Hanger Tails(Tales) ~ Flying/Aviation

Russia’s Su-57 Has a Dirty Little Secret​

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The Su-57 might not be stealth after all: For years, Moscow has touted the capabilities of its Sukhoi Su-57 (NATO reporting name “Felon”), yet the aircraft has been essentially absent from the skies over Ukraine. Well, ok, unless you count firing long-range missiles into Ukraine as being truly at risk in the recent conflict.

 

Why the F-86 Sabre Fighter Was Tough to Fly​

With nearly 10,000 units built, the North American F-86 Sabre is, by far, the most-produced Western fighter ever built. Built by North American, shortly after they created the famed P-51 Mustang, the F-86 was one of the first – and one of the most important – jet-powered fighter aircraft ever. At the time of the F-86’s debut, in 1947, jet technology was nascent and early jet fighters earned mixed performance reviews.
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From Plane and Pilot Mag., ...

The 8 Most Iconic American Aircraft​


These superstars are the planes that even non-aviation types adore
 
Hmmm ... ???

Boeing Might Build a Flying Boat. Is This a Reason to Buy Its Stock?​

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In each case, DARPA will ask its defense contractor to design and build a "low-cost X-Plane capable of seaborne strategic and tactical heavy lift...similar in size and capacity to the C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft." Similar in price, too, one would expect, given the size of this aircraft, although no target price for the plane was disclosed.

Boeing's Aurora describes its concept for the Liberty Lifter Seaplane as "half-boat, half-airplane" and notes that it will partner with another defense contractor subsidiary, Leidos's (NYSE: LDOS) Gibbs & Cox marine engineering company, to provide the necessary maritime expertise.

As DARPA and Aurora describe it, the Liberty Lifter will be a flying boat designed to take off from, land on, and mostly operate close to sea level, where the plane will benefit from "ground effects" that give it extra lift. It will also be capable of flying at altitudes up to 10,000 feet. The plane will be able to operate in seas as high as Sea State 5 (waves up to 13 feet high), to transport cargos as large as six 20-foot container units and weighing up to 90 tons, and to fly as far as 6,500 nautical miles without refueling.
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Lower costs to build and maintain, but seems aesthetics and some use complications may have won out.

The X-32 Could Have Been the F-32 (And Replaced the F-35)​

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From four proposals, two airframes were chosen for flight testing and pitted against each other. The winner would earn the lucrative JSF contract. The first is well remembered as the program’s winner, Lockheed’s X-35, which has since been developed into the preeminent fifth-generation fighter, the F-35 Lightning II. The second, the “also-ran” Boeing X-32, has mostly faded into obscurity and is remembered above all for the jet’s ungainly appearance.

Boeing’s JSF entry featured a distinctive engine intake – a single gaping, yawning, angular intake that sat just below an unusually truncated nose. The jet’s fuselage, which sat below delta wings, made a bloated, sagging impression. While futuristic looking, the X-32 was objectively ugly and appeared unathletic.

Of course, appealing aesthetics had not been Boeing’s objective when crafting the X-32. To win the JSF contract, Boeing hoped to appeal to the Department of Defense with low manufacturing and life-cycle costs. Accordingly, Boeing built the X-32 around a large, one-piece carbon fiber delta wing that could be used as the base of multiple X-32 variants. And Boeing included a simple direct-lift thrust vectoring system that could be outfitted conveniently with a thrust vectoring nozzle (on the appropriate variant) in order to meet the USMC’s STOVL requirements. Cheap and simple – an ideology aligned with the JSF itself.
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Another interesting concept from Boeing. This is an unusual look~design, very futuristic for a couple of decades ago.

YF-118G Bird of Prey: The Ultimate Stealth Plane?​

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History of the YF-118G

The YF-118G was a “black program” that flew out of Area 51 (Groom Lake, Nevada) in the 1990s. It was given the moniker, “Bird of Prey,” due to its resemblance to a Klingon space plane in the Star Trek franchise. It was airworthy by 1996 after Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas started working in its “Phantom Works” incubator of top-secret prototype manufacturing in 1992. What was amazing is that the defense contractors did it on the cheap. They spent only $67 million on the project without Department of Defense spending outlays.
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The Bird of Prey last flew in 1999 and it was declassified in 2002. Its design aspects were used by Boeing in future aircraft, especially the X-32 Joint Strike Fighter prototypes as well as in its X-45A Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle model.

In an age when new airplanes have schedule slips and cost overruns, the YF-118G Bird of Prey stands out for having an excellent acquisition history. It did not waste taxpayer money. The stealth technology was emulated by other aircraft. It used off-the-shelf parts without having to re-invent the wheel. And its computer-aided design was efficient. Thus, the Bird of Prey accomplished its overall mission as a stealth technology demonstrator.
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One of a few images in the article;
AA15I7yV.img
 

Mach 6: Behold the SR-91 Aurora Spy Plane (That Could Change Everything)​

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Meet the Myth and Legend of the SR-91 Aurora Spy Plane - Watch out for media leaks and uncorroborated sightings, some airplanes can take on mythological status, even when they likely don’t exist.
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The SR-91 Program Was Ultra-Secretive If It Existed

The word “Aurora” came into public consciousness when the moniker appeared in a “black program” spy plane budget request in 1985. Could this expenditure refer to the SR-91 Aurora? This would have been a record-setting airplane - flying at over MACH 5 and streaking by at 90,000 feet. But what if Aurora was instead a different codename for the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber? The B-2 was flying in the late 1980s and was introduced in 1997. The name Aurora thus became an enigma.
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The SR-91 Likely Never Existed

So, you can see, Aurora was likely no more than a concept. The Department of Defense never acknowledged it. The eyewitnesses were rare and uncorroborated and actual flight likely never happened.
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Yet still an interesting concept to consider.
 
USAF has been wanting to do this for years, ...

The US Air Force is finally getting rid of its A-10s, and its focus may be straying from the Warthog's unique mission​


The 'Hog as lots of life to go and does one of the main reasons/missions one would to have air control for. True it's not a flashy fighter plane, but it can pack more ordinance and punch than any other plane of it's size, and grunts have never complained about it's assist.
 

The Critics are Dead Wrong: The F-35 Is a Game Changer​

The F-35 Is Writing A New History As The Most Capable Fifth-Generation Fighter: When defense writers have nothing new to say, they sometimes dredge up old stories.

This is the case with a piece in The Week titled “The F-35 Fighter Jet’s Troubled History.” The article is an unbalanced mishmash of old news about challenges the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) faced as a developmental program, inadequate information about the F-35’s current status, and the almost obligatory suggestion that entrenched interests are keeping the program going. There is both a lack of balance and a failure to recognize the F-35 program’s successes. It also lacks a straightforward acknowledgment that, to date, 17 countries have chosen the JSF as their fighter for the 21st century after independently analyzing combat effectiveness, cost, and sustainability of the aircraft.
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The Critics are Dead Wrong: The F-35 Is a Game Changer
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From a couple years back, this article from Flight Journal magazine is a good one on the F-35B, with a bit of insight to the A & C.
F-35B Lightning II - Semper Fi

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Might be a time limit on that second link.
 
Short but interesting. The Spit is one of those few aircraft types that was in at the start of the war and served afterward. Also one of the most beautiful in style~lines.

Remembering the Spitfire​

‘Spit’ pilots flew their first combat missions over Dunkirk during the Battle of France.

 

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