And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Only three crewmen visible, 4th guy must be in the break area. Far as I know, only Attack aircraft with no forward-firing guns - actually, no guns at all. Double ugly? Even a flying guppy with enormous eyes has style.
Never understood why most Navy fighter and attack jets always looked filthy. I'm sure there's a good reason, just never heard of it. Saw a Montana F-106, more than 20 years old, that looked brand new, inside and out. The guy in charge said their entire fleet looked brand new.
Nah. I used to watch E-2s in the hanger bay wipe those things off all day and night with aerosols and disposable rags. They'd shut off the captain's shower before they'd scrimp on corrosion control.
A lot of it is the type of paint. It’s not a smooth finish to cut down on reflection and any kind of dirt shows up. It’s a cast iron bitch to clean. The A-10 was painted with the same type of stuff, about that color, and getting the gun gas residue and APU exhaust off it was virually impossible. Spent hours trying to scrub that crap off. We even wore cloth booties over our boots to keep from marking things with boot scuffs. Didn’t help much….
Snake pit many may not get that. My brother lived in Denmark for a year as an exchange student in high school. Yes anon comment was funny and probably true.
The "propellers" power the jammer pods. There's usually another one on the centerline hardpoint on the bottom of the fuselage. It's called the RAT (Ram Air Turbine). Each ALQ-99 jammer pod contains two jammers and an "exciter". :)
US Navy aircraft look dirty because as corrosion or worn/scratched paint is discovered on different parts, they remove the corrosion at that spot, and paint just the spot. Since it's almost impossible to mix the paint color to exactly match the paint color of the surrounding area, then the paint overall looks splotchy. The Air Force has much more time and budget to strip the paint off the entire aircraft and repaint the whole thing.
The only armament on the EA-6B is a HARM missile, unless you count the sidearms of the Pilot and ECMOs (Electronic CounterMeasure Officers). Source: I used to be in VAQ-131 and worked on them.
My NROTC instructor told us a tale of a carrier that was being harrassed by a "fishing trawler" so they had the prowlers "light 'em up" 'til they started smoking.
What type of aircraft is that?
ReplyDeleteEA6B-Prowler. Electronic Warfare version of the A6 Intruder.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize it carried that many crew.
Deletewild weasel?
DeleteFlying jammer. Carries enough electronic heat to shut down TV and radio stations, or crash the power grid.
DeleteI must have sent out the A6 vibe yesterday by watching “Flight of the Intruder”
ReplyDeleteGreat movie. Great actors.
DeleteBear Claw
AKA 'The Double Ugly' - which is unfortunate, because it's actually kind of graceful.
ReplyDeleteOnly three crewmen visible, 4th guy must be in the break area. Far as I know, only Attack aircraft with no forward-firing guns - actually, no guns at all. Double ugly? Even a flying guppy with enormous eyes has style.
ReplyDeleteGrumman's Iron Tadpole. Personally, I think they're gorgeous.
DeleteNever understood why most Navy fighter and attack jets always looked filthy. I'm sure there's a good reason, just never heard of it. Saw a Montana F-106, more than 20 years old, that looked brand new, inside and out. The guy in charge said their entire fleet looked brand new.
ReplyDeleteIt's because they are filthy. While deployed on an Carrier, fresh water is limited and prioritized for other things.
DeleteNah. I used to watch E-2s in the hanger bay wipe those things off all day and night with aerosols and disposable rags. They'd shut off the captain's shower before they'd scrimp on corrosion control.
DeleteA lot of it is the type of paint. It’s not a smooth finish to cut down on reflection and any kind of dirt shows up. It’s a cast iron bitch to clean. The A-10 was painted with the same type of stuff, about that color, and getting the gun gas residue and APU exhaust off it was virually impossible. Spent hours trying to scrub that crap off. We even wore cloth booties over our boots to keep from marking things with boot scuffs. Didn’t help much….
DeleteI hope he ain't cruising around Northern Italy.
ReplyDeletePS: Wild Weasels were Air Force F-105Fs & F-4Es converted to counter the threat of SAM sites in North Vietnam.
Roger Northern Italy and the Navy's version of Wild Weasel was the A-6B.
DeleteShould have sent one to Davos
ReplyDeleteThey couldn't. There was an air traffic jam with 800 private jets for the rich snobs who want to enslave us all.
DeleteJAJAJAJAAA!!!! FOR THE WIN!!!
Delete-Snakepit
Snake pit many may not get that. My brother lived in Denmark for a year as an exchange student in high school. Yes anon comment was funny and probably true.
DeleteBear Claw
Gollee! That thar big ol' aeroplane is powered by them two itty bitty propellers? Howza 'bout that!
ReplyDeleteThey be jammin!
DeleteRoom for 3 Electronic Countermeasures officers, but often flown with only 2.
ReplyDeleteReportedly known to the fighter jocks as the family model.
ReplyDeleteHad duty to clean F-15s a couple times, more chemicals than water used
ReplyDelete+20 to the props guy
ReplyDeleteThe "propellers" power the jammer pods. There's usually another one on the centerline hardpoint on the bottom of the fuselage. It's called the RAT (Ram Air Turbine). Each ALQ-99 jammer pod contains two jammers and an "exciter". :)
ReplyDeleteUS Navy aircraft look dirty because as corrosion or worn/scratched paint is discovered on different parts, they remove the corrosion at that spot, and paint just the spot. Since it's almost impossible to mix the paint color to exactly match the paint color of the surrounding area, then the paint overall looks splotchy. The Air Force has much more time and budget to strip the paint off the entire aircraft and repaint the whole thing.
The only armament on the EA-6B is a HARM missile, unless you count the sidearms of the Pilot and ECMOs (Electronic CounterMeasure Officers).
Source: I used to be in VAQ-131 and worked on them.
EA-6B! I was stationed at NAS Whidbey Island in the 80's as a Seabee! Talk about a Noisy Beast!
ReplyDeleteMy NROTC instructor told us a tale of a carrier that was being harrassed by a "fishing trawler" so they had the prowlers "light 'em up" 'til they started smoking.
ReplyDelete