Blue Angels F-18A Hornet on E-Bay

Thank you for the responses. It appears as if the aircraft
in question, is nowhere near flight worthy at this time.

Just curious though,

What's a typical Vref speed for landing ? (presuming all
ordnance has been expended). And are these numbers something
the pilot calculates himself, or is it given to him ?

Can ACLS be considered helpful at all ? (similar to perhaps
a Category III ILS auto land ?) Does any Hornet driver here
actually trust it ? (and why would you even use it?).

What is the crosswind technique alluded to below ? (in lieu
of the forward sideslip)?



"Doug "Woody" and Erin Beal" wrote in message
...


There are a couple of "gotchas" in just flying the thing, but nothing a
few
flights wouldn't iron out.

If you've never experienced flight gear, that would be a new treat
(helmet,
mask, torso harness, g-suit).

Since the motors are way in the back (35 or so feet behind you), you'd
have
to get used to the "detached" sensation of flying the jet. There is no
air
noise or airframe feedback with regard to airspeed or engine power setting
whatsoever. The airplane feels the same flying at 180 kts at 30000 feet
as
it does at 550 kts at 500 feet. A good instrument scan is a must.

WRT landings, the HUD makes them pretty easy. On this Lot 6, you may find
single chamber struts which means CV type landing is probably not a good
idea (max trap for single chamber struts was 30,500 lbs vice the 33k UNR
or
34K Restricted for the current F/A-18). Pretty simple stuff to flare a
landing in the Hornet though. I have taken guests into the simulator, and
the ones with some flight time do fairly well at getting it on the runway.

The biggest landing obstacle would be encouraging you NOT using a forward
slip as a crosswind correction--makes the airplane do the funky chicken on
the runway. OBTW, no localizer, ILS, VOR. Either fly TACAN approaches or
PAR in the weather (if you want a precision approach).

--Woody

On 2/14/04 4:13 PM, in article , "Mr Smith"
wrote:



Thank you for the responses. It appears as if the aircraft
in question, is nowhere near flight worthy at this time.

Just curious though,

What's a typical Vref speed for landing ? (presuming all
ordnance has been expended). And are these numbers something
the pilot calculates himself, or is it given to him ?


Roughly 125 knots.

Can ACLS be considered helpful at all ? (similar to perhaps
a Category III ILS auto land ?) Does any Hornet driver here
actually trust it ? (and why would you even use it?).


Nope. Lots of black boxes fighting to be sync-ed up with the ones on the
carrier. Not many NAS's have the SPN-46/48 (whatever) that is required to
conduct ACLS approaches at the field either. As I remember, Lemoore,
Oceana, and Whidbey have them... Not sure about the rest.

What is the crosswind technique alluded to below ? (in lieu
of the forward sideslip)?


Crab to land and kick out half the crab prior to touch down.

--Woody



"Doug "Woody" and Erin Beal" wrote in message
...


There are a couple of "gotchas" in just flying the thing, but nothing a
few
flights wouldn't iron out.

If you've never experienced flight gear, that would be a new treat
(helmet,
mask, torso harness, g-suit).

Since the motors are way in the back (35 or so feet behind you), you'd
have
to get used to the "detached" sensation of flying the jet. There is no
air
noise or airframe feedback with regard to airspeed or engine power setting
whatsoever. The airplane feels the same flying at 180 kts at 30000 feet
as
it does at 550 kts at 500 feet. A good instrument scan is a must.

WRT landings, the HUD makes them pretty easy. On this Lot 6, you may find
single chamber struts which means CV type landing is probably not a good
idea (max trap for single chamber struts was 30,500 lbs vice the 33k UNR
or
34K Restricted for the current F/A-18). Pretty simple stuff to flare a
landing in the Hornet though. I have taken guests into the simulator, and
the ones with some flight time do fairly well at getting it on the runway.

The biggest landing obstacle would be encouraging you NOT using a forward
slip as a crosswind correction--makes the airplane do the funky chicken on
the runway. OBTW, no localizer, ILS, VOR. Either fly TACAN approaches or
PAR in the weather (if you want a precision approach).

--Woody

Mr Smith- What's a typical Vref speed for landing ? (presuming all
ordnance has been expended). And are these numbers something
the pilot calculates himself, or is it given to him ? BRBR

You check airspeed for landing vs the AOA but you use 'onspeed AOA', where
airspeed varies with weight, for landings, always the same AOA..15 units for
the F-4.

smith Can ACLS be considered helpful at all ? (similar to perhaps
a Category III ILS auto land ?) Does any Hornet driver here
actually trust it ? (and why would you even use it?). BRBR

In the F-4 and Turkey, I have had Mode 1s to touchdown( I know a contradiction,
Mode 1s are always to touchdown) but they were an emergency procedure. I doubt
any modern aviator relies on this system.


P. C. Chisholm
CDR, USN(ret.)
Old Phart Phormer Phantom, Turkey, Viper, Scooter and Combat Buckeye Phlyer

In the F-4 and Turkey, I have had Mode 1s to touchdown( I know a
contradiction,Mode 1s are always to touchdown) but they were an emergency
procedure. I doubtany modern aviator relies on this system

I could never get auto throttles to work right in the A-6 in the Prowler they
were a little better. I tried to do a coupled approach on Sara (90-91) and
ended up with a bolter. The Hornets were doing them all the time they seemed to
have the system and ship tweeked up really well. I think it was mandentory for
the first Hornet down the chute to attempt a Mode 1 as I recall they flew a lot
of them maybe 25% were hooked up.
Sparky

I know A6 power control was problematic from development through fleet
introduction in 1969. The feedback loop with the ASN-54 APC was
inconsistent, and the kinesthetics were unacceptable to the pilot when the
system introduced purposeful glide slope deviations for self-check
monitoring purposes.

The RANGER/CVW-2 deployment in 1969 was the first in which all aircraft
aboard, including the C1A COD and the SH-3's were ACLS-equipped. Mode 1 was
not authorized at that time for any aircraft. The idea was to "get 'em home
safely on a dark and stormy night".

Do Hornets have yaw strings glued to the radome like F-4's did?

Rick

"Elmshoot" wrote in message
...
In the F-4 and Turkey, I have had Mode 1s to touchdown( I know a
contradiction,Mode 1s are always to touchdown) but they were an emergency
procedure. I doubtany modern aviator relies on this system

I could never get auto throttles to work right in the A-6 in the Prowler
they
were a little better. I tried to do a coupled approach on Sara (90-91) and
ended up with a bolter. The Hornets were doing them all the time they
seemed to
have the system and ship tweeked up really well. I think it was mandentory
for
the first Hornet down the chute to attempt a Mode 1 as I recall they flew
a lot
of them maybe 25% were hooked up.
Sparky




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"Elmshoot" wrote...

I could never get auto throttles to work right in the A-6 in the Prowler they
were a little better. I tried to do a coupled approach on Sara (90-91) and
ended up with a bolter. The Hornets were doing them all the time they seemed
to
have the system and ship tweeked up really well. I think it was mandentory for
the first Hornet down the chute to attempt a Mode 1 as I recall they flew a
lot
of them maybe 25% were hooked up.

I had a total of 4 successful Mode 1 approaches in my career -- 2 each to Kitty
Hawk and Nimitz.

"It's always something; if it's not one thing, it's another..." (Roseanne
Rosannadanna)

Autothrottle excursions, Beacon failure, and autopilot excursions were the 3
predominant failure modes...

Four more than I. While the Turkey had an excellent APCS, I was never
exposed to the "certified" ACLS model. As for the Phantom, got just past
tipover once ... then all hell broke loose.

The F-8 was worthy of a chuckle. The J's were retrofitted with bullseye
needles. To display CL and GS one had to flip a switch from "TACAN" to
"ACLS" ... it reconfigured the ID-249 for the approach. A really good
thing, but hardly ACLS.

R / John

Rick,

I know A6 power control was problematic from development through fleet
introduction in 1969.

This was still the case when the Lizards (VA-95) went to sea in 1973 aboard
CORAL MARU. We never flew any "coupled" passes closer in than 1/4 mile.

--
Mike Kanze

"Asking what a pilot thinks about the FAA is like asking a fireplug what it
thinks about dogs."

- from Bill "Windmill" Young


"Yofuri" wrote in message
...
I know A6 power control was problematic from development through fleet
introduction in 1969. The feedback loop with the ASN-54 APC was
inconsistent, and the kinesthetics were unacceptable to the pilot when the
system introduced purposeful glide slope deviations for self-check
monitoring purposes.

The RANGER/CVW-2 deployment in 1969 was the first in which all aircraft
aboard, including the C1A COD and the SH-3's were ACLS-equipped. Mode 1
was
not authorized at that time for any aircraft. The idea was to "get 'em
home
safely on a dark and stormy night".

Do Hornets have yaw strings glued to the radome like F-4's did?

Rick

"Elmshoot" wrote in message
...
In the F-4 and Turkey, I have had Mode 1s to touchdown( I know a
contradiction,Mode 1s are always to touchdown) but they were an
emergency
procedure. I doubtany modern aviator relies on this system

I could never get auto throttles to work right in the A-6 in the Prowler
they
were a little better. I tried to do a coupled approach on Sara (90-91)
and
ended up with a bolter. The Hornets were doing them all the time they
seemed to
have the system and ship tweeked up really well. I think it was
mandentory
for
the first Hornet down the chute to attempt a Mode 1 as I recall they
flew
a lot
of them maybe 25% were hooked up.
Sparky




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http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

Spn-43(needles) and autothrottles, the way to go in VF-31, last cruise...a
'peek' is worth a thousand 'scans' tho...

Forrestal started asking people to try Mode 1s..Sometimes worked, sometimes an
automatic trip into the penalty box...
P. C. Chisholm
CDR, USN(ret.)
Old Phart Phormer Phantom, Turkey, Viper, Scooter and Combat Buckeye Phlyer

dano- It seems to me that the A-4 might actually be a good candidate for
private ownership. It's relatively small and simple, mostly electrical,
electromechanical and hydraulic I assume (not of the complexity of the
60s, 70s, 80s), single engine BRBR

I think the only 'gotchas' would be slat rigging, which is certainly an art in
itself. A poorly rigged slat could spell disaster.

The other is the ejection seat in the 'E' model, which I would not ever sit in.
Bug Roach's seat failed in the 'E' he was flying, the rocket motor failed and
he hit the tail as he went out. A static test of 10 rocket motors in storage
had 7 failures. I grounded my 'E' models and refused to fly them after that.
Just wrapped them up, took them outta reporting and looked for ways to get them
to D-M.
P. C. Chisholm
CDR, USN(ret.)
Old Phart Phormer Phantom, Turkey, Viper, Scooter and Combat Buckeye Phlyer