McDonnell Douglas FA-18ABCD Hornet

132 Pages·2014·51.757 MB·English

by  Tim Callaway

ThecockpitofaMcDonnellDouglasEF-18AoftheEjércitodel
AiredeEspaña,theSpanishAirForce,showingthethreemain
multifunctiondisplaysandheadupdisplay.LuiginoCaliaro
Contents
Probablythebestknowpublicimageofthe
McDonnellDouglasF/A-18Hornet,theF/A-18As
oftheUSNavy’sworldfamousdemonstration
team,theBlueAngels.LuiginoCaliaro
8 Developing a lightweight 52 The model 267 to
fighter Hornet
18 From theYF-17 to the F-18 56 The Blue Angels
22 The F/A-18 partners 66 Developing the breed
– part one
70 The first Gulf War
36 The F/A-18 partners
76 More F/A-18s over Iraq
– part two
4INASSOCIATIONWITHRUAGAVAITION–YOURINDEPENDENTF/A-18LIFECYCLESUPPORTPROVIDER
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Editor: TimCallaway
[email protected]
Publisher: DanSavage
Contributors: LuiginoCaliaro,NormDeWitt,
KeithDraycott,ConstanceRedgrave,
EmmanuelRodriguez,DanSharp,
WarrenEThompson,SpencerTrickett,
RobertIWinebrenner
Designer: LibbyFincham
Reprographics: JonathanSchofield
Groupproductioneditor: TimHartley
Divisionaladvertisingmanager: SueKeily
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Advertisingsalesexecutive: StuartYule
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Editorialaddress: AviationClassics
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Website: www.aviationclassics.co.uk
Customerservices,backissues
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82 F/A-18s in combat [email protected]
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90 From the cockpit Distribution: COMAG
TavistockRoad,WestDrayton,
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96 RUAG Aviation
Printed: WilliamGibbonsandSons,
Wolverhampton
102 The F/A-18 abroad
©2014MortonsMediaGroupLtd.Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthis
publicationmaybereproducedortransmittedinanyformorbyany
114 The F/A-18 in detail means,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopying,recording,or
anyinformationstorageretrievalsystemwithoutpriorpermissionin
writingfromthepublisher
120 Chasing X-planes ISBNNo978-1-909128-30-9
126 Survivors
Havingtrouble
findingacopyofthis
magazine?Whynot
justaskyourlocal
newsagenttoreserve
MemberoftheProfessional youacopy
Independentpublishersince1885 Publishers’Association
HighoverAustralia,anF/A-18Aof2
OperationalConversionUnitlightshis
afterburnersinthenightsky.RAAF
Strike Attack
A sting indeed
F
unnyoldthing,buthereIamstuck singleaircraftcannotfulfilallthetasks operationwellintothenextdecade.
onthispageagain,its04.00 requiredofamodernmilitaryandthatthis ThereisoneotherthingabouttheHornet.
(What’stheOstandfor?OmyGod particularaircrafthasneverhadtherange Itisunbelievablytough,assomeofthestories
it’searly!)andIhavetoomuchto requiredofacarrierbasedstrikeaircraft. andimagesinthesepageswillattest.The
sayasusualforthespaceallowed. Interestingthat. basicshapeoftheaircraftwassorightfrom
Ihavelearnedanamazingamountabout SinceitenteredservicewiththeUS thestartithaschangedverylittle,eveninthe
thisaircraft,notleastofwhichishoweasyitis MarineCorpsin1983,theHornethasbeen greatlyscaledupF/A-18E,FandGSuper
tooverlookitsslimgreyshapeamongthe carryingoutallthemissionsitwasdesigned Hornets,which,sincetheyareproperlya
fightersoftoday.Ihavealsolearnedthatthat forinconflictsmanymilesfromitscarriers. whollynewaircraft,donotfeatureinthisissue
isagravemistake.Thisisanaircraftthatgets OntwooccasionsF/A-18swereconducting ofAviationClassics,butwillinthefuture.The
aboutitsbusinesswithaminimumoffuss,that verydifferentoperationsinseparateregions originalHornetthunderson,itstremendous
muchIhavelearned,butwhatabusinessitis. simultaneously.Notbadforalimited success,despiteitsdetractors,isperhapsits
Thereisverylittleinthewayofmodern capabilityshortrangeaircraftassomewould greateststing.
militaryoperationsthattheF/A-18Hornet labelit. Asusualonthesejourneysofdiscovery,
cannotachieve.Fighter,strike,interdiction, ThefactofthematteristhatNorthropand thereareagreatmanypeopletothankfor
maritimepatrol,reconnaissance,theHornet McDonnellDouglasproducedoneofthe theirilluminationandassistancealongtheway.
doesthemall,anddoesthemallextremely world’sgreatcombataircraftintheHornet. ThemediadepartmentoftheAustralian
wellfornationsasdiverseasFinlandand Flexible,adaptableandsupremelyreliable,as Government’sDepartmentofDefencehave
Malaysia.Therewereagreatmanydetractors wellasbeingremarkablycheaptooperate, oneofthemostcomprehensiveandbeautifully
totheF/A-18programme,thecriticismsthat manyofthefirstHornetsbuiltarestillflying maintainedwebsitesandanamazingimage
havebeenlevelledincludetheideathata today,withupgradesensuringtheircontinued libraryfortheRoyalAustralianAirForce.
Manythankstothemforsomanyofthe
superbimagesthatfillthesepages,andfor
theirspeedyandkindrepliestoallmy
enquiries.Iwouldalsoliketowelcome
SpencerTrickett,theartistbehindSkytoons.If
youhavebeentoanairshowinrecentyears,
chancesareyouhaveseenSpencerathis
standwhichisfullofhisartwork,cartoonsand
aviationcollectables.
Ifyouwanttoknowmoreaboutwhathe
does,havealookatwww.skytoons.co.uk.
Spencerisgoingtobeproducingacartoonfor
thispage,andothers,inAviationClassicsasa
regularspotfromnowon,sowelcomeaboard
SkytoonsartistSpencerTrickett’s andniceHornetbuddy!
takeonaSwissAirForceF/A-18at
speedinthemountains.Spencer
Trickettwww.skytoons.co.uk Allthebest,
Tim
6 INASSOCIATIONWITHRUAGAVIATION–YOURINDEPENDENTF/A-18LIFECYCLESUPPORTPROVIDER
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Developing
a
light weight
fighter
Northrop, the F-5,
the LWF, and the YF-17
The development story of the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 is a long
and complex one which began with a very different aircraft and a
completely different company, the Northrop Corporation.
ANorthropF-5EoftheAustrianAirForce
showstheleadingedgerootextensionsthat
improvedthemanoeuvrabilityofthefighter.
ThiswasNorthrop’sfirstlightweightfighter
designandamajorsuccessforthe
company,sellingworldwide.LuiginoCaliaro
8 INASSOCIATIONWITHRUAGAVIATION–YOURINDEPENDENTF/A-18LIFECYCLESUPPORTPROVIDER
TheMcDonnellDouglasF/A-18A/B/CandDHornet9
Above:Northrop’sfirstjetfighterdesign
producedinnumberswastheF-89Scorpion
radarequippednightfighter.TheseareF-89Ds
ofthe59thFighterSquadron,GooseBay,
Labrador.Thewingtippodshousedfuelin ThesecondNorthropX-4Bantamtaillesssweptwingresearchaircraft,twoofwhichwerebuilt
therearandairtoairrocketsintheirforward aspartofaNACAhighspeedflightresearchprogrammeandweretogiveNorthropmuch
half.USAF neededexperiencewithsweptwingjetdesign.USAF
A
shasbeencoveredinAviation Northrop’sfirstlightweight
ClassicsIssue19onthe fighterwastheN-156F,an
NorthropF-5,thehistoryofthe efficientandagiledesign.Its
NorthropCorporationuptothe smallhead-onprofilemadeit
early1950swasoneofunbridled difficulttoseeanditssimplicity
success,creatingcivilandmilitaryaircraftina madeitaffordable.Northrop
widerangeoftypes,fromtransportstojet
fighters.InDecember1952,JohnKnudsen
‘Jack’Northrophadresignedfromthe
company,EdgarSchmuedtakingoverasvice
presidentofengineering.
Hepromptedastudyintoalightweight,
simplebutsupersonicfighterdesign,tobe
knownastheN-102,andunknowinglybegana
developmentwhichwouldeventuallyleadto
theF/A-18.Atthetime,therewasanincrease
incomplexityandoperatingcostsofmany
moderncombataircraftandtheirsystemsand
itwasforeseenthatmanycountriescouldnot
affordthese,oriftheycould,onlyinvery
smallnumbers.
Othercompanieswerelookingatthelight
fighterconceptasawaytoprovidefriendly contributegreatlytothetype’slaterlongevity which,PD-2879D,wasatwoseatdesigntogive
countrieswithaffordableandeffectiveair andsuccess. thenewfighteratrainingcapability,andwas
power.In1954,NATOheldadesign Toaddresstheengineissue,anumberof verysimilartotheaircraftthatwasto
competitionforalightweightfighter,buteven missileprojectshadpromptedthe eventuallyemerge.Alongsidethistwoseat
thoughseveralprototypeswereproduced,the developmentofsmallturbojetswithhigh aircraft,asingleseatderivativewasalsobeing
competitioncametonothing.However,itdid powertoweightratiosforthetime.Oneof produced,giventhedesignationN-156F,the
provethatbothaninterestinandamarketfor thesewastheGeneralElectricJ85anditwas twoseaterbeingknownastheN-156T.
suchanaircraftexisted. decidedthattwooftheseengineswouldmake Northrop’sinterestinatwoseatdesignhad
WelkoGasich,thenchiefofadvanced theidealpowerplantforasmall,lightweight beenpromptedbyaUSAirForce(USAF)
design,headedtheNorthropstudyteam,with fighter.In1955theNorthropteambegan requirementissuedin1955,forasupersonic
designerLeeBeginproducingtheproject workonaseriesofdesignsthatexpandedon trainertoreplacetheLockheedT-33Shooting
drawings.Thefirstdesigntoemergefromhis thistwinenginedconcept,knownastheN- StartheninservicewiththeAirTraining
drawingboardin1952wasahighwingtailed 156.ThefirstofthesewastheN-156TXof Command.TheN-156Tlayoutwasproposedto
delta,poweredbyasinglelargeturbojetwith March1955,enginesinnacellesunderan theUSAFinMarch1956asaresponsetothe
anairintakebelowthefuselage,knownasthe unsweptwing. requirement,thetwinenginedlayoutofferinga
Fang.However,itwasconsideredthatthe Performancestudiesofthedesignwere highsafetyfactorinatrainer.Threeprototypes
singlepowerfulturbojetenginewouldbe disappointing,soitwasrejectedandtheteam wereorderedinJuly1956andanumberof
expensivetooperateandwouldrequirea beganworkontheN-156NNwithengines revisionswereincorporatedinthedesign
greatdealoffuel. mountedinthefuselage,fedbyseparateair includingtheinstructor’srearseatbeingraised
TomJones,whowasnowNorthrop’s intakes.Thiswasintendedasalightnaval by10in(25.4cm)whichgavehimanexcellent
planningofficerandwouldgoontobecome fighter,sowasstrengthenedforcarrier view,thenewtrainerbeingdesignatedthenow
itspresident,thentookahandandchanged operationsandfeaturedaTtailandfullspan famousT-38andnamedTalon.
theemphasisoftheprogramme,with flaps.However,thewithdrawalfromserviceof WhiletheT-38wasindevelopment,Welko
investigationofthelowestcostsolutions theUSNavy’sescortcarrierfleet,thesizeof GasichandLeeBegincontinuedthedesignof
availabletakingthelead.Gasichagreed, carrierforwhichtheaircraftwasdesigned, thesingleseatversionoftheaircraftunderthe
addingtheconceptofminimisingthelife curtailedinterestintheproject. companydesignationN-156F.Asmoredata
cyclecostsovertheentireservicelifeofthe Thiswasfollowedbysixmoresingleand becameavailablefromthetrainerprogramme,
newfighter,anewapproachwhichwasto twoseatconfigurationsin1956,thelastof thiswasincorporatedintothefighter,resulting
10 INASSOCIATIONWITHRUAGAVIATION–YOURINDEPENDENTF/A-18LIFECYCLESUPPORTPROVIDER