All-Encompassing World of Aircraft

[oscaraustin]

You know, of everything offered to us on this site, the AC-130 is by far the sexiest. Those vids were great, thanks for that, stu.


Moving on then, this post is a very specific one. It's all my Red Devils of the 107th Fighter Squadron of the Michigan Air Nat'l Guard, based out of Selfridge AFB. As with all ANG fighter wings they fly the ADF-16 (Air Defense Fighter) models C and D, generally block 25s and 30s. The above picture is noseart painted onto one of the 107th planes. These guys were sortied after the attacks on 9/11 and also flew in Operation Iraqi Freedom, in addition to their participation multiple AF competitions, patrolling of northern airspace, as well as low level passes over my grandmothers house. F'in Sweet!


1st, some pics of them at Selfride AFB and flying above Michigan.



This next group of pics is from when they were serving in Op: Iraqi Freedom. So, most of these have a lot of armament on them (most notably AMRAAM, Aim-9x, and laser guided as well as dumb bombs).

Last pic also has a Vipers from the SD ANG and Shaw AFB, SC. The 2 from Shaw (upper left) are "Wild Weasels", note the HARMs.


These final two are just to show the F-16D design, which in 16 speak means two seater.

 

[Conman]

Antonov AN-225

ANOTONOV AN-225

The An-225 Mriya, the world's largest aircraft with a payload capacity of 250 tonnes, was designed and manufactured at O.K.Antonov ASTC in 1988.



(2nd Pic, 2nd Row features the 225's predecessor, the AN-124)

An-225 MRIYA Basic Data
Maximum cargo capacity (t) 250
Cruising speed (km/h) 750-850
Cruising altitude (km) up to 11.6
Flight range with 200 t of cargo (km) 4,000
Airfield length (m) 3,000-3,500
Engines:
type TRDD D18T
number x thrust 6 x 23,4
Aircraft external dimensions (m):
length 84.0
wing span 88.4
height 18.1
Cargo hold dimension (m):
length x width x height 43.3 x 6.4 x 4.4
floor area (m2) 280
volume (m3) 1300
Crew (people) 6

_____________________________________________

January 2005: Singapore

Since the tsunami, Antonov Airlines has been involved in relief flights to most of the affected areas: Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia. This specific flight involving the world’s largest aircraft, the An225, was taking power generating equipment donated by GE to Singapore for on carriage by barge to Aceh province at the centre of the earthquake damage zone.

 

[mindido]

Having gone through this thread several times just to make sure of what I read, I'd like to offer another plane for consideration as the sexiest:



The reasons being pretty simple.

1. If you had the money, you could actually get your female on this beast.

2. If you didn't get laid after taking her on this, you must be Quasimodo!

 

[stu2906]

There was a moonless sky over Iraq on January 17th 1991 at 2.37am. Eight US AH-64 Apache helicopters had crossed the border just north of Saudi Arabia and had flown at an altitude of 50ft over pitch black terrain at 120mph. The images of 2 Iraqi radar sites which were linked to four Iraqi fighter bases and to the Intelligence Operations Center in Baghdad were visible on their infrared screens.

The unseen Apaches hovered low, four miles south of the radar sites. At the controls of No976, 1st Lt. Tom Drew broke radio silence. "Party in ten," he said. On cue, ten seconds later, the helicopters unleashed a salvo of laser-guided Hellfire missiles. "This one's for you, Saddam ," muttered CW03 Dave Jones, the pilot of another Apache.

At 2.38am Operation Desert Storm had begun and 4 minutes later the Apaches had, in the words of General "Stormin'" Norman Schwarzkopf, "plucked out the eyes" of Iraq's air defenses. Eyewitness say that when the salvos of hellfire missile struck their targets they evaporated in smoke and flame. On this first night the Apaches cleared a corridor 34km wide and 22 minutes after the initial attack almost 100 allied planes streaked through the skies unseen to attack targets throughout Iraq.



A popular weapons platform the Apache Longbow is in service in many countries. Most notably the USA and also the UK, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greece, Kuwait and
Singapore.Recent reports indicate that the helicopter is vulnerable to ground fire. Of craft deployed in Afghanistan in 2001/2 over 80% were badly damaged by ground fire.

Now to the stats.

Builder: McDonnell Douglas
Role: gunship / anti-tank
Hull Length: 51' 0"
Wingspan: 17' 2"
Height: 16' 3"
M. Rotor Diam.: 48' 0"
T. Rotor Diam.: 9' 2"
Weight Empty: 11 800 lbs
Max T-O: 22 283 lbs

Engines: T700-GE-701C
Number: 2 turboshafts
Cruise Speed: 162 mph
Range: 1,180 miles

Radar: Lockheed-Martin "Longbow" MMW

WEAPONS:

M230 30mm chain cannon
Used against personnel and light vehicles.

Rate-of-fire: 625 / min
Capacity: 1200
Max. range: 19700ft (6005m)



http://www.atfgamers.com/apache_mission_in_iraq.wmv

AGM-114 Hellfire Missile
The Hellfire can be used as an air-to-air or an air-to-ground missile. The Air-to-Ground (AGM)-114 provides precision striking power against tanks, structures, bunkers and helicopters. The Hellfire missile is capable of defeating any known tank in the world today. The latest versions have a range of 9km and 4 are carried on each wing.




They do this to a Soviet tank.
http://www.atfgamers.com/War on Iraq - What a Hellfire Rocket does to Iraqi Tanks....Priceless.mpg

BEI Hydra 70 Rocket System
Fixed on the wing in M261 19-tube rocket launchers these 2.75" can be fired up to a distance of 5.5km. They are used for anti-materiel, anti-personnel, and suppression missions. The Hydra 70 family of Folding-Fin Aerial Rockets (FFAR) also includes smoke screening, illumination, and training warheads.

 

[mindido]

Here's an interesting little plane that we could all make. If anyone does, let me know how it works.

http://www.yumlum.com/fly_airplane/fly_airplane.htm

 

[mindido]

Saw something that anyone interested in aviation should definitely check out. The History Channel is running a show, I believe its called "Dog Fights", which is about the history of dog fights. It first defines the three most important aspects of a planes capabilities (climb, turn, dive) and then examines aces, and how they came to be so, from WWI, WWII, Korea and Viet Nam.

My favorite was the WWII portion where they examined a fight between a P-51 and an ME-109 (both piloted by aces). The graphics were pretty darn good.

If you get a chance, make sure you check this out.

 

[autigers5252]

Here is what I am flying right now. AF student pilot. Cessna T-37 affectionately known as the "Tweet".

 

[mindido]

Here is what I am flying right now. AF student pilot. Cessna T-37 affectionately known as the "Tweet".

A bit nicer than the first plane I flew, a Cessna 152. BTW, your thumb doesn't enlarge.

 

[stu2906]

About 4mins of the various aircraft involved in GW1 and GW2-The Revenge

http://rapidshare.de/files/14463200/Iraq_-__Bombs_Over_Baghdad_.mpg.html

 

[mindido]

Man, its been a while since this threads been updated. But I have to reiterate on an earlier post. Have any of you guys been watching The History Channel's "Dogfight"? I was just watching it this evening and they had a few stories that were absolutely amazing.

Maybe the most dumbfounding story was of a B 17 in the Pacific on an aerial reconnaisance mission that took on 17 (yes, I said 17) Zero's! And survived! Unbelievable story! Followed closely by the story of a Dauntless dive bomber taking on three Zero's (and shooting all three down).

Guys, if your into warbirds, you've got to see that show!