emailing airprtpres@aol.com (preferred) or fax to 718-995-3432. Include your name, title and employer.
 |
Correct entries were received from several sources for the June Name that Plane...
Lt. Dan Carbonaro and P.O. Jack Barryhe Port Authority Police had the earliest and most detail entry that follows:
The aircraft pictured in this
month’s Airport Press is the F/A 18 “HORNET”. The F/A-18 "Hornet" is a |
single- and two-seat, twin engine, multi-mission fighter/attack aircraft that can operate from either aircraft carriers or land bases. The F/A-18 fills a variety of roles:
air superiority, fighter escort, suppression
of enemy air defenses, reconnaissance,
forward control, close and deep
air support, and day and night strike
missions. The F/A-18 Hornet replaced
the F-4 Phantom II fighter and A-7 Corsair
II light attack jet, and also replaced
the A-6 Intruder as these aircraft were
retired during the 1990s.
The F/A-18 has a digital control-bywire
flight control system, which provides
excellent handling qualities, and
allows pilots to learn to fly the airplane
with relative
ease. At the
same time,
this system
provides
exceptional
maneuverability
and
allows the
pilot to concentrate
on
operating the
weapons system. A solid thrust-toweight
ratio and superior turn characteristics
combined with energy sustainability,
enable the F/A-18 to hold its own
against any adversary. The power to
maintain evasive action is what many
pilots consider the Hornet's finest trait.
In addition, the F/A-18 was also the
Navy's first tactical jet aircraft to incorporate
a digital, MUX bus architecture
for the entire system's avionics suite.
The benefit of this design feature is that
the F/A-18 has been relatively easy to
upgrade on a regular, affordable basis.
The F/A-18 has proven to be an
ideal component of the carrier based
tactical aviation equation over its 15
years of operational experience. The
only F/A-18 characteristic found to be
marginally adequate by battle group
commanders, outside experts, and even
the men who fly the Hornet, is its range
when flown on certain strike mission
profiles. However, the inadequacy is
managed well with organic and joint
tanking assets.
Making the first flight in November
1978, the F/A-18 and its two-place derivative
[subsequently redesignated the
F/A-18B] underwent most of their development
testing at the Naval Air Test
Center under the new single-site testing
concept. While much attention was
focused on development problems, these
were largely typical of those in any new
program, with their resolution being
part of the development process. For the
most part, these occurred in the basic
aircraft hardware rather than in the
digital electronic systems.
The original F/A-18A (single seat)
and F/A-18B (dual seat) became operational
in 1983 replacing Navy and
Marine Corps F-4s and A-7s. It quickly
became the battle group commander's
mainstay because of its capability, versatility
and availability. Reliability
and ease of maintenance were emphasized
in its design, and F/A-18s have
consistently flown three times more
hours without failure than other Navy
tactical aircraft, while requiring half
the maintenance time.
|
