FA 18 Hornet Launch

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] Tactical aircraft operations. The United States Navy and Marine Corps are experts at it. Their knowledge gained through combat experience became the basis of a requirement for a new combat aircraft. The aircraft had to be a fighter. It had to be an attack aircraft and it had to be better and more efficient than its predecessors. Today, that requirement has been met. The aircraft is called the Hornet. And the Hornet has been [Music] launched. The Hornet is the result of an intensive design effort by the Navy, Marine Corps, and Macdonald Douglas. Hornet is a multi-m missission strike fighter designed specifically to Navy and Marine Corps requirements. It is a fighter and it is an attack aircraft for interdiction and close air support missions. Combining fighter and attack capabilities in one airframe. Hornet is replacing both the F4 Phantom and the A7 Corsair. The Hornet is the most thoroughly engineered and tested aircraft ever produced. Design concepts were confirmed with scale models in wind tunnel testing. These tests provided data to program the simulator. The Macdonald Douglas man combat simulator has been used to develop Hornet's weapon system. During the design phase, test pilots used the simulator to analyze aircraft functions and aerodynamic characteristics. Throughout the design and mockup stages, design features were reviewed by teams of Navy and Marine Corps aviators. Both military and Macdonald Douglas pilots have flown the Hornet prototype, the YF17, gaining valuable handson flight experience. [Music] [Applause] Macdonald Douglas began cutting metal for Hornet's forward fuselage and wings in 1977. [Music] [Music] [Applause] In June 1978, the center and aft fuselage sections were delivered to St. Louis from [Music] [Applause] Northrup. Heat. Heat. [Music] In late August, Hornet's 16,000 lb thrust General Electric F44 engines were [Music] installed. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the McDonald Aircraft Division of Macdonald Douglas Corporation and to the debut of America's newest fighter and attack aircraft, the F-18 A18 Hornet. The rollout ceremony was attended by guests from the Navy, Marine Corps, and members of the design team. Now, the F-18 multi-m mission strike fighter will be capable of performing the total spectrum of air-to-air and airto ground missions. And that great flexibility will enable Marine commanders to employ the aircraft as the tactical situation demands. The F-18's emphasis on reliability, maintainability will allow the core to achieve new levels of readiness, and capability without requiring additional manpower cost. Featured as the keynote speaker at the ceremony was the chief of naval operations, Admiral Thomas Hayward. And all here will be able to see from its lines that it's going to be a great airplane, a bird that will meet and probably exceed our highest expectations. The Hornet is certain to be a winner. [Music] Hornet made its first flight from St. Louis on the morning of November 18th, 1978. [Music] The profile of the flight consisted of a military power takeoff and a climbed to 10,000 ft with the gear down. We got to 10,000 ft and retracted the gear and after that slowly accelerated to 300 knots looking at flying qualities and engine handling. After reaching 24,000, we descended down to below 10,000 ft to look at the approach handling qualities. We looked at gear and flaps down at various speeds. And after we had convinced ourselves that the approach handling qualities were adequate and comparable to what we expected, we came again back to Lambert for our final approach and landing. I guess if one were looking for an outstanding attribute for a carrier airplane, I guess stability was the word that we saw on the first flight. It appears to have the agility required for a fighter and attack airplane and it also appears to have the stability required for the carrier suitability. The uh number one airplane will be primarily devoted to stability and control tests, some engine tests obviously and uh in the very near future expanding the envelope. So this airplane will be the u forerunner I guess and it will fly here in St. Louis for a number of flights until early in the year after we finish up here in the middle of January sometime while we'll move on to Puxit River and get on with the rest of the fullscale development program. With its successful first flight and those that have followed, Hornet is proving that it is what it was designed to be. The most capable and flexible fighter attack aircraft ever developed.