Just had a question about the super hornet. Does anyone know why the air intakes look different on the super hornet? What purpose does this serve?
Scott
Better air intake and better performance for better engines.
[#ditto] What Ted said.
So does anyone know its new top speed?
New top speed is around the same as the c/d, about mach 1.8, because the super hornet is significantly larger and heavier.
So why did they make the aircraft bigger if it goes the same speed?
Speed, although important, ain’t the whole kit’n’kaboodle. To put it simply…
Bigger airplane =
- More room inside for gas and neat toys, with room to add even more neat toys as they become available.
and
- More room outside to hang a variety of other neat toys, including those that go ‘boom!’ or ‘zap!’, and those which pass gas…
There’s a helluvalot more to it than that though. This isn’t your Dad’s McDonnell/Dougl… er… Boeing jet fighter… it’s a much more capable weapons system than the old Hornets.
As to the intakes, not only do the enlarged openings provide increased airflow but their shape also produces a reduced RCS. (Radar Cross Section)
Fade to Black…
To expand on what Steve said, speed is needed only when trying to escape. It isn’t as much a factor of top speed as it is how fast you can get to top speed. Two aircraft in an engagement, with about the same top speed, the one that can accelerate the fastest can live to fight another day. All weapons delivery is at subsonic speed. The phrase “Going in fast, dumping your load” doesn’t mean going in at top speed. The speed is usually around .85 to .90 Mach. Most air to air engagements are in the subsonic range.
The F/A-18A/B/C/D did not have very good range. To make a strike deep into enemy territory, they had to carry three gas bags which limited their weapons carrying ability. The new F/A-18E/F can carry more internal gas which means more range.
To expand even futher, even the vertcal tail fins carry fuel in them!
Technically, the fin tanks do not normally carry fuel, but rather are vent tanks to accomodate overflow from the main tanks due to expansion of the fuel from thermal variation or overfilling.
I read that since the weapons pylons had to be changed and canted outwards, that they create enough drag that its not getting any more range than the legacy hornets? Anybody else heard this?
The size may be for increased intake air flow, but
the shape is for increased stealth capability.
cylindrical shapes = big radar signatures
The outward canted pylons definately create additional drag, but the Super Hornet still has considerable more range than the legacy bird, figuring just internal fuel. The extra set of pylons also allows two weapons stations and one fuel tank per wing, so you get more range without sacrificing weapons load.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
Wow. Thanks everyone for the information. It makes sense. I’m assuming the F-14 leaving prompted the new f-18F?
Althought the real reasons are always shrouded in mystery, I personally
think that a large reason for the F-18F was to serve as a pathfinder for
the development of technologies (such as carbon-fiber skins) for the
F-22 and JSF.
Prompted the new hornet? Mmmmm, not really. McDonnell Douglas had been kicking around a new hornet for years. After Mac’s A-12 program was canceled in the early 90s, the navy still wanted a newer strike aircraft and wanted a replacement for the F-14. The navy decided to kill a few birds with one stone going with the new super hornet to be the new strike aircraft and to replace the F-14 (and a few others) rather than spend money on an entirely new plane(s).
It’s kind of funny in that the super hornet is essentially an entirely new aircraft design that only resembles the previous generation hornets.
The A-12 is mentioned in this article about the Super Hornet.
A nice summation of the super hornet from that site.
If you don’t remember what the A-12 was going to look like, check out