Two Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18 Hornets form up in preparation to conduct in-flight refueling while participating in Cope North 13 near Anderson Air Force Base, Guam, Feb. 13, 2013. The F/A-18 Hornet is a multi-role fighter designed for both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. Cope North is an annual air combat tactics, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise designed to increase the readiness and interoperability of the U.S. Air Force, Japan Air Self-Defense Force and Royal Australian Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Matthew Bruch/Released)
My mother actually went to Australia for 2 years to help train the Aussies how to fly these bad boys. They were so totally different in the onboard avionics then anything else they had ever used. She had been a head programmer on their HUD systems for 10 years already, so she got the nod from Boeing to go assist in the training.
I wonder if she ever met my dad. He works for Northrop and was working on this jet since I was but a little kid. He moved onto the f35 a few years ago, but this still feels like the family plane to me.
We flew the F/A-18A model.
So small compared to today's Super Hornets!
Did you know that the Canadian F/A-18's have a fake canopy painted on the bottom of the cockpit section? [link]
Awesome shot!!