The high profile of airplanes of the U. S. Air Force at this year’s NAS Oceana Airshow was very strong. Apart from the almost mandatory flight presentation of a Boeing F-15C Eagle of the nearby Langley AFB, there was also a very rare and interesting display of the Air Force’s newest turbo-trainer, the Raytheon T-6A Texan II, a license version of the Pilatus Pc-9. This small agile machine gave an impressive demonstration of its abilities. This agile highly manoeuvrable basic trainer reaches a maximum speed of 573 km/h. Beside the U. S. Air Force also the Navy uses this modern trainer as replacement for its old Beech T-34c Turbo Mentor. As already mentioned the Raytheon/Beech T-6A Texan II is based on the successful Swiss Pilatus Pc-9, and has a fully air-conditioned pressurized cabin and a stronger version of the PT6A turboprop engine in comparison to the original, (PC-9M = Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A -62/950 Shp, T-6A = Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-68 with a reduced output of 1100 Shp). A further characteristic is the strengthened windshield, which must be able to withstand a bird strike (assumed weight of the bird: approx. 1.8 kg) at a speed up to 500 km/h. Altogether up to 700 machines of this type are to be purchased till 2017, the current plan up to 2010 makes arrangements for 454 machines alone for the U. S. Air Force.

One of the most spectacular displays of the NAS Oceana Airshow 2004 was flown by a Fairchild A-10A Thunderbolt II of the 23rd Fighter Group/Pope AFB. The 23rd FG is the home of the East Coast A-10 demo team. The pilot, Capt. Kouchoukos, demonstrated the enormous agility of this not really gracefully designed, but very effective aircraft. Actually the A-10 should have been deactivated a long time ago; however it had proven itself in the Gulf War 1991 with a superior power of impact in the employment against Saddam’s armoured divisions. The heavily armed and armoured Thunderbolt II was designed particularly for anti-tank combat, and it has been in service since October 1975. Beside numerous guided weapons mounted under the wings, the A-10 has a 30mm GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling-gun made by General Electric with a rate of fire of 3900 rounds per minute. This powerful weapon fires impact-ignite uranium projectiles. When firing this cannon (sustained fire) the speed of the A-10 reduces by up to 70 km/h because of the enormous recoil. The pilot is surrounded by an armoured titanium tub. The two General Electric TF34 -GE-100 turbofans are very unusually attached above the fuselage with a relatively large distance to each other. This mounting prevents a sucking in of the powder gases when firing the mounted gun and ensures a high measure of security with hostile fire. The maximum speed is scarcely over 700 km/h, a value, which does not appear enormous at first sight. If one considers however that an A-10 needs only 7 seconds after an attack, in order to take the same goal again under fire, this value relates itself quickly. This time is sufficient in the rarest case to accomplish counter measures, if not enough to get the hell out of there!

The next U. S. Air Force aircraft on display came from the nearby Langley AFB and belonged to the 1st Fighter Wing. Of course we are talking about the Boeing F-15C Eagle from the East Coast demo team. This year’s display pilot was Major Bret Andersen, an experienced pilot with more than 1700 flying hours logged on the Eagle as well as 65 combat missions over Iraq. The great manoeuvrability of the F-15 is obtained by its good thrust/weight ratio as well as the wings small area loading. Having most modern avionics and a state-of-the-art weapon system the F-15 Eagle is one of the most potent air superiority fighters of the modern times. How successful this aircraft is, proven by the fact, that the American pilots have achieved a kill ratio of 26:0 in the Iraq conflict. Soon the powerful eagle will get some competition - in form of the Boeing F-22 Raptor. The 1st FW at Langley AFB is the first operational unit which will receive this modern machine (27th Fighter Squadron).

In addition, beside that admittedly somewhat loud F-15 other aircraft impressed the visitors, perhaps less by their speed or manoeuvrability, than rather by their enormous size. The sight of a Lockheed C-5B Galaxy from close proximity already takes ones hat off. Even a Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker is dwarfed against it. This enormous wide-body transport had its first flight on 30th of June 1968 and has been in operational service since June 1970. During the Gulf War in the year 1991, the C-5 Galaxy fleet carried more than 480.000 passengers as well as more than 510,000 tons of equipment. Even if the display of a Northrop B-2A Spirit ranks as aeronautically among the most boring, from what one gets to see at an US-American Airshow, this does not detract from the fascination of this machine. A short flyby (also with a little luck two!) can hardly be called a flight demonstration.  Actually the B -2 bomber is always on a training mission and "nips down there", i.e. it does not specially come from its home base (Whiteman AFB/Missouri), in order to show a demonstration at an Airshow. But thus one at least has the possibility of seeing these unusual machines flying through the air. And honestly - loopings and roles are definitely not possible with that aircraft and even if they were, no one would dare to do it. However the sight of this futuristic design compensates for the missing action.

The U. S. Air Force showed a broad spectrum of its arsenal on the ground as well as in the air. From a trainer up to the stealth bomber - each range of military aviation was represented. Rarely one could admire so many machines of the Navy and the Air Force at only one event. Also this is a reason, why our editorship has voted for the NAS Oceana Airshow as the: BEST OVERSEAS AIRSHOW 2004.
We already look forward now to the coming year - perhaps the newest achievement of the U. S. Air Force is there already shown in the flight: the Boeing F-22 Raptor.

Robert Kysela, managing editor