F-16 constantly beats F-35 in dogfights

Made it all worthwhile....

The F-4 wasn't the only multi-service plane, although it enjoyed a very long, and versatile life.

The history of the F-111-A (USAF)/B(USN) was a colossal waste of money. Even with the help of Grumman, General Dynamics couldn't come up with model which the Navy could use. Too long, too heavy, on aircraft carriers with limited space. Another disaster, ala M16, brought to the American taxpayer by Robert McNamara.

The F-111-A was a very good aircraft for the USAF.

I think the bombing of Libya went a long way to redeeming the F-111.
 
This is a great....

This is a great thread, and highly educational with a lot of information that isn't commonly heard.

The TIME during a war makes a world of difference in the quality of pilots. The early Japanese/German pilots in WWII were hellatiously good because of their intensive training but replacements were lacking in the top level of skill. It seems that American pilots were slower to get up to speed, but once they got some experience, found their wings and did a heck of a job.
 
Missile, radar, infrared and other technologies are far advanced from the days of the Phantom. What always got me was having long range missiles but a directive to visually identify a target, which put the battle into dogfight territory.

Overall situational awareness is far better on the battlefield these days. 99% of the time the USAF knows where its planes are and those of its allies, that way everything else gets the "it flies, it dies" treatment.
 
I think the bombing of Libya went a long way to redeeming the F-111.


I read the account in a famous magazine by one of the pilots on that mission. It was fascinating.

Just the diplomatic aspects of getting permission to launch from the UK and overfly other nations was an achievement.

Libya also lost two MiG's to Navy fighters, I think F-14's. Believe the Mig's were 23's. Anyone recall that?
 
Libya also lost two MiG's to Navy fighters, I think F-14's. Believe the Mig's were 23's. Anyone recall that?

Yep, I remember that, the second of the Gulf of Sirte engagements. The first was in 1981 when the Navy splashed two Su-22s. The second was 1989 when two Floggers (MiG-23s) got fingered.
 
I read the account in a famous magazine by one of the pilots on that mission. It was fascinating.

Just the diplomatic aspects of getting permission to launch from the UK and overfly other nations was an achievement.

Libya also lost two MiG's to Navy fighters, I think F-14's. Believe the Mig's were 23's. Anyone recall that?

Libya did lose to Navy F-14's, twice over the Gulf of Sidra. The 1981 incident killed 2 Su-22 FITTERS, and the 1989 incident killed 2 MiG-23 FLOGGERS.
 
Since the thread drift topic of Tomcats came up, I thought I'd post a couple of my photos:
tomcat_1_zps4c9f54b9.jpg

airtoair4_zpsa0233c5d.jpg

tomcatsoriginal_zpsa3370159.jpg

TomcatSilhouette_zpsec32007d.jpg
 
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