Pictures of Cold War aircraft.

[davparlr]

Damaged QT-38A drone 59-1600 at China Lake, circa 1987. Later placed on a pole at Phoenix-Mesa Gate Airport, Arizona.

View attachment 715735

oh, break my heart. One of the all times great aircraft. Hope they don't turn them into targets

 

[Donivanp]

oh, break my heart. One of the all times great aircraft. Hope they don't turn them into targets

But that's ways a "Q" type is! A target!

 

[SaparotRob]

Which infuriates me no end. QF-16s. I can think of a much better use for them.

 

[Donivanp]

Which infuriates me no end. QF-16s. I can think of a much better use for them.

Like what? Pilots need that first combat with live fire on a real target. The QF-… has reached high hour EoL so going out and giving a real chase of thing is the best use of the airframe. If not this then chopped up in the boneyard! Let's go out in a blaze of glory yeah think Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers!

 

[SaparotRob]

I'm sure these F-16s are no older or less maintained than the MiG-29s in Ukrainian service. If offered, I'm sure they will be gladly accepted. They will be more easily adapted to NATO equipment, like AGM-88 chucking, than the MiG-29.
How old are the MiG-31s and Tu-95s loitering behind Russia's border? You fight with what you have, not with what you want.

 

[Donivanp]

I mean I understand where you're coming from, I hated to see the QF-100, 102, 106 and 4's, oh boy the F-4 is sacred to me, but the fact is, all the simulations in the world won't make up for the first time a missile flys of you wing. And the first time shouldn't be in combat when you need all your wits about you! Theory and simulation only go so far!!!! Tangling it up with a firebee drone isn't the same as a true on 9G fighter you may have to tangle with in real world and though there isn't a pilot in the F-16, excuse me, QF-16, there is a highly qualified F-16 instructor pilot flying that drone!

 

[Donivanp]

I'm sure these F-16s are no older or less maintained than the MiG-29s in Ukrainian service. If offered, I'm sure they will be gladly accepted. They will be more easily adapted to NATO equipment, like AGM-88 chucking, than the MiG-29.
How old are the MiG-31s and Tu-95s loitering behind Russia's border? You fight with what you have, not with what you want.

These F-16 are the worst of the bunch! These are the most broken down high maintenance aircraft in inventory! Not sure I'd park one in my front yard as a bird bath, no seriously these are on their last leg and while I understand your sentiment, by the time they get here they are over stressed and over used, they were pulled from the ANG and when the ANG gets them in the first place, well they're already second hand hand me downs!

 

[SaparotRob]

I know those drones are past their best use by date. I'm not thinking of them being used in dogfights. More as stand off platforms.
I know I may have sounded silly. I'm as frustrated as The Admiral is about not getting aircraft to Ukraine, NOW. I'm looking for anything readily available.
Just venting, I guess.

 

[SaparotRob]

BTW I still think your SB2U should have won.

 

[Donivanp]

BTW I still think your SB2U should have won.

Mine? That's a long time ago, I

 

[SaparotRob]

I do. A beautiful build of a new airplane of new design. A low winged monoplane with a radial engine. A beautiful new Navy bomber of the thirties. The Vindicator is a favorite. Red dot stars, striped tails, love it.
Then you aged it. It got flown. Superseded markings just visible under later ones. All you guys are masters of streaks and stains. Did that come out right?
The aircraft that were at Midway are of special interest to me and I was looking at a participant.
Good job!
All the models in that GB are great. But that Wind Indicator (Chesapeake to the liberty challenged), it spoke to me.
Apologies for the threadjack.

 

[GTX]

 

[Wurger]

 

[MIflyer]

This is a great shot of a T-33A that does a good job of showing the baggage pod. A friend of mine, a civilian USAF employee, expert on oxygen systems, was going TDY from Tinker AFB with his luggage in one of those pods. The pod fell off soon after takeoff, and so he had lost luggage, a not uncommon occurrence with travel, but usually that does not involve the missing item attaining a ballistic trajectory enroute.

An officer I served with told me that at one point the F-102's at Thule AB were grounded due to some kind of a flight safety problem. So the maintenance guys stayed up all night fitting a T-33A with a .50 cal machine gun mounted in one of those baggage pods so they would have at least one airplane that could perform armed interceptions.

 

[special ed]

I may have mentioned in another thread how everyone passed a USAFA Geography Quiz because the instructor took the papers home on the weekend to grade and the T-bird lost it's baggage pod over the Rockies.

 

[ARTESH]

An interesting memory! Thanks for sharing.

 

[MIflyer]

I may have mentioned in another thread how everyone passed a USAFA Geography Quiz because the instructor took the papers home on the weekend to grade and the T-bird lost it's baggage pod over the Rockies.

Yes, I recall that. And given that experience as well as that of my friend, I wonder what they had to do to attach that pod so that it would stay on with that .50 mounted in it and not have it whisk away the first time you tried to fire the gun. Of course the gunsight likely would have consisted of a wad of Beeman's chewing gum stuck on the windshield.

The first T-33A's built retained the two lower .50 cal guns of the F-80, but later production did not include them. Back in the early 1970's the USAF had AT-33A at MBAFB equipped with two .50 cal guns as well as underwing rockets to retrain pilots transitioning from transports and B-52's in ground attack techniques, presumably before transitioning to the A-7D.

 

[GTX]

 

[GTX]

 

[ARTESH]

Anytime Baby!