Greatest Fighter Aircraft of All Time

pbfoot · 03-08-2006, 06:54 AM

If an a/c is on alert status whatever kind from b52 to C130 or SAR helicopter you can bet that it can airborne in under 5 minutes watch the scrambles of 52's or Vulcans from the cold war era it doesn't take long if you look at the runway layout at interceptor bases you'll observe the area where the a/c on alert in the QRA (quick ready alert) have their own little hanger which for the most part is apart from the normal ramp because the a/c are armed the ramp is located in close proximity to the end of the runway with its own taxiway allowing a short taxi time to the end of the runway the a/c are plugged into their start carts etc and all that remains is for the crew to turn the key taxi to the rwy and go I was unable to convert any google map images of aerodromes over to show this feature

syscom3 · 03-08-2006, 09:34 AM

pbfoot, use "screen save" function, then cut and paste the "map" image.

102first_hussars · 03-08-2006, 05:42 PM

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he'll need altitude before he can even think about firing any missiles,

The AIM-54's HAP modification improves capabilities against very high and fast targets and is more than capable of hitting targets higher than its platform.

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if they launched a large scale raid you'd need entire squadrons of either aircraft

How many planes are in a squadron, 24? if the case and you want to talk about numbers 24 Tomcats can take out roughly 192 bombers as apposed to the lightning taking out 48, and the Tomcat taking out the planes from 140km distances as apposed to the Lightning being right in there dealing with escorts and rear gunners and dealing with that **** is what really takes up time so whatever find more ways to beat a dead horse I dont care, to be honest I think some of you guys love that plane just a little too much.

loomaluftwaffe · 03-09-2006, 05:25 AM

what kind of Soviet bombers are these anyways? Bears? Blinders? Backfires? B*tches?

plan_D · 03-09-2006, 05:45 AM

I've already proven that even if a Tomcat was equipped with the Phoenix, the Lightning would reach and engage it's target first. Just do the math, it's simple. In fact, just go to the thread "Cold War Intercept" and I did the math for you ! And the Tomcat carries six Phoenix missiles, not eight.

The Tomcat has to reach 40,000 feet before the Phoenix reaches it's full potential, and he cannot fire and forget either. The Lightning may not reach firing range first, but the distance the Lightning has already achieved over the Tomcat means that the Lightnings missiles would be reaching their target first.

And you're basing this off missiles alone ? I believe the US made the mistake of not equipping the Phantom with cannon in Vietnam. The 30mm Aden on the Lightning will tear up anything it comes across , and it has two of them !

What if the enemy sends out fighters first ? The Tomcat has to waste very expensive Phoenix missiles on little fighters , while the Lightning could actually fly straight over them! If you look at history, all Tomcat kills have been made with the Sparrow anyway.

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For the performance of the F-14. Well, the Lightning can be at 44,000 feet, direction and cruise in four minutes from call on a ground strip. The F-14 would be up in eight-nine minutes, after all it takes the F-14, with my crude working, three minutes-twenty seconds to reach 40,000 feet - that is if it can maintain a 30,000 minute climb rate, which it couldn't. So, I'd say about four minutes. Plus, on the bell it has to warm up and set up it's avionics, so being polite I'd say the F-14 is at 40,000 feet, direction and cruise in about eight-nine minutes, that's at least four minutes slower than the Lightning. That's okay, right? It's got the Phoenix to make up for that. But no, because the Lightning's recorded speed is Mach 2.3, that's around 26 miles per minute ...that means in the four minutes the Lightning has travelled over one hundred miles - more than the range of the Phoenix ... and Mach 2.3 isn't even the top speed of the Lightning.

There's the math for you , that I did in the Post-War thread "Cold War Intercept".

And we're talking Bears and Bisons, looma. My dad used to send up Lightnings to intercept them all the time.

the lancaster kicks ass · 03-09-2006, 10:34 AM

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How many planes are in a squadron, 24? if the case and you want to talk about numbers 24 Tomcats can take out roughly 192 bombers as apposed to the lightning taking out 48, and the Tomcat taking out the planes from 140km distances

good lord are you really that dence?

1) there are 12 aircraft in a british fighter squadron (now it's 16 though i believe)

2) as pD has pointed out, the F-14 can carry only 6, very expensive Pheonix missiles

that means by sending up a squadron of F-14s (which takes considderably longer than lightenings) you're getting 72 pheonix in the air, assuming every aircraft is carrying a full load of pheonix (which i severly doubt), the pheonix isn't exactly fire and forget, for your simulation you're really expecting every aircraft in the squadron to fire off their missiles as soon as they're within the 140km range, and for every single missile to hit? and this is from what, 1,000ft, after all you don't seem to think you need much of a ceiling to fire off a pheonix

syscom3 · 03-09-2006, 10:42 AM

A carrier launched F14 with a full Phoenix load also has fairly limited fuel capacity.

the lancaster kicks ass · 03-09-2006, 11:38 AM

proberly not the best idea to bring up fuel capacity when comparing a lightening to any plane

that said the pheonix would also slow down the climb rate........

102first_hussars · 03-09-2006, 09:34 PM

Anyway this thread has gone off topic for too long lets change back to the original discussion.

lesofprimus · 03-09-2006, 11:08 PM

Talk about throwing in the towel...

"Yo Mick..."

the lancaster kicks ass · 03-10-2006, 01:18 AM

yeah hussars, come on, stand your ground, not gonna let a 15 year old beat you are you

this's still on topic if you ask me.........

Desert Fox · 03-10-2006, 02:28 AM

i know this isnt what the conversation here is about and i also know that this is not a WWII plane, but its as near as, dammit. i believe that the AC-130 Spooky has got to be one of the greatest planes built. it has more than triple the armament of the F14, and, of course the Lanc (still a good plane in my book tho) and its all concentrated in one spot, making it ideal for surpressing fire in 'hot' zones.

the lancaster kicks ass · 03-10-2006, 10:30 AM

as a fixed wing gunship she has no equal, however she's not a fighter..........

Desert Fox · 03-10-2006, 06:29 PM

damn straight its not a fighter, but its capable of many different roles in the military. She has no equal, yes. My fave fighter tho would have to be either the Spitfire or the Hurricane. Maybe the Tempest, although thats more an attack aircraft not a fighter

102first_hussars · 03-10-2006, 09:18 PM

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Originally Posted by the lancaster kicks ass

yeah hussars, come on, stand your ground, not gonna let a 15 year old beat you are you

this's still on topic if you ask me.........

well theres so many things that I want to say, but I cant put them into text, we would have to be having a face to face discussion about it.