Greatest plane ever made - David Fravor: UFOs, Aliens, Fighter Jets, and Aerospace Engineering

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB8zcAttP1E
"Sep 8, 2020 by Lex Fridman

OUTLINE:
0:00 - Introduction
7:13 - Top Gun
12:06 - Navy pilot career
24:14 - AI is the third brain of a jetfighter
40:37 - Sully
47:34 - Landing a jet fighter on a carrier
53:18 - What's it like to fly a jet fighter?
1:05:22 - Greatest plane ever made
1:11:04 - The Tic Tac UFO story
1:49:16 - Intelligent extraterrestrial life
1:53:30 - Why aren't UFOs investigated more seriously
1:59:52 - Tic Tac UFO details
2:07:55 - What do you think the Tic Tac was?
2:16:23 - SpaceX
2:30:01 - Response to Mick West Debunking
2:48:24 - Was the Tic Tac a secret military test?
3:00:07 - Is the government in possession of alien spacecraft?
3:25:28 - Interesting UFO sightings in history
3:39:55 - Advice for Young People
3:47:47 - Meaning of life"

I love Lex Fridman. That David Fravor interview is reeeeallllllyyyy long though. He's an interesting, feisty little dude. I did enjoy his entire life story and the ufo sighting info even more.:)

Indeed. Longer than a Joe Rogan podcast. Looks interesting.

This is the most absorbing explanation of what it'a like to fly an aeroplane and all the learning that it entails. David Fravor is an extremely humble soul. He describes his memory of his interaction with a UFO comprehensively, in complete detail. I have never heard such thoroughness before, and he held my interest throughout.

I'm thinking El Sidious may have a different opinion:

HORNET VS VIPER PART ONE
https://i2.wp.com/cms.sofrep.com/wp-...00&ssl=1&w=800
“So which is better?”

It’s the first question aviation enthusiasts ask me when they find out I’ve been lucky enough to fly both the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet and the Lockheed-Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon. And like any good fighter pilot, my answer is almost always, “It depends.”

Like comparing a Ford Shelby Mustang GT500 to a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, it’s a rivalry that often boils down to operator preference and skill– a head-to-head battle that rarely disappoints and sometimes comes down to what one pilot had for breakfast, or how much sleep the other got.

Of course, in that comparison, there’s also the Navy versus Air Force comparison that also invariably pops up. Although fighting under the same Department of Defense under the same American flag, the two services can be drastically different, affecting how each aircraft is employed.

In this series, I’m going to give my perspective from an operator’s point of view. Beyond the rivalries and the rhetoric, we’ll take a look at some of the basic differences in piloting America’s lightweight strike fighters.

https://i2.wp.com/fightersweep.com/w...30%2C420&ssl=1
A Legacy F/A-18C Hornet from VFA-106 "Gladiators" in a stunning celebratory "30 Years of Hornet" paint scheme simulates a bolter while performing at the NAS Oceana Airshow

The competition between the Hornet and the Viper began at birth. As a result of Vietnam-era lessons learned in dogfighting, the Air Force called for a new lightweight fighter with a high thrust-to-weight ratio in the early 1970s. Out of the five finalists participating in the Lightweight Fighter Program, the YF-16 and YF-17 were born.

Put forth by Northrop, the YF-17 “Cobra” was derived from the F-5E and featured longer fuselage leading-edge root extensions, two powerful General Electric YJ101-GE100 turbofan engines, partial fly-by-wire control, and twin vertical stabilizers. In testing, the aircraft attained a top speed of Mach 1.95, a peak load factor of 9.4G, and demonstrated the ability to sustain 34 degrees angle of attack in level flight.

At its plant in Fort Worth, TX, General Dynamics rolled out its YF-16 competitor. Like the YF-17, the YF-16 was a 9G-capable supersonic fighter weighing in at just under 20,000 pounds. The single tail fighter had only one engine, sharing the same Pratt and Whitney F100 engine as the F-15.

https://i1.wp.com/fightersweep.com/w...3/DSC_4215.jpg
The 482 FW Flagship taxis out to depart Patrick AFB, FL during the Cocoa Beach Airshow.

The competition was fierce, but on January 13, 1975, the Air Force declared the YF-16 to be the winner, citing superior acceleration, climb rates, endurance, turn rates, and engine commonality with the F-15. Five months later, the Navy announced that it had selected the YF-17 under its Navy Air combat Fighter competition, and the F/A-18 Hornet was born.

Forty years later, the aircraft in service today barely resemble their prototype grandparents. The F-16C Blocks 30, 40, and 50 have all been upgraded, sporting advanced radar software, datalink, color displays, and helmet-mounted cueing systems. The aircraft has matured from a lightweight fighter to a capable multi-role aircraft that has seen combat all over the world.

The F/A-18A-D Hornet and F/A-18E-F Super Hornet have seen similar upgrades. The aircraft is bigger and more capable than its YF-17 Cobra granddad, but also heavier and slightly less maneuverable. It has traded some of its lightweight fighter capabilities to become a more robust and durable strike fighter.

Today, the missions of these aircraft are very similar. Both aircraft are capable of fighting their way into a contested environment, dropping precision guided bombs, and fighting their way back out. They are both active in the Middle East providing Close Air Support to troops on the ground using advanced targeting pods, and both aircraft can be called upon to provide defensive counter-air to protect high value targets like ships and air bases from air threats.


I’ve been fortunate to fly the F-16 Block 25, 30, and 42 as well as the F/A-18A,B,C and D. Although I have four times as many hours in the F-16 as I do in the F/A-18, I think both jets are phenomenal aircraft, and in the right hands, they’re equally deadly to a potential adversary. There are hundreds of pilots that have flown both, and I’m sure that if you ask all of them, you’ll get a hundred different opinions on the pros and cons of each. These are just my own humble musings on the topic.

https://i1.wp.com/fightersweep.com/w...30%2C418&ssl=1
A Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet departs the beach in spectacular fashion.

With that said, as I go through these comparisons, some of the differences are nothing more than different ways of doing business between the Air Force and Navy. To Air Force guys, some of the Navy methods may leave them scratching their noggins, while the same is probably true for Navy guys reading about Air Force techniques. A lot of it is personal preference and based solely on training. I was trained by the Air Force and transitioned later in my career. Most guys who fly both start out in Hornets and later transition to the Air Force and F-16s, so it’s important to keep that in mind.

So with the ground school/disclaimers out of the way, in the next edition I’ll talk about the differences in ground ops from suiting up to takeoff.

I've dutifully watched 4 hours of the above video... interesting. But I have to say I have never listened to a video of an actual UFO event that takes time to discuss right wing politics. From the beginning of the video I kept getting the sense that Fravor was not at the pinnacle of the intelligence scale, it was a recurring feeling and then ... it happened. Off he went espousing the notion of 'lazy' immigrants. Case closed ... that doesn't make him useless of course, he has had some unusual experience.

NAP,

He's a typical military macho guy and therefore likely has psychopathic traits. Doesn't mean he's a psychopath, but what struck me is when he said his curiosity about the craft was much greater than his fear. For 99% of the population that would be reversed. And it is a perfect example of why we need some of the warrior genes in some of the population.

They are the groundbreakers. He is a good example. He also said he became a top gun because he really wanted to learn to fly and drop bombs. That's not cool, in my books. Maybe he meant it in terms of defense alone, but this personality type isn't given to nuance and deep thinking. They are hyper active, and sensation seeking.

yeah, agreed ... it is the 'foundation' of psychopathy. He likely has it. His comment about the greatest stress for a combat pilot is after a battle landing on a carrier makes perfect sense. It is when the pent up 'excitement' lets loose and can be 'relived'.

Yep, kind of like serial killers taking souvenirs of their kills and using them to relive the experience, after the fact. LOL. Somehow poor old Fravor went from being described as humble by Kathy, on this thread, to being compared to a serial killer.

Here is someone who has all the "right stuff." Russel Williams, commanding officer of Trenton armed forces base, the largest base in Canada. I lived there when I was a kid and my father was in the air force. My father used to pull night shifts as commanding officer at that very base, once in a while. So this is personal to me! Very horrifying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvfK1kZbqEA&list=PLyNQObjyQKwQ_eJsxoHPMou-jBtJrn2rY&index=4&t=0s&app=desktop

ok, getting better ... i have more than a few connections to the 'military' myself. Not really ever been proud of them in complete honesty. My perspective has always been 'it is just a thing'.

When I was maybe 7 years old my dad sent me to stay with a close friend (he was my 'padrino') that worked at an Air Force base in Belton, Missouri, I believe it was. It started a lifelong fascination with jets and rockets and the space program. So when I went to work for the Manned Space Flight Program it really was a dream realized. I had always wanted to be an astronaut but veered severely off that path as a yute. I didn't realize until much later that 'minorities' were not allowed into the astronaut program anyway but I think by the time i came of age the rules may have changed. Anyway, as it turned out, it was a horrible experience as the 'politics' at all levels was stifling and by that time I had spent of good part of my life fighting 'restrictions'. I think that did me in, essentially.

You want to hear a really bizarre story, I figure i have to purge my conscience. My Godfather's wife had a very young baby, pre-lingual and I was curious in a very immature way as to what the hell could be going on in a baby's mind. I found out in a very unfortunate way. I had ridden with her to a bank with the baby along in a baby seat and so when we got there she asked me to watch the baby while she ran in and did her business. I said ok, as internally i did my evil laugh, no not really. So here me and the baby are looking at each other and my curiosity got the better of me. I made an evil face with the clawlike hands and said "I'm going to kill you" sounding like Bela Lugosi (where I got such a notion is a long story but it has to do with movies and my older brother). The baby immediately started crying and never stopped whenever I was in its presence alone. I was truly traumatized and at one point, I casually asked my 'aunt' if baby's could understand what people say. She responded, of course, and I went into a jet-like tailspin. I've never forgotten doing that or the guilt I felt after it had happened. It's funny that I don't ever remember bringing that up in a confessional, but I think I'm covered nonetheless.

Wow, NAP,

Say ten, "Hail Mary, I am going to kill you!" and you should be fine! Babies get over things in a heart beat. I am sure she wasn't traumatized by it!

Very interesting about your interest in jets and the space program. Did this spark an interest in ufos?

yeah, I have to believe it did ... my science fiction half has always been into UFOs, It is hard to tell which came first the above experience, comic books, or scifi books. During summers though, I was a pretty good athlete and played basebal with a passion, but I would spend all of my freetime at the library checking out books, at pretty much the same age. I remember my proudest day was when I ran out of books to read at the kid's library and bravely went marching up the adult library's huge stone steps. That was when I started reading Mike Mars books. Mars is the name, Astronaut is the 'something', Rockets are the 'something', and Space is the game!. I went to my first UFO presentation at our local university when I was 10. It featured Frank Edwards of "Flying Saucers, Serious Business" fame.

I realized after reviewing the competition article that I personally developed the color displays and was personally requested to be on the team that implemented the helmet cuing system but by that time had moved to Houston with my new wife and soon to come baby girl. I left the F-16 program disappointed by a new manager that was a gay a-hole. He wasn't a bad guy because of his sexual orientation or the fact that he disregarded that we were fellow alumni but because he treated me like an idiot that needed constant 'supervision'. I could tell you an absolutely funny story about him but naw! The biggest reason I was unhappy was because I failed to gain a specialized security clearance (I wanted access to the aliens). The investigating group lied about my background and I told the truth. They won, but I was assured that I would get the clearance 'later' but I was done with it by that time.

"Here is someone who has all the "right stuff." Russel Williams, commanding officer of Trenton armed forces base, the largest base in Canada. I lived there when I was a kid and my father was in the air force. My father used to pull night shifts as commanding officer at that very base, once in a while. So this is personal to me! Very horrifying."

classic.

I had a friend/acquaintance in middle school ... good athlete, top student and after one friday night a murderer. He had a paper route with a woman that he apparently took a fancy too. So he killed her.

predators will generally stay within their hunting grounds ... only venturing to the edges rarely beyond. Even the travelers and they travel a lot, constantly actually, it is the prelude ... determining a potential victim, then careful watching to establish victim patterns, and so on. Return to the crime ... i think motivated by a very perverse need, necrophilia.

and there always is the MO history of escalation of daring and crime perpetration