![]() ![]() ![]() The F/A-18's trapezoidal wing had a 20-degree sweep on the leading edge and a straight trailing edge. The airframe and landing gear were strengthened for carrier suitability, and an arrester hook and wing-fold mechanisms were added. With its canted tails, the new airplane certainly looked like the YF-17, but key additions got the jet ready for service in the Navy. The carrier aircraft of the 1950s and '60s tended to be specialized fighter or attack airplanes. But the low power-to-weight ratio of these early jets forced the U.S. The aircraft carrier-based fighter planes of World War II, such as the Grumman F6F Hellcat and Vought F4U Corsair, could carry bomb loads as heavy as the dive bombers of the day, successfully combining fighter and attack capabilities into a single aircraft. This plane was a way for the Navy to replace multiple single-mission aircraft with a jet that could do it all, but it was a long time coming. The first thing to notice about the Hornet is the "F/A" in the F/A-18 designation, meaning the jet was designed to be both a fighter and an attack aircraft. ![]() But they became the go-to choice for decades. Hornets weren't always the Navy's first choice. Even so, the swift manner of success showed what the F/A-18 could do and why it was built. Those two Iraqi MiGs are the only aerial victories for the F/A-18 Hornet/Super Hornet during its decades of service-no surprise, since the opponents in America's recent conflicts lacked the air power to challenge the U.S. ![]()
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