I was curious to know what a normal (non aeroplane obsessed) person knows about aviation, so I asked the artist and actor Penny Klein. This is directly from her memory with no research, fact-checking or googling.

“I don’t know much about aviation, but I know the word aviation is to do with aeroplanes. I imagine the root of the word is ‘aviate’ or ‘av’, and is something to do with being in the air. I would hazard a guess that to ‘aviate’ is to ‘go in the air’. Planes are best known, of course, for doing exactly that. It can’t be that long since aviation has been going, as a topic, as planes are not that old.

“Land rules don’t apply and the little nuts just don’t soak up all that booze.”

I reckon they were invented as some kind of weapon, and leisurely flying came a lot later. I think it must have taken quite a long time for people to work out how far planes can go up in the air, so they don’t collide with the edge of the o-zone layer. I can’t say with certainty that the discovery of the o-zone layer came before the invention of planes, but I think it probably did. There is bound to have been a plane that went too high. There is also probably a long and documented history of planes that went too low. The thing is, it depends on how many people are on the plane. Small light aircraft can do all sorts of tricks in the sky that you would never see larger planes do. I don’t think anyone would even try, because the size and scale is just all wrong. I get a funny feeling just thinking about it.

Aviation as an industry has probably done a lot over the years to help regulate against anyone taking dangerous risks with aeroplane flying. And of course it is hard to hide aeroplane experiments, because they take place in the sky which is practically impossible to hide from people. I don’t really want to go into it, but aviation research probably has a lot to say about plane crashes. It probably talks about it in quite an unemotional way, because aviation is more of a science. So it would be looking at the scientific and engineering factors involved, things like balance and velocity. I know that planes have wheels on them for when they are on land, and I imagine aviation theory has a lot to say about this. I wonder if the wheels on aeroplanes used to be a lot bigger in the past. Aviation history would be a good place to turn for this kind of information. It would also be a good place to turn if you wanted a comprehensive history of international flight patterns. For instance where were the first flights to and from? Why? Aviation historians must get asked this kind of thing a lot, and I’m sure they are happy to divulge.

We sell fantastic high quality aviation-themed gifts here

The aviation industry has probably been unwittingly involved in its fair share of scandals and court cases, as aeroplane flights are often mixed up in nefarious tabloid worthy affairs. Blowjobs in the toilets, Xanax and champagne, smuggling, bigotry, that kind of thing. It is hard to tell whether a lot of this is just salacious gossip or whether there is something more orchestrated going on. Land rules don’t apply and the little nuts just don’t soak up all that booze, if you know what I mean. For that reason, in the eye of the public, the aviation industry tends to have a bit of a shady side. Perhaps this is reinforced by the idea of aviator sunglasses, which seem to denote something a bit depraved. Certain pop culture references do a lot to back this image up, which makes me wonder if there is some kind of agenda. Whatever is going on, you don’t work in the aviation industry and stay innocent.

That said, I think it is a serious business and shouldn’t be taken lightly. We’re talking huge machines here, that carry a lot of people and also ‘cargo’. Cargo is the stuff that people put in the aeroplanes, down in the bottom bit, and contains all kinds of things. It is down here where you can have aerosols and sharp objects. I would imagine the aviation department of any major airline has some stories to tell about cargo.

Aviation as a subject has probably expanded over the last couple of decades as planes have become more sophisticated, and more people can fly, and as there has been more research into automated flying. I know that planes still have pilots, but for how long? There are probably aviation specialists who are more interested in helicopters, I can’t even imagine what they get up to.

There will undoubtedly be those who are stuck in the past, and only like lecturing about wooden planes, before they had ovens and fridges on them. There are undoubtedly disagreements about fuel type and tail shapes, and let us not forget design. Airline graphics are a big business, and I don’t think for a second that aviationists are on the fence about that Ryan Air logo!
All in all I have a lot of respect for anyone involved in the field, and I’d be interested to learn more about how it works and what it really means to say as a young child to your career advisor: “I’ll do aviation, please.’‘

Thank you! We’ve done it!

I’m extremely excited to announce The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes has reached 100% funding thanks to your support. We can now commence with work on what promises to be an exceptional coffee table book.

You may pre-order the book here.

More updates to follow soon.

“There comes a time for me to recount my last flight at the controls of a military aircraft. A flight of four launched out of NAS Miramar on a beautiful, clear, California Fall morning, October 3, 1968. It was a flight of four F-8H Crusaders belonging to the VF-111 Sundowners, out for an air-to-ground weapons training flight.

The F-8’s cockpit visibility wasn’t the greatest, so you always raised your seat as much as you could. But you didn’t want it so high that you would have trouble grabbing the two yellow-and-black-striped handles above your helmet, the handles that fired your ejection seat.

The last thing I always did before taking the runway was make a reflexive grab for the face curtain handles. That turned out to be a useful exercise.
After a short flight east, over the mountains into the southern California desert, we reached the target, radio call sign ‘Inky Barley.’ Loaded with both 20-mm machine gun ammunition and practice bombs, we set up a race track strafing pattern around the target at 4000 feet, 450 knots.

As the target went past 90 degrees to your left, you’d roll into a 25-degree dive and accelerate to 500 knots as you lined up your gun sight on the target. Since this aircraft lacked a heads-up display, you had to watch the unwinding altimeter out of the corner of your eye. You wanted to be sure you initiated recovery early enough to avoid ‘controlled flight into terrain.’

I didn’t.

When Tom Garrett, the flight leader, called “last pass,” I was determined to ‘fire out’ (to expend all my ammunition). Word was that it was a lot of extra work for the aviation ordnance crews to disarm unexpended munitions. Trying to be helpful, I hosed away at the target with the F-8’s four Colt 20-mm cannon. A phenomenon called target fixation caused me to miss a revolution of the altimeter.

As I pulled four G’s to recover, I looked up and to the left, looking for the aircraft ahead of me in the pattern. I have a vague memory of seeing sage brush, zooming by to my lower left. I felt a slight bump, which was the tail of the aircraft brushing a sand dune. I had hit the ground in a wings-level, slightly nose-up attitude, at 500 knots, about 550 mph. I reflexively grabbed for the face curtain.

I was strapped into a Martin-Baker Mk-F5A ejection seat, the last of the ballistic models. Pulling the face curtain handles fired a charge that set the seat moving up and out of the cockpit on a telescoping tube. As the seat moved up, two successive charges were fired by the hot gasses from the first. Ideally the three successive charges propelled you high enough for separation from the seat and deployment of your main parachute.

My situation wasn’t ideal. For one thing, ground-level was 100 feet too low for the speed of 500 knots. The seat delayed main chute deployment until a small drogue chute had slowed you down enough to avoid damage to the main chute. But a larger problem was that the ejection gun, the telescoping tube, ruptured as the aircraft was disintegrating. I only got one of the three charges; the other two were recovered unexpended from the wreckage.
I didn’t clear the aircraft’s vertical tail. It chopped off my right heel like a guillotine.

My main chute streamed but didn’t fill. On the plus side, it snagged in sagebrush, keeping me from tumbling. I hit the ground feet and butt first. Femurs stayed together but tibias and fibulas broke; remaining ankle bones were shattered. The five-inch-thick seat pan, containing life raft and other supplies, acted as a crush- zone, but I still ended up with a fractured pelvis.
The first thing I remember upon regaining consciousness, face up on my back, was a cool breeze across my face. That wasn’t right, because I should have been wearing a hot, rubber oxygen mask. It had been dislodged somewhere along the way. Then I heard the sound of another aircraft, orbiting overhead. That reminded me I had been flying my own aircraft a moment ago.

I was in shock. I felt no pain. I tried to sit up, but the broken pelvis and legs, as well as the parachute harness, made that problematic. I raised my arms and notice that my left forefinger had been dislocated. Well, I didn’t particularly want to see that.
I had no sensation of time passing. Next thing I knew, one of the target crew appeared in my field of view. I asked him if I still had any legs. He said I did, but they didn’t look so good.

Meanwhile, back in the strafing pattern, my flight leader, Tom Garrett, was directly across from me. He said later that he thought I was pulling out too low. He keyed his mic to say “Pull up,” but instead transmitted “Oh shit” as my aircraft erupted into the typical black mushroom cloud.
Recovering quickly, Tom immediately lit burner to climb high enough to get line- of-sight radio contact back to Sundowner base at Miramar. He ordered Hugh Risseeuw, the less experienced pilot to return to Miramar independently and the more experienced pilot, Tom Laughter, to orbit low and maintain contact with the target crew.

Since there was no rocket exhaust from my ballistic seat and since no chute had blossomed, Tom assumed I was spread over a mile or so with my aircraft. When he returned to target frequency the target crew reported that I was not only alive but also conscious. Tom got on the horn to MCAS Yuma, some 40 miles to the southeast. Yuma scrambled an H-34 helicopter, but its oil sump chip light came on en route. It had to make an emergency landing in the desert.

Tom then called NAF El Centro. Listening in on tower frequency was a Navy reserve flight surgeon, getting in his required flight time in a C-130 doing touch- and-go landings. He called for a full-stop, transferred to a helicopter, and was on his way to Inky Barley.

All I remember about the helicopter was being loaded into it. I heard somebody cry out in pain. I realized somewhere in my shock-anesthetized brain that it was I.

Back to El Centro and into the C-130 for the flight back west over the mountains to Miramar. Time had no meaning; I was only marginally conscious. At one point, I noticed a placard on the bulkhead, “Do not store body bags aft of frame 58.” I asked the doctor what frame we were next to. He told me not to worry about it.

Next thing I know, I’m being transferred to an ambulance bound for Balboa Naval Hospital. I see the faces of squadron mates and CDR Finney, the skipper. “Sorry I fucked up, skipper” I remember saying. “Don’t worry about it” he said.

Save the Hush-Kit blog. Our site is absolutely free and we have no advertisements. If you’ve enjoyed an article you can donate here. Your donations keep this going. Thank you. 

Next memory is the Balboa ER. The anesthesiologist is explaining that he’s about to intubate me. I will feel a choking sensation, he warned, but then the tube would slip into place and everything would be fine. Then he commences shoving a broomstick or something down my throat. Well, hell yeah I felt a choking sensation! Then I tried to tell him that, yes, it did slip into place, and everything was fine. All that come out was a whisper of breath. “Oh, don’t try to talk; you can’t; the tube goes through your vocal cords.” Oh, OK.

I come to in the recovery room or ICU or who knows? The patient is the last to know. Turns out that I have tubes everywhere: a nasogastric tube, wound drains in open reductions of fractures on both legs, a Foley catheter, a cephalic vein IV, and a jugular intracath. I have a plaster cast on my left hand, where the dislocated metacarpophalangeal joint was reduced. I have a splint on my right elbow, where a large laceration was sewn up. I have a plaster boot on my left foot. I have a bivalve cast on my right leg, along with a Steinmann pin through what’s left of the heel. And I have an ugly-looking incision from sternum to pubis, thanks to a laparotomy that allowed repair of a lacerated liver.

Thanks to better living through chemistry, the only pain I felt through all this was a dull ache from the fractured pelvis. At one point, I thought I was dying as consciousness slowly faded. Turns out I was only falling asleep.
My orthopedist characterized my recovery as “stormy.” That is a euphemism for raging pseudomonas infection in the huge defect that used to be my right heel, plus uremia. My kidneys had shut down—distal tubular necrosis, consequent to shock.

I was raving insane and had to be restrained lest I pull out my IV’s. I was told I was about to be dialyzed before my kidneys rebooted and my BUN peaked at 180.

I did a tour in the Balboa ICU. The Red Cross flew my parents out from Maryland, something they do, I later learned, only in situations expected to be terminal. I was recovering from uremia then, so I don’t remember much about the visit.
The worst part was being NPO (Latin for nulla per os, nothing by mouth). I could have only a shot class of D5W, sugar water, every hour. It’s a great weight-loss regimen—see the picture below. I’d live for that shot. The nurses would never let me have it early, but they didn’t seem bothered if it was late.

Support Hush-Kit with our high quality aviation themed merchandise here

Toward the end of my ICU stay, I was visited once by one of the members of my last flight of four, Hugh Risseeuw. I enviously watched him finish a cup of coffee. Hmmm, there was a container of D5W on my table. He had a cup. Why not? “Hugh, sneak me a slug of water from that jug.” There was a little ring of coffee left in the bottom of his cup. After weeks of nothing but sugar water, I still remember that sip as the richest, most exotic thing I have ever tasted. This is when I realized I had turned the corner.

I have a load of hospital stories. I was shipped back home to Maryland to Bethesda Naval Hospital. Finally had my right foot amputated. Met the Navy nurse whom I later married. But this is supposed to be the story of how my last Crusader flight ended. To this day, every time the wheels squeal against the runway, I say to my seat-mate, “Cheated death again!”

RATE THE F-8 IN THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES

Joe, I’m not an aeronautical engineer, nor have I ever flown another fleet-type aircraft. Consequently my ratings are purely anecdotal.

INSTANTANEOUS TURN

“Excellent.”

SUSTAINED TURN

“Good, with burner.”

ACCELERATION

“Excellent, with burner.”

ENERGY PRESERVATION

I have no idea.

CLIMB RATE

“Excellent, with burner.”

COMBAT EFFECTIVENESS

“No experience. See Peter Mersky or Barrett Tillman’s books.”

COCKPIT ERGONOMICS

“Small canopy made cockpit visibility poor. Raising the seat to improve visibility reduced clearance for face-curtain ejection grips.”

Which units did you fly with?

“VF-111 Sundowners.”

How does it feel to take-off and land from a carrier in an F-8?

“Catapult shot is straightforward. The variable incidence wing eliminated need for nose-up rotation off the bow.”

Landing was assisted by the approach power compensator, engaged in the groove with a press-switch on the throttle grip. In APC, the pilot uses only the stick to keep the ball (the yellow light of the lens landing system) centered between the green datum lights. The APC (an analog computer system) adjusted the throttle to maintain optimum (max lift/drag) angle of attack.

The H model was the only version I operated on/off carriers, and it handled well. Pilots of the J model tell a different story. Air was bled from the engine for boundary layer control. Experienced friends have told me that on bolter or wave-off in basic engine, one could either climb out straight ahead or turn downwind—but not both at the same time!

Did it have any nicknames?

“The usual shipboard one was ‘Sader’ from Crusader, of course. Rolling into the groove, the pilot would call, “[Modex, e.g., AH-107], ‘Sader, ball, [fuel state].” Now that it’s obsolete, it’s usually called ‘Gator’ because of the long, thin fuselage and the spindly main gear.

What is the biggest myth about the F-8?

“Not really a ‘myth’ but…. It was common to speak of raising or lowering the variable incidence wing. Aerodynamically, the wing maintained its angle of attack, while the fuselage was lowering or raising respectively.”

Have you flown a combat mission, if so what are your strongest recollections?

I managed to avoid combat missions by failing to see and avoid planet earth, i.e., target fixation followed by controlled flight into terrain. Hospitalized and retired for disability.

How important were guns to the Crusader?

Critical to its image as the last of the gunfighters (at least in the Vietnam era)! The VN rules of engagement required a visual ID pass before engaging an enemy, which ruled out long-range AIM-7 Sparrow shots or sneaky AIM-9 Sidewinders. The Navy added a gun-pod to its F-4 Phantoms. Mersky and Tillman books have the details on missile-vs.-gun combat effectiveness.

The problem with the Crusader’s guns was performance under G-load. They worked great at one G. As G-loads increased in air-combat manoeuvring, the likelihood of jamming the Colts increased proportionally. Dick Schaffert will tell you the guns were useless at five G’s.

Complete this phrase: An F-8 is better than a F-4 because…

“F-4 pilots/rios were taught (back in 1968) that long-range Sparrow capability meant no more worries about dog-fighting. I remember F-8-vs.-F-4 syllabus flights when F-8’s of VF-124 went against F-4’s of VF-121. (Those were the two squadrons, colloquially known as RAG’s, for Replacement Air Groups, at then NAS Miramar in 1968.) As the engagement began beyond visual range, the F-4 would gleefully transmit, “Fox away!” (Such a scenario should not have happened under the then-current rules of engagement, which required a visual ID pass.) Then reality would intrude, as the F-8 neatly turned inside the F-4. The F-4 would use the vertical, giving the F-8 driver a spectacular view of twin J-79’s, blazing in zone-5 afterburner. The F-4 seemed to zoom higher, but the F-8 could simply turn inside it as it headed back down. Repeat until bingo.

How easy is a F-4 to defeat in DACT? How would you do this?

“The key is to avoid a BVR Sparrow. Then see the foregoing paragraph. The F-8 could yo-yo with the F-4, frequently in position to use guns (without all those pesky G’s).”

What equipment would you have liked to have seen added to the F-8?

“That’s an easy question for me 😊: a HUD!! In strafing, the pilot would be accelerating from 400 to 450 knots in a 25-degree dive, concentrating on lining up the reticle’s pipper on the target, while glancing down at the altimeter to check progress. Why, for a novice, this sounds like a recipe for target fixation and CFIT!”

Tell me something I don’t know about the F-8…

It had flaps, rudimentary though they were. In the landing configuration, the ailerons drooped 20 degrees, looking like huge flaps. But they still operated as ailerons, while there was a small, fixed flap next to the fuselage.

How would you describe the Crusader in 3 words?

“Fun to fly.”

What was the best thing about it?

Performance in afterburner. P&W J-57 went from 10000 lbs. thrust to 17000 lbs. in a single-stage light-off.

And the worst?

“Cockpit visibility.”

— George Wright

The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes. Preorder your copy here. 

From the cocaine, blood and flying scarves of World War One dogfighting to the dark arts of modern air combat, here is an enthralling ode to these brutally exciting killing machines.

The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes is a beautifully designed, highly visual, collection of the best articles from the fascinating world of military aviation –hand-picked from the highly acclaimed Hush-kit online magazines (and mixed with a heavy punch of new exclusive material). It is packed with a feast of material, ranging from interviews with fighter pilots (including the English Electric Lightning, stealthy F-35B and Mach 3 MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’), to wicked satire, expert historical analysis, top 10s and all manner of things aeronautical, from the site described as:

“the thinking-man’s Top Gear… but for planes”.

The solid well-researched information about aeroplanes is brilliantly combined with an irreverent attitude and real insight into the dangerous romantic world of combat aircraft.

FEATURING

• Interviews with pilots of the F-14 Tomcat, Mirage, Typhoon, MiG-25, MiG-27, English Electric Lighting, Harrier, F-15, B-52 and many more.
• Engaging Top (and bottom) 10s including: Greatest fighter aircraft of World War II, Worst British aircraft, Worst Soviet aircraft and many more insanely specific ones.
• Expert analysis of weapons, tactics and technology.
• A look into art and culture’s love affair with the aeroplane.
• Bizarre moments in aviation history.
• Fascinating insights into exceptionally obscure warplanes.

The book will be a stunning object: an essential addition to the library of anyone with even a passing interest in the high-flying world of warplanes, and featuring first-rate photography and a wealth of new world-class illustrations.

Preorder your copy today here. 

Add discount code: ALMOSTAUGUST10 for a 10% discount on the Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes

Guns: before viruses took away the work of honest guns, people used these quaint objects to deprive others of life. Guns are horrible, but also exciting, things. Adding the excitement of the gun to the innately thrilling aeroplane produces a particularly compelling machine. Here are 17 designs that took this idea to extremes. Bang! 

Save the Hush-Kit blog. Our site is absolutely free and we have no advertisements. If you’ve enjoyed an article you can donate here. Your donations keep this going. Thank you. 

Pre-order your copy of The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes here. 

Nakajima G10N Fugaku, project Z (dis)honourable mention

What compares to forty rifle-calibre machine guns firing directly downwards from the belly of a huge aircraft? If nothing springs to mind, meet the Fugaku, proof that the Third Reich was not the only nation clutching at mad technical straws on the road to strategic ruin. The Fugaku project grew from the Imperial Japanese Army’s ‘Project Z’ calling for a bomber capable of attacking North America from the Kuril Islands. One of the proposed variants was a gunship version capable of firing 640 rounds a second, vertically downwards, from 40 bomb-bay mounted machine guns. Had the balance of resources in the Pacific war been a little different such a terrifying machine, possessed of an intercontinental range, may well have caused considerable disquiet to anyone liable to find themselves underneath it.

17. Naval Aircraft Factory N-1

Navies love big guns. When the age of the aeroplane arrived, navies of all nations decided to bolt the largest guns they could find to the newfangled flying machines. The fact that early aircraft were simply not ready for this sort of mighty weaponry doesn’t seem to have thwarted anybody’s enthusiasm. But then, if massive, seemingly unstoppable Zeppelins were bombing pubs and places of worship where you lived, well, you’d probably be willing to give something like the N-1/Davis Gun combination a go too. The aircraft was an underpowered float-equipped pusher biplane, something which wasn’t unusual in 1917. The Davis Gun was a little different though, the first relatively successful recoilless rifle it came in 40-mm, 62-mm and 76.2-mm versions, all aimed with a co-axial Lewis gun. It employed a counter charge firing a blast of steel balls packed in heavy grease out of the rear of the barrel to cancel the recoil generated from the round leaving the muzzle.

Four N-1s were built and none saw action unless one was to count two serious crashes as ‘action’. The Davis gun meanwhile was attached to various other more capable aircraft and several fairly incapable ones such as:

16. Pemberton-Billing P.B.29E/Supermarine Nighthawk

An interceptor with an endurance of up to 18 hours is pretty ambitious stuff, even by contemporary standards and was sensational for 1917. So was a closed and heated cockpit/observation compartment with an off-duty bunk for a crew of 3-5 men, a Davis gun, and an electric searchlight powered by an onboard generator. The only things it seemed to be missing were a baby grand piano and a humidor. The Nighthawk had everything, including massive drag. Hardly surprising when you have a stack of four 60-foot span wings. One thing it lacked in abundance however was horsepower. The combined output of its (unreliable) Anzani engines amounted to less than that of a mildly tuned Ford Fiesta and the ungainly Nighthawk could only drag itself to a maximum of 60 mph – thus rendering it slower than the Zeppelins it was supposed to chase down and destroy. This was R.J. Mitchell’s first ever aeroplane and it’s fair to say he went on to better things.

15. Robey-Peters Gun Carrier

It is difficult to overstate the effect that the initial Zeppelin raids had on Britain. These quite modest attacks, by modern standards at least, spurred a frenzied response from British aircraft manufacturers. One of the more impressive and least successful was the Robey-Peters Gun carrier. What could be more devastating than an aircraft mounting a Davis gun? Why, an aircraft mounting two Davis guns of course! Apparently ignoring petty concerns such as airworthiness and practicality, the Robey-Peters featured two tiny gondolas for gunners, armed with Davis guns, on either side of the fuselage under the top wing. Meanwhile the pilot was banished to a lonely outpost near the tail to perform his lowly duties in solitude. Alas, the Gun Carrier, in a fit of self-destructive irony, crashed into a mental institution on its first flight. No one was hurt but allegedly the President of the Robey Company considered it a bad omen and had the prototype burned. Meanwhile conventional machine-guns on existing aircraft were found to be reasonably effective against the dastardly German airships and interest in the various radical Zeppelin-killing aircraft with big guns had largely evaporated by 1918.

Pre-order your copy of The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes here. 

14. Tupolev I-12

Two sections of municipal-grade steel pipe, each containing a 76.2-mm recoilless rifle were utilised to make this cannon fighter. Its push-pull mounted engines and twin boom layout make this a truly freakish artefact, even for the Soviet Union in 1931. Valid concerns regarding the pilot’s ability to escape in an emergency resulted in the grand total of one being built and flown.

13. Grigorovich I-Z

Designed, like the I-12 also to carry a pair of 76.2-mm recoilless rifles, the I-Z was a second Soviet attempt at a cannon-armed fighter. This one however, with its blast-reinforced fuselage to protect against self-inflicted damage, was a moderate success (by the decidedly mixed standards of this category of warplane at least). Although recoil had been eliminated, there were other serious issues to contend with. Sighting was problematic and rate of fire was non-existent as neither gun could be reloaded. Meanwhile shock waves emanating from the muzzle, smoke from burning propellant and spent casing discharge were also issues. Under 100 of these aircraft were eventually built, no doubt the machine’s two-round salvo was seen as a limiting factor though employment in numbers might have countered this deficiency somewhat. The I-Z was employed during development of the advanced Zveno parasite attack aircraft project but wound up little more than a curiosity.

12. Spad S.XII

Improved Spad S.VIIs with 37-mm cannon were envisaged to supplement squadrons equipped with the superb Spad S.XIII with its regular armament of two .303 Vickers guns. While that extra hitting power was welcome, getting there proved troublesome. All kinds of adjustments and compromises were made to accommodate the cannon and this resulted in a prolonged development period. The result was an aircraft completely different from the S.VII but ultimately not as good as the S.XIII. A geared V-8 engine was required to allow the weapon to fire through the propellor shaft and structural changes were dictated as well. The breech of the cannon, a Le-Puteaux quick firing infantry support gun with 12 rounds, also protruded into the cockpit obstructing the controls and compelling a change from an ordinary central control column to a trickier paired arrangement. Firing the gun was also said to fill the cockpit with smoke and the S.XII was unpopular in comparison to the S.XIII which was fast becoming a legendary warplane. Despite support and good results from aces, including Georges Guynemer and American ace Charles Biddle (the American Expeditionary force operated a single example), the project to add a big gun to Spad’s lineup can be fairly described as a case of fixing something that wasn’t broken. About 20 are thought to have been built of an order for 300.

11. Salmson-Moineau S.M. 1 A3

From early 1915 onward it was apparent that First World War pilots would have to direct a little more than dirty looks and half a dozen pistol rounds at their kind on the other side. An impressively heavily-armed early aircraft, the boxy S.M. 1 mounted a pair of 37-mm cannon. Sadly, two unconventional design approaches hindered what should have been a hard-punching aircraft. The first was the selection of a gearbox and shaft system for connecting a single 240-hp engine in the fuselage to propellers mounted on struts between the wings. This odd arrangement gave a good field of fire to the two gunners but the transmission system was maintenance heavy and prone to failure. The second was the employment of an auxiliary wheel below the nose. The latter gives the S.M. 1 a quirky appearance, looking as if it were trying to be a taildragger and tricycle gear configured aircraft at the same time. The nose wheel was merely designed to prevent the aircraft going over on landing rather than to accept the weight of landing. In service however, the nose wheel arrangement was weak and prone to collapse. Nonetheless 155 were built and despite being generally unpopular a few were used right through to the Armistice.

10. Blackburn R.B.3A Perth

An inter-war artillerist, the Perth, a large tri-motor seaplane, was the RAF’s largest ever biplane seaplane. As such it was seen as a natural candidate for a large calibre weapon. Its armament of a 37-mm Coventry Ordnance Works gun was unprecedented in 1934 and this mighty weapon was envisioned to mete out damage to such diverse threats as smugglers, pirates, enemy seaplanes, blimps, submarines, torpedo boats, and lighthouses should the occasion call for it. As it was it never saw action. Four were built and the type’s service life was barely five years in length.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz1MSHglGP4

9. Hawker Hurricane IID

Everybody’s second favourite aeroplane may be a surprise appearance on this list but it shouldn’t be. A pair of 40-mm Vickers S Guns saw the Battle of Britain veteran cracking tanks in North Africa before the Kanonenvogel (of which more later) got into action. A small production run of Hurricanes with extra armour was made available for ground support and by all accounts the results were good. Deletion of six out of the normal eight .303 machine guns found on most Hurricane variants compensated for the weight of the bigger guns but their drag still chopped this Hurricane’s maximum speed to below three hundred miles-per-hour. Each S Gun salvo is said to have depressed the nose of a Hurricane IID by five degrees, demanding constant re-sighting for a multiple shot run. The flying can opener badge is still to be found on the tails of 6 Squadron RAF’s Eurofighter Typhoons a lifetime later.

8. Messerschmitt Me-262A-1a/U5 Schwalbe

A conventionally armed Schwalbe with its four 30-mm cannon might have found an honorary mention in the flying artillery hall of fame anyway but a 50-mm anti tank gun in that shark-like nose definitely guarantees a place. Fortunately for Allied bomber crews the entire 262 programme, including two versions earmarked for either a Mauser or Rheinmetall 50-mm autocannon, was hamstrung by administrative stupidity and huge technical headaches. One to three 50-mm rounds were calculated to be enough to destroy a B-24 or B-17. Extra points are awarded for its intimidating appearance.

Pre-order your copy of The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes here. 

7. Douglas AC-47 Spooky

Terrifying rivers of lead and brass poured from this aircraft at 6000 rounds a minute when the AC-47 pilot activated his guns. Already a transport with an enviable list of achievements on its resume the C-47 popped up in green-and-brown camouflage as a fire support aircraft in the Vietnam war. Envisioned as a cost-effective alternative to greater numbers of existing ground attack aircraft, the Spooky was an innovative approach that proved terrifically effective. After field-based modifications using .30 calibre machine guns in pods and some rotary gun trials in the United States it was decided that three 7.62-mm electric motor driven Gatling guns firing through window ports on the pilot’s side of the aircraft would be optimal. A simple pylon turn with the left wing pointing at the target resulted in a sustained sweeping effect over a large enough ground area to disrupt enemy ambushes and assaults with dramatic success. The Spooky would soon find itself in serious demand all over South Vietnam and experience with it directly fostered our number one aircraft.

We sell fantastic high quality aviation-themed gifts here

6. North American B-25G/H Mitchell

Complete with a gun of the same calibre as its ground-based equivalent, these two models of the ubiquitous Mitchell effectively became the Sherman tanks of the air war. Intended for the strike and anti-shipping roles they were offered to the RAF, USN and the USSR but only adopted by the USAAF. The short nose and squarish fuselage of the proven B-25 allowed for easy installation and operation (the weapon was hand loaded by the navigator) of a lightened version of the standard US medium tank gun. Considering that rockets, bombs, and no less than fourteen .50 calibre machine guns could be packaged on this platform it is a wonder it didn’t win the entire Pacific war single-handed. The aircraft was particularly effective against shipping, sinking barges, freighters and small craft and it was noted that a single well-placed hit could inflict considerable damage, even to a destroyer.

Pre-order your copy of The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes here. 

5. de Havilland Mosquito FB Mk. XVIII ‘Tsetse’

Intended as a tank destroyer, the ‘Tsetse’ (named for an African biting fly) was created by fitting a 57-mm quick-firing anti-tank weapon called a Molins gun into a standard fighter-bomber Mosquito. This formidable weapon could fire 55 rounds per minute in fully automatic mode. The Molins gun replaced the Mosquito’s normal primary armament of four 20-mm cannon but two or four .303 machine guns were retained in the nose to sight the large gun (the aircraft retained the ability to carry bombs or rockets on its underwing hardpoints). By the time the conversion flew, the 57-mm weapon was no longer competitive against armour so it was decided to operate the new variant in the anti-shipping role instead. The results were spectacular.

In about 14 months, eight U-boats were destroyed wholly or in part by Mosquito Mk. XVIIs, suggesting a cost-to-benefit ratio of impressive proportions. Enigma decrypted information was used to place the Molins-equipped Mosquitoes on top of the U-boats at the approaches to their pens in French ports and to coordinate anti-shipping strikes. At least one Ju 88 was destroyed by a Tsetse Mosquito in a fight during which a single 57-mm round was seen to rip one engine clean off the unfortunate Junkers. If you think all that was impressive, a 96-mm gun was apparently tested successfully right at the very end of the war in a single aircraft though photographs of this machine are suspiciously elusive.

4. Junkers Ju 87 Stuka Kanonenvogel

The Hs 129 had so many teething problems that Luftwaffe management decided to rehabilitate the Stuka as an interim tank buster. Although something of a lash-up, it was sickeningly successful at this job, utilising a 37-mm FLAK gun under each wing firing tungsten-cored ammunition. The Stuka pilot flying low and slow was able to select a line of fire onto the less-armoured upper and rear surfaces of Red Army tanks. It is said that Fairchild Republic engineers starting out on what would ultimately become the A-10 Thunderbolt II were each locked in a box with nothing but a lamp and a copy of Stuka Ace (and unrepentant Nazi) Hans-Ulrich Rudel’s memoir of his days as the eastern front’s top Luftwaffe tank destroyer. Rudel himself was employed as a consultant on the A-10 project which was a practical, though morally problematic, idea.

3. Henschel Hs 129B-3 Panzerknacker

The Hs 129 was an emergency effort to create a ground attack aircraft that could visit as much hate as possible on the armoured fighting vehicles of the Third Reich’s enemies. For size, its 75-mm gun is only matched by the armament of the B-25 and only exceeded by the AC-130. With 870 units manufactured it is also the most prolific of these big gunners. In the end, however, the 129 was another too-hasty technical fix brought on when the biggest criminal enterprise in human history, Operation Barbarossa, went bad.

Visibility was impeded by three inch thick armoured cockpit glass and stick forces were said to be high, both bad news for an aircraft meant to fly and fight so close to the ground. It could also have used more powerful, less seizure-prone, engines and better armour for its large fuel tanks. This aircraft’s standout feature remains the enormous auto cannon on the B models, the Rheinmetall Bk 75mm. This weapon was well engineered for installation in a plane, it was lighter than previous aircraft-installed versions of the 75-mm with a hydraulic recoil damping system, a rotary magazine and an improved muzzle brake design. Yes, the Hs 129 killed plenty of tanks and trucks but it got killed a lot itself.

2. Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II

Save the Hush-Kit blog. Our site is absolutely free and we have no advertisements. If you’ve enjoyed an article you can donate here. Your donations keep this going. Thank you. 

Letting this rugged aircraft retire seems to be impossible for the USAF. The chunky, turbofan-powered, straight-winged A-10 has written a whole new and lethally superlative chapter in all this ghoulish gun worship thanks to its hydraulically-operated, multi-barrel rotary cannon. Certainly, the wrecked Soviet-pattern tanks and other vehicles of the 1991 Gulf War alone attest to this weapon system’s effectiveness in terms of hitting power, rate of fire, accuracy and range. Consider the GAU-8A Avenger cannon for its weight alone at just over 600 lbs. That’s equivalent to more than two early examples of the PT6A turbine engine. Before a GAU-8 is removed from an A-10 for servicing a jack is placed under the tail so it will not drop to the ground, that’s how much influence the gun has on the design’s centre of gravity. Both the plane and the gun were called into existence in the wake of ground attack experience gained in the Vietnam war and with future possible conflict against the big battalions of the Warsaw Pact in mind. The war it was designed to fight thankfully never occurred but the straightforward A-10 has proved so relentlessly useful in a string of grubby conflicts over the years that it seems it will never be retired.

The GAU-8 was further developed into the 25-mm GAU-22 used by the F-35, a very powerful gun in its own right. Another aircraft that carried a 25-mm ‘gatling’ cannon was the Rutan Ares, with its GAU-12U.

It is a fact often overlooked that the Soviet MiG-27 also had a 30-mm rotary cannon. Whereas the A-10 was custom-made to handle such a big weapon the MiG-27 was an adaptation of a light fighter; the ‘Gasha’ was rather more gun than the MiG-27 could handle and its use came with a variety of technical issues.

1. Lockheed AC-130 Spectre

An armed version of a very familiar transport aircraft, with a history nearly as long as the Boeing B-52, the Spectre remains the most powerfully gun-armed aircraft yet flown. Guns including 105-mm howitzers, rapid fire 20-mm and later 25-mm and 30-mm rotary cannon, 40-mm Bofors guns (and even 120mm mortars in some versions) have been at the core of the AC-130’s strike capability since their introduction to the Vietnam war in 1967. The most recent version, the AC-130U, was still being accepted into service in 2017. Upgrade programmes for multiple sensor, targeting and navigation systems and a vast array of other weapons have been layered onto the AC-130 for decades now. Wherever the US has found itself fighting ground enemies this plane has been kept busy. Like the AC-47 did in its day, the AC-130 adds higher altitude loitering, allowing for an endurance no helicopter can match. When called by an observer to provide support the AC-130 can do so, with (mostly) great accuracy regardless of environmental conditions and with systems to protect it from hostile fire. None of this comes cheap but for fulsome effectiveness the Inspector Harry Callahan Lifetime Achievement Award goes to the AC-130.

– Stephen Caulfield/Ed Ward/ Joe Coles

The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes. Preorder your copy today here. 

From the cocaine, blood and flying scarves of World War One dogfighting to the dark arts of modern air combat, here is an enthralling ode to these brutally exciting killing machines.

The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes is a beautifully designed, highly visual, collection of the best articles from the fascinating world of military aviation –hand-picked from the highly acclaimed Hush-kit online magazines (and mixed with a heavy punch of new exclusive material). It is packed with a feast of material, ranging from interviews with fighter pilots (including the English Electric Lightning, stealthy F-35B and Mach 3 MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’), to wicked satire, expert historical analysis, top 10s and all manner of things aeronautical, from the site described as:

“the thinking-man’s Top Gear… but for planes”.

The solid well-researched information about aeroplanes is brilliantly combined with an irreverent attitude and real insight into the dangerous romantic world of combat aircraft.

FEATURING

• Interviews with pilots of the F-14 Tomcat, Mirage, Typhoon, MiG-25, MiG-27, English Electric Lighting, Harrier, F-15, B-52 and many more.
• Engaging Top (and bottom) 10s including: Greatest fighter aircraft of World War II, Worst British aircraft, Worst Soviet aircraft and many more insanely specific ones.
• Expert analysis of weapons, tactics and technology.
• A look into art and culture’s love affair with the aeroplane.
• Bizarre moments in aviation history.
• Fascinating insights into exceptionally obscure warplanes.

The book will be a stunning object: an essential addition to the library of anyone with even a passing interest in the high-flying world of warplanes, and featuring first-rate photography and a wealth of new world-class illustrations.

This book can only happen with your support. Preorder your copy today here. 

Add discount code: ALMOSTAUGUST10 for a 10% discount on the Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes

Three years before the A-10 ‘Warthog’ was casting its jolie laide shadow over South Carolina, another, far faster, warplane was chewing targets to pieces with the awe-inspiring power of a 30-mm rotary cannon. The weapon was the GSh-6-30 and the aircraft was the MiG-27. Nicknamed ‘Gasha’, the 9A-21 gun was far lighter than the A-10’s GAU-8, with a greater rate of fire and a heavier projectile — it was very accurate and extremely loud. Anshuman Mainkar flew the MiG-27 with the Indian Air Force, here he gives the low-down on the other BRRRRRT.

What was the gun model and how was it mounted?  “Gryazev-Shipunov GSh – 6 – 30. It was a six-barrel, Gatling-type cannon mounted on the centre fuselage. It fired 30mm calibre rounds.”

How heavy and long was the gun?
“145 kilograms and I think it was just over 6 feet in length. Anyone by the name ‘Gasha’ come to mind?”

How many rounds did the gun have and how quickly could you expend them?“It fired 260 rounds at 5000 rounds/min, taking just over 3 seconds to expend. It may seem too little, but is actually considerable for air-air bursts or air-ground tracking. Of course, cannon overheating and gun-life considerations limited the burst to about 100 rounds (one-second bursts). For practice missions, 60 rounds were sufficient, and if you were smart with the trigger, you could actually pull off two passes.”

Was the airframe/gun combination a good one? “I am not aware of the actual details going into the development/mating of the gun into the airframe, but for a cannon originally designed for shipborne (ground-to-air) operations, modifying it for aerial use must have meant shedding weight, refining balance, and mating it perfectly with the airframe. It may be appreciated that the gun-sight had to cater to a variety of weapons and on-board stations, rendering limits to rigging/placement/positioning.  It is believable that during design/limit assurance tests, there would have been a few unfortunate incidents. For one, the gun was extremely potent. Also, located centrally on the fuselage, the vibrations would definitely have been felt in every rivet and frame. Not for nothing do they say that Russian flight manuals are written in red ink, the red signifying the ‘blood’ sacrificed in proving systems and operating limits. We owe all those brave stalwarts (including those in other Warsaw Pact / partner nations who did follow-up development work) our happy landings! Regarding the bad press on this subject, I think the cannon had matured into a good fit with the airframe by the time it entered service with the IAF. Provided it was treated and maintained well, there was absolutely no problem with it. There were laid out firing limits in the air, the anti-surge system kicked in seamlessly, and maintenance was top-notch too. Gun stoppage in the air was rare, and I always looked forward to front gun firing sorties. At ranges of 1.6 km, the target was hardly bigger than a full stop but the rounds tracked their way as if they had a will of their own (on more than a few occasions, quite literally).   Come to think of it, some people later had the audacity to put an electronic warfare support measures ‘bulb’ antenna on the chin of the aircraft. No way was the ‘Gasha’ having any of that nonsense. One gun sortie and the chin had tucked in, never to be seen again, a rather violent end to its short shared life with that beast of a gun.”

Did the gun cause damage to the aircraft? 
“Rarely. Gun operations were on the whole, pretty safe, thanks to a refined design, wonderful maintenance, talented engineers and loving pilots 🙂“

Did the recoil slow the aircraft down? What was it like to fire the gun? “Trigger press was something like going into a dream state. Inception-like. Imagine the clock’s second-hand decelerating to almost nothing. To break it down for you, while doing a front gun pass on a ground target, so engrossing is the cockpit workload – rolling out perfectly, gently riding up without push-pull forces (and catering to winds), and aiming to mate the gunsight to the target at the right height/speed combination, that the feeling can best be described as minutely observing your favourite single-celled organism through an electron microscope. Oh, and all this while descending at a rate exceeding 100 m/s and accelerating to 900 kmph. Picture that – using an electron microscope on a roller coaster!

Sadly, this site will pause operations if it does not hit its funding targets. If you’ve enjoyed an article you can donate here and keep this aviation site going. Many thanks

Then comes the trigger press. Earthquakes may not be a common experience, but imagine the vibration on your game controllers times 500. In that instant, your carefully and patiently cajoled target picture (that you’ve birthed for the past 30 seconds) shakes all over the place, so much so that you can’t even observe the target anymore. The recoil is strong and were you not already peering into the gun-sight, you’d realise you’ve been pushed forward in your seat. There is the odour of cordite, smoke, and your instincts have already pulled your finger off the trigger. 
There is so much violence in that moment, that the subsequent actions of getting wings level and pulling up seem almost at a snail’s pace. The speed would have washed off by 100-150 kmph in that moment, but don’t ask me how. 

If you observe it from outside, as the Range officer does through his window, you’d only hear a shudder, smoke lines streaking to the  target, a momentary ‘pause’ (to the trained eye, since the rounds passing provide an illusion of speed) before the aircraft turns heavenward, in bliss. 

The vibrations and the force of the gun were momentary, but significant, and the possibility of disturbed airflow meant careful handling during the recovery.”

Support Hush-Kit with our high quality aviation themed merchandise here

Could the weapon knock out a tank?
“Knocking out a tank can come in three forms – Mobility Kill (M-Kill), Firepower Kill (F-Kill) and Catastrophic Kill (K-Kill). I’ll wager on M-Kill and F-Kill. But how? Considering modern Active Protection Systems (APS), it would be prudent to use the platform as part of a system, rather than a lone gunslinger. Its advantages include:Confronting the adversary with a higher volume of fire, more guns, more confusion; Direct/Indirect degradation fire can neutralise sensors and mountings, rendering armour blind, immobile and exposed; Bringing a vertical dimension to the tank fight, extending the arc of detection/countermeasures and complicating the tank’s tracking work.

Also, use of cannon in conjunction with a combination of anti-armour ordnance and platforms would be a better bet in a conventional fight.  
Tactics aside, hearing the BRRRRTTTT would likely have a more than average psychological impact on the adversary. Don’t think anyone staring down a Gasha-30 barrel would come out feeling all happy and well with the world.”

 

Did it cause engine surges? 
“It was a possibility but the anti-surge system kicked in automatically. The modified anti-surge system even expanded the envelop of front gun firing from 8000m to 9000m (altitude).It was impressive how it automatically regulated fuel supply (cut-off and on in time-fractions) to prevent overheat. As a side-effect, this caused a visible stop-start effect in-flight. 
If the aircraft wasn’t mishandled during dive recovery, she wouldn’t complain, except in the rare case. And even then, recovery actions were standard.“

What was the best and worst thing about the gun? 
“The best thing about the gun was the confidence it gave you. In my opinion it was the crowning jewel of the Flogger. Made it a unique customer. 
The worst thing about the gun was that it couldn’t be lugged around easily and had a poor memory for faces. I couldn’t, for all my trying, smuggle it out of the base even once. It simply refused to recognise me. After all the kind words showered on her.“

Tell me something I don’t know about the gun. 
“The initiation/charging process was pneumatic. It then used the gas trapped in the barrel (in contrast to hydraulic motors) to work the gun mechanism. In a sense, you could call it self-powered. This feature made it compact and modifiable for aircraft mounting (it was originally designed as a anti-air gun for shipborne operation).”

This article is from the Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes. Preorder your copy here. 

From the cocaine, blood and flying scarves of World War One dogfighting to the dark arts of modern air combat, here is an enthralling ode to these brutally exciting killing machines.

The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes is a beautifully designed, highly visual, collection of the best articles from the fascinating world of military aviation –hand-picked from the highly acclaimed Hush-kit online magazines (and mixed with a heavy punch of new exclusive material). It is packed with a feast of material, ranging from interviews with fighter pilots (including the English Electric Lightning, stealthy F-35B and Mach 3 MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’), to wicked satire, expert historical analysis, top 10s and all manner of things aeronautical, from the site described as:

“the thinking-man’s Top Gear… but for planes”.

The solid well-researched information about aeroplanes is brilliantly combined with an irreverent attitude and real insight into the dangerous romantic world of combat aircraft.

FEATURING

• Interviews with pilots of the F-14 Tomcat, Mirage, Typhoon, MiG-25, MiG-27, English Electric Lighting, Harrier, F-15, B-52 and many more.
• Engaging Top (and bottom) 10s including: Greatest fighter aircraft of World War II, Worst British aircraft, Worst Soviet aircraft and many more insanely specific ones.
• Expert analysis of weapons, tactics and technology.
• A look into art and culture’s love affair with the aeroplane.
• Bizarre moments in aviation history.
• Fascinating insights into exceptionally obscure warplanes.

The book will be a stunning object: an essential addition to the library of anyone with even a passing interest in the high-flying world of warplanes, and featuring first-rate photography and a wealth of new world-class illustrations.

This article is from the Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes. Preorder your copy here.

After an exceptionally long development and definition phase that dates back to the 20th century, it appears that there is finally a roadmap in place for the RAF’s Typhoon force to receive an active electronic scanning array (AESA) radar.

An early priority for Sir Hugh Trenchard, Chief of the Air Staff 1919–1930, was to modernise Britain’s Royal Air Force. In 1921, he declared the two most challenging problems he faced were fitting the Typhoon with a modern AESA radar and ensuring fighter pilots had the skills needed to leave the air force and become motivational talkers, airline pilots or YouTubers. While the latter effort proved a huge success, a century later Typhoons are still using an archaic sensor made from a Bakelite bowl filled with travel sweets and bumblebees. But progress is being made.

Jezzer gets active

In a written statement on July 18, 2020, U.K. Minister for Defense Procurement Jezza ‘Hot Pants‘ Quin stated: “The Ministry of Defence is committed to implementing an Active Electronically Scanned Array radar on our Typhoon fleet. A contract was signed with our European partners to develop a common integration solution across the Typhoon radar enterprise. The RAF’s Typhoon’s AESA radars will come into operational service in time to detect the third horseman of the apocalypse.” When asked exactly when that will be the minister replied, “We have a fantastic relationship between the Eurofighter partner companies and operator services and we are on schedule in testing and development.”

Capability holidays from hell

When pressed for a specific date, Quin noted “The first horseman is on a white horse, carrying a bow, and given a crown, riding forward as a figure of conquest invoking pestilence, Christ, or the Antichrist. This is easily detected at considerable range by current mechanically scanned radar. The second carries a sword and rides a red horse and is the creator of war. This is harder to detect but through datalinks and off–board sensors, the current, very capable, Typhoon can meet the threat. The third is a food merchant riding upon a black horse, symbolising famine. This will have a very low radar signature as horses don’t have much metal in them. For this we will need an AESA radar and Typhoon will be there to meet the threat in a flexible, agile, errrr agile flexible way. Did I say agile?”

Critics, including pewter enthusiast Pierre de Terre from the G.U.N.G.E think-tank are less impressed, “Will there even be aeroplanes or people by the time this thing comes on line? Our best future modelling suggests that there will be like pterodactyls and women in furry bikinis on quad bikes then..it will be a very different battlespace.”

Related story: Dassault confident that internet will be able to spell Rafael correctly by 2045: three injured in press briefing

This article is from the Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes. Preorder your copy here. 

From the cocaine, blood and flying scarves of World War One dogfighting to the dark arts of modern air combat, here is an enthralling ode to these brutally exciting killing machines.

The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes is a beautifully designed, highly visual, collection of the best articles from the fascinating world of military aviation –hand-picked from the highly acclaimed Hush-kit online magazines (and mixed with a heavy punch of new exclusive material). It is packed with a feast of material, ranging from interviews with fighter pilots (including the English Electric Lightning, stealthy F-35B and Mach 3 MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’), to wicked satire, expert historical analysis, top 10s and all manner of things aeronautical, from the site described as:

“the thinking-man’s Top Gear… but for planes”.

The solid well-researched information about aeroplanes is brilliantly combined with an irreverent attitude and real insight into the dangerous romantic world of combat aircraft.

FEATURING

• Interviews with pilots of the F-14 Tomcat, Mirage, Typhoon, MiG-25, MiG-27, English Electric Lighting, Harrier, F-15, B-52 and many more.
• Engaging Top (and bottom) 10s including: Greatest fighter aircraft of World War II, Worst British aircraft, Worst Soviet aircraft and many more insanely specific ones.
• Expert analysis of weapons, tactics and technology.
• A look into art and culture’s love affair with the aeroplane.
• Bizarre moments in aviation history.
• Fascinating insights into exceptionally obscure warplanes.

The book will be a stunning object: an essential addition to the library of anyone with even a passing interest in the high-flying world of warplanes, and featuring first-rate photography and a wealth of new world-class illustrations.

This article is from the Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes. Preorder your copy here.

Doug ‘Boog’ Denneny is a former TOPGUN Instructor and F-14 RIO/Super 
Hornet WSO. He commanded VF-2 and VFA-2 and has over 3500 hours in Navy fighters. After retirement from the US Navy he has continued to work in the defense industry and is currently the CEO of a US company, CoAspire, 
LLC. These are his personal views and not representative of any company 
or government. Special thanks to Dave ‘Bio’ Baranek.

Imagine a beyond visual range duel between the F-14 Tomcat and Typhoon. Both would be armed with phenomenally long ranged weapons, and both would be piloted by well trained aircrew with powerful sensors. So who would win?

Hypothetical BVR duel between a F-14D with Phoenix Missiles and Typhoon with Meteor:

For any comparison in a BVR duel, you have to first look at the platform (ability to detect or be detected based upon RCS) and its sensors (radar or other sensors). There are multiple spectra to consider these days, like RF, IR, and visual, that when combined with ECM, ECCM, and the all-important launch altitude and airspeed of your aircraft and the enemy aircraft, that can make the duel very interesting. Think Stealth, Speed, Altitude and Sensors.

And then you need to look at the aircrew. Their training, their propensity to commit to a deadly head-to-head BVR missile dual. Do I want to risk my life today for the dictator/autocrat/party official who told me to go launch against NATO/Coalition forces? So, you look at the people, and the aircraft first even before looking at the missile. Manfred von Richthofen said, “The quality of the box matters little. Success depends on the man who sits in it.” However, at TOPGUN, we also said, “But the box does matter!”
And then the missile. When can the seeker go active? Do I even need a radar track? Can I just shoot and leave immediately? How fast is the enemy’s missile? Can I launch undetected? Can I detect incoming
fire? Will I get the first shot off? If I don’t get the first shot off, can I run away before shooting my missiles, defeat his first volley, then turn around and run him down with my excessive speed and gas and kill him when he is trying to get back to base? Remember, Chuck Yeager shot down an Me 262 that was in the landing pattern.

Now, putting all of that together. Meteor is a very long-range missile with an active seeker and an impressive throttleable ducted ramjet. The missile gets high and fast, just not incredibly high or incredibly fast since it is breathing air and zipping along in the thin air, just not the really thin air. But
very formidable when you look at its estimated no escape zones in all quarters. Typhoon, as your readers know, is an extremely impressive fighter with great sensors and can get high and fast to launch. It only
has a fraction of the gas of the TOMCAT and is feeding two engines as well.
So to the comparison, the Typhoon, with its AESA (editor note: AESA should be operational on the Typhoon later this year) and IRST would see the big (huge RCS) Tomcat at long range coming at it at just under Mach 2, and track the Tomcat to achieve launch parameters with the METEOR at range.
The F-14D with all of its sensors, high power out, IRST, Data Links and SA, and trained two-person aircrew with ability to artfully manage launch acceptability regions, would be formidable. The F-14D with
its massive GE motors and 20,000 lbs. of gas at takeoff, and its swing wings allowing very high speeds, and would be up in the thinnest air possible to try to out-stick the METEOR with its AIM-54C+ missiles. It could get a firing solution at an extremely long range. The TOMCAT would likely be able to see the Typhoon at Phoenix launch range. -The METEOR can go farther than the Phoenix downrange, but speed in this case is extremely important
and the quality of the seeker is paramount. The AIM-54C+ had a phenomenal seeker with digital processing tricks that would blow your mind, and with a large active radar in its nose and high power out,
could go active way out at range, and allow the TOMCAT to turn (at Mach 2 it’s a big turn!) and run away…possibly before the METEOR could run it down.

Sadly, this site will pause operations if it does not hit its funding targets. If you’ve enjoyed an article you can donate here and keep this aviation site going. Many thanks

So, what is the bottom line? Somebody with a high-speed supercomputer and hundreds of hours of computer time and experience could figure it out for you, but my gut says, since the METEOR can just go forever – I think the advantage here could go to the METEOR (launched from a Typhoon) in a 1V1 head-on BVR matchup with the Phoenix (launched from the F-14D). But it would be really close. Great question.

 Today with the PL-15, R-33 and Meteor other aircraft have very long range AAMs- has the US temporarily lost the advantage in long range AAMs or are they an unlikely weapon for the real world? 
This one is easy to answer. The US has unparalleled stealth aircraft and that counters the threat missiles and aircraft mentioned. But the US is never interested in parity or just countering a threat. It has and will
continue to invest heavily in missile technology, and is really good at keeping secret what it actually has and will pull out on day one of the war. The threat from China and Russia is real, and the US takes their
actions very seriously. The US industry supplies the best ‘kit’ in the world and that remains a deterrent to potential adversaries.

What would you consider the top 5 BVR platforms in service today and why?

Remember what I told you in question 1, for the platform it is stealth,
sensors, speed and altitude. For BVR, in order:

1. F-22 – stealth, sensors, speed and altitude
2. F-35 – stealth, sensors, altitude
3. Su-35 – speed, altitude, weapon loadout; a very formidable threat in many categories

4. F-15 – sensors, speed, altitude, endurance, AAM loadout (qty)

5. F/A-18E/F Block II/III – sensors, altitude, endurance, partial stealth, AAM loadout (qty). In a tie with: Typhoon – sensors, altitude, speed, limited stealth, METEOR

This article is from the Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes. Preorder your copy here. 

From the cocaine, blood and flying scarves of World War One dogfighting to the dark arts of modern air combat, here is an enthralling ode to these brutally exciting killing machines.

The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes is a beautifully designed, highly visual, collection of the best articles from the fascinating world of military aviation –hand-picked from the highly acclaimed Hush-kit online magazines (and mixed with a heavy punch of new exclusive material). It is packed with a feast of material, ranging from interviews with fighter pilots (including the English Electric Lightning, stealthy F-35B and Mach 3 MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’), to wicked satire, expert historical analysis, top 10s and all manner of things aeronautical, from the site described as:

“the thinking-man’s Top Gear… but for planes”.

The solid well-researched information about aeroplanes is brilliantly combined with an irreverent attitude and real insight into the dangerous romantic world of combat aircraft.

FEATURING

• Interviews with pilots of the F-14 Tomcat, Mirage, Typhoon, MiG-25, MiG-27, English Electric Lighting, Harrier, F-15, B-52 and many more.
• Engaging Top (and bottom) 10s including: Greatest fighter aircraft of World War II, Worst British aircraft, Worst Soviet aircraft and many more insanely specific ones.
• Expert analysis of weapons, tactics and technology.
• A look into art and culture’s love affair with the aeroplane.
• Bizarre moments in aviation history.
• Fascinating insights into exceptionally obscure warplanes.

The book will be a stunning object: an essential addition to the library of anyone with even a passing interest in the high-flying world of warplanes, and featuring first-rate photography and a wealth of new world-class illustrations.

This book can only happen with your support. Preorder your copy today here. 

Add discount code: ALMOSTAUGUST10 for a 10% discount on the Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes

The F-14 Tomcat was a no-compromise carrier warplane operated by the US Navy. Bristling with the most capable weapons in the world it was utterly formidable, and rose to international fame as the star of the 1986 film Top Gun, which celebrated the Navy’s TopGun fighter school. Dave ‘Bio’ Baranek was a TopGun instructor and Radar Intercept Officer, here he describes flying and fighting in the awe-inspiring Tomcat.

THIS ARTICLE HAS MOVED TO HERE

It’s popular to say the Admiralty had no interest in aviation between the wars, being obsessed by battle ships. Which to be fair do look more impressive with their serried ranks of 14” guns. [10] In a recent essay in The Times noted university and army drop-out Max Hastings observed that ‘By, say, 1942 the admirals who before the Second World War had gone big on battleships, light on aircraft carriers, bitterly regretted this.’.

The only problem with this is that, much like the rest of Hastings’ essay, it’s bobbins. In 1939 the Royal Navy had six aircraft carriers in service and one in reserve, which compared well to the US and Japanese navies who both had five in service. For those under the delusion that Britain still had the biggest navy in the world at this point and so should have had more, alas the Washington and London naval treaties prevented this. These allowed the UK and USA to build to parity, while the Japanese could have 3/5ths the tonnage of either of those countries. Closer examination reveals that by 1930 the RN had used the most of their aircraft carrier tonnage allowance using 115 out of a possible 135 thousand tonnes for their five flat-tops. [11] The USN having used 76 thousand tonnes and the IJN 54 of their allowed 81 thousand tonnes. So, the only way the Royal Navy could have had more carriers was if they’d made them smaller, something the Japanese tried with the Ryūjō a carrier the weight of a modern destroyer but carrying 48 aircraft on two decks. Stability was problematic.

But what about future plans, presumably the stuffy old Admiralty were concentrating on assembling a battleship orgy now they had a small collection of carriers. Well not so much, the King George the Fifth class were being delivered but they were only replacing ships that had to be retired under the afore mentioned treaties. What they were building were six carriers of the Illustrious class which would almost exactly use up their treaty allowance minus the Ark Royal, Courageous, and Glorious. Oh, and an aviation depot ship that due to treaty limitations was definitely not an aircraft carrier. The flight deck being crucial to its role supporting a squadron of three fleet carriers and definitely not something that could be used for offensive operations. [12]

So, the Admiralty hadn’t just gone big on aircraft carriers, they’d gone bigger than they were really allowed to. That they didn’t go bigger once war was declared was purely down to shipyard capacity in the UK. This also led to the cancellation of any further battleships, some of which were already laid down. Only Vanguard eventually being built to use up some spare guns and placate Churchill who had a battleship fetish.

We sell fantastic high quality aviation-themed gifts here

It’s also worth pointing out the Admiralty had spent two decades trying to regain control of the Fleet Air Arm from the Air Ministry. Hardly the actions of an organisation with no interest in aviation. They’d even created the Observer branch to at least have some Naval officers with specialist aviation knowledge independent of the RAF.

All in all, the only way you can say the Admiralty had no interest in aviation prior to WW2 is if you’re completely oblivious to what happened between the wars. Which is fine for the man in the street but not the sort of misinformation a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society should be spreading.

[10] Size may vary by country and class.
[11] Jordon, John. Warships after Washington: The Development of the Five Major Fleets, 1922-1930, 2011. P 193
[12] Dr Alexander Clarke has an excellent YouTube video on this, even if he’s wrong about the Swordfish being rugged.

Bing Chandler is a former Lynx Observer and current Wildcat Air Safety Officer. If you want a Sea Vixen t-shirt he can fix you up.

This article is from the Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes. Preorder your copy today here. 

From the cocaine, blood and flying scarves of World War One dogfighting to the dark arts of modern air combat, here is an enthralling ode to these brutally exciting killing machines.

The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes is a beautifully designed, highly visual, collection of the best articles from the fascinating world of military aviation –hand-picked from the highly acclaimed Hush-kit online magazines (and mixed with a heavy punch of new exclusive material). It is packed with a feast of material, ranging from interviews with fighter pilots (including the English Electric Lightning, stealthy F-35B and Mach 3 MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’), to wicked satire, expert historical analysis, top 10s and all manner of things aeronautical, from the site described as:

“the thinking-man’s Top Gear… but for planes”.

The solid well-researched information about aeroplanes is brilliantly combined with an irreverent attitude and real insight into the dangerous romantic world of combat aircraft.

FEATURING

• Interviews with pilots of the F-14 Tomcat, Mirage, Typhoon, MiG-25, MiG-27, English Electric Lighting, Harrier, F-15, B-52 and many more.
• Engaging Top (and bottom) 10s including: Greatest fighter aircraft of World War II, Worst British aircraft, Worst Soviet aircraft and many more insanely specific ones.
• Expert analysis of weapons, tactics and technology.
• A look into art and culture’s love affair with the aeroplane.
• Bizarre moments in aviation history.
• Fascinating insights into exceptionally obscure warplanes.

The book will be a stunning object: an essential addition to the library of anyone with even a passing interest in the high-flying world of warplanes, and featuring first-rate photography and a wealth of new world-class illustrations.

This book can only happen with your support. Preorder your copy today here. 

Add discount code: ALMOSTAUGUST10 for a 10% discount on the Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes