Comments on: Flightdeck Friday: TFX – A Time for Turkeys (Part III) http://steeljawscribe.com/2007/12/16/flightdeck-friday-tfx-a-time-for-turkeys-part-iii Notes and commentary on things present, reflections on a career in naval aviation and serendipitous items as strike me at the moment... Sun, 21 Mar 2010 13:01:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Steeljawscribe http://steeljawscribe.com/2007/12/16/flightdeck-friday-tfx-a-time-for-turkeys-part-iii/comment-page-1#comment-2900 Steeljawscribe Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:58:39 +0000 http://steeljawscribe.com/2007/12/16/flightdeck-friday-tfx-a-time-for-turkeys-part-iii/#comment-2900 Tom: Checkout <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XF-108_Rapier" rel="nofollow"> the XF-108 Rapier</a> also by NAA. It was intended to share the same engines with the XB-70. - SJS Tom:
Checkout the XF-108 Rapier also by NAA. It was intended to share the same engines with the XB-70.
- SJS

]]> By: Thomas Barton http://steeljawscribe.com/2007/12/16/flightdeck-friday-tfx-a-time-for-turkeys-part-iii/comment-page-1#comment-2899 Thomas Barton Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:37:35 +0000 http://steeljawscribe.com/2007/12/16/flightdeck-friday-tfx-a-time-for-turkeys-part-iii/#comment-2899 :mrgreen: The MacD entry looks like the design team had a few drinks with the crew from Mikoyan who came up with the MiG-23. Just add canards and twin vertical stabilizers for that Sant Looey flair and voila, the MacD Boys have a bird in the hand. SJS, thanks for all the great illustrations. Also, did anyone in the late 50's to 1970 ever submit a fighter or attack proposal that used the GE J-93 that powered the scorching and ill-fated Valkyrie ? Talk about some straight-line performance potential... Tom Barton SuperCrusaderSuperFan !! :mrgreen: The MacD entry looks like the design team had a few drinks with the crew from Mikoyan who came up with the MiG-23. Just add canards and twin vertical stabilizers for that Sant Looey flair and voila, the MacD Boys have a bird in the hand. SJS, thanks for all the great illustrations. Also, did anyone in the late 50’s to 1970 ever submit a fighter or attack proposal that used the GE J-93 that powered the scorching and ill-fated Valkyrie ? Talk about some straight-line performance potential… Tom Barton SuperCrusaderSuperFan !!

]]> By: JoeC http://steeljawscribe.com/2007/12/16/flightdeck-friday-tfx-a-time-for-turkeys-part-iii/comment-page-1#comment-2886 JoeC Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:41:17 +0000 http://steeljawscribe.com/2007/12/16/flightdeck-friday-tfx-a-time-for-turkeys-part-iii/#comment-2886 The politics behind any weapon systems purchase is fascinating, both from the pure political side and from the military infighting side. Since I was in the F14 deployment era (1972-1978) this kind of history lesson is one I relate to. One curious thing that seems to always be missing from any selection process history is the support requirements. (In my naval afterlife I did support planning for awhile for a computer manufacturer). The behind the scenes effort to keep an airframe where it belongs, in the air, is not what most people want to see or hear....just the people involved I guess. I was in AIMD (comm-nav and VAST) and applied to Grumman when I was discharged (among others) and never heard from them. Too bad, I'd like to have continued to work on what I though looked like a real fighter jet (I still watch TOP GUN from time to time. It still gets my blood pumping. Even though prettier faces in the F22 and F35 have come along, the F14 I thought was a real "man's" plane of that era.) Do you know when a complex weapons system like the F14 is retired to then boneyard if the support systems go with them? Grumman developed one heck of a computerized test set for that beast and I wonder if they were preserved along with the aircraft in storage. Well thanks SJS for making me spend yet another afternoon down nostalgia lane when I should be working...... -Joe The politics behind any weapon systems purchase is fascinating, both from the pure political side and from the military infighting side. Since I was in the F14 deployment era (1972-1978) this kind of history lesson is one I relate to. One curious thing that seems to always be missing from any selection process history is the support requirements. (In my naval afterlife I did support planning for awhile for a computer manufacturer). The behind the scenes effort to keep an airframe where it belongs, in the air, is not what most people want to see or hear….just the people involved I guess.

I was in AIMD (comm-nav and VAST) and applied to Grumman when I was discharged (among others) and never heard from them. Too bad, I’d like to have continued to work on what I though looked like a real fighter jet (I still watch TOP GUN from time to time. It still gets my blood pumping. Even though prettier faces in the F22 and F35 have come along, the F14 I thought was a real “man’s” plane of that era.)

Do you know when a complex weapons system like the F14 is retired to then boneyard if the support systems go with them? Grumman developed one heck of a computerized test set for that beast and I wonder if they were preserved along with the aircraft in storage.

Well thanks SJS for making me spend yet another afternoon down nostalgia lane when I should be working……

-Joe

]]> By: Mike http://steeljawscribe.com/2007/12/16/flightdeck-friday-tfx-a-time-for-turkeys-part-iii/comment-page-1#comment-1262 Mike Thu, 20 Dec 2007 06:54:30 +0000 http://steeljawscribe.com/2007/12/16/flightdeck-friday-tfx-a-time-for-turkeys-part-iii/#comment-1262 Maybe I'm just an airplane nut, but I find it interesting when you can see family (or not so family) resemblances between different designs...just look at the above proposals. I see some of the A-5s lines in the LTV one, while the North American Rockwell looks a bit like an F-16. General Dynamics' looks an awful lot like a F4D, especially the front end. Of course, the McDonnell Douglas job looks like an F-15. Granted, only one of those resembles an airplane that was built by the same manufacturer, but I still found it interesting. Maybe I’m just an airplane nut, but I find it interesting when you can see family (or not so family) resemblances between different designs…just look at the above proposals. I see some of the A-5s lines in the LTV one, while the North American Rockwell looks a bit like an F-16. General Dynamics’ looks an awful lot like a F4D, especially the front end. Of course, the McDonnell Douglas job looks like an F-15.

Granted, only one of those resembles an airplane that was built by the same manufacturer, but I still found it interesting.

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