The Greatest Fighter Jet of All Time.

syscom3 · 10-20-2005, 11:42 AM

But the F15 has never fought in a conflict like Vietnam or the Oct 1973 Israel/Arab war.

jrk · 10-20-2005, 01:30 PM

i voted for the f-15 eagle as it has been my favourate american for some time unofficially.my official vote that you shall see the percentage for is in fact the lightning one of the best jets to come out of the jet evolution in my opinion.

plan_D · 10-20-2005, 05:22 PM

The F-15 'Eagle' is the greatest fighter out of all of those. It has a combat record and statistics to prove it's the best. It was developed from the lessons learnt while the F-4 'Phantom' was in service, so it is thus a superior aircraft.

I'm going to put bias aside, the F-15 is the greatest.

102first_hussars · 10-20-2005, 07:39 PM

Hey the F-18 and the F-14 also have Combat records too.

plan_D · 10-20-2005, 07:48 PM

Not as good as the F-15 and the F-15 is also statiscally superior to both the F-14 and F-18.

mosquitoman · 10-20-2005, 07:52 PM

EE Lightening, for sheer speed

plan_D · 10-20-2005, 07:59 PM

You'd at least spell the beautiful plane's name properly, it's Lightning! As an interceptor, even with modern aircraft, I'd put it up there as the greatest interceptor.

From a standing start, with no warm up, there's little if anything that can beat it. But that alone, in my mind, while loving the bird more than any other plane ...ever ...does not make it the greatest, in my opinion.

But who can argue with 60,000 feet in just over a minute?

lesofprimus · 10-20-2005, 08:01 PM

Not me...

102first_hussars · 10-20-2005, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plan_D

You'd at least spell the beautiful plane's name properly, it's Lightning! As an interceptor, even with modern aircraft, I'd put it up there as the greatest interceptor.

From a standing start, with no warm up, there's little if anything that can beat it. But that alone, in my mind, while loving the bird more than any other plane ...ever ...does not make it the greatest, in my opinion.

But who can argue with 60,000 feet in just over a minute?

From a standing start, with no warm up, there's little if anything that can beat it. But that alone, in my mind, while loving the bird more than any other plane ...ever ...does not make it the greatest, in my opinion.

But who can argue with 60,000 feet in just over a minute?[/quote]

With all do respect your loyalty to the lightning seems to be shadowed by patriotism not facts,

which is not a bad thing I still think that Canadian Beer is the best and strongest.

plan_D · 10-20-2005, 08:18 PM

Okay, so I'm not presenting facts, what fighter doesn't have to warm up and can reach 60,000 feet in little over one minute? I'll give you one, the F.6 Lightning.

Give me another...

102first_hussars · 10-20-2005, 08:34 PM

Little over one minute? Sorry but I find that hard to beleive

plan_D · 10-20-2005, 08:45 PM

Don't believe it then, it doesn't change the fact the F.6 Lightning could do it. There's been many discussions about the Lightning on here, mainly revolving around people who didn't believe the Lightning's capability. And I must admit, they're pretty amazing. Especially from a plane that was first conceived in 1947 albeit no prototype built until 1954.

The Lightning does not need to warm up. It carries no avionics that need to set-up. It is pure muscle ...as one RAF pilot from World War II described it; "It's a Spitfire with the kick up the arse..."

The Lightning uses AVPIN to start it's two Rolls-Royce Avon engines almost instantly. It can then remove brakes, push the throttle the gates and on full re-heat can climb vertically off the runway. At an initial climb rate of 50,000 feet per minute. At some point during it's climb it achieves a thrust:weight ratio greater than 1:1, meaning that it's still climbing while gaining speed. Although, in a Lightning this does not last long before it has to begin down to avoid running out of fuel (you can't crash land a Lightning). The F-15 'Eagle' is the first aircraft that has a greater thrust:weight from the start, a remarkable achievement. However, the F-15 has to warm up and it's acceleration isn't as fast as the Lightning's.

Any foreigner that saw the Lightning fly was amazed and certainly impressed. I believe we have a few U.S servicemen on this site who have seen a Lightning do it's thing ...which is climb ...climb and keep on climbing. I believe Eric (evangilder) is one such member.

the lancaster kicks ass · 10-21-2005, 03:19 AM

hey the vulcan could climb vertically off the runway too you know

evangilder · 10-21-2005, 08:08 AM

Yep, d, I did see the Lightning climb. Hussars, you can choose to believe what you want. But the fact of the matter is that when I saw the Lightning for the first time in 1986, my first thought was "What the hell is that?". I figured with the climb ability like that, it was "modern" for the time. I was really surprised when I learned how old it was. It is rare for me to call an airplane incredible, but it fits for the Lightning.

102first_hussars · 10-21-2005, 11:06 AM

I have heard some good things about the EF-2000 anything you can add on that D