Tag Archives: F/A-18A

Celebrating 45 Years of the Hornet

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On 18 November 1978, the aircraft that would become the F/A-18 Hornet took its first flight.

Rolled out in September 1978, the first McDonnell Douglas YF-18A Hornet – before the F/A-18A– was marked “Marines” on the right

And “Navy” on the left

And, while the Rhino and Growler have come to play in a big way, a few legacy C and D model baby Hornets are still in the fleet.

A U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18C Hornet aircraft with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 312 flies loaded with six AIM-120D advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles and two AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles over the Pacific Ocean Oct. 27, 2022. (U.S. Marine Corps courtesy photo by Capt. Ryan Fronczek).

NAVAIRSYSCOM has put together a great, high-octane, 11-minute film as they continue to celebrate the bird’s 45th anniversary, looking back on its life and legacy through the people who have built it, flown it, and commanded the program office that sustains it: The F/A-18 and EA-18G Program Office (PMA-265).

Looks like the USMC wasn’t kidding about robbing F-18 parts from a museum

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Both the Navy’s Legacy and Super Hornet fleets are having devastating readiness issues.

Currently, three out of four F-18s are not ready to go to war (In April 2016, Lt. Gen. Jon Davis — the Marines’ deputy commandant for aviation — told the U.S. Senate that just 87 of the Corps’ 276 Hornets were flightworthy — a mere 32 percent) and there has been a scramble to find parts that has seen perfectly good airframes cannibalized while Marines have even gone out combing for parts on static display aircraft.

A few months ago U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry blasted the brass in a meeting of the House Armed Services Committee about Marines coming to a military museum looking for spare parts as the current sequestration-driven budget crisis, exacerbated by the ongoing and very real live shooting war against ISIS and company that gets little press, has left the Corps aviation readiness looking like a soup sandwich.

This was duly reported by military blogs and other media though some pundits later scoffed and argued it never happened or no such part was acquired.

Well, according to the museum manager, that of Patriot’s Point where a vintage F/A-18A on loan from the Naval Air and Space Museum graces the desk of the former USS Yorktown (CV/CVA/CVS-10), it happened.

The aircraft on display at Patriots Point, McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A-15-MC Hornet, Bu.No. 162435, carries VMFA-142 markings was was SOC Jun 27, 2007.

The aircraft on display at Patriots Point, McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A-15-MC Hornet, Bu.No. 162435, carries VMFA-142 markings and was SOC Jun 27, 2007. She was in a fatal accident in 1985 and rebuilt for display purposes, which may have been why the MCAS personnel came looking, since she had particularly low hours.

As reported by the Post and Courier

“We said, ‘Come on down. She’s yours,’” Mac Burdette said Wednesday at the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce’s annual military update, which highlighted the broad impact the Pentagon makes on the regional economy.

A team of Marines from Beaufort removed the part [a forward left nose landing gear door hinge that’s no longer manufactured] and replaced it with a manufactured duplicate that was suitable for display purposes but not for flight, said Patriots Point public information officer Chris Hauff.

“The Marines don’t tell us everything … but their plane is now fixed,” he said. “Whether they used the part, we don’t know.”

The good news is there are at least 15 other F-18As on display around the country– most of which are on military bases which makes it easier to cannibalize parts from on the quiet.

Unless that’s what already happened…