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What an Airplane!!!

Gt-401

Active Member
It was too nice a day not to go flying this afternoon, so decided to do a little aviation Tri-athalon. First I emptied out the Rocket for a little acro session. I started with aileron rolls, moved on to spins left and right, and finished up with a couple loops and a half cuban 8.

Next I came back to the airport for some short field practice. I did some touch and goes, focused on getting down and stopped in less than 1500 ft, out of 6 landings I managed to get 4 of them well short of 1500, but botched the other 2, I crossed the fence with too much speed and rolled through the 1500 mark. The rocket can get in pretty short, but you better do everything just right!

Finally as darkness fell I ran out and did a simulated RNAV GPS approach to cap off the 1.4 hr flight. Very few planes can do all three of these disciplines at all, let alone do them all in one flight!!
 
Well, sorta...

It was too nice a day not to go flying this afternoon, so decided to do a little aviation Tri-athalon. First I emptied out the Rocket for a little acro session. I started with aileron rolls, moved on to spins left and right, and finished up with a couple loops and a half cuban 8.

Next I came back to the airport for some short field practice. I did some touch and goes, focused on getting down and stopped in less than 1500 ft, out of 6 landings I managed to get 4 of them well short of 1500, but botched the other 2, I crossed the fence with too much speed and rolled through the 1500 mark. The rocket can get in pretty short, but you better do everything just right!

Finally as darkness fell I ran out and did a simulated RNAV GPS approach to cap off the 1.4 hr flight. Very few planes can do all three of these disciplines at all, let alone do them all in one flight!!

Well, there is one. You could add, climb at greater than 10K a minute, accelerate to Mach 2, carry 10K of various and sundry high explosive ordnance, support troops in contact in a combat zone, challenge and dispatch enemy Jet Fighters at beyond visual range, and be an absolute hoot to fly...

Of course that would be the F-16. :)

V/R
Smokey
PS: I owned a Rocket as well, it's cool, but...
Happy Thanksgiving...
 
Well, there is one. You could add, climb at greater than 10K a minute, accelerate to Mach 2, carry 10K of various and sundry high explosive ordnance, support troops in contact in a combat zone, challenge and dispatch enemy Jet Fighters at beyond visual range, and be an absolute hoot to fly...

Of course that would be the F-16. :)

V/R
Smokey
PS: I owned a Rocket as well, it's cool, but...
Happy Thanksgiving...

How much do the repairs cost when you land and stop an F-16 in under 1500'?
 
I have been flying different rockets for over twenty years, likely around 2000 hours. When I get tired of flying a rocket I will likely stop flying.
Last week I took off, with a guy in the back, and it was the first cold day of the year, zero C. The airplane was in the air before the throttle was pushed forward and we both started laughing at the same time. You just never get tired of it.
 
De Oppresso Liber...

The F-16 is a great aircraft, but as a former Green Beret, I’d much rather look up and see an A-10!

Mike,
First, THANKS for your service.
Yes, the F16 is the Swiss Army Knife of Fighters, we do alot of things pretty well, the Hog (A-10) does one thing really well, CAS! (Close Air Support) One advantage we have in the battlefield is speed, we can get to a fight pretty quick, and in a few cases it made the difference between life and, death.
I had the privilege of supporting you guys (ODA's) on several occasions, always calm cool and collected, right in the thick of the action. Most people have no idea of the scope and difficulty of what Green Berets do all over the world.

Liberate the oppressed...
Much appreciated.:)
V/R
Smokey

PS: Apologies to Glenn for further hijacking his Rocket thread...
 
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