F18 dogfighting

IS the F18 as good a dogfighter as the F14?
Will F14 aviators transistion over to the F18?

-John Cip

"John C" wrote in message
...
IS the F18 as good a dogfighter as the F14?

According to F-18 drivers, it's better. According to F14 drivers, it's not
as good. Generally, the guy that gets to the ready room blackboard first
"won" the engagement.

Will F14 aviators transistion over to the F18?

Some but not all.

John C wrote:
IS the F18 as good a dogfighter as the F14?

Depends on the circumstances of the fight - they are different
aircraft, and each possesses unique advantages over the other. In a
weapons-free environment, it's hard to see F-18 drivers surviving
against swarms of AIM-54's. One can't be said to be a better dogfghter
than the other because there are probably so many different ways an
engagement can be fought.

Will F14 aviators transistion over to the F18?

Doubtless some already have.

IS the F18 as good a dogfighter as the F14?

John, judging that is not as simple. It all depends to what role you
would like it to use. Hornet might be more dangerous in a dogfight, but
it is missing F-14's range and loiter time. Hornet had a wider array
of air-to-ground ordnance, but the F-14 is faster. It all depend on the
warfighting scenario, and for littoral warfare Hornets seems to be
enough.

Will F14 aviators transistion over to the F18?

As far as I know US Navy has three training pipelines for future
F/A-18E/F flyers:
- those transitioning from F-14A/B/D,
- those who flew F/A-18A/C before,
- those totally new to fighters.

Hope that helps.

Best regards,
Jacek

On 3/24/06 3:00 PM, in article
, "FatKat"
wrote:


John C wrote:
IS the F18 as good a dogfighter as the F14?


The question speaks to turning engagements in the visual arena.
Objectively, the F/A-18 is a better turning fighter than the F-14A, but the
thrust to weight of the B/D makes it a more difficult opponent.

Depends on the circumstances of the fight - they are different
aircraft, and each possesses unique advantages over the other. In a
weapons-free environment, it's hard to see F-18 drivers surviving
against swarms of AIM-54's. One can't be said to be a better dogfghter
than the other because there are probably so many different ways an
engagement can be fought.

Will F14 aviators transistion over to the F18?

Doubtless some already have.


Most F-14 squadrons are getting full transitions from Tomcat to F/A-18E/F.
Of course, some aviators are always left on the table during the transition.

--Woody

Most F-14 squadrons are getting full transitions from Tomcat to F/A-18E/F.
Of course, some aviators are always left on the table during the transition.

Can you elaborate on this point please? Which aviators and/or NFO are most
likely to get "left on the table" and why? For those that do *not*
transition to the Hornet community, what are their options?

On Sat, 25 Mar 2006 14:44:44 -0500, (Paul Michael Brown)
wrote:

Most F-14 squadrons are getting full transitions from Tomcat to F/A-18E/F.
Of course, some aviators are always left on the table during the transition.

Can you elaborate on this point please? Which aviators and/or NFO are most
likely to get "left on the table" and why? For those that do *not*
transition to the Hornet community, what are their options?

1.) Folks with insufficient retainability to justify re-qual expense
2.) Individuals of high seniority who will transition to staff
positions
3.) Those with marginal or less-than-outstanding performance reports
who seem likely to fail for promotion
4.) Crew-members with established separation dates.
5.) Individuals who opt out.

Nothing is guaranteed working for any large company.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com

i'm not sure that the aim-54 has seen too many upgrades over its life,
and tend to think it is an overrated weapon.
i bet the long range phoenix shots would be a pretty easy kinematic
defeat by a knowledgeable bandit.

On 3/25/06 3:59 PM, in article ,
"Ed Rasimus" wrote:

On Sat, 25 Mar 2006 14:44:44 -0500, (Paul Michael Brown)
wrote:

Most F-14 squadrons are getting full transitions from Tomcat to F/A-18E/F.
Of course, some aviators are always left on the table during the transition.

Can you elaborate on this point please? Which aviators and/or NFO are most
likely to get "left on the table" and why? For those that do *not*
transition to the Hornet community, what are their options?

1.) Folks with insufficient retainability to justify re-qual expense
2.) Individuals of high seniority who will transition to staff
positions
3.) Those with marginal or less-than-outstanding performance reports
who seem likely to fail for promotion
4.) Crew-members with established separation dates.
5.) Individuals who opt out.

Nothing is guaranteed working for any large company.



That just about covers it, Ed. Good post. The advantage that the Tomcat
has is that the community is replacing aircraft squadron for squadron. That
having been said, some squadrons have transitioned to E's which has caused
them to leave some NFO's behind.

Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com

i bet the long range phoenix shots would be a pretty easy kinematic
defeat by a knowledgeable bandit.

I won't say that the AIM-54 is a wonder weapon, however please consider:

That thing is coming at you at about Mach 4;
It is descending as it does so;
It is in a ballistic flight, which means no tell-tale smoke or contrails;
For such a terminal flight, it is a tiny thing, almost impossible to acquire
visually;
It can pull 18G at the end - granted, for a very limited time;
It has a huge fragmentation warhead which translates into a good-sized kill
zone.

Beatable, yes, easy, not by a very long shot.
_____________
José Herculano