and nothing to do with the Gazelles

[micko]

A very wierd (and expensive both cash and engineering time wise) combination of having Radar Absorbing Materials (RAM) which absorb radar energy (well certain wavelengths of radar) and having no flat angles to return a radar signal to its source. The angles deflect any radar waves away from the source so it reduces the detection signature

Stealth is also a matter of perspective.
Most modern stealth designs are really only stealthily from the frontal arc.
The picture illustrates this perfectly.

Looking down it's a large target.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Of course, most of the time a stealth aircraft does not need to worry about hostile radar coming from directly above or directly below it.

[phoenixalpha]

Of course, most of the time a stealth aircraft does not need to worry about hostile radar coming from directly above or directly below it.

If you are a pilot in a stealth aircraft and you are being painted by radar from something directly above or below.... you're in the wrong job. 

Also as to the picture - yes it is a big target, but if you are in the position of being able to visually see a stealth aircraft in combat something has gone wrong somewhere.

[Colt Ward]

Is it true that the fuel in the Me-163 would dissolve the pilot if the fuel tank burst? Not dissolve. Set them on fire on contact.

The Me163 “Komet” was powered by a liquid-fueled rocket engine. The original chemistry was actually a catalyzed monopropellant instead of fuel-oxidizer (the difference being that the catalyst isn’t consumed in the reaction, but its presence increases the rate of reaction), and involved the code-named “T-Stoff” (Substance T) and a sodium or potassium permanganate catalyst within the reactor chamber prompting “spontaneous exothermic decomposition” of the fuel.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Not only that, but the fuel was also quite toxic and the fuel tank was very prone to leaks and ruptures.

And the reason the Komet had this toxic, highly reactive fuel was to allow it to swiftly accelerate in order to intercept Allied bombers as fast as possible.

Which it did too well, because it flew so fast that in the few times it was successfully scrambled to intercept a bombing run it was very prone to simply overflying its target before it could actually shoot them.