nortex97 said:
Century series, hands down.
Crude electronics (basically WW2 era), supersonic, afterburners, all the fun stuff. B-47, B-52, B-58 at the same time. These programs are often over-simplified/dismissed historically but really were engineering marvels of their era, regardless of production volumes/combat stats. I don't think many military aviation nerds would ever deny the penultimate 'cool factor' of the XB-70, though.
That's a great story.BQ78 said:
I've got a sweet spot for the F-106. My parents told me they knew I could hear as a new born baby because when the F-106s hit the afterburners taking off from Lindbergh Field I would jump.
My dad was an engineer at Convair his whole working life and next to his work in Kearny Mesa in San Diego was Missile Park. It was a park for Convair/GD families to enjoy, very nice and fun place. When they first opened Missile Park the centerpiece was a fully intact F-106 with only the engine removed. I spend hours climbing all over that thing, sitting in the cockpit twisting the joy stick and squeezing through the space left by the engine removal.
One day I was out there alone sitting in the cockpit playing fighter pilot and I punched the radio button and asked for clearance to take off and got an answer "What do you need?" Freaked me out and I ran back to the family car where my mom was waiting and told her someone talked to me over the radio. I really thought that. My guess it was someone on the loudspeaker at the nearby Atlas Factory.
Those were the days. Could you imagine letting kids climb all over a jet aircraft today? I'm guessing even in the 60s there were enough injuries on it, because shortly after the 70s began it was removed from the park. Was I ever bummed.
And what plane would that be?Rabid Cougar said:
The era of the plane that is currently over head.
As I break out my Trusty Flightradar 24 App... At my office in Bosque County there is currently an A319 going from Love to Austin and a 737 from Los Vegas circling in the southwest approach to DFW waiting its turn to land... DFW is pretty stacked up right now due to weather.Cinco Ranch Aggie said:And what plane would that be?Rabid Cougar said:
The era of the plane that is currently over head.
This is my favorite era, as well.USA*** said:
WWII / Golden era Prop Planes
Oh, that's beautiful. The F-16 is a nice airframe, but when painted in that livery, wow.agfan2013 said:
4th gen
My mom worked for General Dynamics up in Fort Worth for a few years in the 1980s, so I had plenty of F-16 toy models, a picture or two hung up in my room, and more. I still have a GD branded change holder in my truck I use.
Went to the Houston airshow a couple of weeks ago and got to see the F-16 Demo team and Blue Angels. Took this pic while we were there, thought the throwback livery since it's the 50 year anniversary of the Viper was really cool.
Also, if memory serves, it had an surprisingly large payload capacity.UTExan said:
The DeHavilland Mosquito
Used for everything: precision bombing, anti-ship strike with a 57 mm gun. The thing was largely made of wood and took a lot of punishment and could fly low and fast.
The Mossie could carry up to 4000 lbs of bombs. It was also an airframe that could serve in multiple roles - fighter, bomber, fighter/bomber, torpedo bomber, night fighter, and trainer.Jabin said:Also, if memory serves, it had an surprisingly large payload capacity.UTExan said:
The DeHavilland Mosquito
Used for everything: precision bombing, anti-ship strike with a 57 mm gun. The thing was largely made of wood and took a lot of punishment and could fly low and fast.
