Update – MDC F/A-18 Hornet

Operational conversion of US Navy and Marine Corps air and ground crews from existing types to the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is proceeding smoothly in the United States.

Conversion is taking place at the Lemoore Naval Air Station in California where VFA-125 is the operational unit in charge of conversion. VFA-125 is made up jointly of Marine Corps and US Navy personnel and has been converting crews to the Hornet since March 1981. Progress to date has been smoother than expected when introducing a new type to the rigours of flight training and evaluation with the Hornet being widely praised for its ease of handling, system reliability and the convenience being afforded to ground crews by the Built-in Test Equipment (BITE) in tracing post flight malfunctions.

In the air-to-air role, the VFA-125 Hornets have taken on USN Aggressor F-5E and A-4 aircraft in addition to F-14s from Fallon, Nevada. Pilots report that the Hornet has performed exceptionally well in the air-to-air role citing the resilience and rapid response from the GE F404 turbofans and the ability to fly at high angles-of-attack (AOA) at virtually all regimes of the flight envelope. The aircraft is basically stall proof while the Hughes APG-65 radar with its many modes allows functions previously performed by a two-man crew to be easily handled by a single pilot.

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