Air Power Series>1:72 die-cast display model>F-18>HA3522
McDonnell Douglas CF-18b Canadian Armed Forces "AETE"
General Background
The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet is a supersonic twin engine all-weather night fighter and attack aircraft. The F/A-18s first flew in November 1978 and the first production flight on April 12, 1980. The first 380 aircraft were F/A-18As and in September 1987 production switched to the F/A-18C. Variants A and C are single-seat aircraft while B and D are tandem-seats. The Hornet can operate from either aircraft carriers or land bases with the capability of in flight refueling. A total of 1,480 A-D variants were built.
The Aircraft
Canadian Armed Forces AETE (Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment) is located at CFB
Cold Lake, Alberta as part of 4 Wing. Also located there are No. 409 and No. 410 Squadrons.
AETE is responsible for flight tests as well as ground test for all types of aircraft operated by the
Canadian Forces as well as some civil flight testing. This McDonnell Douglas CF-18B (CF-188B)
was taken on strength March 15, 1983 and spent time with 410 Squadron and/or AETE. In May
2006 the aircraft received its one-off paint schemes.
Specifications :
| Number of aircraft purchased: | 62 CF-18A / 18 CF-18B |
| Crew: | 1 x CF-18A / 2 x CF-18B |
| Dimensions | |
| Length: | 56 ft 0 in (17.07 m) |
| Wingspan: | 40 ft 0 in (12.31 m) with Sidewinders |
| Height: | 15 ft 4 in (4.66 m) |
| Weight: | |
| Empty: | 23,049 lb (10,455 kg) |
| Loaded: | 37,150 lb (16,850 kg) |
| Maximum Take off: | 51,550 lb (23,400 kg) |
| Performance | |
| Power Plant: | 2 × General Electric F404-GE-400 turbofans, 16,000 lbf (71.2 kN) per engine |
| Maximum Speed: | Mach 1.8 (1,127 mph, 1,814 km/h) @ 36,100 ft (11,000 m) |
| Combat Radius: | 330 mi (290 nmi, 537 km) on hi-lo-lo-hi mission |
| Ferry Range: | 2,070 mi (1,800 nmi, 3,330 km) (range without ordnance) |
| Service Ceiling: | 50,000 ft (15,000 m) |
| Rate of Climb: | 50,000 ft/min (254 m/s) |
| Armament: | Nine Weapon/ Store Stations (5 pylons: 1 Under Fuselage and 4 Wing Stations) (2 LAU 116 located on sides of fuselage: deploys AIM 7 Sparrow and AMRAAM Missiles)(2 LAU 7 located on the wing tips: Deploys AIM 9 Sidewinder Missile), carrying up to 13700 lb (6215 kg) of missiles, rockets, bombs, fuel tanks, and pods |
| 1 × 20 mm M61A1 Vulcan internal Gatling gun with 578 rounds, with a firing rate of 4,000 or 6,000 rounds per minute | |
| Missiles: | Air-To-Air - AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-7 Sparrow |
| Air-to-ground - AGM-65 Maverick, CRV7 rockets | |
| Bombs - Paveway, Mk 82, Mk 83, Mk 84, GBU-10, -12, -16 and -24 laser guided bombs | |
| Avionics: | Raytheon AN/APG-73 radar |
| BAE Systems AN/APX-111 IFF | |
| Rockwell Collins AN/ARC-210 RT-1556/ARC VHF/UHF Radio | |
| General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems AN/AYK-14 XN-8 mission computer | |
| Smiths Aerospace AN/AYQ-9 Stores Management System |