Jerry474 Wrote:
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> The discussion about operator and tools reminds me
> of something I learned in my Air Force days.
>
> While I was serving as Chief of Photography for
> the US Air Force in Europe, I got two back seat
> rides in F-15 Eagle fighter planes. The second
> ride was with a Lt Col who had flown F4s in
> Vietnam. He told me that our kill ratio in Nam was
> lower than Korea because the aircraft we were
> using (F4, F105) were not the best dog
> fighters....MIG17 and MIG21s were better at that.
> Since that time, the F15 has shot down 100 enemy
> aircraft with no losses. The MIG29 has about the
> same performance as an F15, so in this case it is
> the operators (pilots and weapons systems
> operators---WSO) that makes the difference.
>
> You do not have to have the best camera to be the
> best photographer, but it sure does not hurt to
> have the best.
I worked at the Luke AFB Command Post in 1976, and we were sending F-15 pilots and planes to do dissimilar aircraft tactics with the (IIRC) Montana ANG. Dissimilar it was, as they were flying A-37s, the slightly more powerful variant of the T-37 from pilot training, which we called "The Converter", because all it did was convert fuel to noise.
Anyway, the Guard wing had an old major who'd flown the little aircraft for most of his career, and the F-15 guys would return beaten after engaging him. "He whupped me and only pulled 3Gs doing it".... "He knows where I'm going to be before I do..."
Absolutely nothing to do with NG, and really nothing to do with photography. Just all to do regarding the operator...