Your favorite post-war aircraft

[JCS]

What are your favorites? You dont have to put a top 5 or anything, put as many as you like...



Heres mine:

Vought F-8 Crusader
Mikoyan Gurevich MiG 15
Mikoyan Gurevich MiG 21
Republic F-105 Thunderchief
McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk
Tupolev Tu-95 Bear
Rockwell OV-10 Bronco
Dassault Mirage 2000
McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom

[lesofprimus]

HMMMMMmmmmmmmm ......... Not a single WWII aircraft.......

[plan_D]

There's loads of post-war aircraft I love but my favourite, without a doubt, is the F.6 Lightning - 1947 design - Mach 2.3 - 60,000 feet ceiling.

[cheddar cheese]

SR-71 Blackbird
F-86D Sabre
TSR2
Avro Vulcan
MiG-15

[evangilder]

B-58 Hustler
XB-70
F-86 Sabre
F-100 Super Sabre
F-111F
Panavia Tornado
Dornier Alpha Jet
Saab Grippen

[cheddar cheese]

Oooooo I forgot - add the B-52 and B-36 to my list too

[plan_D]

Did I just see the Panavia 'Piece of crap ' Tornado in evans list?

[cheddar cheese]

[evangilder]

Yep. I liked it. BTW, it won the high altitude bomb competition at Red Flag a couple of years in a row in the mid 80s.

[cheddar cheese]

Theres nothing wrong with the Tornado as far as I can see.

[evangilder]

It was a decent multi-role aircraft for its time. Plus I like the swing-wing.

[plan_D]

It was never a decent aircraft. You know the first Tornados delivered to the RAF were put straight into mothball because they had so many faults with them, it would mean complete reworking (which would cost too much) to put them right? You know the RAD-ALT used to bounce off the under-carriage? You know the Gulf War they needed Buccaneers to laser pinpoint their targets because the "First pass-first strike" piece of dog wank Tornado couldn't do it?

[evangilder]

Gee, did I touch a nerve??? It actually was a very capable airplane that performed well during the gulf war. When using the Paveway system, you always need 2 aircraft, one to paint the target with the laser, and one to drop the munitions. It was the same for the F-111.

During the 1991 Gulf War, military planners made the elimination of Iraq’s air defenses a top priority. At the start of OPERATION DESERT STORM (called OPERATION GRANBY by the British), Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado GR1 aircraft attacked Iraqi air bases at low-level with Hunting JP233 anti-runway weapons and suppressed enemy air defenses. Afterward, GR1 aircrews flew medium-level missions using 1,000 lb bombs. At the end of the conflict, they used Paveway II laser-guided bombs (LGB) against other strategic targets. Flying more than 1,500 operational sorties, mostly at night, RAF GR1 aircrews played an important role in forcing the Iraqis out of Kuwait, and the RAF lost six GR1s in combat.

Development of the Tornado began in 1968, when the United Kingdom, West Germany, and Italy initiated a collaborative project to produce a low-level, supersonic aircraft. Panavia Aircraft, a new tri-national company established in Germany, built the variable sweep wing aircraft, and the first prototype flew on August 14, 1974. Operational deliveries began in July 1980.

Tornados could carry a wide range of weapons, including the Air-Launched Anti-Radar Missile (ALARM) for the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) and the Paveway II and III laser-guided bombs (LGB). The RAF also modified a number of Tornados to carry the Sea Eagle anti-shipping missile. This variant became the GR1B.

Source: USAF museum

[plan_D]

The Tornado was supposed to be "First pass-first strike" that, it never did. Your sources can't tell you what the British government doesn't want anyone to know. Stockpiles of Tornados used for spares because it was built **** and wouldn't work.

Again, the RAD-ALT bouncing off the undercarriage. The cost, for one empty Tornado three fully laden F-15s can be bought. And they are better aircraft.
Tornado crews are told never to take off dry, they always need re-heat (afterburner) to be on the safe side. In air-to-air NATO exercises the RAF is getting beaten by BELGIUM these days because of these Tornados.

Tornados are expensive pieces of junk. No wonder the Italians and Germans gave up on them.

[evangilder]

Obviously I am not privvy to what is transpiring in the British government about the Tornado.

A lot of American airplanes take off with afterburners. We had a really long runway at Lakenheath and normal sorties for F-111s and later F-15s did not need afterburners to take off, but they always did. Better to have more than enough power during takeoff. It is indeed safer.

Personally, if I were to have to fly into combat, the Tornado would not be my first choice. But I still like the lines and look. We used to call the F-111 the "Sky Pig", but I still like it.