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For educational purposes
The F/A-18 is one of the most advanced airplanes in the world.
One computer chip compensates for wind, waves and ship movement, allowing the F/A-18 to land without touching a single flight control.
The F/A-18 is one of the most advanced airplanes in the world.
One computer chip compensates for wind, waves and ship movement, allowing the F/A-18 to land without touching a single flight control.
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LearningTranscript
00:27You
00:39It truly deserves its reputation as one of the world's great aircraft.
00:43The hugely successful F-18 Hornet hits the sweet spot between high performance and financial bottom line.
00:51Despite its brilliant design, this plane almost never saw production.
00:56I'm Paul Max Moga, and I've flown some of the most sophisticated planes ever built.
01:01And I'm here on the flight line at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Virginia,
01:07home to 17 strike fighter squadrons of F-18 Hornets and Super Hornets.
01:13This lightweight fighter fills a variety of roles.
01:16Air superiority, fighter escort, reconnaissance, suppression of enemy air defenses,
01:22forward air control, close and deep air support, and day and night strike missions.
01:28On this episode of Great Plains, we'll tell the amazing story of the F-18 Hornet.
01:45I'm Lieutenant Mike Seegers with the VFA-136, the Nighthawks.
01:48What we have behind here is a brand new LAT-30 F-18E Super Hornet.
01:52We've been flying for about four years now.
01:55Well, Mike, I appreciate you taking a couple minutes to explain the Hornet to us.
02:00Tell us what model we're at right here.
02:02What version of the Hornet are we at?
02:04This is the F-18 Echo Super Hornet.
02:07That's the single-seat version of the Super Hornet.
02:09That's a LAT-30, just rolled off the line in January.
02:12So this plane is pretty much brand new.
02:14Brand new.
02:14And it's very new for Navy guys to see that.
02:17Most of the guys that have been around for 15 or 20 years have never seen a brand new airplane.
02:22So this is a pretty neat thing.
02:27It's story begins in the 1950s.
02:29America, locked in a Cold War, struggles with the fact that Russia no longer lags behind American aeronautical design.
02:52In fact, Russia's remarkable post-war developments include a series of bomber designs that shocked the NATO allies, just as
03:01their earlier MiG fighters had done.
03:07This is the Russian Tu-16, which NATO names the Badger.
03:14An extremely advanced aircraft for its time, it gets its power from only two engines, the largest and most powerful
03:22jet of its day.
03:28The Badger's full-swept wing, high speed, and substantial bomb load make it a major threat.
03:43But its limited range confines its use only to potential European conflicts.
03:57No such constraint hinders the Tu-95.
04:00NATO designation, the Bear.
04:19This design proves a shrewd investment for the Soviet military, its sole user for over 30 years.
04:27It's jet-driven propeller enhances its range enough to reach North America from Russian bases.
04:35But nothing creates a larger strategic threat to the U.S. than the M4 Bison.
04:42The Bison combines pure jet speed with the invasive range of the Bear.
05:03When Western planners discover the existence of the Bison in the 1950s, they don't know it isn't in wide production.
05:13When Western planners discover the existence of the Bison in the 1950s, they don't know it isn't in wide production.
05:18But they are not driven by other countries.
05:24Early super savers, delta daggers, some voodoos and Northrop scorpions get fitted with these non-guided rockets designed for high
05:32speed, high climb and long range.
05:34all dedicated to responding to the perceived Russian threat.
05:42If conflict comes, jet fighters from Air Defense Command can deploy thousands of rockets
05:48to provide a wall of destruction against the new Russian aircraft.
05:53The arms race has begun.
06:07Before long, the massive, simple, unguided weapons give way to much larger and more sophisticated
06:14technology.
06:16Some missiles, now guided, even contain nuclear warheads.
06:22Fired well ahead of the launching fighter, these missiles create a ferocious nuclear barrier
06:27unrivaled by conventional rockets.
06:29The aircraft firing these missiles have to fly fast and high, but because they're intercepting
06:35the enemy bombers rather than engaging them, they no longer have to be light or maneuverable.
06:44This change in tactics spawns a whole new breed of fighter plane, the Interceptor.
06:51But production of this new breed of aircraft results in some unintended consequences.
06:56The ship away from dogfighters leaves the Air Force deficient during the Southeast Asian
07:02conflict.
07:04The Delta Daggers, perfectly suited to protect American airstrips and other installations from
07:09North Vietnamese bombers, sit idle when no attacks come.
07:15Vietnam, and they prove useless in the scenarios that do play out.
07:32Vietnam is a different war, and the U.S. Air Force confronts aircraft that fit the older definition
07:37of fighters. Highly mobile, fast, and efficient. In some ways, almost primitive.
07:50Against Western technology, North Vietnamese MiGs hold their own in dogfights.
07:58The USF-4 Phantom can dish it back. Very fast and extremely powerful, it fires several types
08:07of guided missiles, deployed by a second crew member.
08:27The Phantom proves the best the U.S. can offer against the agile MiG, but it isn't ideal.
08:33The F-4 is originally designed as a Navy Interceptor, not a true dogfighter. Losses are heavy on
08:40the U.S. side. Out of the 5,195 built during 1958 to 1981, 761 were lost in the Vietnam
08:50War.
08:51Even before the conclusion of the conflict, the Navy searches for an Interceptor better suited
08:56for air-to-air combat. It finds its answer in the Grumman F-14 Tomcat.
09:03With limited carrier space, the Navy seeks the most versatile hardware money can buy.
09:10The Tomcat uses variable swept wings for flexibility, providing agility despite its size.
09:18Armed with the Phoenix missile, it achieves a range the Air Force has only dreamed about.
09:27Its flexible design enables it to carry the same weapons the Phantom uses over Vietnam,
09:32plus a cannon for dogfighting. While the Navy goes for a multi-purpose replacement for the F-4,
09:51the U.S. Air Force commissions a dedicated air superiority fighter, the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle.
10:00With a more defined mission, the Eagle needs no second crew member or variable swept wings.
10:06It combines enormous speed and range with agility and heavy firepower.
10:14The F-15 Eagle remains the best single fighter concept ever built.
10:23Fighter design is as much a question of philosophy as technology.
10:35Russian defense hinges upon large numbers of clever, basic planes like the MiG-21.
10:49The fighter that scored so well in Vietnam still provides value for the money,
10:54and Russia produces many of them.
10:59In the U.S., the emphasis has always been quality over quantity.
11:05But when confronted by the sheer number of Russian fighters, the U.S. begins to have second thoughts.
11:13The 1996 movie Independence Day, starring Will Smith, features 3,978 computer-generated F-18 Hornets.
11:28In the early 1970s, many of the supporting NATO forces fly the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter,
11:35a plane that's very effective but approaching retirement age.
11:40The U.S. Air Force never invests heavily in the Starfighters,
11:44but U.S. allies snap them up, their answer to the lightweight, value-driven Russian MiG.
11:51The F-104's popularity reveals a large market that Western manufacturers buy for.
12:02The French, with their Mirage F-1E, offer a sophisticated, lightweight fighter that delivers value for the money.
12:19Likewise, the Swedes present the Saab Draken, a technologically brilliant design.
12:25But the two European concepts have to do battle with U.S. manufacturers.
12:31General Dynamics, out of the fighter business for some time, wants back in.
12:37They're determined to win contracts from NATO countries looking to replace Asian starfighters,
12:43and to fill America's need for a more economical fighter than the F-15.
12:48The number of new planes would have to at least match the Soviet force,
12:52which justifies spending millions on a cutting-edge design.
13:06Spin testing shows the spectacular soundness of the prototype.
13:12From this design, the manufacturer offers up a dedicated single-seat fighter version,
13:17which becomes the F-5 Tiger.
13:21This low-cost and high-performance aircraft generates many foreign sales, but fails to wow U.S. buyers.
13:29Still, the overall U.S. and European markets for fighters provides a windfall for Northrop.
13:42The company continues to refine the F-5 for even more maneuverability,
13:47extending the area where the forward section of the wing joins the fuselage into a forward straight.
13:56In the early 1970s, this sophisticated concept joined some other T-38 legacies,
14:03like the two light engines to produce Northrop's next design, the F-17 Cobra.
14:08Prototype designation, YF-17.
14:12The Cobra is larger than the F-5 and offers other advances like the twin tail concept,
14:18which provides increased stability at high angles of attack.
14:23Northrop hopes the model's distinct lineage, good design, and company reputation will trounce its rival, General Dynamics.
14:32In the high-stakes battle for government contracts, this is all-out war.
14:37Though the plane lacks full fly-by-wire capabilities, Northrop hopes for big sales overseas.
14:45With that commitment, they can retool their California factory, bringing an end to F-5 production.
14:53Northrop also pins its hopes on a lucrative U.S. Air Force contract,
14:57if it can beat its arch-rival, General Dynamics.
15:08In April 1974, the press, dignitaries, and members of the military gather to see the YF-17.
15:27Northrop feels confident as it unveils the new fighter.
15:31And for good reason.
15:33They've created a great plane at a good price.
15:36And both the U.S. Air Force and NATO allies recently increased their estimation of how many fighters they need.
15:45At stake is the biggest peacetime Western fighter deal ever struck.
15:51Of course, the people at General Dynamics are thinking the same thoughts about their new YF-16 Fighting Falcon.
15:58The contest is settled in a head-to-head competition at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
16:08Since 1982, more than 1,458 F-18s have been produced for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine
16:15Corps,
16:16and for the armed services in Canada, Australia, Spain, Kuwait, Switzerland, Finland, and Malaysia.
16:34In June of 1974, the YF-16 and YF-17 prototypes go head-to-head, competing for a government contract
16:42for a new air combat fighter.
16:50A vigorous fly-off pushes each plane to its limit in a test of engineering skill, mechanical prowess, and, as
16:58it turns out, business savvy.
17:01Both aircraft handle superbly.
17:04The contest is razor close.
17:07But at the end of the day, the U.S. Air Force awards the contract to General Dynamics for its
17:12YF-16.
17:14One reason is cost.
17:16The YF-16's engine, though more expensive, shares components with the earlier F-15,
17:22making service skills and spare parts readily available.
17:25General Dynamics takes an enormous gamble on the new F-16 Fighting Falcon.
17:30Even before the contest, the company has retooled for the new jet, an incredible risk that gives them a winning
17:37angle, the promise of fast delivery.
17:40As for the YF-17, its air brake reveals a deficiency, nose wheel liftoff speeds are too high, and the
17:46takeoff roll is too long.
17:48The judges also question the fighter's range.
17:51Though a superb jet with excellent lineage, the YF-17 simply can't compete against General Dynamics' winning entry.
17:59There's room for only so many fighters, and the F-16 Fighting Falcon scoops the domestic and export markets.
18:06The YF-17 flies off into history, just one more design that doesn't quite make it.
18:14General Dynamics wins the European market by offering NATO countries a share of the aircraft's production within their own borders.
18:22The company exports the technology they develop in Fort Worth to Holland, Belgium, and other European nations to produce identical
18:31aircraft thousands of miles apart.
18:35Going one step further, General Dynamics garners more sales outside the NATO bloc.
18:42Several F-16s are slated for Iran, but when there is a sudden change of regime, the plane gets delivered
18:48to Israel.
18:53Serving the Egyptian air force, the ever versatile F-16 develops into a very successful ground attack aircraft.
19:10This Danish twin seat version demonstrates the agility of General Dynamics' high-tech solution to the lightweight fighter and attack
19:17requirement.
19:27Fortunately, the U.S. Navy has a different set of parameters.
19:32Their old, reliable F-14 Tomcats still do the job, but they do it at high cost.
19:55In the meantime, the A-7 Corsair II attack aircraft is nearing the end of its service life.
20:04Developed from a dedicated fighter, the A-7 Corsair II has seen considerable action over Vietnam as a dependable strike
20:11bomber.
20:13But by the 1980s, they begin to wear out.
20:20And some of the F-4 Phantoms serving the Marines need economical replacements.
20:27Like the Air Force, the Navy starts looking for a cost-effective, versatile fighter jet.
20:32And the single-engine F-16 with the lightweight undercarriage isn't it.
20:45McDonnell Douglas, which manufactures the F-4, sets out to fill the Navy's needs.
20:54It isn't the first time. Since World War II, McDonnell has supplied the Navy, starting with the Phantom One, the
21:01Navy's first fighter jet and the first design McDonnell produces.
21:06With the Phantom One, McDonnell impresses the Navy with its ability to produce aircraft specifically tailored to the demands of
21:13different services.
21:29After the Phantom comes the Banshee. The same shape, but with a lot more power.
21:37Shown here flying in front of the Phantom One, the Banshee is a success.
21:41Cementing McDonnell's reputation as a world leader in fighter aircraft design.
21:52In the Korean conflict, the Banshee offers aircraft carrier commanders a formidable ground attack weapon.
22:00McDonnell produces more than 900 Banshees in its St. Louis plant.
22:06And after the Banshee comes a single-engine, swept-wing plane.
22:11With this one, McDonnell pulls back on the power, but scores another hit.
22:16The plane gets mass-produced as a fighter and reconnaissance aircraft.
22:21Its arrival heralds a new chapter in aerial warfare, the use of guided missiles by the Navy.
22:31With a quarter century of military service under its belt, McDonnell unveils its crowning achievement, the F-4 Phantom II.
22:41The Navy and Air Force snap up more than 5,000 of them, and McDonnell grows prosperous enough to acquire
22:47the long-established Douglas Company.
22:52In the late 1970s, McDonnell-Douglas gets involved in Northrop's languishing F-17 project.
22:59They see the airframe's potential and want to bring it back to life by fixing the bugs and honing the
23:05design to fit the Navy's demands for fighter and attack planes.
23:10Though based on the bones of the old YF-17, the new version needs thousands of modifications.
23:16For Navy use, the wings have to fold to fit on a carrier.
23:21The plane needs more range, more powerful engines, and a totally upgraded cockpit in a completely redesigned front section.
23:32McDonnell's St. Louis plant builds the forward section and wings, but the bulk of the fuselage and skin come from
23:38Northrop's Hawthorne factory, using the original F-17 construction jigs.
23:44Thus, two relative latecomers to the aviation industry, barely in existence before World War II, come together for an extremely
23:53ambitious project.
23:56As of today, just a single F-18 Hornet costs $57 million.
24:05Plane manufacturers McDonnell Douglas and Northrop, once fierce competitors, come together to salvage the fledgling YF-17 project.
24:14The result is the F-18 Hornet.
24:21But before manufacturing begins, an advanced flight simulator puts the aircraft through its paces, accurately predicting its performance and suggesting
24:30tweaks to the design.
24:32The F-17, redesignated the F-18 and renamed the Hornet, moves ahead to the prototype stage.
24:40Naval officers and McDonnell engineers study a wooden mock-up of the first F-18 Hornet.
24:47The model illustrates what naval crews might expect of the real thing, before expensive fabrication begins.
24:54As a bonus, the YF-17 prototype gives pilots a sense of what the F-18 might feel like, only
25:01with a lot less power.
25:04But the new F-18 still hasn't hit the St. Louis production line.
25:08The Navy insists on one structural change, a more robust undercarriage to absorb the shock of hard landings and abrupt
25:16stops on a moving carrier deck.
25:17But this isn't the only modification.
25:25So, Mike, the Navy obviously needs to be able to stage its aircraft from aircraft carriers.
25:29Tell me how an aircraft that would have to be launched and recovered on a carrier would have to have
25:34some different design features put into it.
25:36This has to be built really strong so we can stop in just a matter of feet.
25:43The other is the landing gear.
25:45If you look at an Air Force jet, the landing gear is not going to be nearly as bulky, it's
25:50not going to weigh nearly as much.
25:52It kind of weighs the airplane down a little bit, so we've got to be able to get as much
25:56thrust out of our airplane as possible.
25:58But the airplane's got to be built durable too, so we can't really use a lot of thrust vectoring.
26:03But we will use the variable geometry exhaust to get as much thrust as we can out of the engine.
26:10The wings also need to be able to fold.
26:13And to be able to put high G-loads on and fold the wings, you're going to have to build
26:17the wings, again, heavy and strong.
26:20So we can fit all the airplanes on the aircraft carrier.
26:23So, again, we've got to get as much thrust as we can out of our engine.
26:26So with the folding wings and the landing gear and all the other modifications, it basically makes it suitable for
26:32carrier operations,
26:33but doesn't necessarily make it the lightest aircraft or aerodynamically perfect.
26:39But you've got to do what you've got to do to put a jet on an aircraft carrier.
26:41Yeah, there's a little bit of compromise between how much punishment the jet can take and how well it can
26:47perform,
26:47especially at high altitudes.
26:49But at low altitudes, it seems like the airplane's able to accelerate just as well as any other.
26:59Despite all of McDonald's modifications, the F-18 retains Northrop's basic Cobra design.
27:06The F-18 is a derivative of the YF-17 design, but materializes as a bigger and more capable aircraft.
27:14That's no coincidence.
27:27Heights, wires, and joints from California align perfectly with their partners produced in Missouri.
27:35The result is a superb fighter aircraft that fills at least two Navy needs, fighter and attack plane.
27:42That's no coincidence.
27:51Declaring all systems go, the first of 20 pre-production F-18s roll out of the McDonald-Douglas production plant
27:58to face the toughest test of all.
28:09At last, the big day for the F-18, the Hornet, born from the ashes of Northrop's Cobra.
28:16Service representatives and other naval dignitaries examine the born-again fighter, but the real test is in the sky.
28:23Take it to the air for the first time. The F-18 delivers as promised.
29:03At the end of its debut performance, the Hornet lowers its heavy-duty gear for a graceful landing.
29:21Before any fighter goes into service, the pre-production models get pushed to their limits and beyond.
29:28Each one of the 20 pre-production aircraft has to pass a specific test before the actual Hornet gets to
29:34fly.
29:37Some get tested for high-speed maneuverability.
29:42Others for weapons carrying and release.
29:54And another will face the grueling spin test, simulating a total loss of control.
29:59ksi
30:02ANGEN
30:03S com
30:03Pam
30:03P2
30:28SET
30:45Here the Hornet performs beautifully, quickly coming out of the spin and regaining control.
30:56An onboard computer tackles disorienting situations and sets the pilot straight.
31:04Will the computer stop you from over-geeing this?
31:06Yes, it will.
31:07In all configurations?
31:09The only way that you can over-gee this airplane is if you press down on the G override switch.
31:17You got a G override switch?
31:18In case we need to pull a little more than we need to, it's mostly for operational.
31:25We have so many flight control surfaces, the Legacy has the same flight control system that
31:32we do.
31:32Ours are just bigger.
31:33It will coordinate every move that you make with the stick.
31:38Even if you're at really low speeds, it knows what altitude you're at, how fast you're going,
31:44what the air density is, and whenever you move the stick, the airplane just calculates what
31:49it thinks that you want to do.
31:51Yeah.
31:52And it'll just perfectly coordinate the rudder, the flaps, the flaps move, the ailerons will
31:59move, and there's a couple of magic moves that you can do with this airplane.
32:03Magic moves?
32:04Yeah, that you probably can't do in the other, just because it's always perfectly coordinated.
32:08Well, the computer can fly the plane better than you can.
32:10I mean, most people, you know, shudder when folks say that, but a computer that has the
32:16ability to manipulate each control surface independently can do more than any single pilot can do on an
32:22aircraft.
32:41Tests continue on the Hornet.
32:43Planes face the Air Force torture test, subjected to artificial weathering that represents years
32:48of exposure to extreme heat and cold.
33:22This F-18 gets tested on carrier landing and takeoff procedures on a land base.
33:32On an actual carrier, there's no margin for error, no second chance.
33:41Simulated catapult takeoffs and high angle of descent landings put the prototype F-18s through
33:47their paces.
33:51In heavy crosswinds, the computer control struggles to keep tons of high-tech equipment traveling
33:57in a straight line.
34:00On November 3, 1979, the F-18 finishes its sea trials after 32 successful
34:06takeoffs and landings from the carrier USS America.
34:11The F-18 Hornet needs only about 2,000 feet of runway for takeoff in its normal combat configuration
34:17without external tanks.
34:28After a battery of tests on land, the new F-18 Hornet must be put through its paces on a
34:34real carrier deck.
34:37On the 30th of October, 1979, Lieutenant Commander Dick Richards makes the first F-18 carrier landings.
34:55Prototype number three gets subjected to continual testing at sea, performing constant touch-and-goes.
35:29maternity
35:34Finally, the ultimate challenge, a carrier landing at night, a test of the pilot as well
35:40as the plane.
35:57So, when it comes to the carrier landing, I mean, is it really as tough as everybody
36:01says?
36:02What is that really like?
36:03Well, it just seems like it happens so fast.
36:05Honestly, during the daytime, if the weather's good and everything, it can be fun.
36:13With the boat moving and the air flow over the carrier so many different ways, it gets
36:18a little sporty.
36:19You never really know what's going to happen, so there's not any time to really just relax
36:23and just kind of fly.
36:25You're always doing something, it takes a lot out of you just a little bit at a time.
36:30During nighttime though, it doesn't matter how good the weather is, I guarantee you there's
36:33not one single Navy pilot that enjoys that.
36:37I can't think of anything I hate more than landing on a boat at night.
36:40But you've got to do it, man, you've got no other option.
36:43Yeah, you have to do it, so.
36:49The prototype F-18 torture testing tells the Navy what to expect from its new, economical,
36:55high-performance aircraft.
36:57In the F-18, McDonald's clear understanding of the Navy's requirements and Northrop's brilliant
37:03YF-17 design have come together to produce a sophisticated fighter without compromise.
37:15After prototype testing, the Navy scraps plans to build separate attack and fighter F-18s.
37:22The single, versatile design will do it all.
37:31By November 1980, the Navy takes delivery of the first fully operational airframe, now the
37:37newly designated F-A-18.
37:40With great fanfare, the Hornet goes into commission.
37:46It's a proud day for the first squadron to receive the F-18, and a proud day for the
37:51entire Navy.
38:08Two-seat versions of the F-18 help crews get familiar with the plane destined to become
38:13one of the most important aircraft in Western defense.
38:19This is obviously a single-seat version.
38:22There's two-seat versions of both the Super Hornet and the Legacy Hornet.
38:27What's the primary difference or the reason behind those two different models?
38:32Well, for doing the FAC-A role, which is like the forward air controller airborne, that's
38:40the guys that circle around for doing things in the desert.
38:44And they'll spot where your target is and tell you where you need to go.
38:48Those airplanes have to be two seats.
38:50So that's the main thing.
38:52The person in the back of the aircraft, in that case, will have a lot of the situational
38:58awareness to talk people's eyes onto targets and things of that nature.
39:02And how about the A and the B model Hornets?
39:04What were the two-seat models in the Legacy?
39:06Were they just trainers?
39:08For the Bravo, yes it was.
39:10And then the Alpha, they were having a lot of problems with the engines, so that version
39:14wasn't around for very long.
39:17Nobody has the Alpha model anymore.
39:19It's gone.
39:21The Marine Corps has equal reason to celebrate the delivery of their first F-A-18s, coming
39:27to replace the Corps' aging F-4 Phantoms.
39:41When the F-A-18 goes fully operational, Marine and Navy pilots fly identical aircraft for entirely
39:48different missions.
39:49A testament to the Hornets' versatility.
40:01So, Mike, I know you've been asked this question before, but, you know, we've got to know,
40:05what is it actually like to fly this plane?
40:07It's really neat.
40:09The airplane can perform really well, especially down low.
40:12It can accelerate so quickly that, I mean, you'll be going slow, and then you want to go fast,
40:18and it'll pin you to the back of your seat.
40:19And then if you want to go up high, you can fly high, and you can fly really slow as
40:24well.
40:24Where other planes would probably go out of control, like, it's almost impossible to make
40:28this plane go out of control.
40:30You can go...
40:30I'm telling you.
40:31Yeah, it's not kind of work.
40:32So, basically, as a fighter pilot, you've got no complaints?
40:35No, not at all.
40:45The high-tech fly-by-wire system, the twin engines, and the sturdy construction all come together
40:51in one superior model that represents the Royal Australian Air Force's front line of
40:56defense for years to come.
41:00After Spain joins NATO, it also invests heavily in the F-18 after the Hornet bets the F-16
41:06in a fierce competition.
41:08Northrop and McDonnell must have derived a great deal of pleasure from that.
41:14In 1986, the U.S. Navy's famous Blue Angels flight demonstration team replaces the A-4F Skyhawk
41:212 with the F-18 Hornet.
41:26Commissioned in April of 1946, the Blue Angels were developed to showcase naval aviation
41:31and boost Navy morale.
41:36Each year, the Blue Angels showcased their talents between March and November, giving more
41:41than 70 performances throughout the United States.
41:46During their routine, six F-18 Hornets split into two groups.
41:52Blue Angels one through four move into the famous Diamond formation, while Blue Angels five
41:57and six break into lead and opposing solos.
42:03Throughout the show, these two groups will alternate maneuvers, the Diamond staying low
42:08and slow, performing mainly loops and barrel rolls in formation, while the solos astound the
42:13crowd by flying many of their maneuvers just under the speed of sound.
42:20The F-18s undergo significant modifications before they fly as part of the Blue Angels.
42:26The weapons are removed and replaced with a tank filled with smoke oil used in demonstrations.
42:33A spring system is added to the control stick, allowing the pilot more precise control of the aircraft.
42:41Just to maintain level flight during the standard performance formation, 40 pounds of pressure fights against the pilot when using
42:49the control stick.
42:59After a difficult start and a narrow defeat against the F-16 several years earlier, the Cobra, transformed into the
43:06Hornet, has arrived.
43:14With its newest design model, it has surpassed its original mission to play the hardest role of any fighter plane,
43:21a Navy fighter.
43:23By any standard, the F-18 is a great plane, a true winner, a survivor.
43:33An
43:35on
43:35on
43:43ON
43:43on
43:43on
43:43on
43:43on
43:43on
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