1Retro Design of F-117 Explained
The Lockheed F-117 and HB1001's distinctive retro-low-poly appearance stems from 1974 calculations using Soviet algorithms on computers that lacked the power to handle curved surfaces reliably.
2. In 2009, Air Force One and an accompanying F-16 jet flew low around the Statue of Liberty and lower Manhattan for a photo op, causing panic and evacuations due to the Defense Department not informing New York City's mayor or the public.
3. The United States Air Force's F-22A Raptor has a radar cross-section smaller than a bumblebee, making it nearly undetectable, and its radar changes frequencies over 1,000 times per second to avoid enemy detection.
4. An F-105D fighter jet, nicknamed Pussy Galore, boosted the morale of refueling tanker crews by featuring a naked woman whose genitals marked the refuel docking port.
5. In the 1950s, Canada abruptly canceled its Avro Arrow fighter jet program in favor of developing Bomarc nuclear missiles, leading many engineers to join NASA.
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6A-10 Tank Training Coloring Book
A-10 pilots received training on how to target enemy tanks using a coloring book, which humorously instructed them to "color the bottom of the tank green and yourself brown-you dumb shit. An A-10 will not fit underneath a T-62 tank and remain airborne."
7. In March 2019, a 64-year-old French defense executive accidentally ejected himself from a Dassault Rafale B fighter jet during a surprise flight gift from colleagues. Grasping the ejection handle to steady himself at over 500 km/h, he ejected himself at 1,300 feet, landing safely in a field with only minor injuries.
8. Because of its alleged instability at low speeds, the F-117 earned the nickname "Wobblin' Goblin."
9. The F-4 Phantom II earned the nickname "World's Leading Distributor of MiG Parts" due to its history of downing numerous Soviet-built MiG aircrafts.
10. To demonstrate the A-10 Warthog's effectiveness, its designers created a mock Cold War battle in the Nevada desert using over 300 Russian tanks acquired from around the world.
11Serbian Mockery of Downed F-117
After shooting down an American F-117 stealth aircraft in 1999, Serbian propaganda posters mockingly read, "Sorry, we didn't know it was invisible."
12. Capable of Mach 2, the MiG-21 is the most-produced supersonic jet in history and remains in service in many nations six decades after its first flight. It was also very cost-effective, costing significantly less than the F-4 Phantom.
13. On July 4, 1989, a Soviet MiG-23 flew on autopilot across much of Western Europe after the pilot ejected due to equipment failure during a training flight over Poland. The unmanned aircraft, shadowed by U.S. F-15s, ultimately crashed into a house in Belgium, tragically killing a 19-year-old man.
14. In January 2023, the F-35 fighter aircraft had 821 unresolved issues, slightly improved from the 826 problems recorded in April 2022.
15. The engine of the MiG-21 fighter jet can, in an emergency, produce 143% of its maximum thrust for two minutes before it explodes.
16Soviet Pilot Defects with MiG-25
In 1976, Soviet pilot Viktor Belenko defected to the USA via Japan, taking a MiG-25 jet with him. The USA returned the jet to the Soviet Union a year later, disassembled and categorized in boxes.
17. During World War II, engineers developed an ultra-long-range fighter by joining two heavily modified P-51 Mustangs into a single aircraft with a shared wing, creating the North American F-82 Twin Mustang. This aircraft holds the record for the longest flight by a piston-powered fighter, flying over 5,000 miles from Hawaii to New York.
18. On September 21, 1956, U.S. Navy test pilot Tom Attridge inadvertently shot down his own F-11 Tiger during a weapons test. After firing his 20mm cannons during a supersonic dive, the bullets slowed down due to drag, intersecting his flight path and striking his aircraft as he descended, causing a crash just short of the runway.
19. The A-10 Thunderbolt II has achieved more air-to-air kills than the F/A-18 Hornet.
20. During the Vietnam War, a damaged American F-4 Phantom fighter pushed another damaged F-4 away from certain capture by resting the second airplane's tail hook on its own cockpit glass and pushing it to a safer location. Both crews bailed out and were rescued the next day.
21F-14s Used Commercial Radar Detectors
In the early 1980s, F-14 Tomcat pilots on reconnaissance missions over Lebanon's Beqaa Valley used commercial "fuzz-buster" radar detectors mounted on the pilots' glare shields to detect surface-to-air missile radars that their aircraft's built-in systems could not detect.
22. Intel did not develop the first microprocessor; instead, a classified custom chip controlled the swing wings and flight controls of the first F-14 Tomcats.
23. On July 8, 1991, a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet shot down one of its own E-2C Hawkeyes over the eastern Mediterranean Sea after a fire forced the crew to bail out. To prevent the stricken aircraft from crashing into a populated area, the Hornet used its 20-millimeter Gatling gun to send the Hawkeye into the sea.
24. F-35 pilots must maintain their hair in the same shape as their initial haircut since a new haircut can sometimes cause their custom-made helmets to fit incorrectly.
25. In 1983, an Israeli F-15 landed successfully despite a mid-air collision that destroyed its right wing. After the incident, McDonnell Douglas, the F-15's manufacturer, initially claimed such a landing was impossible but changed their stance after seeing photos of the damaged aircraft.
