Layarteb
25-09-2005, 19:38
[Secret IC]
The airfield at Logan, West Virginia was quiet. Residents of the area were asleep. The night was cool, calm, and clear. In the sky, high above, stars flashed but the moon stayed dark. The airfield had a long history. It was located in a very rural part of the state, Logan being home to a mere 1,800. The city was not far from the Kentucky border, the entire area was just rural.
During the prototype program for the YF-19 and YF-24, this airbase had been selected because of its location. It was situated far away from anything important, on purpose. The base was imemdiately protected by a pair of SLAMRAAM units, M163A3 EADS units, and a single Patriot PAC-4 site about twenty miles away. Residents had lodged numerous complaints to the town committee during the testing program, especially when the aircraft were being subjected to low-altitude, high-speed testing. The aircraft had a maximum speed of 800 miles per hour at sea level and 1,350 miles per hour at altitude.
Now it was being selected for the test program for the newest fighter designed by the LDC. The program was the YF-37 program and if the aircraft passed all tests and requirements, then it was going to replace the F-15C Eagle and possible the F-15E Strike Eagle. Both aircraft were old and though still very capable, the F-22A made the F-15C practically obsolete and the advent of stealth had made the F-15E Strike Eagle almost obsolete. The ILAF had 2,200 F-15C Eagles, 640 F-15D Eagles, and 2,080 F-15E Strike Eagles. They would be either recycled, put into storage, or old, after replacement.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/us_2001/west_virginia_ref_2001.jpg
The YF-37 prototype was sitting on the end of runway 2L at 2300. The airbase was silent except for the aircraft, which was a wonder of modern science. The twin-engine, delta-winged, twin-tailed, single seat fighter with an all-moving forward canard plane, sat quietly at the end of the runway. It used the same engines as the F-25 Firefox, powerful, General Electric F404-X500 afterburning turbofans. Each engine, at maximum thrust, could push out 42,600 pounds on after burner and 31,950 pounds on military power. Empty, the plane weighed a mere 30,000 pounds. With 25,000 pounds of fuel, 30,000 pounds of ordinance, she weighed 85,000 pounds, maximum take-off weight. It was a wonder that the plane moved as fast as it did, which mainly was because of the enormously powerful engines. At sea level, the YF-37 was clocked at 950 miles per hour, 30 miles per hour faster than most of the fastest aircraft. At altitude, she could move at 2,000 miles per hour, just over Mach 3.0. Initial climb-rate was recorded at 70,000 feet per minute, the same as the Firefox, and it had a maximum ceiling of 90,000 feet. The fighter was agile as well. She stood 17 feet tall, 68 feet long, and had a wingspan of 52 feet. As massive as she was, the aircraft was rated to -4Gs and +10Gs. A specialized flight suit had been made for Firefox pilots, who could pull the same amount of G-forces.
As the aircraft sat on the runway, without weaponry, the pilot checked his MFDs. The cockpit was completely digitalized and not much different than the F-22 or F-35 cockpits. He had, at his immediate disposal, four MFDs. It was a lot for one pilot to digest and a two-seat version was on the drawing board but most Layartebian aircraft were single-seat. Few two-seaters were accepted, except for training purposes.
The engines were at idle, emitting a high-pitched whine from the front, almost impossible to hear. From the back, there was a low-frequency rumble. The plane could not be heard from the tower. The pilot fiddled with buttons and displays, checking everything as he sat in the night. He had his night vision goggles above his helment, which were integrated with his helmet mounted sight. He didn't need them at the moment, the illumination from the panels allowed him to see perfectly. Outside of his cockpit, nothing could be seen. The cockpit glass was tinted gold and black, absorbing radar waves and allowing for the pilot to have unimpeeded vision, even in direct sunlight.
http://www.xp-office.de/Mig35/Bilder/1_44_02_jpg.jpg
As the pilot finished his checks, he requested take-off clearance. The tower immediately responded, "Alpha Two-One, cleared for take-off." The pilot pushed down his night vision goggles, more like sunglasses than goggles, and pushed the throttles all the way forward. Immediately, the engines came alive, but their sound increased only slightly. As they surpassed military power and went to afterburner, they became signficantly louder but not nearly as loud as the F-15C Eagle was. The jet, weighing on a mere 55,000 pounds, more or less, jolted down the runway, at full power, picking up speed with every inch. It wasn't long before the aircraft was at take-off speed, 160 miles per hour, and the pilot pulled back on the stick. The aircraft lurched off the ground, into a 15° climb as the pilot retracted the landing gear. "Good take off Alpha Two-One. Good luck." The pilot continued his climb, going all the way up to 70,000 feet, where he leveled off, killed the afterburners, and set the throttles to 60%.
The plane was moving at 550 miles per hour and at 100% throttle, without afterburners, he could supercruise at Mach 2.0, at this altitude and weight. At maximum weight supercruise was limited to Mach 1.75. His flight plan was to, more or less, get the aircraft to Mach 3.0. As he flew south, he checked his MFDs again, setting them to their propper modes. One would be the engine data, another would be navigation, a third would be radar, and the fourth would be environment data. Once set, he turned about, coming to his third waypoint. Once he came about, he lit the afterburners again and the aircraft jolted forward, pushing itself faster and faster, through the sound barrier, through Mach 1.5, through Mach 2.0, and coming to a speed of 2,000 miles per hour, Mach 3.03. The plane darted over the terrain like nothing, covering a half mile every second. The flight data recorder in the weapons bay recorded everything and anything that there was to record. After ten minutes of solid Mach 3.03 flight, the pilot throttled back and back about to waypoint 5, the return home. He had enough fuel to get back to the base and plenty of it at that. He flew on at 75% throttle, moving around 780 miles per hour. He was, more or less, 300 miles away from his base, twenty-four minutes out.
The program was, thus far, a success. The plane had yet to carry any ordinance but that was coming. Fully loaded, she could carry 30,000 pounds of weapons, 26,000 pounds externally on two fuselage and eight wing hardpoints. The fuselage hardpoints and outer wing hardpoints could carry 500 pounds each. The next two wing pylons could carry 2,000 pounds each. The inner four wing pylons could carry 5,000 pounds each. The internal bay carried some 4,000 pounds. This would allow the aircraft to carry, in air to air mode, 20 missiles. They could carry up to 6 AIM-120D AMRAAMs or AIM-179 BVRAAMs internally, 2 AIM-120Ds or AIM-179s on the fuselage hardpoints, and up to 8 on the second and third groups of wing pylons. The outer pylons were reserved for AIM-9X Sidewinders, of which it could carry up to 4. On the four outer wing pylons, it could carry AIM-9 Sidewinders but not the inner set. The most inner pylons would be reserved for external fuel in the order of 600 gallon drop tanks. A standard loadout would see as many as 12 AIM-120D AMRAAMs or AIM-179 BVRAAMs, or a mix, and 8 AIM-9X Sidewinders. For air to ground missions, the plane could carry ordinance on the inner six pylons of the wing and the internal bomb-bay, giving it at least 4 AIM-9Xs and 2 AIM-120Ds or AIM-179s for air defense whilst it carried up to 28,000 pounds of ordinance for air to ground sorties. The avionics suite allowed the plane to carry any missile capable for fighter carriage as well as any bomb. Nuclear munitions were factored into the loadout, allowing the YF-37 to carry the most diverse payload of any fighter in the ILM.
The airfield at Logan, West Virginia was quiet. Residents of the area were asleep. The night was cool, calm, and clear. In the sky, high above, stars flashed but the moon stayed dark. The airfield had a long history. It was located in a very rural part of the state, Logan being home to a mere 1,800. The city was not far from the Kentucky border, the entire area was just rural.
During the prototype program for the YF-19 and YF-24, this airbase had been selected because of its location. It was situated far away from anything important, on purpose. The base was imemdiately protected by a pair of SLAMRAAM units, M163A3 EADS units, and a single Patriot PAC-4 site about twenty miles away. Residents had lodged numerous complaints to the town committee during the testing program, especially when the aircraft were being subjected to low-altitude, high-speed testing. The aircraft had a maximum speed of 800 miles per hour at sea level and 1,350 miles per hour at altitude.
Now it was being selected for the test program for the newest fighter designed by the LDC. The program was the YF-37 program and if the aircraft passed all tests and requirements, then it was going to replace the F-15C Eagle and possible the F-15E Strike Eagle. Both aircraft were old and though still very capable, the F-22A made the F-15C practically obsolete and the advent of stealth had made the F-15E Strike Eagle almost obsolete. The ILAF had 2,200 F-15C Eagles, 640 F-15D Eagles, and 2,080 F-15E Strike Eagles. They would be either recycled, put into storage, or old, after replacement.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/us_2001/west_virginia_ref_2001.jpg
The YF-37 prototype was sitting on the end of runway 2L at 2300. The airbase was silent except for the aircraft, which was a wonder of modern science. The twin-engine, delta-winged, twin-tailed, single seat fighter with an all-moving forward canard plane, sat quietly at the end of the runway. It used the same engines as the F-25 Firefox, powerful, General Electric F404-X500 afterburning turbofans. Each engine, at maximum thrust, could push out 42,600 pounds on after burner and 31,950 pounds on military power. Empty, the plane weighed a mere 30,000 pounds. With 25,000 pounds of fuel, 30,000 pounds of ordinance, she weighed 85,000 pounds, maximum take-off weight. It was a wonder that the plane moved as fast as it did, which mainly was because of the enormously powerful engines. At sea level, the YF-37 was clocked at 950 miles per hour, 30 miles per hour faster than most of the fastest aircraft. At altitude, she could move at 2,000 miles per hour, just over Mach 3.0. Initial climb-rate was recorded at 70,000 feet per minute, the same as the Firefox, and it had a maximum ceiling of 90,000 feet. The fighter was agile as well. She stood 17 feet tall, 68 feet long, and had a wingspan of 52 feet. As massive as she was, the aircraft was rated to -4Gs and +10Gs. A specialized flight suit had been made for Firefox pilots, who could pull the same amount of G-forces.
As the aircraft sat on the runway, without weaponry, the pilot checked his MFDs. The cockpit was completely digitalized and not much different than the F-22 or F-35 cockpits. He had, at his immediate disposal, four MFDs. It was a lot for one pilot to digest and a two-seat version was on the drawing board but most Layartebian aircraft were single-seat. Few two-seaters were accepted, except for training purposes.
The engines were at idle, emitting a high-pitched whine from the front, almost impossible to hear. From the back, there was a low-frequency rumble. The plane could not be heard from the tower. The pilot fiddled with buttons and displays, checking everything as he sat in the night. He had his night vision goggles above his helment, which were integrated with his helmet mounted sight. He didn't need them at the moment, the illumination from the panels allowed him to see perfectly. Outside of his cockpit, nothing could be seen. The cockpit glass was tinted gold and black, absorbing radar waves and allowing for the pilot to have unimpeeded vision, even in direct sunlight.
http://www.xp-office.de/Mig35/Bilder/1_44_02_jpg.jpg
As the pilot finished his checks, he requested take-off clearance. The tower immediately responded, "Alpha Two-One, cleared for take-off." The pilot pushed down his night vision goggles, more like sunglasses than goggles, and pushed the throttles all the way forward. Immediately, the engines came alive, but their sound increased only slightly. As they surpassed military power and went to afterburner, they became signficantly louder but not nearly as loud as the F-15C Eagle was. The jet, weighing on a mere 55,000 pounds, more or less, jolted down the runway, at full power, picking up speed with every inch. It wasn't long before the aircraft was at take-off speed, 160 miles per hour, and the pilot pulled back on the stick. The aircraft lurched off the ground, into a 15° climb as the pilot retracted the landing gear. "Good take off Alpha Two-One. Good luck." The pilot continued his climb, going all the way up to 70,000 feet, where he leveled off, killed the afterburners, and set the throttles to 60%.
The plane was moving at 550 miles per hour and at 100% throttle, without afterburners, he could supercruise at Mach 2.0, at this altitude and weight. At maximum weight supercruise was limited to Mach 1.75. His flight plan was to, more or less, get the aircraft to Mach 3.0. As he flew south, he checked his MFDs again, setting them to their propper modes. One would be the engine data, another would be navigation, a third would be radar, and the fourth would be environment data. Once set, he turned about, coming to his third waypoint. Once he came about, he lit the afterburners again and the aircraft jolted forward, pushing itself faster and faster, through the sound barrier, through Mach 1.5, through Mach 2.0, and coming to a speed of 2,000 miles per hour, Mach 3.03. The plane darted over the terrain like nothing, covering a half mile every second. The flight data recorder in the weapons bay recorded everything and anything that there was to record. After ten minutes of solid Mach 3.03 flight, the pilot throttled back and back about to waypoint 5, the return home. He had enough fuel to get back to the base and plenty of it at that. He flew on at 75% throttle, moving around 780 miles per hour. He was, more or less, 300 miles away from his base, twenty-four minutes out.
The program was, thus far, a success. The plane had yet to carry any ordinance but that was coming. Fully loaded, she could carry 30,000 pounds of weapons, 26,000 pounds externally on two fuselage and eight wing hardpoints. The fuselage hardpoints and outer wing hardpoints could carry 500 pounds each. The next two wing pylons could carry 2,000 pounds each. The inner four wing pylons could carry 5,000 pounds each. The internal bay carried some 4,000 pounds. This would allow the aircraft to carry, in air to air mode, 20 missiles. They could carry up to 6 AIM-120D AMRAAMs or AIM-179 BVRAAMs internally, 2 AIM-120Ds or AIM-179s on the fuselage hardpoints, and up to 8 on the second and third groups of wing pylons. The outer pylons were reserved for AIM-9X Sidewinders, of which it could carry up to 4. On the four outer wing pylons, it could carry AIM-9 Sidewinders but not the inner set. The most inner pylons would be reserved for external fuel in the order of 600 gallon drop tanks. A standard loadout would see as many as 12 AIM-120D AMRAAMs or AIM-179 BVRAAMs, or a mix, and 8 AIM-9X Sidewinders. For air to ground missions, the plane could carry ordinance on the inner six pylons of the wing and the internal bomb-bay, giving it at least 4 AIM-9Xs and 2 AIM-120Ds or AIM-179s for air defense whilst it carried up to 28,000 pounds of ordinance for air to ground sorties. The avionics suite allowed the plane to carry any missile capable for fighter carriage as well as any bomb. Nuclear munitions were factored into the loadout, allowing the YF-37 to carry the most diverse payload of any fighter in the ILM.