Warbird Information Exchange

No one had mentioned the F-15? No air to air losses at all.

Long range bombers do have a great worth, but that particular mission (even when it was undertaken) seemed to be one of those things we did because we wanted to demonstrate a capability (or the powers that be wanted to prove the worth of the BUFF plus a fleet of KC-whatevers), rather than because it was the best way to accomplish the task. Why make a crew fly all the way to the Persian Gulf and back nonstop when you could have staged at a base closer to the action?

It would seem to me (as a strict amateur) that the "nuke" mission of the strategic bomber might better be replaced by a missile-based platform, but they have definitely proven their worth as on-site artillery for the guys on the ground.

Just my $0.02

Brandon

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ATC: "Oscar 2, cleared to engage wildlife at your discretion..."

drones don,t make me laugh electronics can always be messed with there is always some boffin somewhere that will find away to bring down drones there is no substitution for a human behind the stick!!!

PS i think the B58 was a big stick we didnt have to keep for long just because it said this is what we can do what have you got!!!

Yeah, you're right -- nobody else could possibly carry three different types of ordnance with long loiter times while providing CAS. Can the B-1 strafe?

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Admit it Randy. You're old and outdated. Worn out. Ready for green pastures. why, I bet you can't even walk without a cane.

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"I knew the jig was up when I saw the P-51D-20-NA Mustang blue-nosed bastards from Bodney, and by the way the blue was more of a royal blue than an indigo and the inner landing gear interiors were NOT green, over Berlin."

What was the name of that primary trainer the Air force used briefly about a decade or so ago? If I'm remembering correctly they had a horrible safety record and were pulled out of service and destroyed.

Slingsby Firefly T67-M260-T3A. Only a/c in the US inventory that had a requirement to measure wing surface temps prior to flight. If the surface temp in any location was over limits, they were prohibited from flight until under the limits. I don't think they ever solved the fuel starvation problem completely either.

John, I won't disagree that the strategic bomber still has a useful role in modern warfare, but I still think in this particular case the B-2 has not fulfilled its promise. They are hugely expensive and I feel actually less useful (about half the conventional bombload of a B-1, I believe), especially in the recent wars you mention where the air defense threat has not really required an aircraft with its defensive capabilities. FWIW, I served on the ground in Desert Shield/Storm and would much rather have 2 or 3 B-1s dropping 3-4 times the amount of ordnance in front of me than a single B-2 for the same price.

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Best bang for the buck would have to be L-4 and L-5s. $1700.00 to $5200.00 apiece and multi- capable. Ambulance to artillery direction --pretty cost effective for many years.
Many Ed Heinemann designs were mentioned earlier and I agree AD-1, A4D, and F-16 which Ed said " Although I can't take credit for the design of the F-16 I had a lot to do with it. This is another example of how an airplane was built for half or less of other or competing planes. This was accomplished by a strong desire to do so and good cooperation between the manufacturer, General Dynamics, Fort Worth and the Air Force." Taken from AIAA 81-0917 Aircraft Design Then and Now by Ed Heinemann.
He went on to mention that the first 500 A4Ds cost $860,000 each. SBD Dauntless $86,000. A4Ds spent many more years in service then the SBDs.

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Better is the enemy of Good.

The USAF called it the T-3.

Leave it to Big Blue to take a perfectly good aircraft and screw it up so bad that they have to destroy all the examples so it doesn't kill anyone else.

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