Iranians... You should go home

[TFOGGER]

Goddamnit, Maverick...

[JMBD2112]

Come on now, don't dis the Phantom. Its always been one of my favorite combat aircraft. I still remember building a model of one in my youth. Then I flew it off my parents deck.

Same here, but I punched a hole in my dad's brand new leather recliner with mine, its fate was met by a hammer

[Sharpienads]

In those parts of the world, its all about the Hilux

The Hilux is pretty BA. Wouldn't mind having one for myself.

[thvigil11]

The Hilux is pretty BA. Wouldn't mind having one for myself.

You got that right. That's why every rebellious area in the world features these things with a old 60, DSHK or some other MG mounted in the back. There were rumours that they would get introduced here, but I never was able to confirm anything. I think Canada imported a few though.

[Ridge]

Impressive, huh? Oh, wait.

I like how your F-4 cockpit shot is from a video game. Best guess would be Wings Over Europe

[<MADDOG>]

The F4 was great in its day, but was still the heaviest airframe for a fighter that the US ever fielded. Originally it was designed as a missle carrier, not a dogfighter.

Unloaded, didn't the Thud weight more?

[Colorado Osprey]

F-4's didn't quite have the heaviest airframe ever.

Thud 27.5k empty-- although technically a light bomber
Phantom 30k empty
F-22 Raptor 43k empty 83.5k gross

Gross maximum take off weight and the Phantom was still heavier 52.5k vs 61.8k.

Even the F-14 weighed 40k empty 61k gross

If you want to include fighter bombers-- F-111 46k empty 91.5k gross
Starts to make the phantom look steam-lined and slim, eh?

Heaviest fighter ever fielded.. Tu-28 Fiddler, 54k empty 96k gross


What is the lightest modern fighter now flying?
I don't include the F-5's as modern... and is the F-16 really considered modern these days?
Really the only modern light weights are the Saab JAS39 Gripen 12.6k empty and the Taiwan F-CK-1 Ching-kuo 14.3k empty

[Gman]

When I was a kid, I was driving on my learners' permit on a family vacation trip from Portland, OR to Northern CA. I was heading down I-5 and a pair of F-4s came tearing over the coastal side mountains, across the highway in front of me, and back over the mountains on the eastern side of the valley. They were terrain following at low altitude. The only response I could come up with was, "Allright. I didn't expect that."

The F-4 was like an anti-stealth fighter. Picking up the black exhaust gas made visual detection pretty easy.

I still like fighters built to dogfight. Putting a gun on the F-4 was an afterthought. Today seems to be more like Nintendo-warfare -- point, click and ship beyond visual range.

[RMAC757]

When I was a kid, I was driving on my learners' permit on a family vacation trip from Portland, OR to Northern CA. I was heading down I-5 and a pair of F-4s came tearing over the coastal side mountains, across the highway in front of me, and back over the mountains on the eastern side of the valley. They were terrain following at low altitude. The only response I could come up with was, "Allright. I didn't expect that."

The F-4 was like an anti-stealth fighter. Picking up the black exhaust gas made visual detection pretty easy.

I still like fighters built to dogfight. Putting a gun on the F-4 was an afterthought. Today seems to be more like Nintendo-warfare -- point, click and ship beyond visual range.

Your right about that. The days of a swarming fishbowl are over. Stealth and missile technology have made Beyond Visual Range Shots the norm now. In my opinion we spend too much money on some of these programs. We've spent $68 billion dollars on 188 F-22 aircraft. Way too few to shift any global balance of power and it's just a stopgap for the F-35. This is why I love the older planes. P-51's to F-8's. Hell, my favorite plane is the A-1 Skyraider. Raw power, stick and rudder.

[Mick-Boy]

The pilot (according to the article I first read on it) was Lt. Col. Kevin "Showtime" Sutterfield. Clearly a man with a sense of panache.

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2...ran-coast.html