What Is The F-18 Hornet? F-18 hornet description and history

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The single seat F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather twin-engine multi-mission fighter. Mc Donnell Douglas developed the aircraft at the cost of 39.5 million dollars. On May 2, 1975, Mc Donnell Douglas aircraft had extensive background in designing a rrier fighter he main contractor for the F/A-18 and with Northrop as the subcontractor. It took seven long years to design and complete the F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18 Hornet was designed to perform both air to air-to ground missions. The construction work was divided into a 60/40 spit. Mc Donnell Douglas was responsible for the forward fuselage, wings, stabilizer, landing gear, the arresting gear, and the two engines. The F/A Hornet received its name from the Secretary of the navy W. Graham Clayton on March 1,1977. Navy ships were called Hornet so Mr. Clayton decided the F-18 would be called the ?Hornet.? The F/A stands for ?fighter? and ?attack? mission.The first flight made by the F/A Hornet took place on November 18, 1978 with Jack Krings at the controls. The test run ran 50 minutes at 550 m/h at the altitude of 24,000 feet. Krings found the aircraft very stable and easy to handle. Almost all of the flight-testing was performed at the NAS Patuxent River. There were more than 3,000 test flights and over 6,000 flying hours. The test program ran two shifts six days a week for both contractors and subcontractors. There were only two serious accidents that occurred during the flight tests. The first one was on September 8, 1980 with pilots Jack Krings and Lt.Col Gary Post. They were in the F/A-18 en route to Spain when the right turbine was rapidly heating up and the left turbine jammed. The men were forced to eject from their seats. On November 14, 1980 the second serious accident occurred. Lt.Col. Brannon, a naval test pilot lost control of the plane at 20,000 feet and crashed into Chesapeake Bay. A spin recovery switch was added to the flight computer?s logic on all future Hornet?s. The F/A-18 is used with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corp in Canada, Australia, Spain, Kuwait, Finland, Switzerland, and Malaysia used with the F/A-18. These countries found them to be safe, reliable, and easy to take care. The Hornet became very popular with the pilots because the aircraft could be converted from fighter to strike mode and back again. It was easy as flipping a switch. The F/A-18 proved to be exactly what it was designed to be a reliable and versatile strike fighter during Operation Desert Storm. There had been at least eight known combats that the Hornets have participated in. In August 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded and occupied Kuwait. President George H. Bush wanted to intervene and try to stop Hussein from overrunning other Middle East countries. The U.S. Navy flew ninety Hornets and U.S. Marine Corp flew eighty four Hornets. Only three Hornets planes were lost during the war. On the first day of Operation Desert Storm, two F/A-18?s, each carrying four 2,000 lb bombs, shot down two Iraqi MIG-21?s and bombed enemy target. This was the only time F/A-18 pilots ever fired in anger at enemy aircrafts. Other pilots have attached targets. The third Hornet lost was not due to hostile action. It was January 17, 1991 when the F/A-18 claims their first air-to-air victory during Operation Desert Storm. The cockpit is the main navigation tool. This is where all the information comes together for the use by the pilot. In order to have an effective cockpit design one must begin with a clean sheet of paper. In the F/A-18 the cockpit was divided into three areas: a. weapon and sensor, b. communications and identification, c. system mode and miscellaneous. The pilot can use his left hand to control the throttle and his right hand to control the switch for weapons. The best striking feature of the Hornet?s cockpit is the minimal number of switches and dials. The F/A-18 has a digital control with excellent handling pilots can fly with ease. The design was to cut down on the pilot?s workload. The Hornet has nine external weapon stations. It carries a wide range of weapons for any modern combat aircraft. The aircraft has its dual air-to-air and air-to-ground roles. A M-61 AI Vulcan 20mm cannon located in the nose is capable of firing up to 6,000 rounds per minute. It is a close range weapon. The AIM-120 is radar-seeking missile that is mounted on the wing station. The AIM-7F is another radar-guided missile. The heat-seeking missile carried on the wing tip. The AGM-62 was a TV-guided missile located on the outboard wing station. The above four mentioned are air-to-air weapons. The AGM-65 warhead was powered by rocket motor. The AGM-84 was a turbo-jet powered missile carries on the outboard station. The AGM-88 is a high spelled anti-radiation missile on another outboard station. Then finally yet importantly the rocket powered bomb. The weight of the aircrafts are 51,900 lbs. Length of the aircraft is 56 feet. Its wing is 37.60 ft long. It stands 15 ? feet high. When the aircraft is empty, it weighs 49,050 lbs. When the aircraft is fully loaded, it can weigh 43,500 lbs. The aircraft can fly up to speed at 1,305 mph. It has one crew member. The F/A-18 was a very thought out aircraft. It fought in many combats and is still in existence. Today, the F/A-18 still flies in combats. The F/A-18 have proved to be reliable and with low maintenance. A new plane called the Super Hornet now follows the aircraft. This project inspired me to write about the F/A-18 Hornet because I like watching the Discovery Wings on cable TV, when it talks about aircrafts. Through watching the specials, I plan to be an engineer in the future

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