Super Hornets for the Blues

I thought they didn't want the super hornet because of the extra weight?
 
Velocity173 said:
Sounds like next year might be the last year for the legacy Hornet.
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The funds are for design and development of an engineering change *proposal*, not manufacturing and not a rework-ready airframe or avionics change. Fielding a show-ready E and an E-ready show from essentially scratch will take a bit longer than ~1.5 years. Seems like an appropriate change and the right time for it all the same.

Nauga,
who was there the last time.
 
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nauga said:
The funds are for design and development of an engineering change *proposal*, not manufacturing and not a rework-ready airframe or avionics change. Fielding a show-ready E and an E-ready show from essentially scratch will take a bit longer than ~1.5 years. Seems like an appropriate change and the right time for it all the same.

Nauga,
who was there the last time.
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How much of an engineering change is there be between a C and E Hornet?
 
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Velocity173 said:
How much of an engineering change can there be between a C and E Hornet?
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The ECP and airframe changes from A to Blues-A involved the fuel system and (later) the longitudinal preload spring that came about while testing the proposed routine. Developing and validating the routine with these changes incorporated adds even more time. Two airplanes and one pilot were lost during transition to the A (one at Pax and one assigned to the Blues at El Centro IIRC) and there is still some corporate memory so I'm sure it will be conservative.

Nauga,
who didn't realize he was that old.
 
nauga said:
The ECP and airframe changes from A to Blues-A involved the fuel system and (later) the longitudinal preload spring that came about while testing the proposed routine. Developing and validating the routine with these changes incorporated adds even more time. Two airplanes and one pilot were lost during transition to the A (one at Pax and one assigned to the Blues at El Centro IIRC) and there is still some corporate memory so I'm sure it will be conservative.

Nauga,
who didn't realize he was that old.
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Yes, changes from the A to a Blues A. My question is, would there be any real differences converting an E vs an A from an engineering standpoint?
 
Different airframe, different engines, different avionics and software so I'd say yes. Call it informed speculation. Apparently the contracts folks though it was with ~$12M of design and development by you know how that goes...:)

Nauga,
very much an outsider now.
 
12 million to Boeing buys what? 1 week of an engineer's time? (I'm only laughing a little bit...)
 
Clark1961 said:
12 million to Boeing buys what? 1 week of an engineer's time? (I'm only laughing a little bit...)
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And only 120 days to produce a Mustang.

Stick a spring on the stick, remove the gun and replace with smoke. Update the W&B. Done.:D
 
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Velocity173 said:
Stick a spring on the stick, remove the gun and replace with smoke. Update the W&B. Done.:D
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"Look, all we're gonna do is put a hook on a Hawk. What's so hard about that?" o_O

Nauga,
and his shivering, shaking, sweating and twitching flashback
 
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nauga said:
"Look, all we're gonna do is put a hook on a Hawk. What's so hard about that?" o_O

Nauga,
and his shivering, shaking, sweating and twitching flashback
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I don't get the reference...
 
Clark1961 said:
12 million to Boeing buys what? 1 week of an engineer's time?
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I hear some of the younger guys would work for as little as $10M a week but we tried to tell them they're demeaning the profession and disrespectful to those of us who struggled to get where we are today. :rolleyes:

Nauga,
with pickle jars all over his yard.
 
vkhosid said:
I don't get the reference...
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He's referring to the T-45. There's far more than putting a hook on it to make a naval aircraft. Gotta beef up the landing gear as well. :D
 
nauga said:
I hear some of the younger guys would work for as little as $10M a week but we tried to tell them they're demeaning the profession and disrespectful to those of us who struggled to get where we are today. :rolleyes:

Nauga,
with pickle jars all over his yard.
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It's not what guys charge, it's what Boeing charges...
 
Does anyone know if the preload spring is always "engaged"? Or can they disengage it for transiting between airshows?
 
nauga said:
I hear some of the younger guys would work for as little as $10M a week but we tried to tell them they're demeaning the profession and disrespectful to those of us who struggled to get where we are today. :rolleyes:

Nauga,
with pickle jars all over his yard.
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If that’s all you’re going to pay your folks, I’m going to have an easy time recruiting them for Lockheed.
 
Perfecting the demo in El Centro. Surprised how much they vent thru the vertical stabs.

 
Velocity173 said:
Perfecting the demo in El Centro. Surprised how much they vent thru the vertical stabs.
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Yeah I'm curious about how much fuel they loose through the vents/dumps? I wonder if there is a solution or that's just the way it is.

Noticed too they seem to have some issues with the smoke systems. During several of the form passes one or more aircraft's smoke starts and stops randomly.

On #5's takeoff it was amazing to see how much the horizontal stabilators bounce around. #6 must have aborted and switched to #7 to rejoin.

Hard to tell ina video, but I've heard the Super Bug is much loader than the Legacy Hornets. Can't wait to find out in person.
 
midwestpa24 said:
Yeah I'm curious about how much fuel they loose through the vents/dumps? I wonder if there is a solution or that's just the way it is.

Noticed too they seem to have some issues with the smoke systems. During several of the form passes one or more aircraft's smoke starts and stops randomly.

On #5's takeoff it was amazing to see how much the horizontal stabilators bounce around. #6 must have aborted and switched to #7 to rejoin.

Hard to tell ina video, but I've heard the Super Bug is much loader than the Legacy Hornets. Can't wait to find out in person.
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Yeah it’s strange that they vent so much fuel. Legacy Hornets never vented that much. I know they modified their fuel system with inverted pumps just like they did with their Legacy Hornets. Apparently there’s a 10 sec inverted limit without those pumps.

Also looking forward to see them this season. Looks essentially like the old show with little changes. I noticed they do a crossing pitch rate demo that’s far more aggressive than what they previously did.
 
There is nothing impressive as 5 vigilantes breaking the sound barrier abreast the ship at flight deck level. Every one in the ship felt it.
 
The rhino the blues fly is modified (as well as their former legacies). But off the top of my head at midnight after a couple beers, 10 seconds is correct for a fleet standard F/A-18 of any flavor. Slightly on topic, I recently took a look at Blue Angel model addendum to the E/F/G NATOPS manual. It is pretty interesting to see the differences. Of note, there really is a section (I suppose devoted to #7) that is titled "aft seat GoPro mount" or something to that effect. It also covers the flight clearance and special procedures for a flaps AUTO takeoff (you would never do that in a normal A-G) as well as the unique performance numbers for that stunt and many others.
 
35 AoA said:
The rhino the blues fly is modified (as well as their former legacies). But off the top of my head at midnight after a couple beers, 10 seconds is correct for a fleet standard F/A-18 of any flavor. Slightly on topic, I recently took a look at Blue Angel model addendum to the E/F/G NATOPS manual. It is pretty interesting to see the differences. Of note, there really is a section (I suppose devoted to #7) that is titled "aft seat GoPro mount" or something to that effect. It also covers the flight clearance and special procedures for a flaps AUTO takeoff (you would never do that in a normal A-G) as well as the unique performance numbers for that stunt and many others.
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I noticed 5 is the only one that takes off with flaps and slats up. Does he have to manually select that or is it AUTO?
 
Velocity173 said:
I noticed 5 is the only one that takes off with flaps and slats up. Does he have to manually select that or is it AUTO?
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The Legacy Hornets flap selector is a three position switch AUTO/HALF/FULL. I assume that didn't change.
 
midwestpa24 said:
The Legacy Hornets flap selector is a three position switch AUTO/HALF/FULL. I assume that didn't change.
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Yep, same in both planes. AUTO roughly equates to "UP" in most planes, though the FCS will automatically schedule the LEF/TEFs (leading/trailing edge flaps) down as needed depending on G/AoA/airspeed/etc in this flap switch setting. It also invokes different FCS gains in AUTO than it does in HALF/FULL.
 
Velocity173 said:
I noticed 5 is the only one that takes off with flaps and slats up. Does he have to manually select that or is it AUTO?
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correct, in AUTO setting with weight on wheels, LEF/TEFs would be 0/0 degrees. No way to modify the HALF/FULL deflections manually, at least not without flight test jumpers/flight test software options enabled.
 
I spray all around that valley where El Centro is located. Mostly fly at night but when we are out during the day we regularly get to watch the guys practice. It’s neat because of how it is.
 
I eagerly await the Blue's nextgen demonstration team comprised of all drones.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
I spray all around that valley where El Centro is located. Mostly fly at night but when we are out during the day we regularly get to watch the guys practice. It’s neat because of how it is.
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Yep, was a regular occurrence in Imperial Valley when I was a kid. Just 50 yards from my house we had a lettuce field that had crop dusters spraying all the time. My brother and I actually hid in the field while a crop duster was spraying overhead. I remember the chemical being sticky. Not the smartest thing to do but we were just dumb kids in those days.
 
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