JimNtexas
Pattern Altitude
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2006
- Messages
- 2,259
- Location
- Austin, Texas
- Display Name
Display name:
Jim - In Texas!
I was an electronic warfare officer in the USAF from 74-94. My first assignment was the F-4C and F-4G Wild Weasel. I loved the mission, but gezz, it was hard physical labor back in the 'pit'. I later got into the EF-111, which was much more of a gentleman's work environment.
The contrast between the two airplanes was interesting. The F-4 airplane was about as simple as a NASCAR racer. Lot's of power, very manual, very unsophisticated. Double Ugly was just a war machine, nothing really sophisticated about it. Absolutely no concessions to ergonomics or creature comforts. Not even an air conditioner!
The electronic suite I had in the back of the F-4G was right out of Star Wars. It was decades ahead of its time in its ability to hunt down and destroy radars. I have to wonder if we have anything that capable even today.
The EF-111 was kind of opposite. The F-111 airplane was both wonderfully comfortable and was super sophisticated and complex. It had tremendous power, the kind of smooth effortless power you'd get with a top of the line BMW or Mercedes.
In the F-4 we flew fairly short missions, but it was either zero or six g's all the time, we never flew straight and level. We flew very long missions in the EF-111, and most of them were low and fast. Pulling a lot of G's wasn't our thing.
The ALQ-99 jammer was more like the F-4. It was a very simple system with rudimentary automation, but capable of huge power output, far more power than could be provided by our cousins in the Prowlers( Let's face it, an airplane with the pointy end facing backwards and four propellers isn't going to be very powerful!
).
I had an assignment that had me riding some missions in the EC-130 occasionally. I came away with two impressions:
1) A guy who can speak multiple languages should be at least a warrant officer.
2) The cockpit of a C-130 can be a very crowded place with a lot of people talking all the time.
The assignment most relevant to this board was a staff job I had where I was heavily involved in creation of a fleet of special mission EW Learjets. These jets had digitial jammers that were at least ten years ahead of anything the Air Force had at the time. I even got to log a little bit of official EWO-LR35 time in them!
They are still in use today.
The contrast between the two airplanes was interesting. The F-4 airplane was about as simple as a NASCAR racer. Lot's of power, very manual, very unsophisticated. Double Ugly was just a war machine, nothing really sophisticated about it. Absolutely no concessions to ergonomics or creature comforts. Not even an air conditioner!
The electronic suite I had in the back of the F-4G was right out of Star Wars. It was decades ahead of its time in its ability to hunt down and destroy radars. I have to wonder if we have anything that capable even today.
The EF-111 was kind of opposite. The F-111 airplane was both wonderfully comfortable and was super sophisticated and complex. It had tremendous power, the kind of smooth effortless power you'd get with a top of the line BMW or Mercedes.
In the F-4 we flew fairly short missions, but it was either zero or six g's all the time, we never flew straight and level. We flew very long missions in the EF-111, and most of them were low and fast. Pulling a lot of G's wasn't our thing.
The ALQ-99 jammer was more like the F-4. It was a very simple system with rudimentary automation, but capable of huge power output, far more power than could be provided by our cousins in the Prowlers( Let's face it, an airplane with the pointy end facing backwards and four propellers isn't going to be very powerful!
). I had an assignment that had me riding some missions in the EC-130 occasionally. I came away with two impressions:
1) A guy who can speak multiple languages should be at least a warrant officer.
2) The cockpit of a C-130 can be a very crowded place with a lot of people talking all the time.
The assignment most relevant to this board was a staff job I had where I was heavily involved in creation of a fleet of special mission EW Learjets. These jets had digitial jammers that were at least ten years ahead of anything the Air Force had at the time. I even got to log a little bit of official EWO-LR35 time in them!
They are still in use today.
