>I know this is a little off-topic, but it does have something to do with
>jets:
>
>Is an F-18 Hornet an air-force or Navy jet?
In Canada, they form the backbone of our Air Force now that the venerable
CF-5 has finally been put out to pasture. In the 'States, your Air Force flies
F-16's, I think, your Navy flies F-14's, and the Marines fly F-18's. I think
there's some cross-pollination happening there, but the details are a bit of
a fog at the moment. Can't recall who flies the 15 right off the bat, as where we
simply have "Air Force", you lot have aviators in every branch, and things like
AFRES and the Guard often fly other models yet again (though I'd *hope*
every F-4 variant outside the Wild Weasel is well past stand-down by 1996!).
(waiting for someone to leap in with the inevitable corrections....)
At our Abbotsford airshow, the first year the Soviets came with their new
Sukhoi aircraft, one of Canada's F-18 pilots became the first Western
aviator to go for a ride! We tried responding in kind, but the only clearance
we could arrange on such short notice was a similar ride in WA/NG F-4
Phantom. Heh. When finally they touched down after a less than remarkable flight,
the Soviet pilot/passenger leapt down from the cockpit, and headed towards the
reporters:
REPORTER: "So, what did you think?"
SOVIET: "Um...very interestink...very different from our technology. Inside of
plane like engine room of old Destroyer: full of hanging wires and pipes
and things..."
"Turbokat" itself is very F-14-ish, likely due to the public recognition afforded
that aircraft type because of the movie "Top Gun". I'd personally like to see some
version of the A-10 Thunderbolt/Warthog show up in the 'Kats - just about
my favourite aircraft at the moment!
(That GAU-8 Avenger cannon can take the turret of a tank in the time it takes
to blink. *Two* turrets if it's an Iraqi doing the blinking....)
Received on Sun Jun 30 1996 - 13:15:12 PDT
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