NIVEAU 4 OACI / ICAO LEVEL 4 plus PLS 2222
B-747-8I, « I » for « Intercontinental ». You can see at the back of the four GEnx-2B67 engine nacelles the chevrons also called « cookie-cutters » which reduce the noise of the engines. This is a video of the roll-out ceremony in Everett (Washington) on Feb. 13, 2011:
According to Le Monde, and Reuters the Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff would much rather have American F/A-18 Super Hornets than buy French Dassault Rafales to upgrade the FAB – Força Aérea Brasileira, the Brazilian Air Force.
Mrs Rousseff would have stated that the American fighter aircraft would be superior to the Rafale when she met with Timothy Geithner current United States Secretary of the Treasury.
One may wonder why as the Rafale is almost superior to the Super Hornet in almost every skill as far as performance is concerned.
Last but not least, the radius of combat of the French fighter is far longer than its rivals. The Brazilian president is to make a decision presently.
However, and particularly because of the range difference, it would not be wise to reject the Rafale in a country as vast as Brazil. Anyway, everybody knows that wisdom has nothing to do with such decision 😉
Photo courtesy: © Xavier Cotton http://passiondesavions.blogspot.com/
The Russian MiG-35 multirole fighter was expected to take part in the Bangalore airshow this month.
However, her mysterious absence has been noticed by the journalists and the other 5 participants of the MMRCA (Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) tender. The F/A18F Super Hornet; the F-16IN Super Viper; the Rafale; the Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon; the Gripen NG; and the MiG-35 are in contention to win the $11 billion tender. The Indian Air Force will then enlarge its fleet with up to 126 multirole fighter aircraft.
After starting this video on the MiG-35, the Russian voice is dubbed in English with a delay of a few seconds:
The Swedish-made Saab 35 Draken was a second generation jet fighter. 644 of them were built. This fighter aircraft used to fly during the Cold War as early as 1955, and entered in service in 1960.
Maybe her particular double-delta shape was worth calling it « Draken » which means « kite ». She was more an air defense aircraft than a dogfighter aircraft.
She retired from the RDAF, the Royal Danish Air Force in 1993; from the SwAF, the Swedish Air Force in 1999; from the FIAF, the Finnish Air Force in 2000; and from the AAF, the Austrian Air Force in 2005.
Hereafter an interesting video featuring a Saab 29 Tunnan (Flying Barrel); a Saab 32 Lansen (Lance); and a Draken momentarily as an interceptor; with her rate of climb nearing 35,000ft/min, she could reach FL650 – more than 20 kilometres above the earth – to hit her target:
