Text 7749, 45 rader
Skriven 2006-09-06 20:12:00 av Robert E Starr JR (8246.babylon5)
Ärende: Re: Woah! That's not CGI!
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Laura Appelbaum wrote:

> I just caught part of the Blue Angels airshow
> earlier this year near Andrews Air Force Base and I gotta say ... well, it's
> a damn good thing we're not fighting the USSR in a Cold War any more!

The Angels fly the F/A-18 Hornet, a plane that first flew in 1978.  The
particular jets the team flies are among the oldest Hornets still in
service.  The latest and greatest stuff goes to the fleet, where the
front-line combat squadrons are.   The demostration team gets
hand-me-downs.  <g>   Newer F/A-18 variants are equipped with
thrust-vector exhaust nozzles

The MiG-29 first flew around 1980 and are considered roughly comparable
to the F/A-18 as aircraft.  They look great at an air show.  As a
military threat, not so much.

After the reunification of Germany the Luftwaffe absorbed a
Russian-trained MiG-29 squadron from the old East German Airforce.
When NATO aircrew met with their former East German counterparts they
were amazed to discover that they generally knew more about the MiG-29
and its capabilities than did the men who had been flying it for years.
 Restrictions on flight time, hostility to initiative and
experimentation and a strictly regimented approach to training combined
to badly degrade the combat potential of the squadron.  The fliers were
so poorly motivated that the German government ultimately disbanded
their units, discharged the men from the military and rebuilt the
squadron with new personnel from other units.

The F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II (formerly the Joint Strke
Fighter) are 21st century designs that leave both the MiG-29 and F/A-18
in the dust.  

Regards, 

Joe
                                          
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