volvoclearinghouse said:
Why were scissors invented 2821 years before paper? WTH?
In reply to llysgennad :
At a guess, sheep shears.
In reply to Appleseed :
They were a pretty crazy plane. Very tiny, but always seemed be loaded with stores!
Top Gun had a special version (Super Fox) that apparently was rather appreciated by the pilots. It was quite the hot rod apparently (better than 1:1 thrust to weight ratio). It was powerful enough that the pilot had to throttle back after lift off to give the gear time to come up before over speeding it!
To better perform the Adversary role, single-seat A-4E and F models were introduced to the role, but the ultimate adversary Skyhawk was the Super Fox, which was equipped with the uprated J52-P-408 engine. This variant had entered service in 1974 with VA-55/VA-164/VA-212 on the final USS Hancock cruise and had been the variant that the Blue Angels had selected in 1973.
aircooled said:In reply to Appleseed :
They were a pretty crazy plane. Very tiny, but always seemed be loaded with stores!
Always a cool aircraft - wasn't called Heineman's Hot Rod for nothing. The pictured aircraft is an RNZAF A4-K probably at Ohakea looking at the wind blown trees 
Built in 1970, Decommissioned in 2002 and currently on display in Auckland.
That's an interesting Wiki reference and it conflicts with my experience. Many have confused the j52-P8 with the P408, and I wonder if that's what happening with that post. I never saw a Super Fox with a P408 other than those flown by the Blues. The 'Mongoose' A-4's were just stripped F's. This is the first I've heard that the Navy had fleet A-4's with the P408.
I worked on the A-4E/F/M/J from 1982 to 1993. Of the 25+ so called Super F's I worked on had the J52-P8, not the P408. I was also assigned to TOPGUN from 1984-1988 and while I was there, we had 4-5 E's and only one NA-4F. I'm very familiar with the squadron history and can confidently state that TOPGUN never flew the Super F with the P408. When the Blues transitioned to the F-18, there was some discussion that we'd get their P408 A-4s, but IIRC it was deemed too costly to revert them back to a tactical configuration, and they were more 'valuable' as static displays. It wasn't until the mid 90's that TOPGUN got the J52-P408 engine, and that was in the A-4M.
I've reached out to my A-4 pilot and maintainer brothers to see if I'm full of E36 M3.
You'll need to log in to post.
