Questions tagged [fighter]
A fighter is an aircraft designed primarily for aerial combat.
3
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1answer
52 views
Does the P&W F100 turbofan engine of the F-16 really produce this much power?
I've been trying to calculate the power a P&W F100 engine on a F-16 is producing using some of the available data on thrust and velocity and I ended up with a number that I want to confirm. Here's ...
-1
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1answer
94 views
If the Meteor BVRAAM is the best AAM, and the APG-81 is the best radar for detecting aircraft, then why don't all fighter aircraft simply use these? [on hold]
Why are some missiles incompatible with some aircraft?
If fighter A has better radar and missiles than fighter B, then why isn't it possible to simply integrate the better radar and missiles into ...
2
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1answer
256 views
How fast do the F-35 weapons bay doors open/close during combat ops?
(YouTube)
I came across the following Norwegian F-35 video launching a live missile from its right bay door. Of course, opening the door and launching the missile drastically increases RCS, but it ...
20
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4answers
8k views
Why are special aircraft used for the carriers in the United States Navy?
Why are aircraft such as the legacy F-14 and now the F/A-18 used by the US Navy carriers?
It seems to me that developing a new aircraft from the ground up is very expensive. Is it not possible to ...
2
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1answer
956 views
Which military aircraft does this seem to be? [F-16 vs MiG-21]
Can someone identify the aircraft based on the components, riveting style, or other technical details visible in these crash pictures?
a) Based on publicly available details, the chief suspects are ...
3
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1answer
106 views
Do fly-by-wire fighter aircraft automatically reverse the direction of control surface deflections during a tailslide?
During a tailslide (a flight regime where the relative airflow over the aircraft is from the tail towards the nose; i.e., an attack angle between 90º and 270º; i.e., the airplane is moving tail-first),...
1
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1answer
217 views
Since when had fighter jet designer stopped caring about Whitcomb's Area Rule?
According to this source, designers of military fighter jets seemed to have stopped centering their design on Whitcomb's Area Rule for quite a while. Yet even the twin series fighters struggle to ...
2
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1answer
218 views
What phraseology does ATC use with jet fighter pilots? [closed]
What do they usually say or ask when the fighter pilot wants to take off, when it's in the air, and what is the reply from the fighter pilot?
2
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3answers
327 views
Are modern fighter jets bulletproof and armored?
Are modern fighter jets bulletproof and armored? One would not be wrong given part of their operations is being on the receiving end of enemy ammunition shooting at them.
4
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1answer
197 views
Why is the detcord on canopies wavy?
We know that the wavy lines on the canopy are detcord, to shatter the glass in case of ejection.
Why are they wavy?
2
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1answer
162 views
Why is YF22 designed with conventional rudders while YF23 with all-moving rudders?
Are all-moving rudders more stealthy? If so, how come YF22 which is just as fixated with rear body stealthiness as the YF23 comes with conventional ones?
Also, all-moving rudders have fixed camber, ...
11
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3answers
474 views
Do fighter jets have deicing in their wings?
If there is such thing as deicing for fighters? If so, is bleed air or electric heating preferred? I could not imagine that a $50MLN fighter jet would not be able to get the ice off its wings.
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1answer
651 views
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382 views
Can a bird strike destroy the stealth capability of F-35?
There is a video according to which a F-35 aircraft has been struck by a bird in Israel. This, allegedly, disabled its stealth capability.
More than a year earlier, two storks allegedly damaged ...
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4answers
223 views
Aviation theory for fighter pilots
Background:
I'm an 18-year-old Finn and so I'll be starting my military service next summer. I'm currently applying to the Air Force to become a fighter pilot, but I don't have any previous training ...
-6
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1answer
167 views
How was this flight authorized?
In this clip, we see a fighter performing risky manoeuvres at very low altitude around a densely populated civilian area.
What authorization would have been required for this and why would it be ...
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2answers
352 views
Was any MiG-29 modernized to incorporate digital systems?
Did any air force using the MiG-29 ever modernize their aircraft so that they can fly on fully digital equipment such as the following?
Digital HUD
Digital fly-by-wire
Digital navigation system
...
5
votes
3answers
408 views
What is the vocabulary used by fighter pilots used to communicate?
As far as I understand, fighter pilots or more general military aircrews will use a dedicated phraseology to communicate with each other, which is different to communicating to ATC.
Is this ...
2
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1answer
151 views
What is the late BF109's (G models) internal fuel capacity?
What is the late BF109's (G models) internal fuel capacity? I've been trying to google the answer for a few hours with no luck, perhaps someone here has the right source
2
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1answer
352 views
What kind of jet fighter is this?
I visisited Tirana, Albania the first week in August. Outside a shopping mall called "TEG" there was an old jet fighter on display. I can't recognise what make and model this is. Can anybody here help ...
1
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1answer
206 views
On modern fighter aircraft, why do most carry a rotary cannon when they tend to have little use against aircraft? [duplicate]
I understand that in multirole or strike aircraft the cannon has a CAS use, but on a purely fighter aircraft, does the benefit of a fallback weapon outweigh the handicap of added weight?
3
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4answers
736 views
What drives the shape of an engine's intake on a fighter jet?
Rectangular intakes have more corners which might increase subsonic pressure losses and would weigh larger than a pitot (Semi-circular) type intake. Are the designer drivers solely based on supersonic ...
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3answers
3k views
Why does Martin-Baker use a Gloster Meteor as a testbed for ejection seats?
Martin-Baker uses a Gloster Meteor for testing ejection seats, according to their website.
While it's a stylish plane, and a true delight that there are still airworthy fuselages of this plane left, ...
2
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3answers
656 views
Why was Energy Maneuverability theory not applied to the F-14?
In John Boyd's (declassified) 1966 Energy Maneuverability [PDF] report, studies were done on the F-4 and on the MiG-21 and those studies were applied to the F-15, F-16 and F-18. My questions:
Why ...
2
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2answers
579 views
Can current fighter jets perform a deadstick landing?
If a current modern day fighter were to have a total engine failure over a suitable landing site or airport, can the pilot safely perform a dead stick landing? If so, are they routinely given training ...
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0answers
107 views
Why double delta wing is used over delta wing? [duplicate]
I was thinking about delta wing then I saw the picture of double delta wing and thinking about its significance over delta wing.
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3answers
628 views
What is the difference in VTOL technology between British Aerospace Harrier II and F-35B?
F-35B safer and looks more stable in terms of VTOL capability.
What is the basic difference between Harrier II and F-35B's VTOL technology?
8
votes
1answer
346 views
What additional functionality is provided by the F-14 nose pitot, absent in early models?
Early model F-14A had no nose pitot:
... but they seem to have quickly acquired them sometime in the late 1970s. The Iranian F-14s have them, and it's quite hard to find a picture of an F-14 without ...
14
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4answers
848 views
Why don't single-engine jets suffer severe gyroscopic effects?
I was reading up on World War I fighter aircraft, and saw that rotary piston engines, which powered many of those planes, produced extreme gyroscopic effects due to the large, heavy chunk of metal ...
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1answer
215 views
Is making faster military fighters even practical?
I was curious after reading a book on Cold War plane development about the Soviet ideology of making increasingly powerful jets that could break Mach 3 and so on. With the advent of BVRAAM's such as ...
2
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1answer
245 views
Reason for limited engine fuselage on Sukhoi fighter aircraft? [closed]
To my amateur eye, there appears to be limited fuselage on the engines for Sukhoi fighters from Su-27 on. That is, the fuselage follows the curvature of the engines closely and there is a definite ...
11
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3answers
2k views
How do solo fighter pilots sleep?
Tonight I watched Nova's "The Impossible Flight", a documentary film about the around the world Solar Impulse project where a solo pilot set the world's record for a 5 day non-stop flight from Japan ...
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4answers
1k views
Do fighter jets have an auxiliary power unit?
Do fighter jets have an auxiliary power unit? If they don't, then how does the propulsion/ignition process start in the engine?
21
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2answers
4k views
Why are only some aircraft in this formation creating contrails?
The Republic Day celebrations at New Delhi, India had a series of flypasts by the Indian Air Force.
What struck me the most was that in a formation with a C-17 in middle and two Su-30MKI flanking it, ...
3
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1answer
344 views
How are modern fighters cleaned? [closed]
I found this photo of a fighter jet being cleaned, how does this process work?
(usatoday.com)
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3answers
1k views
Do fighter jets use elevators as ailerons?
I saw jets in game using elevators to roll right and left, but I never saw them doing in real life. I was wondering if fighter jets actually use elevator to roll like they do in game.
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5answers
709 views
What is the lightest weight operational jet/turboprop fighter ever deployed in combat?
Since the beginning of WWII there was been a trend towards larger fighter aircraft. In about 1960 the United States continued with larger fighters (F4, F100, F111, F15) but also started a branch of ...
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1answer
973 views
Can civilians who buy ex-military fighter jets get the necessary maintenance information for them?
I was looking for fighter jets which are available to be bought by private citizens. I was wondering: how would you schedule the maintenance, as most of the jets are ex-military and there are no ...
15
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3answers
2k views
What fighters have both 1 & 2 engine versions?
Northrop originally built the F-5 "Freedom Fighter" (and T-38 "Talon") with two engines. Later it was re-fitted with a single F404 engine from the F/A-18, re-designating it the F-20 "Tigershark" to ...
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4answers
1k views
How did ww1 pilots handle G-forces?
The wikipedia page on G-forces, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-force, lists that WW1 aircraft encountered 4.5-7g during dogfights.
This made me wonder, how did pilots in the early days of aviation ...
8
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2answers
2k views
What is this feature on a Sukhoi Su-27? [duplicate]
Most but not all Russian Su-27's (and variants like the Su-30, -32, -33) have a device that looks like a headlight in front of the cockpit. What is it?
5
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3answers
641 views
How is the centre of lift and centre of gravity misalignment problem solved in Delta wing aircraft?
Since Delta winged aircraft don't have horizontal stabilizers to produce down force, how is that problem solved ?
6
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1answer
224 views
How is that there is no leak through the fuel vents during aerobatics maneuvers?
Can anyone tell me how aircraft such as jet fighters and stunt planes design the fuel tank vent system to prevent fuel leaking through the vents when performing aerobatics, 360 flips and complex ...
3
votes
1answer
540 views
Does the F-4E Phantom II have a weather radar?
Here's the cockpit of the F-4E:
The Main Panel NO7 says "Radar Scope" and when you put your mouse cursor on that "magician globe", the X-Plane 8.15 tooltip says "Weather Radar". So, what is that ...
5
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6answers
466 views
Why mount multiple autocannons on a fighter or CAS aircraft as opposed to a revolving barrel auto-cannon with a higher rate of fire?
Why would one design an aircraft with multiple chain guns instead of a single large rotary cannon, like the GAU-8 Avenger, and similar weapons?
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2answers
910 views
Do F-4 Phantom II pilots actually fold the wings?
In flight simulator X-Plane 8.15, the F-4 Phantom 2 can fold the tip of its wings (well, variable sweep). Is that useful? Why would a pilot fold the wing? To reduce lift for short landing?
29
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1answer
8k views
What is this “No Hand Hold” thing in the P-51 Mustang cockpit?
Does Anybody remember Combat Flight Simulator WW2 Europe Series ?
In the P-51, there is a "something" with "No hand hold" text on top of it
What is that ?
Image source
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1answer
654 views
Can a F-35 shoot while hovering?
I know fictional aircraft are different than real ones but there is an F38 on Black Ops 2 (F35 based plane in 2025)
http://callofduty.wikia.com/wiki/FA38
It appears in a mission like this
...
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2answers
346 views
Where was the J-20 design stolen from? [closed]
Lets clear the Question Detalis
Once upon a time, I heard something like "China hacked X country and stole aircraft designs" and rest of the news were about an newer Chinese jet
Now, It looks somewhat ...
4
votes
1answer
4k views
What is the 0-60mph time of an aircraft carrier catapult?
Tesla's new Roadster is giving a 0-60mph time of 1.9 seconds. Truly ludicrous acceleration.
I was wondering how a fighter jet released from a steam catapult compares.
