Was whatching a show the other night and heard somoned call the new E model bug a RINO, maybe you have already coverd this but, is this right?
well the Rhino is one of many unofficial nicknames for the F/A-18E one of the other nicknames is the Super Bug.
Yup! You heard right. For some reason people think the IFF/interrogator antenna on the upper nose (just aft of the gun port) looks like a Rhino horn (?) Go figure! Frank
Wasn’t the F-4 Phantom referred to as the Rhino?
Can’t the US Navy be more original?
Don
It seems to me they use “Rino” on the carrier to make sure of major weight differences between the Bug and Super Bug when dialing int the lauching and arresting gear. I think I got that from one of the shows on TV. The later F-4s were referred to as “Rino’s”.
well if the name fits, like the old Republic aircraft, the P-47, F-84, F-105, and the A-10 where known (and known) as Hawg’s by the pilots & ground crews who worked them,