Air Power Series>1:72 die-cast display model>F-18>HA3530
McDonnell Douglas CF-18B 188920, 410 TFS, Alberta, June 1997
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
CF-188B c/n 341 serial 188920 was taken on strength on August 21, 1984. In February 1995 the aircraft was reallocated to the 410th Tactical Fighter (Operational Training) Squadron, the "Cougars" at Cold Lake, Alberta. On November 8, 2001 two Finnish Air Force F/A-18Cs. HN-413 landed with the front half of the fuselage severely damaged so CF-188B 188920 was purchased. They mated the front half of CF-188B 188920 with the rear half of F-18C HN-413. On December 3, 2009 the "Frankenhornet" first flew and crashed one month later.
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 |