The sound of J79’s spooling up is an iconic noise that is music to any avgeek’s ears. It’s a sound rarely heard these days (unless you live in Iran). So when we came across this video of a startup and takeoff, we knew we had to share it. Turn up your speakers, put on two forms of hearing protection and enjoy the blast of freedom.
This video was taken by jss747 at the Cleveland Air Show in 2011.
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On January 10th, the United States and Korea flew a low-level dissimilar formation of 2x ROKAF F-15K Slam Eagles, a B-52 deployed from Guam, and 2x Osan-based F-16s. The formation flew over Osan Air Base, just 40 miles from the South Korean capital of Seoul. This show of force was intended to serve as a visual reminder to North Korea of the US and it’s allies sizable military power that can attack at a moments notice.
Flying a B-52 over South Korean territory is a provocative measure but one that was deemed necessary after North Korea’s latest nuclear test last week that was conducted in violation of multiple U.N. treaties. Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., commander of U.S. Pacific Command said, “North Korea’s nuclear test is a blatant violation of its international obligations. U.S. joint military forces in the Indo-Asia-Pacific will continue to work with all of our regional allies and partners to maintain stability and security.”
A statement by U.S. Pacific Command further said that “the bilateral flight mission demonstrates the strength of the alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea and the resolve of both nations to maintain stability and security on the Korean Peninsula.”
Video of the formation was captured by Senior Airman Daniel Robles of the 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office. It is featured on the YouTube channel AirBoyd.
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I think I could speak for most Avgeeks when I say that military nose art is one of the coolest things to see when you’re in the presence of an old warbird. Have you ever wondered how it all began?
Nose art began back in the early 1900’s during World War I. It made its first official mark with the Italians in 1913 when a sea monster was painted on the front of a flying boat. Shortly after, the Germans began painting mouths on the front of their aircraft beneath the props spinner as a way to build camaraderie and scare their enemies.
During the same time period, the Americans began painting not only extravagant murals on their aircraft, but some began painting their squadron insignias as well. Regulations were soon put in place to discourage the practice, but they were not strictly enforced.
Once the United States entered the fray in World War II, nose art started making appearances on everything from fighters to bombers. This would become the golden age of aircraft art. Even though the nose art regulations were still very much in place, they were completely ignored by the air crews. Attacking the German and Japanese was the primary focus, not some silly regulations.
Nose art was a moral booster for the crews, a way to evoke memories of home, or a way to help release the stresses of war. To a certain degree, some military officials unofficially encouraged it, as it was a way to keep the crews mind off of the constant thought of death. Most paintings were flashy, Vegas-style pin-up girls, with a catchy phrase. A good portion of these girls were a crew member’s wife, girlfriend, or just a fantasy girl. The air crews were proud of their birds, and you never found two of the same paintings. They were all unique in their own way. They exemplified the pride of serving. Seeing the nose art lifted the spirits and gave a visible reminder to aircrews that there were many things worth fighting for back home.
Today, nose art is still just as popular around the world but less common on US military aircraft. You can find art on the noses of bombers, tails of fighters, and even now on some commercial airline aircraft. While much of the art has become more tame over the years, it is still a unique aspect of aviation that lives on today. One thing is for sure, you’ll still never find two noses that look the same.
What’s it like to launch off of a carrier with 44,000 lbs of thrust strapped to our back? We may never experience the thrill of launching off of a carrier but we can sit back and marvel at the skill of the pilots that do.
This video makes carrier ops look easy but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Landing on a pitching deck in gusty winds at night takes guts. Doing it with dwindling fuel and no alternates is even more of a challenge. The pros in VFA-14 make it look easy. The TopHatters are the Navy’s oldest flying squadron.
One word of caution: The lyrics are explicit. Turn down your sound if you might be offended.
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By now you’ve probably seen Fast and Furious 7. The movie features two street racing vehicles dropped out of the C-130 Hercules. Dropping vehicles safely is no simple task. From the looks of the video, it required custom rigging on the vehicle and additional metal support structure around the vehicles to ensure that the cars maintained rigidity during the opening chute sequence.
Filming wasn’t easy. The drop was filmed by five skydivers and two helicopters flying in formation.
Watch this video, shot by Universal Studios, to see how the pros did it.
Airman Magazine recently profiled a U-2 ground crew as they assisted the Dragon Lady during landing at a deployed location. The U-2 is an amazing spy plane. It can fly upwards of 70,000 feet and provide imagery and tools that more modern platforms like the Global Hawk still can’t match.
Takeoffs and landings are a challenge for even the most experienced pilots though. The plane is really just a big gangly glider with long wings, a jet engine, and poor visibility out the cockpit. The typical visual cues for a pilot during landing aren’t available due to the design of the aircraft. Without the assistance of a spotter in the chase car, the pilot would struggle to safely land. Working as a team, the spotter provides the pilot the necessary information to enhance his/her situational awareness and safely get the plane back on the ground.
Mobile chase car drivers act as a second pair of eyes and ears for U-2 pilots during their launch and landings, making up for the pilot’s limited movement and vision.
A U-2 Dragon Lady reconnaissance aircraft pilot from the 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron explains the role of mobile chase cars at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, Dec. 22, 2015.
Posted by Airman Magazine on Thursday, January 7, 2016
Talk about the ultimate cross-product promotion! Southwest Airlines introduced a custom level on the new Super Mario Maker game for the Nintendo Wii U video game system.
The game allows anyone to build a custom level. Southwest Airline’s level includes nods to airline with blocks that (slightly) resemble a 737 and a few hearts made of coins.
According to Southwest’s Blog, “The Southwest level for Super Mario Maker also offers players the exclusive chance to unlock the Sky Pop costume in the game. Once players locate a Mystery Mushroom in the Southwest Air Adventure level, they are able to play the level in the classic Super Mario Land plane costume. Also, by completing the level, players can use the costume in future levels of their choosing!”
Could a Mario logo jet be on the horizon at Southwest? An avgeek can dream!
You can watch GameExplain play the entire level below:
It’s a question that almost every avgeek has asked before: Why didn’t McDonnell Douglas make a serious attempt to sell a tanker version of the MD-11 tanker to the Air Force? Back in the early 1990s, the MD-11 program was struggling to meet promised performance targets. American became so frustrated with their aircraft that they eventually cancelled their order. The theory is that McDonnell Douglas could have revitalized the program while the Air Force could have replaced aging KC-135s (sound familiar?) and compliment existing KC-10s.
Our friends at Seattle Model Aircraft put together a post explaining why a KC-11 (officially designated as a KC-10B never materialized).
After McDonnell Douglas did the KDC-10 conversion for the Royal Netherlands Air Force in 1992, they proposed a tanker/transport version of the MD-11 which had the in-house designation KMD-11. McDD offered either conversion of second hand aircraft or new build aircraft- compared to the KC-10A Extender (which was itself based on the DC-10 Series 30 as were the Dutch KDC-10s), the proposed KMD-11 offered 35,000 lbs more cargo capacity and 8,400 lbs more transferable fuel.
There had been some in-house work since the early days of the MD-11 program on using the MD-11 as a tanker going back as far as 1987. As a frame of reference, the MD-11 program was launched in 1986. The designation KC-10B was supposed to have been assigned should such a tanker variant enter service with the USAF.
Interestingly I came across this tidbit on an aviation forum from a KC-10A Extender pilot on why an MD-11 tanker was pointless. It was posted back in 2004, but a lot of it still has bearing today:
“The efficiency comparison between the MD-11 and KC-10 is effectively no factor. The KC-10 only operates at MTOW a relatively small amount of time. Our MTOW of 590,000 lbs is already 10,000lbs heavier than the DC-10-30F and MD-10-30F, and is only 40,000 lbs less than the MD-11F (with full aileron droop mod, considering some of the past problems with this, the USAF would probably go with the 618K MTOW, for a 28,000 lb difference). Once you ad the Boom, drogue, and UARRSI the weight and CG shift will bring the MD-11 ACL down considerably. We can hold over 350,000 lbs of fuel by volume, but only around 335,000 lbs by weight. I can count the number of 590K takeoffs I have done on one hand. I have never done, and don’t even know anyone that has carried more than 120k or so in cargo weight, (Deuce50 can confirm this) and that much cargo seriously limits fuel available for cruise. Our money maker is the ability to move fighters and some support cargo at the same time, and for that we need fuel. Our body fuel tanks are limited by “zone load” restrictions for fuel weight. That means to put more fuel weight in the body, Boeing would be doing some considerable structure mod in the MD-11. The smaller MD-11 horizontal stab will also affect the CG range, something that requires additional “ballast fuel” in the KC-10 already, not to mention alleviating the usefulness of the MD-11 horizontal stab tanks with the boom installation. Another factor with additional fuel weight is single engine dump capability. Neither acft have the capability to jettison cargo, so your stuck with it regardless of your configuration, however fuel dump in a single engine situation could be the difference between walking or swimming to the crew bus, and it leaves at the same rate on both acft. This is partially negated by the increase in MD-11 thrust, but still a volume issue The USAF also uses ALL the runway surface to compute V1 speed, IE we aren’t required to be 35 feet above the departure end unless there are obstacle clearance issues. This means at USAF terps’ed airfields we can leave much heavier than at an FAA field, which gives us comparable performance out of shorter USAF fields, but affecting Vmcg and a few other takeoff numbers. This would be a benefit for the MD-11, but only if an increased fuel volume was available, as it normally limits our MTOW quite a bit. Another factor is operating environment. The MD-11’s CF-6-80 has about 8,000 lbs more thrust per engine, but at 45c this doesn’t help much, and the weight will still hover around the current KC-10. In the end, the KC-11’s performance would only slightly exceed the current KC-10 capabilities, which would be outweighed by the problem of dissimilar engines and equipment cost.”
“If you want to help the KC-10, advocate the purchase of a few DC-10-30’s to use for our endless touch and goes to save wear and tear on the current fleet.”
“I am all for more KC10-11’s, but only if it will add to what we have, not replace the ‘135. The analogy has already been given that the world’s biggest gas station does no good if you only have one pump. We need more booms, not bigger ones.”
The proposed KMD-11 also had underwing HDU (hose drum units) for refueling probe-equipped aircraft, something this FlightSim depiction lacks.
You’ve heard of engine out approaches, but what about the dreaded extra engine approach? Ok, so the extra engine isn’t actually providing thrust, but it does create significant drag.
With such a disbursed network spread over really long distances, Qantas occasionally faces unique maintenance challenges when one of their jets breaks down. Recently, one of their 747-400s needed an engine replacement at Johannesburg, South Africa. Qantas’s options to ship a new engine to South Africa from Australia are pretty limited. A Rolls Royce 747 engine is too expensive and complicated to just buy on a whim. It’s also too big to fit in the cargo compartment of an airliner. The options are either to charter an outsized cargo aircraft or wait weeks for one to be shipped via ocean freight. Instead, Qantas leveraged yet another unique capability of the 747. Flight QF63 flew from Sydney to Johannesburg with an extra engine secured underneath the left wing of a sister 747. While this is unusual, it’s not unprecedented. The 747 aircraft actually have an attachment point for a spare engine. Flying a 10,000 lb engine on the wing of a streamlined aircraft isn’t without penalty. Qantas said that they had to make an extra fuel stop in Perth before continuing their journey and delivering the unique stowaway.
Qantas put together a great video about the journey of the 5th engine. You can watch it below:
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BONUS: As an added bonus, we were able to find a more technical video explaining exactly how an engine is prepared for ferry flight.
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With much of the US finally under the grasp of winter, it’s not surprising to see snow at airport tarmacs across the country. However, it’s pretty rare to actually see it in the cockpit! It appears that the moist conditioned air met cold air from the main cabin door of this Embraer EM-175. The conditions were just right to cool the condensation from the cockpit vents to make the ‘front office’ look a little like a snow globe.
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Ask any tanker aircrew member who has been deployed before and they’ll say it’s tough flying with long days. A good attitude, some RipIts energy drinks, and a little bit of humor go along way to combat really long take off rolls and stress of flying over foreboding lands. This crew has the right attitude. They keep the fighters and bombers flying who rain destruction upon our enemies.
Join a US Air Force KC-135 crew on their flights over the middle east during a deployment. If you’ve ever wanted a front row seat to watch the spectacle of aerial refueling or are just an aviation nerd who likes looking at cockpits, this video contains some entertaining and impressive flying footage of the Bone (B-1), Hog (A-10), Viper (F-16) and RC-135. Sure to entertain and give you an insight into the world of military tanker aircrews.
An elephant walk is a mass launch exercise where a large group of aircraft launch at the same time. Some pilots have joked that you’d throw “everything but the kitchen sink” into the air. These exercises first started with bombing units back in World War II as way to launch large bomber formations. Those launches had upwards of a 1,000 aircraft!
Today, the exercises can have anywhere from 50 to 100 fighters. Walks are also done occasionally at bomber and tanker/transport bases to exercise capabilities.
The elephant walk in this video was filmed at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea back in 2013 by TSgt Michael Schocker. Kunsan Air Base holds strategic significance on the Korean Peninsula as it is an F-16 base and less than a 15 minute flight from North Korea.
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