F-35 at Paris

[MiG21bisFishbedL]

@TheAlmightySnark

@MiG21bisFishbedL

“You losers, you made an actual Turke-… A lemon!” would be with the Brewster Buffalos.

And yet it performed quite well in Finland. It was a let down at large in most other theatres though.

I would say that there’s a ton of aircraft from the early jet age that were a lot worse then the Brewster, so that’s a bit harsh.

On the F-35. I still think the whole procurement process was a dud and should be a lesson learned from. Especially the whole international production program, it looked nice on paper but is a mess in practice.

The Finns also flew better than the Soviets. The Soviets were ill prepared beyond belief.

Even then, the US Navy F2A-2 wasn’t hated by its pilots, but the USMC F2A-3 was regarded as inferior.

[smokinhole]

@chipwich

It reminds me a lot of current drone sensor technology in that when you let go of the sticks, it maintains its position in space. Something I bet the Harrier pilot must not do!

That’s another reason I hate the plane–a failure of attitude on my part I’m afraid: It flies itself. The mystique of the Harrier and the B-26 is that they have a reputation of being a challenge to fly. The best planes are the ones that scare you a bit every time you crank the motor. If you can theoretically text “Merry Christmas!” to your grandmother while your plane hovers alongside the boat, you are an on-site manager, not a pilot.

[JediMaster]

It depends on my mood and the mission. If it’s a milk run, I like an edgy plane with some bite. If it’s a run into hell and back, I prefer a plane that lets me concentrate on fighting the enemy and not its quirks.

[TheAlmightySnark]

@smokinhole

If you can theoretically text “Merry Christmas!” to your grandmother while your plane hovers alongside the boat, you are an on-site manager, not a pilot.

That is the design philosophy of most modern aircraft though, with the pilot being primarily a systems manager, both for military and civil aviation these days. It’s interesting and a little scary, but I am pretty positive we’ve had a very long talk about this not too long ago?

[komemiute]

You can find both aspects in the Eurofighter.

[chipwich]

You could make that argument for any automatic systems. But just because you can do it, doesn’t make it SOP. I don’t have any insight into USMC flight ops other than you guys, but I’m seeing this more of a safety feature than something that is relied upon. As far as being managers vs pilots, at least there are still butts in seats, something that we may not have in the not too distant future. I’m hoping that they are still hiring pilots when my kids are old enough to make career path decisions.

[smokinhole]

I once taught the virtues of the A320 to pilots new to glass and any sort of flight management. I get it. The safety issues that come with making airplanes easy is a discussion that’s too serious for a silly thread about a flying turd doing loops at an airshow.

This is just me getting old. Planes should be sexy and challenging. Airshow performances should be balls-to-the-wall nail biters, not formulaic sequences designed by committees and 200 hours of sim-trials to “quiet naysayers”. Flying should be thrilling and romantic. When I was a kid I would see these machines and wonder “will I ever have what it takes to fly that?” It’s the doubt that made it special.

[BeachAV8R]

@smokinhole

When I was a kid I would see these machines and wonder “will I ever have what it takes to fly that?” It’s the doubt that made it special.

I thought that very thing 10 minutes ago as I was walking out for this trip…

[smokinhole]

But the outcome was never in doubt.

[near_blind]

Right?

[BeachAV8R]

I’m filling in as an FO today and it is fabulous! No paperwork, no filing flight plans, no writing stuff up, no responsibilities if something breaks…all I gotta do is make sure there is O2 and the windshield gets clean later. This is the life!

[smokinhole]

But you didn’t get to fly with your favorite Captain.

[chipwich]

While listening to the latest Airplane Geeks podcast (#459), they had an ad-hoc reporter hitting some of the booths at the Paris Air Show. During one of the more interesting stops was a discussion with a Martin Baker representative. If you have any interest in ejection seats or how to earn the famed MB necktie, I enthusiastically recommend a listen, One bit of that interview discussed the challenges of having a seat which properly functions with both a 250 lb male and a 120 lb female. Further brief mention of ejection while the pilot is wearing the current crop of HMDS, which must feel wonderful to the neck muscles Lastly, I bet that you don’t know what the leg restraints are actually for. I didn’t.

[PFunk]

I’m totally buying the M-B ejection handle keychain.