Plane Of The Week

                                           The F-4 Phantom

Created by McDonnell Douglas the F-4 Began life as a US Navy fleet air defense fighter. It is armed with four AIM-7 Sparrow radar missiles and four AIM-9 Sidewinder infrared missiles. A maximum of 3,000 lb. of bombs under the fuselage and 16,000 lb. under the wings. It's maximum speed is Mach 2.2 or 1,500 mph. Test proved that pilots were more anxious to land on the air craft carrier then about fighting MiGs. The ends of the wings are tilted, helping their flight and giving it a very cool look. In the early stages of Vietnam there was 1 MiG lost for every one F-4 lost, but at the beginning of the "Top Gun" training the kill ratio went to seven MiGs were lost for everyone F-4.

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The British Concorde is the fastest air liner in the world. It can fly mach 2.02 or 1,335 mph (2,140  km/h). It has a wingspan of 84 feet (25.61 m) and is 204 feet (62.2 m) long. The Concord can hold 100-144 passengers. Not very many compared to the Boeing 747 which is only 27 feet 10 inches longer the the concord and holds 347 more passengers. The sound of it's engine is unmistakable. The concord has no tail wings! The wings have a mix of ailerons and elevators called elevons!

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The Blackbird is a magnificent plane. It's full name is the Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird. It holds some world records including sustained height and speed. It needs both of these to do it's  reconnaissance  missions. The Blackbird fly's so high that the pilots need to wear space suits so that in case of an emergency they would be able to survive. The Blackbird is half the length of the 747 and has a fourth of the wingspan. It's estimated maximum speed is over mach 3.5 or more then 2,500 mph, but it's normal operating speed is about mach 3 or 2,000 mph. When the Blackbird flies at these speeds it expands six inches! It's normal ceiling is 85,000 feet even though it is estimated that it could go to a ceiling of up to 101,500 feet. It can go more then 2,500 miles without  aerial refueling. It's engines are two Pratt & Whitney J58 turbo ramjets each delivering 32,500 lb. static thrust with afterburners. It is estimated that it takes $200,000 dollars to keep one in the air each hour. This truly is an amazing plane ahead of it's time having first flown in 1960. Of the thirty-two SR-71's built only three are flying today.

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The F-16 Fighting Falcon was created and built by Lockheed Martin in 1980. Nicknamed the "Electric Jet" it was originally thought of as a lightweight fighter, but proved itself capable of just about anything. Most likely the best known Falcons are those used in the US Air Force Thunderbirds Team. Even though there are over 4,000 F-16's serving in the US, NATO, Asia, and Latin America. F-16's can launch and shoot down incoming bombers before they can use their weapons. They can use both missiles and bombs to shoot tanks and enemy radar's. Falcons can also use bombs to destroy nuclear installations and power plants. In order to withstand high g maneuvers the seat of the pilot reclines at a thirty degree angle. The main air to air weapon that Falcon's use are AIM-9 Sidewinders, a heat seeking missile that homes in on an enemy's exhaust. An interesting fact about the F-16 is that it's ejection seat works at any speed and altitude. Flying 13,500 combat sorties F-16 pilots flew more than any other aircraft in Operation Desert Storm.

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Through history one of the most important US bombers is the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. It made many day runs against the  Luftwaffe. It is sometimes called the "silver bird." On the first Berlin mission the amount of B-17 crew members killed was the same as the amount of Germans killed by the bombs themselves. From there the ratio went up. Some modified rescue craft carried lifeboats underneath the fuselage. The B-17's Norden Bomb Sight could supposedly "drop a bomb into a pickle barrel"
from 10,000 feet! The B-17 carried 13 .50 caliber machine guns and a 17,600 lb maximum bomb load. Even though the B-17 could only go up to speeds of to 290 mph it can go up to 2,000 miles with a 5,000 lb bomb load.

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The Focke Wulf Fw 190 had a 1,800 horse power B.M.W. 801 radial engine. It was the best Nazi single seat piston engine fighter of World War 2. It lived up to the name it was christened, "Wurger" or "Butcher Bird". It's enemy plane that the Focke Wulf was so often butchering was the Spitfire V. This is the plane that the made the Luftwaffe order the plane to be made (mainly because their Messerschmitts weren't agile enough). At first almost everyone with the RAF thought it was only a rumor until a plane caught footage of it in flight. It was the first plane to have a cockpit canopy that could be ejected. Bullets from Focke Wulfs have bored holes in to many tanks.

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The Heinkel was a German fighter/bomber. It isn't that well known of a plane but it is still pretty cool. It has a maximum speed of 258 mph (415 km/hr) at 16,400 ft (5,000 m). Even though it has a  ceiling of 25,590 ft (7,800 m). It's armament is one 20 mm MG FF. cannon in the ventral gondola, and five 79 mm MG 15 machine guns in the nose. The most used series was the He111-h. They some times carried a glider bomb. A weird looking bomb that I think from the looks of it could be controlled by the plane our having someone drive it because, it has ailerons. The weight of it's war head was 650 lb. (295 kg). The He111-g  introduced the straight tapered wings, instead of the semi elliptical kind used on earlier versions. One He111 even had a balloon cable cutter!

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 Although it made little impact on WW2, the Heinkel He 162 did change the world of airplanes. It was the first jet the world ever saw. It was built out of wood and other non strategic materials. The engineering drawings were finished at the end of October 1944, and less then thirteen weeks later the first flight of the He 162 V1 took place. It could fly 562 mph. The 162 was nicknamed "salamander" and was assigned to many factories. 2,000 were planned to be made by May 1945, and ultimately 4,000 were to be made, but only 800 were made by the end of the war. Some later models combined both jet and rocket propulsion.

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The full name of this plane is the Lear Fan 2100. It is a light business traveler. It's a funny looking plane. It has a vee-tail and an under fin! The two engines on the side of the craft power a single propeller in the back of the Lear Fan. It can hold 7-9 passengers, is 40 ft. 7 in. (12.37 m), and has a wing span of 39 ft. 4 in. (11.99 m). The Lear Fan has a cruise speed of 322-418 mph (519-673 km/h).

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During WW2 probably the most ingenious combat German fighter was the Messerschmitt 163. Yet it achieved little success during the short time it was in active service, and the number of planes was too small to effect the outcome of the war. Too often the Me 163 landed on it's fuselage skid and it's highly flammable fuel would explode, making it look like a comet. But it could only fly for 7 1/2 minutes before gliding back down to the ground.

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The jet fighter Me 262 design started around a year before the start of WW2. It was six years before it entered service in the Luftwaffe, due to delays because of non satisfactory engines, allied air attacks, trouble in the development program, and because Hitler wouldn't accept advice as to which role the plane would play. The were many problems in the development program including engine fires and failures, landing gear collapses, guns jamming, and in flight breakups. The planes were developed in June 1944, but by the end of the year only forty percent of the planned amount were made. A lot of Me 262's were destroyed by allied Mustang, Spitfire, Tempest, and Thunderbolt piston engine fighters.

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Created by McDonnell Douglas the F-4 Began life as a US Navy fleet air defense fighter. It is armed with four AIM-7 Sparrow radar missiles and four AIM-9 Sidewinder infrared missiles. A maximum of 3,000 lb. of bombs under the fuselage and 16,000 lb. under the wings. It's maximum speed is Mach 2.2 or 1,500 mph. Test proved that pilots were more anxious to land on the air craft carrier then about fighting MiGs. The ends of the wings are tilted, helping their flight and giving it a very cool look. In the early stages of Vietnam there was 1 MiG lost for every one F-4 lost, but at the beginning of the "Top Gun" training the kill ratio went to seven MiGs were lost for everyone F-4.

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The Us Army Air Corps issued a specification in February 1937 for a long range fighter capable of speeds of 360 mph at 20,000 feet and endurance of that speed for one hour. A company that had never created a true military design, Lockheed, created a revolutionary new fighter with a lot of innovations. The P-38 was a remarkable plane. Except for the ones given to the British, they were disappointing but later were brought up to standard.
 

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In 1940, Alexander Kartvel was the chief designer for republic. His designs were replaced by sketches for a bigger fighter. This was the only way they could meet the Army Air Corps goals for a new fighter,using the new R-2800 engine. There were ground problems with having the big 4 blade propeller, because they had to lengthen the landing gear so it didn't hit the ground, still allowing the wheels to fold up into the wings and having room for the wing guns. P-47's finally started production in early 1942, two years after designs for the planes were started. They began to escort B-17's and the B-24's in the air. The largest amount of any subtype of any fighter in history is Republic's P-47D, which amounted to 12,602! Earlier versions called "razorbacks" didn't have the bubble canopy.

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