Hobby Master HA3566 | F/A-18C Hornet USAF NF400, CAG Bird, VFA-195 " Dambusters", 2010

General Background:

The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet is a supersonic twin engine all-weather night fighter and attack aircraft. The F/A-18s first flew in November 1978 and the first production flight on April 12, 1980. The first 380 aircraft were F/A-18As and in September 1987 production switched to the F/A-18C. Variants A and C are single-seat aircraft while B and D are tandem-seats. The Hornet can operate from either aircraft carriers or land bases.

The Aircraft:

In the fall of 2010 the VFA-195 “Dambusters” began to convert to the new F/A-18E Super Hornet. VFA-195 became the first unit to fully equip with the F/A-18E. The callsign for VFA-195 for the CAG aircraft NF400 1648899 is “Chippy” so the name “Chippy Ho” was a natural, similar to “Tally Ho”. There have been 3 "Chippy Ho" marked F-18C's, Bu. No's 163758, 164899 and 164905. VFA-195 became the “Dambusters” because they took part in busting dams in the Korean War.

Specifications for the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C/D Hornet
Role - supersonic twin engine all-weather night fighter and attack aircraft
Crew – 1 x F/A-18C, 2 x F/A-18D (Pilot and Weapons Systems Officer – WSO)
Dimensions
Length – 56 ft (17.1 m)
Wingspan With AAMs – 40 ft 5 in (12.31 m)
Folded – 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m)
Height – 15 ft 4 in (4.7 m)
Weights
Empty
23,000 lb (10,400 kg)
Loaded – 36,970 lb (16,770 kg)
Maximum Take off – 51,900 lb (23,500 kg)
Performance
Powerplants
2 x General Electric F404-GE-402 turbofan Dry Thrust – 11,000 lbf (48.9 kN) per engine
After Burner Thrust – 17,750 lbf (79.2 kN) per engine
Maximum Speed
Mach 1.8 (1,190 mph) (1,915 km/h) @ 40,000 ft (12,190 m)
Range – 1,089 nmi (1,250 miles) (2,000 km) with 2 x AIM-9s
Combat Radius – 400 nmi (460 miles) (740 km) air-to-air missions
Ferry Range – 1,800 nmi (2,070 miles) (3,330 km)
Service Ceiling – 50,000 ft (15,240 m)
Rate of Climb – 50,000 ft/min (254 m/s)
Armament
1 x 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon mounted in nose with 578 rounds
9 x Hardpoints - a capacity of 13,700 lb (6,215 kg) with external fuel tanks and ordnance 2 x wingtip missile launch rails 4 x under-wing 3 x under-fuselage
Rockets 2.75 inch (70 mm)
Hydra 70 rockets 5 inch (127 mm)
Zuni rockets
Missiles
Air-To-Air 4 x AIM-9 Sidewinders
or
4 x AIM-132 ASRAAM
or
4 x IRIS-T
or
4 x AIM-120 AMRAAM
and
2 x AIM-7 Sparrow
or
Additional - 2 x AIM-120 AMRAAM
Air-To-Surface
AGM-65 Maverick Standoff Land Attack Missiles (SLAM-ER) AGM-88 HARM Anti-radiation Missile (ARM) AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) Taurus Missile
(Cruise Missile)
Anti-ship
AGM-84 Harpoon Bombs
JDAM Precision-Guided Munition (PGM) Paveway series of Laser-guided bombs Mk. 80 series of unguided iron bombs CBU-87 cluster bombs CBU-89 gator mine CBU-97 Mk. 20 Rockeye II B61/Mk. 57 nuclear bombs
Others
SUU-42A Flares/Infrared decoys dispenser pod and chaff pod
Or
Electronic countermeasures (ECM) pod
Or
AN/AAS-38 Nite Hawk targeting pod (USN only) to be replaced by AN/ASQ-228
ATFLIR Or LITENING targeting pod (only used by USMC, Royal Australian Air Force, Spanish Air Force and Finnish Air Force)
Or
Up to 3 x 330 US gallons (270 imp gallons / 1,200 liters)
Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for ferry flight Or Extended range/loitering time
Avionics
Hughes APG-73 radar ROVER (Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver) antenna for use by USN F/A-18C strike fighter squadrons Inertial Navigation System (INS) GPS 2 x mission computers HUD (Head Up Display) cockpit display Very High Frequency (VHF) omni-directional landing system Multiple-functioning Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display