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F-104 Starfighter, zero-length launch. "No runway, no problem".
Gunnut358
Member Posts: 456 ✭✭✭✭
The power.....😲
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IIRC, that was a failed experiment to see if they could launch interceptors from off-airport locations in the event the Rooskies started WWIII. Turned out to be more dangerous for the German pilots than the Russians. Quickly abandoned when somebody pointed out that if the runways were too bad to take off, they were also unavailable to land.
That would have been quite a ride.....
I don't understand why there aren't more craft like the Harrier.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
That is some kind of back blast, wow
Mr P, the Harrier was one of the hardest aircraft to master, carried a very small weapons load, and did need a runway to take off. It could land vertically when almost empty, but not TO with fuel and weapons.
How does that old saying go? "Taking off is optional, but landing isn't."
I always heard it as, any landing you can walk away from is a good landing.
Different sayings. Another one is: Every pilot climbs into his plane for one last time. The lucky ones know it beforehand.
Seems I remember seeing a C-130 take off using rockets.
That was the JATO system. I Jet Assist Take Off system. A small rocket on each side of the fuselage. They were shut off after initial takeoff.
Still impressive. Seemingly with the more advanced technology of today even those shortcomings could be improved.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
It's called the F-35B, Mr P. It takes the place of the Harrier for the Marines.
The 104 is a pretty plane. They have one mounted on a high pole at the Air Guard base across from Glenco in Brunswick, Ga. I remember it from when I was doing a job at Gulf Stream Aircraft which is next door.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
IMMIC, and am testing a nearly 50 year old memory, there was an Air National Guard Base near my duty station at Shaw AFB SC, called Macintire ANG that were still flying F-104's, F-100's, and one of my favorite fighter jets, the F102 Delta Dart. Each of these models would sometimes land here at Shaw and I was able to give each a good looking over.
The "Deuce" was an interesting plane, but its main contribution was in discovering why the thing simply would NOT go supersonic. What resulted was what they now call the "area rule" in which the ratio of wing to fuselage diameter increases drag. When they redesigned it with an "hourglass shape" of the fuselage the drag was dramatically reduced and the 102 could go past Mach One.
One of the guys in my pilot training class was a Guard member and upon graduation was guaranteed an F-102. They were phasing that plane out right about then, however, so I'm not sure what he eventually flew.
btw, the deuce's official name was the Delta Dagger. The F-106 was the Dart and it replaced the 102.