Chaplin
Better off silent
Pushed to 2022.
Top Gun: Maverick
- Thread starter Brian in Mesa
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that just killed my Halloween costume this year. poop.
This sucks.
Boo
My guess if that COVID is still impacting attendance/sales in parts of the country where it's being taken more seriously.
Ouchie-Z-Clown
I'm better than Mulli!
Anyone knowledgeable enough to educate me on how much technologically advanced fighter jets have become since the original Top Gun? Are they more maneuverable? Faster? Climb to greater altitudes? More advanced weaponry? Just curious.
carrrnuttt
Didactic
This is a good read:
Everything we know about the new airplanes in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’
Goose is now optional. His precise job doesn’t exist anymore.
www.popsci.com
As mentioned in the article, the one thing I know for a fact is that RIOs (Radar Intercept Officer) and WSOs (Weapons) are a lot less necessary with today's tech and computing power. So double-seater jets are almost extinct.
All of the above
Kinda. They are actually still making F-15's, F-16's, F-18's. F-15's have been around for 50 years but they are awesome planes. They get made or retrofitted with more advanced avionics and weapons systems so they keep flying. Hell, they keep updating the awesome A-10 because it's just so badass.
carrrnuttt
Didactic
For Top Gun (Navy), the only relevant airframes are the FA-18s on your list, and even then, a majority of FA-18s currently still serving are Super Hornets (nicknamed Rhinos) and not the original Hornets that would have been around in the 80s. And even then, the Rhinos are for practical purposes almost not the same airframe as the Hornets, as they are slightly larger than the old Hornets. Visually, it is tough to tell them apart from a glance, especially in action shots.
Some Hornets are still around, mostly acting as enemy planes during combat training, so they might show up in this movie.
The other original (and main) Top Gun plane, the F-14 Tomcat, has been retired from service completely almost 20 years now. In real life, you'll only find the plane mostly in Tucson's AMARG (plane boneyard) next to Davis-Monthan AFB, museums and probably some historical fleets.
And yes, the A-10 Warthog is THE baddest plane in existence. My favorite fighter plane of all time and a literal guardian angel for a lot of Infantry folks. Once an A-10 pilot is identified in any forward base, they usually hardly ever pay for their own drinks anymore.
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Wow, appreciate the additional info about the planes. My Dad used to take me to the Thunderbirds and the Blue Angels when I was a kid. School day or not, that was our jam.
carrrnuttt
Didactic
When I graduated high-school in 1992, I was either going to the Marines or the Air Force. It was being around planes that eventually made me decide on the USAF.
Maybe that's why I love fast cars.
When I retire, I'm already planning on buying an Icon A5. Purchase includes pilot training and certification: https://www.iconaircraft.com/
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Yeah, I know more about Air Force planes because my father was a combat pilot. He flew F-4's in Viet Nam, then F-5's and F-15's. He was also the Aggressor squadron commander in the Philippines, the Air Force's version of Top Gun.
His best friend was a warthog pilot.
His best friend was a warthog pilot.
Wow!!When I graduated high-school in 1992, I was either going to the Marines or the Air Force. It was being around planes that eventually made me decide on the USAF.
Maybe that's why I love fast cars.
When I retire, I'm already planning on buying an Icon A5. Purchase includes pilot training and certification: https://www.iconaircraft.com/
You must be registered for see images attach
carrrnuttt
Didactic
Oh, and yeah, love both the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds.
I have other more expensive watches, but my Citizen Blue Angels watch is one of my favorites:
I have other more expensive watches, but my Citizen Blue Angels watch is one of my favorites:
You must be registered for see images attach
When I graduated high-school in 1992, I was either going to the Marines or the Air Force. It was being around planes that eventually made me decide on the USAF.
Maybe that's why I love fast cars.
When I retire, I'm already planning on buying an Icon A5. Purchase includes pilot training and certification: https://www.iconaircraft.com/
You must be registered for see images attach
Those are awesome! Only 250K, too!
I remember when I went to see the original in theaters there were Navy Recruiters outside the exit of the theater waiting for people and getting them to sign up. It was one of the highest application rates in Navy history. It was a smart move. People wanted to be pilots after that movie.
Beauty!
carrrnuttt
Didactic
BTW - I was going to mention this with my earlier posts but forgot: The only known actively serving F-14 Tomcats for any military are the ones Iran has.
The ones Nixon sold to the old Shah before he got toppled precisely because he was too friendly with the US. I don't know if they've updated them since, but they are still the most effective fighters in Middle East even today.
Also, they were partly supplied to Iran as a response to the USSR selling MiGs to the Arabs.
The ones Nixon sold to the old Shah before he got toppled precisely because he was too friendly with the US. I don't know if they've updated them since, but they are still the most effective fighters in Middle East even today.
Also, they were partly supplied to Iran as a response to the USSR selling MiGs to the Arabs.
Phrazbit
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My dad was in the Air Force, he flew F-5's (AKA the Mig 28 in the original top gun), I have a pilot's license... but that has no real bearing on this discussion, it is only to brag and sound like an expert.
Planes have actually become slower, much slower, F-14s and F-4s, the work horses of the cold war era, were far faster jets than the current F-15, F-22 and F-35s. F-14s, the plane in the original top gun also had the capability to engage at a far longer range than almost any modern fighter, it was designed for fleet defense and air superiority. It had the ability to launch missiles from well beyond visual range, it was faster than almost anything and, by virtue of it's variable wings, more maneuverable than any fighter prior to the modern era of 'thrust vectoring' fighters. Sadly, the F-14 was phased out because of it's single use expertise, air to air domination. It lacked the ground attack ability of other planes, like the F-18, F-16 and F-15. While it was faster than all those planes and more maneuverable it lacked the multi-role capability that most modern US fighters possess.
But the biggest advancement in the last 20-30 years is in avionics. Until recently, if a pilot wanted to engage with a missile they needed to fire and keep the nose of the plane and radar locked on the target until a kill was scored. Modern fighters have far more advanced missiles, radars and HUDs (the software in the cockpit), they quickly get a lock, fire off a missile, and immediately disengage. The F-14 could have been upgraded to include this ability, but it would have been costly and on an air-frame that was out of production.
Also, the avionics aspect is the most unrealistic part of these trailers. American pilots wear helmets that make them look like aliens, you cannot see their faces because their visual is like what Iron Man sees in the marvel movies, computer read outs in every direction they look. But... it's a movie, and they want to show off that they paid a lot of money to show you that they actually got Tom Cruise to sit in the back seat of an F-18, so I can forgive them.
This all ignores stealth. The F-22 and F-35 are the only mass produced stealth fighters in the world. Both go slower than Vietnam era fighters, but both have far more advanced avionics, are virtually undetectable by radar and are highly maneuverable. But, Top-Gun is a movie about the Navy, and the F-22 is not used by the Navy and the F-35 has only recently been introduced.
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carrrnuttt
Didactic
Yup.
Our present strategy isn't to play in the boxing ring, although our pilots are still more than capable and trained for dogfighting.
We stay hidden up in the nosebleeds in the dark and snipe from a distance using long range armaments that only an SR71 can outrun.
Just a mention of an SR-71 gives me wood. The most incredible aircraft EVER IMHO.
carrrnuttt
Didactic
Tell me about it. The legendary stories involving it are awesome and I can read/listen to them over and over.
If you want a good read, check this: https://www.thesr71blackbird.com/Aircraft/Stories
And one of my absolute favorites: https://www.thesr71blackbird.com/Aircraft/Stories/sr-71-blackbird-speed-check-story
