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#1
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This one super-bugs me...
See this pictu
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/624542/L/ I've never seen a picture or movie of a Tomcat doing a display without a RIO. To my knowledge, there is nothing physical that mandates the RIO in there for the Turkey to be flown in a demo - take off, do some aerobatics, land... Now, I've seen quite a few photos of operational F/A-18Fs doing demos without the WSO. So, what gives? Is the Tomcat such a difficult bird to fly that it requires a RIO with a NATOPS on his lap, or is the Super-Bug so underpowered that 200lb of weight make a difference in the demo? And if the WSO isn't there just because he is not needed, how does it affect the morale of the WSO community? Just curious... José |
#3
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On 7/20/04 5:04 PM, in article ,
"José Herculano" wrote: See this pictu http://www.airliners.net/open.file/624542/L/ I've never seen a picture or movie of a Tomcat doing a display without a RIO. To my knowledge, there is nothing physical that mandates the RIO in there for the Turkey to be flown in a demo - take off, do some aerobatics, land... There were systems failure emergency action procedures steps in the Tomcat (and Intruder for that matter) that required a back (or right)-seater to perform. Both of those aircraft are crew-served weapons systems. Now, I've seen quite a few photos of operational F/A-18Fs doing demos without the WSO. So, what gives? Is the Tomcat such a difficult bird to fly that it requires a RIO with a NATOPS on his lap, or is the Super-Bug so underpowered that 200lb of weight make a difference in the demo? Could be that the 6 AMRAAMs were just too much for it... Seriously, given that the picture was taken at Farnborough, I'd bet 50/50 that the pilot was a Boeing guy borrowing a VFA-2 jet--although I've been wrong before. And if the WSO isn't there just because he is not needed, how does it affect the morale of the WSO community? I'm sure that they're not happy (justifiably). --Woody |
#4
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There were systems failure emergency action procedures steps in the Tomcat
(and Intruder for that matter) that required a back (or right)-seater to perform. Both of those aircraft are crew-served weapons systems. For the F-14 none that I recall, but it's been a long time. OTOH, the IFF is back there and the post start BITS (which are a prerequisite for flight) are initiated from the back seat. A-6 and F-14 were designed for crew integration to a greater degree than the F-4 (which you could fly solo). Needless to say none of the three gave the pilot any significant control of the radar. R / John |
#5
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On 20 Jul 2004 23:51:36 GMT, ojunk (Mike Weeks) wrote:
From: "José Herculano" Date: 7/20/2004 15:04 Pacific Daylight Time See this pictu http://www.airliners.net/open.file/624542/L/ I've never seen a picture or movie of a Tomcat doing a display without a RIO. To my knowledge, there is nothing physical that mandates the RIO in there for the Turkey to be flown in a demo - take off, do some aerobatics, land... Could be wrong, but it's my understanding that the Tom requires a RIO. It has been a while, but my understanding, from a friend that used to be a F-14 RIO, was that the controls to align the INS was in the back. Makes it difficult to fly without one. --Rolf |
#6
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From: Rolf Kappe
Date: 7/21/2004 08:53 Pacific Daylight Time On 20 Jul 2004 23:51:36 GMT, ojunk (Mike Weeks) wrote: From: "José Herculano" Date: 7/20/2004 15:04 Pacific Daylight Time See this pictu http://www.airliners.net/open.file/624542/L/ I've never seen a picture or movie of a Tomcat doing a display without a RIO. To my knowledge, there is nothing physical that mandates the RIO in there for the Turkey to be flown in a demo - take off, do some aerobatics, land... Could be wrong, but it's my understanding that the Tom requires a RIO. It has been a while, but my understanding, from a friend that used to be a F-14 RIO, was that the controls to align the INS was in the back. Makes it difficult to fly without one. My understanding also came from a former F-4/F-14 RIO -- but couldn't recall what was the requirements in the Tomcat. MW |
#7
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The only reason I recall for the Intruder was that the pilot couldn't reach
the trim breakers in case of runaway trim. Rick "John Carrier" wrote in message ... There were systems failure emergency action procedures steps in the Tomcat (and Intruder for that matter) that required a back (or right)-seater to perform. Both of those aircraft are crew-served weapons systems. For the F-14 none that I recall, but it's been a long time. OTOH, the IFF is back there and the post start BITS (which are a prerequisite for flight) are initiated from the back seat. A-6 and F-14 were designed for crew integration to a greater degree than the F-4 (which you could fly solo). Needless to say none of the three gave the pilot any significant control of the radar. R / John |
#8
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I recall that incentive rides with civies in the back aren't really
RIOs. BTW, I recall speaking to a person from "down under" in which he works with aircraft all day and that SH demo with stores onboard, were just dummies - empty. |
#9
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#10
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