speaking of ordnance, how come some sidewinders are blue and grey and some are just grey?
Just because it’s on the web doesn’t mean it’s true.[;)]
Not all the F-18’s are the same, the F-18E/F is a different platform than the F-18A-D, which means that if you can’t hang it on one doesn’t mean you can hang it one the other one, and vice versa.
The reason why you see some Sidewinders blue and grey is because those Sidewinders have a tactical paint scheme but are inert training missiles, the Air Force does this alot. The all grey Sidewinders can be live or inert, you have to see what color the stripes are. If they are all grey with no stripe then they may be just “shapes” the Air Force uses for training or they are static dispaly aircraft and are not painted correctly. All Sidewinders owned by the military should have the correct stirpes painted on them to denote live or inert. Remember, yellow is live, blue is inert, brown is live rocket motor.
You blew that argument with your previous post. 2 of the 3 aircraft you list as being HARPOON capable are current operational aircraft (albeit granted one is on the way out).
Reddog, I wasn’t asking you to violate security. I was merely looking for some first hand confirmation of some research material. I just went into my reference pile and found books stating that both the “legacy” hornets and the new super hornets are capable of carrying the harpoon and SLAM . Makes sense as they are going to be the only strike aircraft flying of off our carriers for a few years. I’m not trying to bust on you. I really appreciate your info. Thanks.
Joe,
The aircraft I listed was for who was cleared to carry the Harpoon when the A-7 was in service, not current operational aircraft but you are right, two of the aircraft are still in service and wasn’t thinking baout that. The info is not classified as you know but I don’t think it’s a good idea to just give out that info over the net, esp. for the F-18. Gerry W.
Drake,
No problem, I know you didn’t mean any harm by the question and the info isn’t classifies as I talk Joe, I just don’t feel comfortable posting that kind of info on the net.
Understood, thanks
No problem.
What an aircraft can carry and what it is cleared to carry is two different things. You can load anything on a static aircraft but to fly with that item loaded is differeent. Seperation test were performed to see how that item reacts in the air when released. It could be nothing but a shape of the fins that effect release on one aircraft verses another.
Even when an aircraft is loaded with a fictious load, it is some times taken as actual. A prime example is “F-102A Delta Dagger in Action” by squadron. On page 38 it shows a F-102A loaded with a TER and SUU-11 Mini Gun Pod. The aircraft was never cleared to carry such a weapon. By looking at the picture you can see there is no wiring going to the TER or the gun pod. Yes, you can load it on the aircraft but there is no way it would be able to fire the weapon as the F-102A had only jettison voltage to the wing jett carts and then only a very small amount of voltage. It wasn’t continious voltage and the aircraft had no wiring going to the pylon. It was nothing more than a joke that was later taken as truth that the F-102A was used in the ground attack roll in Vietnam.
Berny,
That’s not the case for the Navy, just beacuse you can hang it on the plane doesn’t mean you will be allowed. For the Navy you must have approved loading procedures and either a flight clearance, test plan or the configuration is in the Tactical Manual (TACMAN). In other words, you have to have written permission to load it on the aircraft or you don’t load it. If you could just hang anything on a jet as long as if fits then I can put 8 Sidewinders on a Tomcat.[;)]
It took a while, but finally I found this old thread to ask you guys a question: What would the FS # be for the blue used on inert ordnance, in particular a GBU Paveway?
Hi shaun68,
I can’t help you with the FS# on the blue, but after reading through the whole thread, here’s something else that might be helpful. The USN Newstand http://www.navy.mil/view_photos_top.asp has lots of photos of all things current in the Navy. I’ve been stumped on weathering patterns, colors and so on at times, and have often been able to find ordnance pix with a known color background. The background color has allowed me to come close enough. Maybe you can find some pix of inert stuff next to some of those grays to help. The search engine on that site works really well, and photos seem to go back about 5 years or so. You’ll find all kinds of cool detailing ideas.
Good luck, and if I find anything exact on the FS, I will post it.
-Rob Benson
I’m pretty sure the inert ordnance blue is FS35109. Model Master has this color in the MMII line. But, the color does fade with exposure to the elements so you can pretty much get away with any medium/light blue for inert bomb bodies. Tail fins, guidance units, etc. will still be the “normal” colors.
Joe,
You are correct, for Inert Ordnance the correct color is FS 35109 IAW MIL-STD-709C.
And as Joe stated the color does fade quite a bit on bombs. Just about all the inert bombs I’ve loaded were a light blue, almost a perfect match for the MM Light Blue that comes in the 1/4 oz bottles. This is because most inert bombs are stored outside and the paint fades quickly in the sun.
The fins and guidance section would be Olive Drab Green or Olive Drag FS 34087.
You can also paint the entire bomb OD and just put two blue stripes on the nose of the bomb body, this identifies the bomb as an inert bomb also.
Reddog
hi, i am building an a-7e from the VA-15, what would have been a typical bomb/ordinance load for the a-7, searching on the net hasn’t resulted in much help
thanks
Jason
Sorry to say that there really wasn’t a “typical” bomb load for the A-7. While we were on the ship we usually just flew Mk-76 Practice Bombs, those are those little 25 lbs parctice bombs that you see loaded on MER’s. When we did do live ordnance we usually did Mk-82 500 lbs general purpose bombs. 99 Percent of the time we did bombs from parent racks and only used MER’s and TER’s for the little practice bombs, flare pods and Marine Location Markers.
It just depends on what you want to put on it. We did everything from Cluster Bombs, Laser Guided Bombs, AGM-45 Shirke’s, AGM-88 HARMs and of course GP Bombs.While I was in A-7’s we could carry everything in the Navy’s inventory except for AIM-7 Sparrows, AIM-54 Phoenix and AGM-84 Harpoons.
If you are going to put the FLIR Pod on it put it on the right inboard station, that was the only station wired for it. I can’t remember if VA-15 was a FLIR squadron so check your reference. Not all A-7’s could carry the FLIR. In a Carrier Air Wing there were two squadrons of A-7’s, one was FLIR capable and the other was HARM capable, I was in the HARM capable squadron.
Now that I am thinking about it you can say the typical load out for an A-7 was one drop tank on one of the inbaord stations and a MER with six Mk-76’s on the outboard station on the oppisite wing from the drop tank. I don’t think that’s the load you want to put on your model so let me know what load out you are thinking and I will tell you what stations is most authentic for an A-7.
Hope this helps, any question just drop me an e-mail or post it here.
Reddog
Thanks fpr that reddog, i was heading the mk 82 way anyhow, so that makes it a bit eaiser for me
thanks again, nothing like having someone who worked on them for reference!!!
No problem, glad I could help. If you do Mk-82’s on parent stations with a Sidewinder on either side of the fuselage that would be an accurate load out. Also, if you are going to do the chaff and flare buckets in the bottom of the tail paint the little hole on the left side light blue and the ones on the right copper. We use to put the chaff (light blue tipped) in the port bucket and the Flares (copper tipped) in the starbord one. [;)]