I love the B-52. I love driving through Bossier City/Shreveport and having a B-52 slide over the runway- making a landing. I was there all this past weekend, and didn't see a single B-52 flying.

But, nothing is more beautiful than seeing a B-1 cross a mountain range, then dip into a valley (the valley we just happened to be in) making a high speed pass. I saw that when I was at a location in New Mexico.

We weren't allowed to have cameras, but I will always have the memory.

Beautiful jet.

As for Stealths: I saw F-117's every morning, flying, while being chased by a lear jet. It might not be visible to radar, but that is one loud SOB. Nothing a guy with a stinger couldn't take out.

 

W3RD!

 

I'd take that bet.

Won't elaborate, but the stinger is IR guided, and the combination of a special exhaust, and "other" countermeasures would easily defeat the stinger's guidance system. Heck, just using some of the "other" countermeasures, I was onboard an H-60 Hawk that neither a stinger, nor a sidewinder was able to lock on to.

Now, the golden BB with an RPG, that's possible, or an unguided shot by a stinger, but that would be one hell of a lucky shot.

 

I hear ya AK... I'm just saying, with a clear line of sight, low altitude flight (they were less than 300 feet, easy) and being hotter than anything else around, I'd put my money on the stinger.

Yeah, I've heard of the RPG's taking out our choppers. Most guys wouldn't know how to engage a moving target, but a stationary one might want to cancel Christmas.

But, in combat, with an alert pilot, at combat speed, with our IFF systems, chaff, flares, electronic, and all the other stuff at the ready. Yeah, it'd be hard for us to shoot down our own planes with our own equipment.

IFF disabled, or a stinger-like enemy system.

>>Pop the Canopy<<

Hey, I've flown in a UH-60 in South Korea. There were about 12 of us strapped in, with the doors open- cold as Hell. The pilot was doing high speed, nap of the earth flying, right above tree-top level- along side the mountains and valleys. We took a 45-minute ride. Let me tell ya, that put any rollercoaster I've ever ridden on, to shame. I found new respect for the blackhawk that day...

Prior to that, I'd have taken a Huey over a Blackhawk anyday. The black hawk is bad.

I've been out a while, but I wonder if they ever made any blackhawk gunships, they way they did with the old UH-1.

 

Those AA-11 will jack u up though. Once they get a lock there isnt much home for breakin it.

 

There are new stinger's which are a lot better than the older stingers from the mid 90's. They use NUV/IR which is tracking on the shadow of a plane. You can't get rid of planes shadow. I've been dealing with Stinger's and Avengers the last 10 years of my military career.

 

The 160th SOAR has a version called the "DAP" or Direct Action Penetrator. It has the ESSS (wings) like the one in my sig, except it has a combination of 30mm chain gun, 2.75" rockets, .30 cal miniguns, 40mm grenade launcher, and hellfire missiles. It's one bad a$$ bird. More iron than the Apache, and can fly circles around it too.

I wish I could go into detail, but there are active countermeasures on most US aircraft that can defeat stinger (and avenger)... I've flown against them both in excercise, and they were not able to get a kill on us... over repeated attempts. It's a combination of tactics and hardware. The LT in charge of the Avenger detatchment bought us beer at the last Cope Thunder Excercise at Eilson AFB, AK. It's no longer an issue of being the hottest thing in the sky to look at, or even casting a shadow... there are other means to beat it (that's the part we can't talk about). Even the A-10 guys were having a cast iron mother****er of a time getting a lock on us with AIM-9's, and they had a lot more gunsight exposure time on us than the guys on the ground.

Of course, once the A-10's said screw the missiles and started yelling "guns guns guns" over the radio, it was all over for us.

 

I used to live in Bossier City. There was always something going on (training-wise) at Barksdale AFB. It was cool watching all the different plane flying overhead.

 

And Philly. Shoot, might as well clean out NJ while they are at it. (sorry LT)

 

Turns out those puppies were locked and loaded and ready to go.

Someone sure F-ed up there.

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