F-35 Loses to Fokker Triplane

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.

LAST EDITED ON Oct-06-17 AT 04:34 PM (EDT) by Gryphon (admin)
 
You forgot to escape the JPEG extension. DCF doesn't know what to do with links to raw images. --G.

There was an issue of Marvel's run of "G.I. Joe" that had a similar situation, where an odd little plane called the Mudfighter dealt with several of Cobra's fighter jets by being too maneuverable for them to engage well in a dogfight, and too low to the ground to be effectively pinged for missile attacks. I admit that the Fokker has more panache, though.

EDIT: Hmm. Not sure what's wrong with the link code up there....

Ebony the Black Dragon

"Life is like an anole. Sometimes it's green. Sometimes it's brown. But it's always a small Caribbean lizard."

I am instantly reminded of the Simpsons episode where Side Show Bob kidnaps Bart (again) and make his escape in the Wrights Bro's plane. Military sends a couple F-16s? after it and they just zip passed it. Next scene shows both pilots running after it on foot.

I remember bits of a story from a time travel anthology I read way back when, with an advanced missile-only jet interceptor doing a Final Countdown, going back in time to WW1 France, and going up against the best planes of the day. The pilot didn't realise until after he'd shot off everything that wood, canvas and rotary engines have a really tiny radar/IR signature... but made up for it by working out that same wood and canvas doesn't hold up too well to a much-too-nearby sonic boom.

On the gripping hand... can you say FOD? <wince>

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Unable to save the day: File is read-only.

Yup, I read the same story.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if we've now come full circle, and a modern stealth aircraft actually has a similarly small radar cross-section...

>Yup, I read the same story.
>
>That said, I wouldn't be surprised if we've now come full circle, and
>a modern stealth aircraft actually has a similarly small radar
>cross-section...

Inevitably reminds me of the Nachthexen, using their lack of technology in a clever way to resist a foe with superior technology.

------
Fearless creatures, we all learn to fight the Reaper
Can't defeat Her, so instead I'll have to be Her

Space Dogfights, 1992:
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?31396

I remember it for Glen Cook's "In the Wind" short story, but I remember your story, too. I just can remember which one it is.

I'm... not so sure of that, after looking at the dates for those stories. My best guesstimate is I read it no more than about 15-20-ish years back, and the tech level of the plane sounded like some Pentagon General's wet-dream-wishlist of about that period.

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Unable to save the day: File is read-only.

>I'm... not so sure of that, after looking at the dates for those
>stories. My best guesstimate is I read it no more than about 15-20-ish
>years back, and the tech level of the plane sounded like some Pentagon
>General's wet-dream-wishlist of about that period.

On a point of order, what about that last part is not exactly the F-35?

--G.
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>>I'm... not so sure of that, after looking at the dates for those
>>stories. My best guesstimate is I read it no more than about 15-20-ish
>>years back, and the tech level of the plane sounded like some Pentagon
>>General's wet-dream-wishlist of about that period.
>
>On a point of order, what about that last part is not exactly the
>F-35?
>
>--G.
>ED-E Is the Whole Idea

You be quiet, you. :)

(But you're not wrong!)

>I'm... not so sure of that, after looking at the dates for those
>stories. My best guesstimate is I read it no more than about 15-20-ish
>years back, and the tech level of the plane sounded like some Pentagon
>General's wet-dream-wishlist of about that period.

Further investigation shows I was thinking of the story "Hawk Among the Sparrows" from the collection I referenced.

A quick summary (from
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/dean-mclaughlin/hawk-among-the-sparrows/): "The title story sets the pilot of a supersonic armed--with nukes, of course--reconnaissance jet amid the seat-of-the-pants heroism of a WW I French airfield--where his 89-foot-long VTOL Mach n miracle is suddenly all but useless against the battered biplanes of the Hun."

That's definitely the story I remember. It may not be the one you remember. The plot isn't that original.

Also note the _Space Dogfights_ was published in 1992. In spite of the age of its stories, the book itself can fit your timeframe.

>>I'm... not so sure of that, after looking at the dates for those
>>stories. My best guesstimate is I read it no more than about 15-20-ish
>>years back, and the tech level of the plane sounded like some Pentagon
>>General's wet-dream-wishlist of about that period.
>
>Further investigation shows I was thinking of the story "Hawk Among
>the Sparrows" from the collection I referenced.

Whoops, yes, that is the one I read. Older than I remember, which threw me off a bit; while the description is a bit vague, I always visualised the plane as something like one of the recent stealth-ish designs, scaled up to the size of an Aardvark or Vigilante.

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Unable to save the day: File is read-only.

That reminds me of something I once read about the Israeli war of independence. IIRC, they only had a few Piper Cubs (or thereabouts) that they would toss grenades from as reconnaissance bombers, and were no match against the Egyptian fighters. But they could outmaneuver them and stay in the air longer. So they'd find a tree in the open and spin tight circles around it (using it as a point of reference), making it nearly impossible to hit them. Then they'd just keep doing that until the enemy fighter ran low on gas and had to go home.

Of course, just the thought of that makes me dizzy, but it apparently worked...

[...] in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.
-- David Ben Gurion
EPU RCW #π
#include <stdsig.h>

Tactics and playing to your strengths can make up for some tech disparities.

There are stories to be written there, and possibly some money to be made. Forex, there was an old story in Analog about a storm chaser plane that got built to examine potential tornadoes. It was financed by the insurance companies, using modern materials and design to update the P-38 Lightning.