F18 Hornet vs. F15 Eagle.........

[Falloutboy]

the F15 is to the F18 as the F22 is to the F35

F15 and F22 are no expense spared Air superiority planes

F35 and F18 are there to offer cost effective Air to Air and Air to ground, but are outclassed by there more expensive brothers in the air to air areana

 

[CVSiN]

Originally posted by: Falloutboy
the F15 is to the F18 as the F22 is to the F35

F15 and F22 are no expense spared Air superiority planes

F35 and F18 are there to offer cost effective Air to Air and Air to ground, but are outclassed by there more expensive brothers in the air to air areana

wrong =P
again I have been there done that... and been in the TACTS center watching the dogfights in real time..

I've watched Hornets flat out Dominate F-16s and 15s and 14s all of which were labeled a Air Superiority Aircraft.

in this aircraft it almost always comes down to the pilots skill.. he who makes the first mistake dies...
even a superior aircraft can lose to an inferior aircraft that has a senior officer that has the experience..



configure a hornet for A2A by removing all the pylons and just use a centerline drop tank.. and the Hornet becomes a lean mean death machine.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: CVSiN

in this aircraft it almost always comes down to the pilots skill.. he who makes the first mistake dies...
even a superior aircraft can lose to an inferior aircraft that has a senior officer that has the experience..

Which is why the instructors a Top Gun flying ancient F-5's used to regularly spank the hotshot students in their F-14's.

I think the F-22 is a different beast, because of its stealth, but all our other aircraft are subject to the limitations of their pilots.

I'll repeat an old Chuck Yeager story I've told here before, regarding pilot skill:
During the Korean war, an NK pilot defected with a MIG. (you can google the details, there was a big reward offered)
First one we had gotten our hands on, and Yeager, his commander, and one other pilot were dispatched to Okinawa to test it.
During the tests, a group of combat pilots came over, and one colonel asked Yeager why they weren't dogfighting the Mig against the F-86 Sabres.
Yeager responded that dogfighting was more about the pilot, not the plane, and that wouldn't show anything significant.
Obviously this was during a good old "shoot-the-bull" session, so the colonel kept on until Yeager invited him up to dogfight him. Yeager checked the colonel out in the Mig, Yeager got in a Sabre, and Yeager got on his tail and stayed there.
They landed, and switched planes. Yeager did the exact same thing while flying the Mig.

The colonel landed and told Yeager he didn't realize the pilot made that much difference.

Yeager responded that "the best pilot is going to whip your ass no matter what he's flying".
And that is true, to a point.