. . . 42 years, ago, today
https://theaviationist.com/2018/09/0...super-fighter/
Still remember seeing the pics . . .
. . . like a spaceship had landed
..........
. . . 42 years, ago, today
https://theaviationist.com/2018/09/0...super-fighter/
Still remember seeing the pics . . .
. . . like a spaceship had landed
..........
An interesting adversary back in the day. It certainly could get high and fast but intel was that a Mach 3 run toasted the engines enough that they required replacement on landing. Regardless, killing an aircraft that's traveling at mach 3 required rapid geometry assessment and a near perfect attack profile to get a missile on target. Speed really was life for those guys.
Toyed with one in Iraq that was testing a no-fly line but he lived to fly another day...quite literally. Got shot down the next day when he got a little cockier (and actually over the line).
The 80s and 90s were a great time to be in military aviation...rough and tumble, mostly analog, jets with a few beeps and squeaks, lots of horsepower, and a thin safety margin. Reminds me a bit of these old cars we all cherish...
I read the book, MIG PILOt, years ago. A fascinating read. Nice way to spend a few hours during our quarantine.
Jim
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-25
"After the war, on 27 December 1992, a U.S. F-16D downed an IQAF MiG-25 that violated the no-fly zone in southern Iraq with an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile. It was the first USAF F-16 air-to-air victory and the first AMRAAM kill."
What kind of plane were you flying?
subscribed, tell more stories of air to air encounters. I remember flying with a buddy back in the early 80s in a Super Decathalon from Louisiana to Phoenix, AZ, to fly sailplanes at Maricopa Gilder Port south of Phoenix. I was in the back seat. We flew adjacent (about five miles) to an MOA (miliary operations area) in New Mexico and were at 5,000 agl when two F15s magically appeared about 1,000 feet below and less than 1/4 mile directly in front of us climbing FAST in full afterburner. My buddy in the front seat screamed and pushed the nose over on sighting them and I caught a glimpse of them and their afterburners as they flew past. I have no idea if they saw us but it was a butt puckering moment. I was trained as a glider pilot then transitioned to single engine. The rule is keep your eyes out of the cockpit at all times, glance at your instruments. My buddy also was trained first as a glider pilot.