Bremspropeller

A handful (seven) of test launches were performed at Lechfeld. The project was killed, not least becauseof the re-arrangement of NATO towards flexible response. The only thing to come out of it was the retrofit to the Martin Baker seat for the entire fleet, starting in '69.

Arid means dry and hence a pretty brownish terrain. The Spanish mainland is very dry in summer. The eastern Canarias are very dry throughout the year - the others have a slightly more humid side and a dryer side.

I think Okinawa, up the Ryu-Kyus and onto southern Kyushu could be doable and desirable. Certainly makes more sense than Iwo Jima as a standalone, even though adding Iwo onto the Mariannas map could be feasible.

While the conflict on a broader scheme is interesting, it would be another arid and somewhat sandy map.

Not sure abut that one, when all the DCS video'fluencers are basicly flying the Lightning design-mission: Take off in severe clear wether, with too little fuel to "increase performance", kill a couple of dudes in epic high-angle-off gun-engagements and then crash while trying to land ("...haven't read that page of the book yet..."). The EEL's the perfect jet for those fellas.

So, what about the F-8? Is it still planned and progressing, or has it meanwhile been abandonned?

Weren't there Victors in the air most of the time to support EELs farther out over the North Sea? I mean, it is a compelling AEROPLANE, but the cockpit and it's overall aesthetics are a b-side Monty Python sketch. F.2A out of Gütersloh go brrrr...

Agree 100% Btw, if you can read Dutch (which is sorta "drunk German"), this book is also worth looking into: null

I wasn't, but at some time I became interested in the whole 104 affair and it soon showed that lots of strong opinins on the jet aren't based on proper understanding. That in large part is due to the smear campaigns by the press, wanting to hit back at FJ Strauss who had a news-magazine raided earlier. And because journos like to copy each other instead of actually going for a story. The story should not have been based on the "$h1tty jet", but on the fact that the whole organisation was incapable of technically and logistically supporting it, while other, smaller nations did a much better job. That was in part due to the 10-year post war hiatus of operting any kind of aeroplanes, but that's also a convenient excuse for organisational blunder. Parallels to current events are purely coincidental... For people that are actually interested in the 104G/ CF, get a copy of this book. It does a good job of explaining the strenghts and weaknesses of the 104 in it's recce and strike mission in the RCAF (mostly OPS'ing over Germany) and the general state of mind of 1960s and '70s Starfighter pilots. It helps understanding why so many jets crashed, flying an inherently dangerous mission - all weather low level strike and reconnaissance. I can't recommend this book highly enough - if you can only own one book on the 104, it should be this one. It's been out of print for a long time, but it should surface in the bay every once in a while: null

They decided to buy it for several reasons: - one-size-fits-all "multirole" aircraft, which on paper the 104 did rather well - best performance available at the point of contract-signing out of any aircraft "available" (the F-104G specs were just a paper plane at this time) - customization by Lockheed into the specs that the Euro Air Forces wanted; no hand-me-down USAF (SAC-heavy at this point) aircraft - liberal contracting of local construction of airframes and engines (tech transfer) - INS, NASARR (F-105 radar), IRST - high speed and good range at low level (about 1.5 times the range of an F-4 for a nuke profile) - when the contract was signed, it was assumed that conflicts were going to be nuclear; conventional capability was not considered to be overly important The following F-4 replacements came in: - RF-4E replacing the RF-104G (in GAF service a useless jet without radar) in AG 51 and AG 52 - F-4F replacing 104Gs in JG 71 and JG 74 - F-4F replacing 104Gs in JaboG 36 The F-4s that replaced the 104 in the GAF were F-4Fs without Sparrow capability. The GAF didn't have use for Sparrows due to their limited air defense mission. JaboG 36 was a conventional-only unit, which made sense due to the Phantom's better conventional attack capabilty (which was even limited in the F-4F vs the F-4E). The other conventional-only unit (JaboG 32) wasn't converted to F-4s and later converted to Tornados (like the nuke-Geschwader 104s and the Marineflieger), which came roundabout a decade later.

Have you tried the JULIs yet? As they have the Lima seekers, it might also SEAM. Never tried it TBH.

Hitting the cage button prematurely can actually help locking up a little sooner as you don't have to fly the boresight onto the bogey first. I usually hit the button when the other guy's sitting on top of the HUD glass. ('ish...) Results may vary.

The thumbnail shows the TE flaps out. Not sure where that footage is taken, though.

Gotta be fully swung out, as the TE hi lift devices are out. Ze german shelters were used at 45° sweep IIRC.