Last Navy Hornet

106, Remember them well. They moved the Squadron to Lemoore for a year or so in the mid 80's while something was going on at Cecil or Oceana, don't remember which. That was a fun time between them and the West coast RAG, 122 if I remember right, flying the wings off of them. After that they got simulators that could do all kinds of stuff. They didn't have to get in the air nearly as much anymore. Place got downright boring after that.
 
Was in 106 from 14-18 on the Rhino side and it was a busy place to work. We were talking about the removal of the legacy hornets, or baby hornets as we called them on the rhino side, back in 16-17 and even the idea that the Blues would transition to the Rhinos. A few weeks ago I got a message saying the blues were looking for Rhino qualified personnel and then this. Guess its real at this point.
 
106 always had the best softball team. They got time off work to practice, none of the other squadrons got that. Bastards.
 
Salty said:
Is the lady under the plane on the left a giant, or is the one on the right a midget?
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Lol! Ya know I was looking at it earlier when I posted it and was wondering the same. I can’t tell if he’s a midget or a muscular kid with a mullet. :D
 
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Was this flight out of NTU?
 
luvflyin said:
106, Remember them well. They moved the Squadron to Lemoore for a year or so in the mid 80's while something was going on at Cecil or Oceana, don't remember which. That was a fun time between them and the West coast RAG, 122 if I remember right, flying the wings off of them. After that they got simulators that could do all kinds of stuff. They didn't have to get in the air nearly as much anymore. Place got downright boring after that.
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Yeah, worked a bunch of “Romans” on approach. 106 students used to launch out of Cecil, come up for one HI-TACAN and RTB.
 
Salty said:
Is the lady under the plane on the left a giant, or is the one on the right a midget?
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Velocity173 said:
Lol! Ya know I was looking at it earlier when I posted it and was wondering the same. I can’t tell if he’s a midget or a muscular kid with a mullet. :D
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Midget?!? How offensive! I hope a group of 'little people' punch you both in the nads!:D
 
Gawd, I am old. I miss the days of River Returns from Pinecastle after dropping blue death.

Edit: Facsimiles of that in my RV aren't that bad, actually. That's right, I am dangerous.
 
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Velocity173 said:
Yep.
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Doggone. I was operating out of there Wed. around noon or so. Wasn’t really paying attention on what was taxiing past (bug vs. rhino) while we were getting ready to fly out. All those cats were waving in the cockpit at us, obviously envious of use and our combat hardened twin rotor wonders!
 
Fiveslide said:
106 always had the best softball team. They got time off work to practice, none of the other squadrons got that. Bastards.
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Time off at 106??? What the heck. I averaged 14 hour days while at 106. Standing up the demo team after a few years of it being shut down was cool-at first. Then I realized it meant airshow det from Wed through Monday. Work at the squadron on Tuesday to prep for the next weekend and repeat. Basically went 3 months without a day off while on shore duty. Air shows were a blast but the family hated.
 
Slight misnomer.....they will continue to fly with VFC-12 (who takes over FRS type NATOPS check duties), VFA-204, and NAWDC for quite a long time to come.
 
Will Kumley said:
Time off at 106??? What the heck. I averaged 14 hour days while at 106. Standing up the demo team after a few years of it being shut down was cool-at first. Then I realized it meant airshow det from Wed through Monday. Work at the squadron on Tuesday to prep for the next weekend and repeat. Basically went 3 months without a day off while on shore duty. Air shows were a blast but the family hated.
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"Time off" might be the wrong phrase. "Ordered to practice instead of eating a proper lunch or going home to your family" might be a better one. Most of our games with them were ended by the slaughter rule.

I was the only civilian playing. It was after my wife got hurt and she was moved to the Cal lab, where they put the limdu people and the pregnant girls.
 
35 AoA said:
Slight misnomer.....they will continue to fly with VFC-12 (who takes over FRS type NATOPS check duties), VFA-204, and NAWDC for quite a long time to come.
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Yeah I should’ve put in the description last ACTIVE Hornet flight. Off course the Marines will keep theirs for some time come as well.
 
Velocity173 said:
Yeah I should’ve put in the description last ACTIVE Hornet flight. Off course the Marines will keep theirs for some time come as well.
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Do you figure that’s because they are more suited to Close Air Support than the later Models?
 
luvflyin said:
Do you figure that’s because they are more suited to Close Air Support than the later Models?
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I think its because the Marines are holding out for the F-35s to replace them. They didn't go with the Super Hornet like the Navy did.
 
luvflyin said:
Do you figure that’s because they are more suited to Close Air Support than the later Models?
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I think both versions are equally suited for CAS. With the Super Hornet being more desirable with extra payload. But I’m sure 35 AoA could tell us which one he prefers for the mission.

I can tell you when I was active 20 years ago in the Marines, the Commandant (Gen Krulak) said there was no point in going with the Super Hornet because they were going to replace their Legacy Hornets with F-35s anyway. Basically he couldn’t understand why the Navy was going with Super Hornets when the F-35 was on the way. Personally, I think the Navy made the right choice because they’re still going with F-35s and they needed something in the interim to replace their ragged out Legacys. Even some of these Super Hornets are having to get airframe life extensions already because of optempo. Really I think the Marines didn’t think it would take so long for the F-35s to come on line. Because of that, they’re having to cannibalize their Hornets just to make flying hour mins for their pilots.
 
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The last AMC Hornet....

1200px-1976_AMC_Hornet_Sportabout.jpg
 
I’d much prefer a Rhino for CAS. More gas, more ordnance, better displays (same lousy FLIR), and some avionics improvements. The best combination IMHO would be a F with a FAC/A qualified WSO in the backseat. Then an E, then a C/A+.

Caveat all this with the fact that most people would prefer the jet they grew up in, so I’d guess 35AOA would prefer the Chuck. Plus, rockets seems like fun
 
RhinoDrvr said:
...most people would prefer the jet they grew up in, so I’d guess 35AOA would prefer the Chuck.
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*sigh*

There are now people who "grew up" with C's. Dang I feel old.

Nauga,
sitting in his rocker on the porch
 
RhinoDrvr said:
Plus, rockets seems like fun
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My pie in the sky mission was being tasked to take out a railway trestle with rockets, just as the locomotive was halfway across. Too many weekend afternoon WWII movies in my youth, I suppose.

nauga said:
There are now people who "grew up" with C's. Dang I feel old.
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Let me pile on: I'm a Lot 10 baby and five years past AARP eligibility.
 
RhinoDrvr said:
I’d much prefer a Rhino for CAS. More gas, more ordnance, better displays (same lousy FLIR), and some avionics improvements. The best combination IMHO would be a F with a FAC/A qualified WSO in the backseat. Then an E, then a C/A+.

Caveat all this with the fact that most people would prefer the jet they grew up in, so I’d guess 35AOA would prefer the Chuck. Plus, rockets seems like fun
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This. Although I do prefer the Rhino for just about everything nowadays, other than BFM. Rockets were fun though. But a high lot Rhino might as well be a different airplane when you compare capabilities with those of the Legacy, or even low lot E/F. That is what the USMC leadership didn't understand, and/or didn't care to hear.
 
35 AoA said:
This. Although I do prefer the Rhino for just about everything nowadays, other than BFM. Rockets were fun though. But a high lot Rhino might as well be a different airplane when you compare capabilities with those of the Legacy, or even low lot E/F. That is what the USMC leadership didn't understand, and/or didn't care to hear.
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Pardon my ignorance. I follow most of this, but what's a Rhino? (I'm sure it can't be an F-4...)

Never mind. Googled it. Super Hornet.
 
35 AoA said:
This. Although I do prefer the Rhino for just about everything nowadays, other than BFM. Rockets were fun though. But a high lot Rhino might as well be a different airplane when you compare capabilities with those of the Legacy, or even low lot E/F. That is what the USMC leadership didn't understand, and/or didn't care to hear.
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Legacy more maneuverable than a Super for BFM?
 
Little less sluggish at slow speed/high AoA, gets energy back slightly faster (comparatively speaking), and roll control is a bit snappier. A completely "slick" (no stores/tanks/pylons) Super is a beast though. I remember fighting a slick E while flying a centerline tanked F-16B and it hung with me for a long time.......much longer than most other F16 v FA18 fights I had. A slick F-16A would be a completely different story though :)

Velocity173 said:
Legacy more maneuverable than a Super for BFM?
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35 AoA said:
Little less sluggish at slow speed/high AoA, gets energy back slightly faster (comparatively speaking), and roll control is a bit snappier. A completely "slick" (no stores/tanks/pylons) Super is a beast though. I remember fighting a slick E while flying a centerline tanked F-16B and it hung with me for a long time.......much longer than most other F16 v FA18 fights I had. A slick F-16A would be a completely different story though :)
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I remember reading in the book “The Pentagon Wars” the author spoke of pilot reports of the YF-16. Incredible maneuverability over the YF-17. But once they added all the modifications to make it a combat aircraft, it added 3,000 lbs and it lost a lot of that maneuvering. Same as the YF-17. I read it could supercruise. I guess that’s true of any military aircraft though. If they’re slick with no external stores, you get incredible performance. Once you pack on the “essentials” it flys like a whole different aircraft.
 
Yeah, you could super cruise in the Hornet with a centerline and no pylons up in the 30's. Really not tactically useful since weapons go on those pylons, but it was kinda neat. I'd actually submit that the F-16 is slightly less maneuverable than the F/A-18, but it has a better thrust to weight ratio which generally means you can power out of mistakes. It also accelerates quicker than anything I have ever flown. My personal record was wheel stop taking the active runway to mach 1.00 in 64 seconds. It was a rocket ship.
 
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