Hacker15e

Well, actually...no.

The contest submission was "Fighting Falcon" from the beginning....4 years before the airplane was "officially" christened, the name was decided on.

UPTme

Had I not seen your 'greatest hits' video, I'd have made fun of you for looking this up.

USMCFLYR

Both really. There are three modes - Navigational, A/A and A/G.

You start out in the Nav mode, can get into the A/A mode by selecting the pushtile OR selecting any A/A weapon on the stick, and then pushing the button to the left of the DDI to get into A/G. Once in the A/A or A/G mode then you'll need to deselect the tactical mode with the pushtiles again to get back into the Nav mode.

Thanks for the link too PGT. Pretty soon I'll have to look at that picture to remember the good ol' times!

USMCFLYR

USMCFLYR

Only if you are trying to be as correct as possible. For instance at an airshow I'll often answer the question -"What kind of airplane is this?" with the full name. It will often lead to a follow-on discussion about why it has such a different name and so on.

Other times I would say that you are right - F-18 or 'Hornet' are the popular shortcut names. Never been called the A-18 that I know of It has been used in the past but some very ground minded Marine CO's (think former A-6 background) in Marine Ready Rooms as the f/A-18 (emphasis on the Attack role) which is fairly accurate, but it really was meant to put emphasis on the training percentage spent on either role for instance.

I thought the name Viper came from the USAF guys who hated the official name 'Fighting Falcon' and that 'Battlestar Galatica' (the TV show) was popular at the time and they like the little fighters in the show which were called 'Vipers' so it became the unofficial name - and I agree, I don't think I've ever heard an AF guy called the plane anyting but a 'Viper'.

USMCFLYR

UAL T38 Phlyer

Hacker:

I've looked, and can't find it, but prior to the "official naming contest," the Air Force was referring to the airplane as the Falcon.

I was either in high school or college when this happened (ie, it may have been when it was still in the YF-16 stage). But I remember reading an article in Flying magazine that detailed what I said earlier.

Anyway, that's what I remember. It wouldn't be the first time the USAF had re-written history to suit its purposes....

ps: During the naming contest, the odds-on favorite was "Mustang II," given the similarity in having a big under-fuselage scoop, bubble-canopy, single-engine, etc, and given that the Hog had just been named "Thunderbolt II."

tomgoodman

And no one calls an A-10 a "Thunderbolt II".

nwaf16dude

I've heard this often, but it is not true. We have a switch that limits our max angle of attack for "Cat 3" configurations (normally a combat loaded F-16 is in a Cat 3 configuration), but if you pull hard enough you can still exceed the g limits. Most air to ground configurations are limited to 5-6 g's, and it is very easy to over g them, especially at low altitude.

UAL T38 Phlyer

NWA:

Thanks...I always thought Cat III limited the 'g'; now I know it's an alpha-limiter.

USMCFLYR

Our stores configuration will limit our G and obviously our G limits will change as we either get rid of ordnance or even burn down the fuel. Our limiter can be overridden - but it can be easily surpassed if the Gs are snatched on and there is the paddle switch to override it - but I don't know anyone PERSONALLY that has used it.

Speaking of the names that don't seem to be catching - maybe some of the F/A-18 E/F pilots on here will speak up on their opinions whether 'Rhino' is catching on. Most seem to still refer to it as simply the 'Super'.

I'm pretty sure 'Growler' is enjoying some success.

USMCFLYR

AZFlyer

IMO, Growler is a little cooler than Rhino.