Starting with a favorite, the A-1 sky raider.
Not the fastest, not the prettiest, but tough as nails and had loiter time to spare. Just what you need for doing just about anything that needed doing.
Even now theyd make great coin aircraft, personell transports, trainers, target tugs, escorts, observers, etc...
They should have been put on a forever contract.
Another classic, the A-26.
The ultimate plane for bush wars. Flown till it fell apart, then flown some more.
They should still be making them.
>>24844901
Coin aircraft?
This should of been adopted.
>4 seater variant at best
>personnel transport
S-3.
This one is a mystery to me, and I've never seen them state a reason to eliminate a carrier bomber with a high bypass turbofan.
It should still be out there.
>>24844957
>should of
>>24844956
COunter INsurgency
cheaper version of attack aircraft which is to be used in areas with poor air defence
>>24844956
counterinsurgency is often referred to by the acronym COIN
>>24844956
COunter INsurgency
Step up senpai
Seriously... Why didn't they keep these?
bring back the Thuds!!!
Gone too soon!
>>24845005
They could seat up to 12.
Not exactly luxury, but so it was.
RIP =(
>>24844901
>Posting a Skyraider
>Not posting the best Skyraider pic of all time
Shame on you.
>>24845129
The Su-24? It's still in service.
>>24845011
South Korea wants to buy some.
>>24845041
it's sad brits are too poor to have nice things, they used to be cool.
>>24844964
As an American yes
As a komando the obligatory yes
As a top gun lover yes
As a taxpayer fuck no
Turbo sky raider... What could have been.
>you will never thunder over Iraq in a WWII era strike plane.
>>24845287
my dick is diamonds
>>24845209
Too sexy to be dead...
Should have been.
Never was.
>>24845287
You're now aware of the PA-48 Piper
>>24845296
My Uncle was a BN in one of these from VA-36. He took camcorder video of the carrier launch. It was so high-G it made the tape skip for a second. Was fucking cool as a kid.
>>24845287
>Turbo Skyraider
>Lots of Hydra rocket pods
>Hello, long lines of ISIS pickups
Rocket Boggaloo Gold Edition
>>24845287
we tempest mk II now
Why would you stop making these.
There is no reason.
>close air support
>closer air support
>want to hit them with my sword.
Could we make a coin aircraft from this: http://slepcevstorch.com/moose.htm
and just arm the backseats with tow on the other side and 2 lmg's on the other side and leave the co-pilot off for balance?
>>24845244
Crazy thing is, we're not too poor for it.
Government just refuses to use more of that wealth on the fucking defence budget. Thats all. Should be 3-4% GDP easily.
I wonder how much It would actually cost to start making post war aircraft today.
Aside from the massive piston engines, most everything should be stock parts and rivets.
If you have air superiority you should make the most of it
Some aircraft just got an unfair break from the start.
They could have been so much more.
>>24845911
Those Vickers are only going to get you so far.
never understood why they got rid of em
>Your grave cannot hold me.
>Fetch me my ordinance, I go east!
>>24846071
>ordinance
ordnance
>>24845869
we wouldnt have to use R-3350.
i mean see how long engine development has come since WWII. example: in 1939 an engine with 1000hp, say the RR merlin needed 27 liters to achive that. some production cars today beat that. Bugatti veyron, 1200 hp from 8 litres. koenigsegg whats-its-fce does somethig similar from 5 litres. those engines are most likely as reliable as a merling, but you get the point. if you was to make a modern radial in the 3000hp range it would be lighter, more efficient and smaller than an R-3350
>>24846104
Autocorrect, being helpful...
>another best plane.
>>24846148
There's probably a lot of other stuff going on tho.
Reliability, redundancy, performance at altitude, torque.
With modern machining tho, and the fact we should know everything it takes to make old engines, reproducing them shouldn't be a very tall order if you're buying hundreds of aircraft.
>>24845837
>voting labour ever
>>24845113
Eh
They could have made it into an interceptor to get all those supersonic bombers at the time, but it would have required significant redesign. It had a retarded aft bomb bay too. Better to lean forward to the next gen at the time, which was the F-14. Retiring the Vigilante was a good call. It never really fit in.
>>24845223
job is done better and cheaper by a mix of satellites and drones. Retiring it was a smart move
>>24845837
Look to the future anon
>>24846232
i am convinced now. we need skyraiders
>>24846071
>that text
>that pic
beautiful. its time for revenge, BUFF. revenge
Turbo Skyraiders are what the autists should use to take over Namibia
Why did they retire it? It could flow low.
>>24846232
>With modern machining
You mention modern machining, I saw a docu about the bf-109 where Rolls-Royce told the museum not to damage the crankshaft as they were not sure they could replicate the machining on it. Literally. 1980/1990s (it was old admittedly) Rolls-Royce saying they couldn't build something. As much as MUH KRAUT SPESS MAGIK is overblown, the Germans had a 33k ton forging press in the WW2 era (which documents indicate was seized by the Ruskies). America didn't get a 50k ton press until the 50s. And now the Chinese have an 80k ton forge press.
good read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Press_Program
>>24844964
Just think, Canada almost swindled all of Iran's F-14's for bargain bin prices before their helping with the hostages became public. They'd still be flying and sitting in hangers today.
>>24846375
Skyraiders are delicious, of course we need them. I'd wager to say a radial engine would be loads more efficient and reliable than a Jet/turbine in the sandbox.
>>24848194
The mechanical engine ECU on the BMW 801 engines in the FW-190's is still replicated in some form today by modern aircraft manufacturers.
There is such a thing as kraut space magic.
>>24848342
>There is such a thing as kraut space magic.
No, I agree, but its a little intimidating. As a V8 loving American, I have an unhealthy love of pushrods over DOHC that needs a precise overhaul accompanied by what I can only assume motor oil mixed with Jew blood for optimal performance.
>>24848213
The first I've ever heard of this. Link?
>>24845869
Get close to a Skyraider at a museum. Besides the radial engine, which the US military gave up on forty years ago, it is a bazillion miles of hydraulic tubing and is built/stressed for carrier operations. The USAF taking them was a budget measure- they were taking ex-USN aircraft from the boneyard and flying them. They're cool as shit. But you would have an easier time restarting an A-10 production line than an A-1 line.
You want to go cheap COIN these days with a similar bomb load, look at the AirTractor.
But a twin-turbo A-26K knockoff would be the fucking tits just because I love those things.
>>24848467
Not him, but I saw the link in one of the F-14 groups on Facebook a week ago or so, but the laptop I had it bookmarked on turned itself into a brick this last weekend.
>>24848463
>motor oil mixed with jew blood....
So thats what was powering their engines in WW2....
>>24844901
Here is skyraider I saw couple days ago, still in active flying condition.
>>24845724
I always thought catalinas looked comfy as fuck.
Like get one and rip out the insides and make a comfy clubhouse living area. Sail around with your boys being a boat or a plane.
>>24849448
My grandfather was aircrew in the Marines and he had a couple of them operating out of his base. He said that one of them even had it's own "ship's cat".
>>24849448
>>24849505
here is a pic of a Catalina confiscated by DEA from drug runners, the plane still flys
>>24848213
Hold the fuck up, are you saying the Canucks could have saved all those F-14s?
>>24845011
>I've never seen them state a reason to eliminate a carrier bomber with a high bypass turbofan.
>It should still be out there.
It was also a fixed-wing ASW platform with much more speed and range than shitty helicopters
>>24849357
When I was around 8yo, I went to my 1st airshow with my dad and they had a Skyraider there(among other cool stuff like F14, Blue angels). My dad was a munitions loader in the AF during Nam and was talking to the pilots/people there and eventually convinced them to let me sit in it. was pretty cool.
>>24845157
>planes that should never have been retired
Why are you posting that? It got retired because most of the fleet got shot down and replacing it with a new attack bird (plus more F-4 wings converting to attack as the F-15 came online) was easier than reviving it. Tech had a short lifespan in the Cold War brah
>>24845244
>nice things
I do not see any in your pic. For nice things the Brits used to have see >>24845772
I have an unhealthy love for the Tiger. I just want to stick my dick in it.
>>24848258
>I'd wager to say a radial engine would be loads more efficient and reliable than a Jet/turbine in the sandbox.
>>24849733
everything ITT got retired because it was old and/or useless. whats your point? if youre going to bitch about 1 you might as well bitch about all of them....
>>24849527
>TFW you'll never smuggle coke in a PBY while wearing avatars and a Hawaiian shirt.
What is life
>>24849789
Not the S-3.
>Cheap as shit.
>crazy as fuck payload.
>great loiter time
>Even had babby's first GAU.
When a nutcase in a Kiowa isn't enough and an A-10 is too expensive.
>>24849832
>kiowa
I can't believe they're getting retired. Quite honestly, they're the only thing that made me consider joining the Army.
some things are too good for this world
some things we don't deserve
>>24844964
in service way past its time
>>24845157
wtf why, thing was never good or loved
>>24845223
satellites
>>24845244
kills more pilots than SAMs
>>24845394
>>24845425
>>24845287
HNGH MY DICK
>>24849832
>When a nutcase in a Kiowa isn't enough
I've always heard recon chopper pilots are crazy, I had a nam vet as a patient last week who was a crew chief in a little bird. He wasn't too bad, crazy, but not too bad, but he did tell a story of a pilot he didn't like showing up one day telling him to go clean the gook brain off his skid. Apparently he was headed back to base and clothes lined some poor bastard walking along a rice paddy. Past that it was flying at top speed 10 ft off the ground and acting as bait for some Cobras.
>>24845191
"12 Americans or 20 viets." - Skyraider pilot I know
I still miss the A4s, F4s, and OV-10s. I grew up in the final years of their service. Made for great attack platforms and CAS, but there's no interest in stripping down old airframes, re-engine them, and retrofitting them with modern avionics and control systems. We had thousands of Phantoms and Skyhawks.
>>24849745
Do you cry yourself to sleep over the replacement that never was?
>>24845001
The matador, ME!
>>24846232
tell that to guys trying to replicate WW1 jennys and camels, or that company that tried to build 'new' BMW powered FW-190s. couldn't figure out how to keep the wings from cracking and falling off.
>>24845213
I've been laughing at this pic for awhile now, thank you. It may be a shop, but I could totally see some salty ass, old school naval aviators pulling this shit off. Can you imagine the WTF look on that poor gooner that thought for sure he was going to be blown to hell , uncovers his eyes, stands up and realized he was bombed with a toilet.
I would laugh my ass off.
>>24849789
bet christmas is fun at your house
>>24845287
Jesus fucking Mary and Joseph, is that the ant of the aviation world or what?
ALL.
THAT.
ORDINANCE.
>>24850595
It actually happened.
>>24845489
Sploosh?
Pic related is OV-10 with 20mm Gatling gun in a turret. Another model had a 30mm Gatling gun mounted underneath in a turret.
In addition to the cannon both could carry the following:
12x AGM-114 Hellfire missiles
or
8x AGM-114 Hellfire missiles
14x Hydra 2.75 in rockets
or
4 x AGM-114 Hellfires
38 x Hydra 2.75 in rockets
>>24851028
I just love these COIN / light attack type aircraft...
Super Tucano is another one worth mentioning.
>>24849892
*tear*
>>24845911
Was just going to post this. I had a Lego one when really young, for like my 5th or 6th birthday. Built it up and my sister sat on it snapping wing parts and generally turning it into hell. Also made a Lego fleshlight kinda thing when I was 10 or 11. Kinda sharp
Hopefully after uni I can land a job that pays well enough for pilot lessons. Then one day get a biplane or something
>>24850595
They dropped a sink also.
>luxury pby
I could dig that.
>>24849789
It's not as strait forward as you think.
Planes come out of service for a few reasons. Sometimes they just wear out (not a problem if you are still making replacements or refurbishing them). Sometimes they become obsolete (going from canvas biplanes to monowing metal had its advantages). Sometimes they just prove to be a bad idea or a bad fit for their operation. Other times is really about contracts and politics. You know, bullshit.
Interceptors are most vulnerable because they need constant update and have the most airframe stress. If the powers that be forget to schedule them for regular updates and maintenance, they can make the "oh dear, all our toys are worn out and we need new ones!" Excuse shortly afterwards.
The performance envelope plateaued in the 80's. They don't really need new birds, just updated ones. But some politician needs a new aircraft factory in his back yard so we play along.
For coin or CAS aircraft that argument is harder to make. The basic job hasn't changed since Vietnam, and most of the cockpit upgrades needed to use guided weapons can be retrofit.
So they make the argument that a real Air Force no longer does ground support, or that technology can make ill fitting aircraft do the job better.
Look at what some of our enemies are using and its proof alone that you can get by with old hardware better than new. But that doesn't get you a cooshy retirement with the manufacturers.
The end result is we pay more for less capability, Fewer hulls and fewer missions. Making the mistake that just because something was made recently means it's a better fit to its job.
>>24851726
I remember as a kid going to an air show where some retired old coot had his PBY on display.
The interior was all carpeted and had wooden furniture.
Looked real fucking classy.
>>24851937
>Look at what some of our enemies are using and its proof alone that you can get by with old hardware better than new
>better
Dumb/10, opinion completely discarded.
You were making a cost/performance argument, but then went full retard.
>>24851726
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV-CBm7YkDg
Did someone say luxury PBY?
>>24844964
h-highway to the danger zone
>>24845911
Bro', as much as I like the Camel and other WWI planes, when Achmed has a better chance to kill you sitting atop his bubba'ed Ma/DShK on the back of a pickup than you have killing him, you're doing it wrong.
>>24845041
I read a post on here that said it was a shitty bomber. Don't know how accurate that assessment is but maybe the other two V series bombers were better?
>>24851998
The Victor was the one that wound up being converted into tankers to extend the Vulcan's combat radius. And as much as I want to like the Victor better than the Vulcan, I think that fact speaks for itself.
>>24852021
What about the Valiant?
>>24851998
It wasn't shitty in the sense it was a bad aircraft, but it was designed to carry nukes, and the brits stopped doing that. They were then converted to tankers because retrofitting them for conventional ordnance was just too much trouble for the use they'd see.
>>24852021
>I think that fact speaks for itself.
Not if you consider the people doing it were constantly trying to cheap out and disarm at the time. Turning bombers into tankers instead of buying tankers seems like a bong thing to do.
Why is no one posting the Canberra?
>>24852064
Because it's cockpit is off center and triggers everyones OCD.
>>24852074
>triggerbait
thats even more of a reason to post it
btw i cant im on mobile right now and it lacks the capacity
>>24852044
This, This so fucking much
>>24852074
>Hating on asymmetrical designs.
Maximum plebs. Stay earthbound!
>>24846343
I mean you're right, but fuck the thing is just so cool.
>>24852082
I just had room on my phone. Oh god this annoys me.
Here you go
I feel like night /k/ is all cut from the same or similar cloth. I love it.
>grew up in the 90s
>dad had a hardon for military aviation
>dad had a civilian pilots license
>dad was a paratrooper in the 70s
>dad took lil babby /k/omrade to Sun 'n Fun every year in central FL
>dad passed on his knowledge and love for military aviation
>lil /k/omrade joined the army
>lil /k/omrade still holds a love for military aviation to this day
Nice to know that a lot of other jobins out there had their dad's taking them to air shows. I feel like military aviation is highly unappreciated, and the kiddies my age that think they know shit about it don't thanks to games such as Ace Combat and TC: CAWKS
>tl;dr
I love you guys.
>>24852090
That's actually fine it's just that the Canberra is just slightly off center on the central fuselage and it's....
>>24852102
Fuck I hate that, I want to nudge it a bit to the left.
>>24852106
Fucking entered my tripfag PW in wrong.
>autism intensifies
