Last of the Grumman cats....

[Widewing]

I sure do miss the Grumman Tomcat... Last and greatest of the cats...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=n81pIulraxY

[Drano]

Obviously hopped up airshow stunts! 

[The Fugitive]

Obviously hopped up airshow stunts! 

 

We had Tomcats on the Eisenhower when I was with her. The shows they would put on for visiting dignitaries was unbelievable. I don't bother going to other shows any more, just nothing to them.

[Spikes]

Tomcat has always been and always will be my favorite airplane...

[DaveBB]

Neat facts about the F-14:

It had a lifting body design, allowing the wings to be much smaller than if it did not.

Part of the swing-wing mechanism covering the wing connection to the fuselage was fabric.

Two small canards would deploy automatically at speeds above Mach 1 to help with the nose down pitch caused by high speeds.

Much of the blame for the aircraft's poor accident record was put on it's original engines.  However, the wide spacing of the engines and subsequent tendency to yaw caused flame-outs and crashes right up to the end of the F-14s service life.

For a book that really details the F-14 in combat (and I mean true combat), read http://www.amazon.com/Black-Aces-High-Fighter-Squadron-ebook/dp/B003JMFAUQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391900969&sr=8-1&keywords=black+aces+high

[Drano]

I was channeling that other guy of the multiple-vacations-from-the-forums tribe that always poked sticks about those Grumman cats. 

[bozon]

There was a time when planes had character and presence. Machines you could love.
Todays planes like the F-22 and F-35, the most passionate thing I can say about them is that they are like a Toyota - they work as intended.

[BnZs]

There was a time when planes had character and presence. Machines you could love.
Todays planes like the F-22 and F-35, the most passionate thing I can say about them is that they are like a Toyota - they work as intended.

In a few decades people will be romanticizing those two in a like manner.

[bozon]

In a few decades people will be romanticizing those two in a like manner.

Yes, because the next generation of fighters will be flown from an office chair with a mug of coffee in your left hand.

[artik]

In a few decades people will be romanticizing those two in a like manner.

I don't know how can you romanticize a pig with small wings (a.k.a. F-35)



On the other hand there plenty of modern beautiful planes:

Dassault Rafale:



Saab Gripen:



Suchoi 30MKI



Edit

Or even this one 5th generation Suchoi looks nice:

[BnZs]

I don't know how can you romanticize a pig with small wings (a.k.a. F-35)

Fw-190. F-104 

[BnZs]

Yes, because the next generation of fighters will be flown from an office chair with a mug of coffee in your left hand.

Yep, brain is in the bullet and their is too much technology to derive much romanticism from the whole affair. There ain't no "cavalry charges" in warfare anymore. So let's call the whole thing off. In order of intensity, playing AH, cage-fighting or some type of formalized dueling are more rational outlets for the natural aggression of the male hunter-ape

[artik]

Fw-190. F-104 

They were not a (fat) pigs with small wings they were rockets with small wings...

BTW

- 190 does not have small wings at all...
- F 104 maybe was "romanticized", it reality it was horrible aircraft with even more horrible record killing its pilots more than enemies...

[BnZs]

For a WWII fighter the 190 has really really small wings in relation to it's own weight.

They were not a (fat) pigs with small wings they were rockets with small wings...

BTW

- 190 does not have small wings at all...
- F 104 maybe was "romanticized", it reality it was horrible aircraft with even more horrible record killing its pilots more than enemies...

[bozon]

I don't know how can you romanticize a pig with small wings (a.k.a. F-35)

(Image removed from quote.)

On the other hand there plenty of modern beautiful planes:

Dassault Rafale:

(Image removed from quote.)

Saab Gripen:

(Image removed from quote.)

Suchoi 30MKI

(Image removed from quote.)

Edit

Or even this one 5th generation Suchoi looks nice:

(Image removed from quote.)

All are pretty planes, but the problem is not their looks.
Here is what Giora Epstein had to say about the F-16 (07:10):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ESF4RObYB3M#t=429
I remember him saying the exact same thing already some 25 years ago.

He is not wrong. I feel the same thing about cars. My old cars were like pets - I cared about them like they were animals, they had character. My current one is a Toyota and the worst thing I can say about it is that there is nothing wrong with it. It is what it is, goes from A to B. I don't love it or hate it - I feel nothing about it - it may have been a toaster. It is not something I can really point at and claim to be the problem. This car simply convey the message that you should not care - open the engine hood and you see nothing but black plastic. Everything is covered. Automated gears, automated choke, power steering that prevent any feedback from the road and allow you to drive with one finger. All good features, and I would not change them in a family car, but it is a lifeless machine.