The Ultimate Military Combat Aircraft & All Others Thread (All Topics).

[GoMig-21]

The Twin Brothers of destruction.
White Swan and The Bone.

Yes! Similarity is fascinating, isn't it? Out of all the cold war back & forth tit for tat one-up-ya answer to the other platforms between the United States and the Soviet Union/Russia and vice versa, those two in particular have an almost uncanny resemblance. Blended wing design, variable geometry wings, shape and placement of engines & engine nacelles and entire overall shape.

Speaking of the "Swan" and the "Bone" lol (the latter bordering on sexual insinuation lmao) is first, the Swan "look" itself was attributed to the Su-27 Flanker family forward fuselage/nose appearance to body.

The way the body moved from tail end to rear of cockpit area or thereabouts and then cockpit & nose pitching down to the fuselage centerline axis gave it the look of a swan neck and was referred to as such.

As far as the Bone, interesting story; I was at an airshow with one of the B1Bs on static display but they had the tarmac yellow caution-taped around both engines as there was an exorbitant amount of leaked fuel all over the ground. Obviously they wanted to keep the public away from that massive spillage.

So I asked one of the pilots who was answering questions what that was all about and he told me it was the result of panels and fuel line connections expanding & contracting from traveling in subsonic to transonic to supersonic speeds and back. The generated heat and rapid cooling from slowing down at much cooler higher altitudes and decending to warmer air cause all these joints and connections to have severe temperature fluctuations causing that expansion & contractions which leads to that leakage as the aircraft rests in its final position at the end of a traveling mission/sortie. I thought that was just fascinating stuff.

I actually have pictures of that in my old crapped out laptop but because it's crapped out, I can't get into it to retrieve them, for now anyway but I will because I have some great shots I'd like to post here of many up-close moments. F-22, F/A-18, 16, 15, 14, even 3rd gens like A4s & F-4s and helicopters etc.

 

[GoMig-21]

This is the reference to the swan look on flankers, but mostly the Su-30 line because of the two-seats offering the best pilot view, especially for the back-seater.

 

[GoMig-21]

Of course, nothing was more "swanish" than La Concorde, with its mechanically pitching nose "Droop Snoot" to give the pilots better forward visibility during takeoffs & landings and taxiing.

Looks just like a swan.

Is this the most aesthetically pleasing aircraft ever designed & built in the entire history of aviation? Can we all agree that the Concord is the most beautiful looking aircraft of all time? Hands down? Bar none? That it holds that 'record' which most likely will never be beat? Do we all agree? I don't think there's anything else out there that even comes close, let alone surpass the beauty of the Concord and its super sexy, flowing lines and shape. Add its overall prowess of speed and functionality and it's unbeatable.

Heck you could turn this thing into the ultimate omni/multi-purpose role aircraft. What's to stop this design from being a fighter jet/interceptor/AWACS/SIGINT/INTEL/Gunship/Interceptor/Bomber? It could be all of the above as well. That's how amazing this aircraft is.

Great 8-minute documentary on the last Concorde being built.

 

[GoMig-21]

And @Cryptonian , talk about uncanny similarities between certain US/Russian platforms, how about the likely most obvious example?

The Tupolev Tu-144 & Aerospatiale Concorde.

 

[GoMig-21]

Nazis were so badass! Everything they produced and their ideas were ahead of everyone else and when they built things for war, they built things for war like this literal behemoth.

In 1934, the only thing standing in the way of the Nazis invading France was the Maginot Line, a fortification running from the Rhine River to La Ferté made of concrete blockhouses, bunkers, and rail lines. The line was elaborate and extensive, and as rumors of its strength traveled to Germany, Hitler began to believe he'd need a miracle for his troops to break through it. So, the German High Command commissioned engineers to design a weapon powerful enough to break through the concrete fortifications that were nearing completion. The shells alone had to be strong enough to penetrate 22 feet of reinforced concrete and at least three feet of steel plating, meaning the weapon was likely to be massive.⁠ What they ended up with was Schwerer Gustav — a weapon that was almost four stories tall, 150 feet long, and weighed over 1,300 tons.

The Schwerer Gustav was the largest caliber rifled weapon ever used in combat. The fully assembled gun weighed nearly 1,350 tons, and could fire shells weighing 7 tons to a range of 47 km. It was transported using railway

The Schwerer Gustav, while a marvel of engineering, was not without its challenges. The sheer size of the weapon made it difficult to transport and deploy. It required a crew of 250 to assemble the gun in 3 days (54 hours), and an additional 2,500 to lay track and dig embankments. This massive logistical undertaking made the Schwerer Gustav a cumbersome tool of war, limiting its practical use on the battlefield. The Maginot Line, for all its strength and sophistication, had a significant weakness. The line did not extend to the English Channel, leaving the border between France and Belgium vulnerable. This gap in the fortifications was a strategic oversight that the Germans would later exploit in their invasion of France. The Maginot Line, while formidable, was not the impenetrable barrier it was believed to be. The German High Command in the 1930s was led by Hans von Seeckt, who ensured that the military only kept the most desirable officers and soldiers. This focus on quality over quantity was a key factor in the development of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany. The High Command's strategic and personnel decisions played a crucial role in shaping the German military machine that would wage war across Europe.

Schwerer Gustav saw limited combat action during World War II. Its most notable deployment occurred during the Siege of Sevastopol in 1942, where it was used to bombard Soviet fortifications and coastal defenses. The gun reportedly achieved some success in destroying its targets but was hindered by logistical challenges and the vulnerability of its rail transport system. Following the war, Schwerer Gustav was captured by Allied forces and dismantled. Some components were taken as war trophies by the Soviet Union, while others were scrapped or preserved in museums.

 

[GoMig-21]

@The SC , @Foinikas , @Ghostkiller , French Mirage 2000C after a botched A2A refueling attempt. Lucky all the built-in safety features worked well except for the obvious dislodging of the basket.

How about the length of the hose on this one! Also appears to be French Mirage 2K from Escadron De Chasse (Chase Squadron) or most likely "Interception Squadron". Source.

They flew arguably the most beautiful fighter jet ever created (I hate to say it considering my love affair with the MiG-21) but everything about this particular jet with the French insignia and the red wrap-around flame on the intake was pure perfection. The only problem was it was used by the Israelis in 1967 and that broke my heart........
.........that it was used to kill and destroy Egyptians and the Egyptian Air Force for the invaders who occupied our dear land of Sinai. Devastating. And while they did object to the invasion and refused to completely stop supplying the enemy with more jets, they did with the Mirage 5 and used a false pretext to justify it. So that did have an impact on the love of this most beautiful fighter jet ever built.

Escadron De Chasse "Cigognes" Mirage IIIC 1964.

Happens more often than people probably think.
USAF F-4 Phantom II Test Flight.

 

[GoMig-21]

Valena International Airport, Maldives.

 

[The SC]

@The SC , @Foinikas , @Ghostkiller , French Mirage 2000C after a botched A2A refueling attempt. Lucky all the built-in safety features worked well except for the obvious dislodging of the basket.

View attachment 44503

How about the length of the hose on this one! Also appears to be French Mirage 2K from Escadron De Chasse (Chase Squadron) or most likely "Interception Squadron". Source.

View attachment 44504
They flew arguably the most beautiful fighter jet ever created (I hate to say it considering my love affair with the MiG-21) but everything about this particular jet with the French insignia and the red wrap-around flame on the intake was pure perfection. The only problem was it was used by the Israelis in 1967 and that broke my heart........
.........that it was used to kill and destroy Egyptians and the Egyptian Air Force for the invaders who occupied our dear land of Sinai. Devastating. And while they did object to the invasion and refused to completely stop supplying the enemy with more jets, they did with the Mirage 5 and used a false pretext to justify it. So that did have an impact on the love of this most beautiful fighter jet ever built.

Escadron De Chasse "Cigognes" Mirage IIIC 1964.
View attachment 44505

Happens more often than people probably think.
USAF F-4 Phantom II Test Flight.

View attachment 44506

Mirage F-1

 

[Foinikas]

@The SC , @Foinikas , @Ghostkiller , French Mirage 2000C after a botched A2A refueling attempt. Lucky all the built-in safety features worked well except for the obvious dislodging of the basket.

View attachment 44503

How about the length of the hose on this one! Also appears to be French Mirage 2K from Escadron De Chasse (Chase Squadron) or most likely "Interception Squadron". Source.

View attachment 44504
They flew arguably the most beautiful fighter jet ever created (I hate to say it considering my love affair with the MiG-21) but everything about this particular jet with the French insignia and the red wrap-around flame on the intake was pure perfection. The only problem was it was used by the Israelis in 1967 and that broke my heart........
.........that it was used to kill and destroy Egyptians and the Egyptian Air Force for the invaders who occupied our dear land of Sinai. Devastating. And while they did object to the invasion and refused to completely stop supplying the enemy with more jets, they did with the Mirage 5 and used a false pretext to justify it. So that did have an impact on the love of this most beautiful fighter jet ever built.

Escadron De Chasse "Cigognes" Mirage IIIC 1964.
View attachment 44505

Happens more often than people probably think.
USAF F-4 Phantom II Test Flight.

View attachment 44506

What happened to the hose??

 

[GoMig-21]

What happened to the hose??

lol, it ripped right off, most likely still on the refueling aircraft. Many time (especially in the old days) that kind of incident resulted in a huge fireball from a simple friction spark. They've since added a lot of safety features to prevent that.

Heck I have a video of a Ch-57 Super Stallion with its collapsable/extending fuel probe that got pushed around by the refueling AC's jet wash it started bopping up and down, pilot trying to control it by over-compensating stick-control ended up snapping the refueling probe with the rotor blades! Couldn't believe it didn't snap the rotors and send them plummeting to earth. And obviously they were at a really high altitude.

EDIT: Sorry it was a CH-53E Sea Stallion. Beast.

 

[GoMig-21]

The rotors on that behemoth.

 

[GoMig-21]

I found it @Foinikas.

 

[GoMig-21]

Guy looks familiar.

 

[GoMig-21]

This would've been something.

 

[GoMig-21]

Spectacular bran spanking new Royal Saudi Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon T3 (2-seater).