Gearupgal

Oh yeah the 15's are getting old, but man they are awesome in the air. They are just so dang expensive, and about twice as big as the Viper. I think once the AF gets the 22 out in the fleet, they'll give more of the 15's and older (block 30 and under) 16's to the Guard. Lord knows we need them.

I'm no expert on those aircraft e(ho0n3, so I wont even try to explain the differences because I truthfully don't know. Lashton could help you more with that since that's obviously his area. I know US fighters, and I'm very knowledgeable with airliners...that's the extent of my aviation knowledge. Looks wise? I love the F-15E Strike Eagle...but the aircraft is very unefficient fuel wise, and the entire aircraft costs a lot more than the F-16. The F-15S is pure power baby. :-D Your completely right though, technology doesn't always make the better aircraft...a lot of times it comes down to the pilot and his/her ability. A fighter pilot will ALWAYS have a super ego that's through the roof, and always believe that their aircraft is the best plane out there...whether it's been shot down 50 times, or 0 times like the F-15. It's called pride. So asking a fighter pilot what aircraft is best, is never a smart move. Right now I don't care about the Raptor...the US needs to have bigger priorities. Guard units are very low on personnel...and some units don't have enough aircraft such as mine. We protect the nations capital, fly escort for air force one and other aircraft from the 89th AW across the base, and still have to maintain the qualifications needed for AA and AG missions. It's hard to do with a bunch of part timers, and not enough aircraft. Our pilots fly twice as much as the normal Guard unit...and we don't have the ground personnel to maintain the planes. They are feeling it too. The military needs to make sure we can do our job before worrying about the f-22. This is 2004...there isn't much AA combat anymore anyway. It's becoming a major concern for the Guard.

Sorry for a late response...just started with a new airline so I've been in ground school now in IOE. Ugh...stress!!! The A-10 is not FBW...it is a stick and rudder aircraft...and manual reversions are possible. Pilots still use charts on their kneeboards...it's a very pilot friendly aircraft...I used to fly it for the MD ANG. The A-10 is very slow indeed, but it makes up for it in the cannon and ability to take hits...it does not have a glass cockpit. Glass cockpits are on the modern up to date aircraft, and most modern airliners have them...airbus, ERJ's, CRJ's, and quite a few boeings. ***Oh wait I'm editing this post...I caught on to what you were saying after I reread your post...you misread my post from above. I was comparing the A-10 the F-16...I was saying the A-10 is slow, has no glass, and is not FBW...unlike the Viper. The f-16 is very fast...we get mach 1.5 on a cold day. Newer CJ's and higher blocks easily hit mach 2. We have glass in the cockpit, two displays to be exact. The newer block 60's (which as of now is only going to be seen by the UAE) has three. And yes, we have FBW. My apologies if you misread it...I can see English isn't your first language. Re-read what I wrote...you'll see what I meant.

Sure...PM me your email. Which ones do you want? Just nose art...or what?

Some of the older Vipers had nose art...I have plenty of pictures on here. I wont waste space posting them though. Send me a PM if you want them. I have them from both vipers and a-10's in the desert. Gotta go pick the kids up...let me know.

We can hit mach 1.5 on a cold day...so it must not cause that much drag. ;-) And all fighters have intakes that stick out. When you really have drag is when you have a full load (weapons, external fuel tank) hangin'. That increases everything...especially in the area of speed. I'm blabbing again... Jessica

Does this work?

To say I love my career is an understatement. Getting to fly Vipers for the ANG part time, and airliners full time is the coolest life I could ever ask for. The travel benefits are great with the airlines...and my kids LOVE it. :-D They are still young, but they seem to love it...who knows...might have two little pilots in the family. I love being a mommy!!!! Sorry had to say that. lol. <--- that's me in my office by the way. How do you post pictures on here? I'll put a picture of one of our vipers up. I'm not overly familiar with biplanes to be honest. I know a lot about the Pitts, since that's usually what I do my aerobatics in...but most aerobatic performers use single wings...like the Extra 300 and Cap.

Yourdad - welcome to the board. I just read the posts for the most part...I don't understand half of what yall are talking about...just on here to learn. Prophet- for AA and AG we practice under simulated conditions. We also have practice scrambles...but every once in a while we have an aircraft bust DC airspace, and requires our assistance. We just got back from a deployment to Florida, where we got to practice AA out in a practice area...blew a few things up...came back. And they call this a job?? lol The planes your refering to with two wings are usually known as biplanes. There's a few with three...triplanes.

Oh yeah we scramble planes ALL the time here over Washington DC...when we were overseas we partnered with forces from the UK and Aussie. Was kinda neat. Fighters don't usually pull negative G's. Now...flying prop planes for aerobatics, you can pull some serious negative G's on like outside loops and such. :-D I still say even if you can't go military...at least fly something. It's way better than being on the ground. My kids absolutely love flying...so it's something we can do as a family. :-D

Not to be picky...but most A-10 crews call it the Hog...;-) Civilians call it the warthog. (just like we dont call the F-16 the falcon) It's one heck of a plane though...I would absolutely love to get some more time in that. It's slow...but it's very old fashioned. No FBW like the viper has, no glass in the cockpit, and the pilots still fly with charts on their lap. Great "stick and rudder" aircraft.

In my opinion...I feel negative G's are worse. It's a very uncomfortable feeling. Too many of those, and you red out. Not cool. Yeah 14 minutes is about it for the Viper. That's the good thing about the 22...supercruise. It will be able to fly it's entire mission at supersonic speeds, rather than a few minutes. We did see action for a few months. The days of dogfighting went out years ago...wish it didn't. Technology is just too advanced now to really allow it...but we do train for both AA and AG missions all the time. Jessica

Looks means NOTHING in combat. The A-10 is a butt ugly aircraft...but I tell ya...I would not want to be anywhere near it in a tank. The 22 is a downright sexy plane...but you'd never see it...cause it would blow you sky high before you ever saw it on radar. Don't judge a plane by it's looks.

As I said...the 22 would win.

9G's feels like 9 times your body weight being pressed down on you. You feel it in your back as you get older. I'm 135lbs...so that's like putting 1215lbs on my chest. It's a lot...we also use a blue angels trick...when you do a high G turn, grunt out "hook" it sounds stupid, but it works. And before we do any high G manuevering, we have to test out the G suits in flight. Flying in simulated or actual AA combat is not the place to find out that your G suit wont inflate. The JAS 39 is a whicked looking plane!!!! I'd blow it outta the sky though. :-D Ya know...if what your looking into is the high speed stuff...go learn to fly prop planes...then look into getting an LOA (letter of authority) to fly something like the T-38 or F-100. I've found many of those for sale. I should also mention that fighters do not fly at supersonic speeds for long...which is one advantage to the F-22...and it's ability to use supercruise. An F-16 flying on afterburner, burns fuel at 2gal/sec...meaning we will use up all of our fuel in approx. 14 minutes. It also varies slightly on things such as weight, altitude, temp. etc. But 14 minutes is a good figure. So basically we only use them for full AB takeoffs, during scambles, or if we really need to book it the heck out of somewhere. My unit is fully capable to do AA and AG deployments, but we do mostly patrol/escort kinda work. We were up flying over Washington DC on 9/11...and we did get called up and sent to the Sandbox for a few months.

Actually moving the seat back is MUCH better...it increases the amount of high G turns a pilot can take. Even with anti G suits...and proper breathing techniques, 9 G's is dangerous. There is nothing wrong with prop planes at all...especially when you throw in some aerobatics. They are by far safer. Less complex systems, less to go wrong...unless your flying something like an A-10, which doesn't haev FBW. It's very similar to flying a jet version of the cessna...no glass in the cockpit, no FBW, pilots still use charts... The F-14 is okay...it's old and outdated though. The hornet/super hornet are replacing the F-14's. But those are navy...so I don't know too awful much about them. I don't know what you'd have to do to fly for the US Military since your from Sweden. Basically the requirements in the US are to have a 4 yr. degree...which can be in anything. A lot have degrees in engineering, but it doesn't matter what you major in. I've met pilots who majors in science, english, history, I was aeronautics.

I bet you'd get your bootie whooped. :-D We are looking into getting the Raptor here in the future...i'd be nice. Jessica

Well at least you've done your homework. Here in the US, the Air Force is starting to allow the PRK eye surgery. I don't know much about it...but here I'd imagine you'd have a chance. The whiplash would be a problem in most fighters. The F-16 seat was moved from the normal 13 degrees back inclined to 30 degrees...so pilots can really "take" in more G's. What is actually 9 G's (max of the F-16) only feels like 6 to the pilot. It's kinda nice. Much better than the F-15 in that sence. Jessica

F-16C/D Block 30 And bloodhound, if you were given the chance to fly a Raptor trust me you'd take it. ;-) Have you seen the cockpit? It's quite nice actually...

You are more than welcome to PM me. I'm no expert by ANY means...but it is something I deal with on a day to day basis, and have to know a lot about as an instructor pilot. If I don't know, I'll surely find out though... Jessica

TheProphet - If your 23, you can still fly fighters...I don't know what the requirements are in Sweden though. Oh and don't feel bad, I just have my B.S. everyone here is super smart and has their Ph.D. lol. Something I will never do... Jessica

Billzilla - who do you fly for? Quantas? I'm a pilot with the US Air Force, and I'm 29.

As a fighter pilot, my vote goes to the F/A-22. ZAXAQUAR - good luck on your fighter pilot dreams. It's well worth the work. If ya have any questions drop me a line.

I'm a pilot, so I deal with wx everyday...I might be able to answer some of your questions.

I feel completely dumb on this forum...wow!!! Anyway, I'm just a pilot...I love all areas of science, but I have very little knowledge of science compared to you all. Just a gal trying to learn a thing or two...