Air International 1978-12
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??? - From Cobra to Hornet... The venomous F-18
Another view of the F-18A Hornet as rolled out at St Louis in September 1978.
The Hornet is the focus of interest on the occasion of its roll-out at St Louis on 13 September 1978.
Photograph of the first McDonnell Douglas F-18A Hornet prior to its first flight at St Louis, carrying Navy markings on one side of the fuselage and Marine Corps on the other. Sparrow missiles are attached to the fuselage "corner" pylons and Sidewinders at the wing tips.
McDonnell Douglas F-18 Hornet
The three-view drawing depicts the F-18A in its basic form showing the nine external stores stations and wing-fold provision. The additional side-view (top) shows the two-seat TF-18A.
Subject of the demonstrations in Canada in connection with the NFA evaluation, this is the second of two YF-17s built originally for the USAF in its LWF programme; the Canadian national insignia are for publicity purposes only and do not indicate that the aircraft is on CAF strength.
The two YF-17 prototypes have appeared in several alternative finishes since their first flights, at which time the first (photo) was basically natural metal and the second was in a mottled blue-white sky camouflage.
Progenitor of the Hornet, this Northrop YF-17 was demonstrated in Canada earlier in 1978 to represent the CF-18L, one of the contenders for the Canadian Armed Forces New Fighter Aircraft programme.
The two YF-17 prototypes have appeared in several alternative finishes since their first flights, at which time the first was basically natural metal and the second (photo) was in a mottled blue-white sky camouflage.
During 1976, the first YF-17 underwent an eight-week flight research study at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.
After the Northrop YF-17 design had been adopted, as the F-18, by the Navy, the second prototype acquired Navy markings as well as a revised paint scheme.