Super Hornet farewell tour
The venerable F/A-18 Super Hornet's days are coming to an end.
Now with voiceover! Click above to listen to this issue, scroll down for images and links.
“Aviation is proof that given, the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible.” - Edward Vernon Rickenbacker
On the radar
In February of this year, Boeing announced that it would cease production of the venerable F/A-18 Super Hornet in 2025. This would bring an end to over 40 years of continuous production of first the legacy Hornet and then the Super Hornet. The aircraft has been the jack-of-all trades for the Navy, performing in virtually all air to air and air to ground roles expected of a carrier launched aircraft, and even serving as a refueling tanker.
Still with the advent of the navalized F-35C, the MQ-25 Stingray refueling drone, and other specialized drone aircraft - the demands of naval aviation are beginning to shift. Boeing has stated that following the Super Hornet assembly line shut down, they will focus on other projects such as the T-7 Red Hawk and Loyal Wingman drones. The Super Hornet and legacy Hornet before it have flown countless cats and traps over the years, and proven themselves to be a reliable, rugged, and versatile airframe. It will be a history and somber day the day the last Super Hornet takes off from a carrier and could signal the start of the drone or uncrewed age. We will see, and rest assured that I am planning a tribute video for the Rhino when the last one rolls off the assembly line. One last note on the super bug: the original Top Gun featured the F-14 Tomcat, which was then retired (albeit 20 years later), the 2022 sequel Top Gun: Maverick featured the F/A-18 Super Hornet and now the ground work has been laid for its retirement - could it be 20 years later? Is there a Top Gun “curse”? Just some musings to think about.
This week in aviation history
On 13 June 1962, USAF Captain Richard H. Coan set an FAI Fédération Aéronautique Internationale world record for a distance flight over a closed circuit without landing. The aircraft he obtained the record in was a modified Kamman HH-43 Huskie, an unusual helicopter that made use of intermeshing contra-rotating twin-rotors. Captain Coan flew his Husky back and forth along a 12-mile section of California Highway 267 for seven hours until running out of fuel and performing a low-altitude autorotation to land. The total distance flown was 655.65 miles.
The Huskie would serve as a rescue helicopter during the Vietnam war, and crews gave it the call sign “Pedro”.
In case you missed it
Getting back to the Super Hornet, in the early days of my channel I made a two part series on the origins of the F/A-18 from its beginning as the YF-17 Cobra (an evolution of Northrop’s F-5) to the Super Hornet we know today. Here is the first video in that series:
Photo outlet
I never thought I’d see BOTH a Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane flying formation in the US, but that’s exactly what happened at last year’s Wings Over Houston Airshow. It was a surreal experience to say the least, and I was glad I was able to capture the moment:
The Spitfire is hands down one of my favorite airplanes of all time, and I am planning a video all about it - stay tuned!
Errata
In last week’s issue I had linked a video from my second channel, Histog. Unfortunately, the video did not have sound so I had to remove it and upload a new one. Below is a link to the channel, and there is now a second video about John Glenn. I think you will enjoy the animations of the F4U Corsair and F9F Panther I did, let me know in the video’s comments if you did and thanks for checking it out:
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That’s all for this week, thanks for reading! If you know a fellow aviation enthusiast that would enjoy these weekly newsletters, then please forward this along. Now you know!
-Tog