F-18 ride anyone? Check this out

CTdave · Post by **CTdave** » Dec 8th, '06, 14:56

Well it's not really boat related but they do fly off a really BIG boat. Go onboard for a F-18 jet ride
http://raf.union.rpi.edu/downloads/f18_ride.wmv

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Dec 8th, '06, 21:24

Dave..

Great clip! Thanks! My son-in-law flew F-18s for about 8 years before the Clinton administration screwed everybody over in the military. Now he flies MD-11s for FedEx. I have some personal video tapes he and some of his friends took from their cockpits when his squadron did "no fly zone" patrols over Iraq, and later when he flew over Bosnia before the cease fire was declared.

I had the priviledge of doing a 3 day "Tiger Cruise" with his squadron on the "America" several years ago.. stood on the 5th level of the island and watched takeoffs and traps, and was able to climb onto the wing of his plane and look inside. Awesome! Any ship with 6 acres of deck and a 1,000+ feet length is a city by itself, with 5,500 on board. The mess served 15,000 meals a day.

Also was able on a couple of occasions to walk onto the flight line at Cecil Field in FL.. saw probably 30+ F-18s lined up side by side.. at $40 million each. Tax money well spent!

CTdave · Post by **CTdave** » Dec 9th, '06, 10:58

Wow! The "tiger cruise" must have been awsome! My son (almost 5yrs old) goes nuts for aircraft. We go to as many air shows as possible. I took him to his first visit to Kennedy Space Ctr last year & on the way home he said to my wife "mom, I want to be an astronaut when I grow up but first, I have to fly jet fighters".
Perhaps I'll get to go on a tiger cruise one day.
Dave

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Dec 9th, '06, 15:23

Dave...

The guests on the Tiger Cruise I went on were chosen by lottery from the ship's company, I and my son-in-law's father were fortunate to have been chosen. My understanding now is that since Sept 11 the Navy no longer does these cruises, but hopefully they will start again if we ever have a peaceful world, which I am not optimistic about, at least not in my lifetime.

If your son is serious about becoming a pilot, the first thing he will need is a college degree, and it doesn't hurt to have been an Eagle Scout as well as an all around good kid in high school. Becoming a military pilot is not easy, and dangerous as well. My son-in-law has lost about 6 classmates/room mate friends since they all graduated from flight school. He was an instructor for 6 years teaching new pilots how to land F-18s on carriers, not a job for the faint of heart. I have been in F-18 simulators several times, and after half an hour I was sweating and frustrated. I saw him do an air show once, and would give anything for a back seat ride with him pulling the stick back and going from 50 feet to a couple of thousand feet straight vertical.. in about one minute!

Things are slower on the water.

Capt. DQ · Post by **Capt. DQ** » Dec 10th, '06, 11:17

Dave,

Did you get the PM I send you?

R,
DQ

randall · Post by **randall** » Dec 10th, '06, 12:51

been re reading a book about my fathers group in WW2...the 394 "bridge busters"...B26 marauders....after the first test flight they painted big silver handles on the side of the fuselage and dubbed it the "flying coffin".. technology has changed a bit...these planes were completely bare bones only the basics.....not even cabin heaters....and the men who flew them sure didnt have to be college grads..........of course i hear no pilot can fly a stealth if the computer crashes.....so maybe things havent changed that much...best of luck to your son dave

In Memory Walter K · Post by **In Memory Walter K** » Dec 10th, '06, 14:04

Randall-Sounds similar to the Long Island story about Grumman's fighters. The WWII Wildcat, which was the first carrier figters to take on the Japanese Zeros were like that and got chopped up pretty badly. Grumman came back with the Hellcat that had 1" armor plating, self sealing fuel tanks and 1000 hp engines. The planes looked pretty much alike so the Japanese fought them the same way they did the Wildcats and got very surprised. The program said that Grumman was putting out about 20 a day! No outsourcing there! Walter

Hogula · Post by **Hogula** » Dec 10th, '06, 18:32

I'm a Navy pilot and we still do tiger cruises since 9/11. We did a great on on my last cruise on Abraham Lincoln. West coast tiger cruises are a lot of fun because they go from Hawaii to San Diego when the ship is on the way home. Also, in the middle of the ocean, there are no restrictions on going supersonic during the family air show so we can really let 'em rip, and we do.

CTdave · Post by **CTdave** » Dec 10th, '06, 19:53

Capt. DQ wrote:Dave,

Did you get the PM I send you?

R,
DQ

I didn't but now I have! I'll get them off to you sometime this week.
Dave

Dug · Post by **Dug** » Dec 11th, '06, 09:11

That does look amazing...

Wow.

Dug

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Dec 11th, '06, 09:21

Hogula...

What plane do you fly? My son-in-law still has a lot of friends on both coasts in the F-18 community. Our Tiger Cruise was on the "America" after workups in the Atlantic, and happened after Fleet Week in NYC, and we went back to Norfolk in three days.. CA to Hawaii would be awesome! They did one supersonic flyby with an F-14 for us.. the boom seemed to actually move the carrier sideways! I don't think the general public has any idea of what our present day Navy is all about, at least I didn't until I saw launches and traps.. anything that can launch a pickup truck 2 1/2 miles has my respect.

As I always said to my son-in-law.. Fly safe and watch your six!

Hogula · Post by **Hogula** » Dec 13th, '06, 15:26

IRguy, I fly the mighty E-2C Hawkeye. It's the one with a big frisbee shaped radar on top. It's not supersonic but it is fast and fun to fly.

bertram31.com

F-18 ride anyone? Check this out

F-18 ride anyone? Check this out

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