General Discussion

Supposed to have happened around noon today out in California. Anyone know any details? I believe the pilot punched safely. --------------- Wxpunk

Looks like news is reporting pilot and wso ejected, but didn’t make it. Damn. https://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/14/navy-fa-18-jet-crashes-off-key-west-official-tells-fox-news.html

https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=79432 CORONADO, Calif. (NNS) -- A U.S. Navy F/A-18C Hornet assigned to the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center at Naval Air Station (NAS) Fallon, Nev., crashed today at approximately 3 p.m. PST on a U.S. Navy range training complex, approximately 70 miles east of NAS Fallon. Navy personnel are en route to the scene. The Navy has not officially confirmed the status of the aircraft crewmember. The aircraft was conducting a training flight prior to the crash. A safety investigation will be carried out to determine the cause. For more news from Commander, Naval Air Forces, visit www.navy.mil/local/airpac/. Prayin…

Good Day, A few of my co workers had a visual passage of two F-22's and a Tanker near Edmonton Alberta (YEG). I'm curious if this is a common practice when transiting foreign airspace instead of a fuel stop due to the sensitivity of the aircraft? Will this experience likely happen again over Alberta with traffic moving to Elmendorf? I would love to have seen it. Thanks Barry

https://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/...ion-damage.html Apparently it doesn't take much to hit $1 Million with this bird. How long ago was the classification system created and with the cost of production and repair would it be time for reclassification?

Anybody seen this? https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2012/11/15/fighter-jet-crashes-near-florida-air-force-base

F-22 Crashes Near Edwards Air Force Base Wednesday, March 25, 2009 Print EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — The Air Force says an F-22 fighter crashed in the vicinity of Edwards Air Force Base in the high desert of Southern California. Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Ann Stefanek confirmed the crash Wednesday but had no other details. Stefanek had no information on the status of the pilot. The F-22 is the Air Force's new top-of-the-line fighter. https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510588,00.html

Will the F-22 ever have capability to carry stuff outside the internal bay (i.e. on hardpoints on the wings)? I thought I read something to this effect early on in the program. Like they would only use the internal bays during the first days of the war, then once we had blown up all the radar sites, and the stelath was no longer needed, they would hang weapons out on the wings to be able to bring more firepower to the fight.

Sounds like a pretty cool experience for the T-38 dudes. I'm guessing it's a popular one. https://www.laughlin.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123125903

Okay, so the F-22 is going to replace the F-15 and the F-35 the F-16. When will it be conceivable that these airframes will make it to the guard fighter units? Is this even a possibility that this might happen? I have not heard anything for a while and was just curious as I am trying to get a -16 or -15 slot with a guard unit. Thanks for any insight.

Here's the link: https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35678731/ns/politics/ It seems the reliable numbers are hard to find, but it seems unlikely that we'll get as many F-35s as we need to replace the F-16, F-18 AND A-10 if the cost is really that high. I wonder how the "partner nations" are taking the news. I wish defense contractors and the government could build more realistic cost growth estimates into the acquisitions process so that we don't keep paying 2x as much for a system as we originally were told. It makes the whole bidding system just seem dishonest when you know contractors like Lockheed have been building weapons systems for hundreds of projects and know …

Hope he is ok. https://twitter.com/388fw/status/1582893659044708352?s=20&t=MTVQd_0vTp_NncTjHMj3aw

Looks like the Marines are down an F-35.

Lockheed Says F-35 Could Fly Pilotless Pentagon Demand for Drones Grows By Renae Merle Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, August 16, 2006; D01 Lockheed Martin Corp. has proposed an unmanned version of its Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35, which would make it the first full-scale fighter to operate without a pilot and signal the Bethesda weapons maker's push into the growing market for drone aircraft. The idea has been in the works for two years, Lockheed Vice President Frank Mauro said at a briefing yesterday. He provided few details but said the plane could be built as an interchangeable hybrid -- manned by a pilot for some missions and operated remotely f…

Does anyone have a copy of the final report? I've tried to download it from https://www.f-35atrainingeis.com/EisDocument.html but it's going super slow and wont complete

For you who follow such things, here's a little blurb from the web (Av Week site, David Fulghum) about the F-35: "There were troubling words from the Air Force about the F-35A. The inability to demonstrate the Joint Strike Fighters ability to conduct offensive counter air and suppression as well as the destruction of enemy air defense in heavily defended environments is going to delay the strike fighters operational debut by another two years. Last summer, the Air Force estimated that F-35's IOC would be declared in 2016. But when an analysis is complete later this year, we currently expect up to a two-year delay that will push establishment of the first operational…

I know it's ever-changing, but what exactly is the JSF expected to replace? (equipment, model, block, etc.) Is it expected to trickle down to the Reserve/Guard?

The GAO report (https://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08388.pdf) on the F-35 program that came out this month is hitting more headlines as people start doing some simple math. $300 billion (The GAO total cost figure that they think is more realistic) divided by the expected total buy of 2,458 aircraft comes out to around $122 million per copy. A Defense Acquisition Board meets today to give it the go ahead for low rate initial production 2. Should we be surprised if they give a pause until the program office recalculates its projected cost with more up to date and realistic numbers like the GAO report recommends? And would the following affect their decision? - Cost p…

F-35C carrier-variant test aircraft CF-3 has made its first catapult launch today (July 27) using the land-based steam catapult at NAS Lakehurst, where the U.S. Navy's version of the JSF is undergoing carrier suitability testing. Source: https://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/defense/index.jsp?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&newspaperUserId=27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7&plckPostId=Blog%3a27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%3aad00342f-3d8c-47ea-b3b3-afbfe02c64e2&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest I wonder if it has the autopilot hands off take offs like the F/A-18's...probably does since that seems to…

https://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/storie...h.1b3b58b1.html Looks like Ed Shipley. Interesting to see if this complicates the ongoing investigation into T. Mike. Best wishes to Ed's family, friends and employees. They may look neat and are straightforward to fly, but make no mistake, these first generation jet fighters have many unforgiving aspects, with worthless egress systems. Potentially dangerous machines. Robert Guillford Jimmy Rossi Tom Delashaw Come to mind. I don't know about Shipley or Guillford's reputations, but Rossi and Deleshaw were world-class, experienced aviators. [ 31. July 2006, 20:01: Message edited by: Toro ]

Interesting interaction between Whitmer and POTUS this evening, with a gift from Trump?: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/macomb-county/2025/04/29/donald-trump-selfridge-air-national-guard-base-retiring-fighter-jets-macomb-county-michigan/83332234007/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJ-VKVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFWRzNlUGtoS2lNOXJ1UkRjAR4U2ZwfOo_-YOo6KhCTIxANZ1qOtgugbUamFhqUfYAiiQlwfKN5wCApyHBkVQ_aem_hOGZv8sA4ZhAwrbCXOxQig

https://www.google.com/amp/s/theaviationist.com/2019/12/02/u-s-air-force-f-16-crashes-while-attempting-to-land-at-kunsan-air-base-south-korea-pilot-ejected/amp/ sounds like good news for the pilot this time

Heard through the grapevine about this just now. Allegedly an Iraqi pilot in training, no word if it was dual or solo though. Hoping everyone is alright...

Last week I read THIS news article and was wondering if any of you had any info on it; or if you know if it actually did happen today :confused:

Any truth to this? Thoughts? Many of you have seen the topic of the recent F35 crash being discussed, along with statements supposedly made by the pilot right before he ejected that he was having chest pains. As skeptical of everything that has to do with the vaccine as I am, even I thought the reporting on this was BS hyperbole. Until about 30 minutes ago, that is. . . I commanded an F/A-18 squadron in the 2007-2010 time frame, and a good friend of mine who was also a Hornet squadron commander and Airboss afterwards just called to tell me that he heard the unedited PLAT tape with his own ears, and before ejecting the pilots says: "I'm experiencing sudde…