Yea the F22 was insane, a joy to see it in person wow.

Definatey amongst the pinnacles of human engineering, what that plane can do is amazing

Like everyone else, went to the Airshow to see the F-22. Pretty awesome!

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uX...irshow0005.JPG

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uN...irshow0003.JPG

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HW...irshow0004.JPG

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Bz...irshow0002.JPG

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cA...irshow0001.JPG

Need a longer lens!

This looks like the cover for the box of a model F-22. Awesome.

The Raptor really is something special. I've seen them fly a few times and I'm amazed every time. I've also heard some pretty awesome stories from guys trying to fight them; it never goes well. Saw this photo on Instagram of the Raptor looking like a Transformer in the sun this weekend.

http://i.imgur.com/OGGGMuy.jpg

I haven't been on RS much lately and kind of forgot about this thread. I'm just wrapping up Phase II of pilot training right now and was selected this weekend to fly the Hornet. I start Phase III shortly and will hopefully be winged by Christmas! Hope everyone enjoyed the airshow :)

Persistance pays off. Nice job J

THOSE ARE THE SAME ***** F22s that wakes me up in Anchorage everytime I'm there.

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

/rant

Pretty sick video from Abby Airshow. 3D video of the P-51 Mustang and the F-22 Raptor.


Watch in chrome please!

is this the first time the F22 was at the show?
hope it'll return next year...dont know if 300mm lens has enough reach

Yea first time there

Your 300mm lens on a crop body gives almost as much reach at my 500mm on a full frame body.

300mm x 1.6 crop = 480mm
500mm x 1.0 full frame = 500mm

Was very cool to see the Us jets at the show this year. I stopped going a few years back when it was just Canadain stuff there.

Over the BC Day long weekend, I was in Seattle without knowing they were having their annual multi-day Seafair Festival. As I was driving on I5 approaching Seattle on Friday, I could see aircraft (but not knowing what type at the time) off in the distance leaving smoke trails while doing various maneuvers. I later realized that they were the Blue Angels.

On Saturday, I was in Seattle Center and saw the Blue Angels support craft, Fat Albert, fly over (not my pic):

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/442/2...a525e647_z.jpg

Later that afternoon, I was in a covered parking garage and heard (but didn't see :() the F18s fly over. It went from loud to extremely loud within seconds, and scared my 7-yr old, LOL.

Gotta love the Blue Angels, especially the Mach .98 sneak passes that suck umbrella's off the beach.


They also did a legendary 15 ship formation with the Snowbirds this year.

Nice job, maybe I'll see you around 410. ;)

Found this gif of the Raptor doing a 9G minimum radius turn.

http://i.minus.com/ixsN9ylO1x6tv.gif

Not military, but these fuckers got busted trying to laser a police helicopter. Chargers were laid.

Vaughan teenager charged after laser pointed at York police helicopter

dat tight turn at 1.35... mark ..2.02

I know we're supposed to be hating Russia and all that, but the Su-35 is rather...capable and has a unit cost that prices out to almost 2:1 for an F-35 :pokerface:

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/...2125607599.gif

If there wasn't so much turmoil between the two governments (and with the US saying LOL NO to seeing them), the Su-30/35 is the perfect solution to a replacement plane.

Dude SU-35 is cool but also an outdated 4.5th Gen piece of shit. The F-35 is the only 5th generation available and the only choice for Canada's future. Aren't you supposed to be a pilot?

Not a pilot (I wish :okay:), just an enthusiast. The Rafale offered by Dassault is a 4.5, but is suitable enough for Canada's needs. There were people worried about the dangers of single engine planes, yet we want that overpriced piece of shit F-35 already. There has to be a point where you think that the costs begin to outweigh the benefits of having that technology, right? I want to like it, but it's being constantly delayed, and the fly-away costs constantly revised upwards.

The F-35 fails at nearly all aspects it was supposed to surpass. For Canada the F35 is a joke. We fly the F18 because it is twin engine and with Canada's large area to cover the tein engine fighter provides some form of saftey if one engine goes out. The F35 does not have this.
The range of an F35 is not very good unless it carries external tanks......which defeats the point of being a "stealth" plane.

If Canada was to choose a plane NOT based on political choices, I'm sure we would not be entertaining the F35. Probably looking at the Rafael or the Eurofighter. Both offer the things we need and greatly expand upon the existing assets we already have.

Ans the Su-35 is FAR from outdated. It is a 4.5+ gen fighter with amazing capabilities. It lacks stealth, but aside from that it is as capable as a F22/F35.

We fly the F-18 because at the time, back in the late 70's, engine technology wasn't reliable enough. Today that is not the case. The F-35 can do everything the 4-4.5 gen can do and much for for a cheaper price.

The F35's range is better in a clean config than the CF-18s with three external fuel tanks.

You have no idea what you are talking about, stop playing video games and reading magazines. We are getting the F35 because it is the best choice for the price. Guess what, the Rafael and Eurofighter are more expensive and less capable and were produced in far less numbers. All our support infrastructure is built around US aircraft, getting european and spending even more converting all our equipment is completely stupid and a waste of money. We don't buy weapons based on how popular they are with internet fanbois.

FailFish

While I far from question what the F-35 is capable of, the fact that the price is constantly going up while the US even deals with their own production issues has to have you doubting a bit whether or not Canada is getting some value out of what they're investing, even if Harper is being quiet about how much the real cost is. That, and the deployment is being constantly delayed. If they can give Canada one or two units on time (like 2016/early 17 on time), then color me surprised, and on board to finish the project out.

The Rafale was offered by Dassault as an alternative, with incentives to reduce overall costs and provide licensing to make the plane and equipment (support infrastructure included) in Canada. No one wants it so far (India keeps getting close), but you can't fault the company for making it attractive to prospective buyers. The Typhoon even I know is useless for Canada's needs considering that it's not even close to useful for what it's needed for. For the record, I'm not 100% supporting the Rafale considering that there are some system compatibility issues, it's the deal that they offered to localize it that I like.

Am I not allowed to read the news on an issue like this, especially if it might be an election point? Or do I just take the spoonfeeding claims that Harper seems to enjoy shilling that everything is fine? Don't get me wrong, the F-35 can't be questioned technologically, but the development of other aspects is a bit slow considering the recent news. Hell, even supplementing the F-35 with another plane would be nice if the CF-18 is retired early.

Considering the F35 does not have a solid operating price, has not meet speed goals, weapons load goals, manoeuvrability goals or really any other initially out lined goal for the project its.
Seeing as I have been following the JSF program since it was announced...I happen to know a thing or two about it.

Unless you are in on the project and know information no one else know, jump off that bandwagon there belka.

It does not matter how reliable an engine is if you suck in a bird on take off/in flight, if you only have one engine ;)

"Canada is concerned, that could go up as far as $167 million. But that is nothing compared with Canada’s share in the total program cost, now estimated to be in the neighbourhood of $46 billion over 42 years- an eye-bugging $707.7 million per plane."

"for Canada at least, even a $114-118 million Typhoon (assuming that unit prices have not been reduced) would still be far better than a $167 million F-35. But it is not the sticker price, but rather the total program cost, from the beginning of the program through systems integration through cost of maintenance and upgrades that needs to be considered- and laid out for public scrutiny. If they are not, then no unit cost quoted in any competition can be trusted to reflect the true cost of the program."

Given you are a military aviation expert I show bow out to your much great knowledge....but perhaps you need to learn to work a calculator....math is math....and from the sounds of it you are the fanboy...I could care less what planes they use, I don't fly any of them nor do I care. Only thing I care about is wasting HUGE sums of tax dollars on something not needed and under-performaing.

Oh, and as far as range is concerned. 2200km'ish for F35.

My comparison is not for the F18 as its being replaced. I could care less about its range which is around 200km less. With an additional 990-us gal of fuel from 3 drop tanks it will exceed the clean distance of an F35....so not sure where you get the numbers from but not adding up.
However the Eurofighter is 2900 clean, which is greater than the F35 is.

So again, the Eurofighter would be a better choice (on paper) than the F35. I understand there are other things to consider but in the dollars and sense world the F35 falls on its face and the program cost is doing nothing but going up an up.