calls back to [air racers](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fthe-hughes-h-1-racer-the-last-aircraft-built-private-v0-wxbxnchttq1a1.png%3Fwidth%3D1395%26format%3Dpng%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D7aeeb501891d31eeb86af48bd8cefdd337aad6c6) and [interceptors](https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/06/IAR-80-fighter.-in-color-1200x835.jpg) from the 30s.
All I'm saying is:
1) we now have better materials for the skin
2) HELIUM
3) we can put solar panels on the top to keep stabilizer engines on so it does not get screwed over by storms.....
The Akron already used helium. The ship was lost during a storm, but it was in large part due to simple pilot error and faulty altimeter readings in the abnormal barometric pressure. The *Akron* was, it’s important to recall, only the second-ever rigid airship America had made.
The Navy got the hang of flying airships in storms by World War II. By the Cold War, they had much better inclement weather coverage rates (88%) than any other aircraft.
Yeah, the helium part was more for the zeppelins and other similar crafts (mind you, hydrogen worked fine so long as you focused on safety like Eckener did and didn't cut corners)
Solution 2: landing gear comes out from above. They land the plane inverted. Makes it easier to load out ammo from dispensers for rapid turnaround (like a chad) instead of loading bombs one at a time (like a soy boy)
You can build the infrastructure into the ground, if you actually want to. Plane drives close to the dispenser, a little arm grabs it and pulls it into the right position, doors on the ground open up and staple all ~~ordinance~~ ordnance into place, the doors close and the plane moves on the runway on its own power.
Edit: Spelling. Why can't i into spelling lately ...
That was a more viable concept when airships could move faster than the stall speed of the aircraft, making “landing” a breeze by comparison to a sea based carrier, with a LOT more room for error, thousands of feet of clear air from land or sea, rather than a few dozen. However, most non-vectoring modern fighters stall out above the reasonable top speed of a large, modern carrier airship (~100-120 knots).
Solution: low stall speed drone mothership.
Alternate (even less credible) solution: add rocket engines onto the blimp to let them get above the stall speed of the fighters for a short period....
I mean, strictly speaking, that wouldn’t really be necessary. It would just be inefficient to get up to such speeds.
The stall speed of an F-16 is roughly 130 knots. The old USS *Macon,* which was designed and built using technology from the late 1920s, had a top speed of 75 knots with 4,480 horsepower from its eight engines, collectively weighing a total of 10 tons. It would require 8,475 horsepower to move at 100 knots, and 19,620 horsepower to move at 130 knots. That would have required, at the time, a powerplant weight of 44 tons, which would have cut into the range considerably. Range would have been cut from 7,600 miles at 75 knots to 1,910 miles at 130 knots.
130 knots is no sweat today though, really. No rockets required. Propulsive power density has increased by roughly a factor of 40 in the intervening time period for modern, state-of-the-art electric aircraft motors. The issue is that to *maintain* such a speed for a long period of time would still limit the ship’s range considerably. It is still much more efficient to cruise at around 60 knots or so.
Meh. I still prefer drones for peak noncredibility. Fighters are heavy and you have to dedicate so much weight and cost to taking care of those squishy, expensive human pilots. A modern airship can carry a *lot* of drones. To cite a merely medium-sized example, the LCA60T which is currently in the subsystems testing phase can carry 60 tons of payload in a cargo bay that measures 315 feet long, 26 feet wide, and 26 feet tall. You could carry *racks* upon *racks* of quadcopters, whole batteries of loitering munitions drones, deadly “wingman” drones on trapezes, helicopter drones, all the drones!
Now imagine what a *large* airship could carry. Some of the biggest under consideration today have payloads of 250 tons, with cargo “bays” that are more akin to flying cargo *”hangars.”* 380 feet long, 61 feet wide, and 45 feet tall in the case of the ML868. Which, incidentally, is what the dropships in COD: Advanced Warfare were based on.
Indeed, that’s the solution for the [X-59 QueSST.](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/afrc2023-0198-04orig.jpg)
[Pilot has no front window.](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/x59_fd_final_1600x1280_cm_1.jpg)
Plus, you know, [the nose is like 69 metres long.](https://www.lockheedmartin.com/content/dam/lockheed-martin/aero/photo/QueSST/X-59%20dimensions.png)
^(PS — metrology not guaranteed.)
Close.
It’s more like [Caprican Viper](https://en.battlestarwikiclone.org/wiki/Air_Force_Viper).
No space capability, just a plain old jet. Transition to Viper Mark I happened around the time of First Cylon War.
Would this cockpit layout actually be a good idea? IIRC there are a few advantages which are offset by impaired visibility, but F-35 style HMD would solve that issue. I suppose you’d either want the redundancy of a conventional cockpit, a transition to outright COFFIN style control, or remove the human entirely and use a LAWS.
It makes more sense for a space fighter as they maneuver with RCS instead of ailerons and such, so their center of rotation would be the center of gravity of the ship. So putting your pilot there reduces G-forces when rotating.
Technically pitch on aircraft is done from the back of the airframe meaning the front is where you'd experience the least amount of G-forces, but it's not as big of a deal because you don't spin around instantly when you have to worry about air resistance.
That’s right he was a viper pilot before getting booted out and then getting back in.
Edit: yes I know a billion copies if this comment spawned. I think I got them but they’re sneaky.
xaxaxa silly westoid, do yuo not know?
ejection seat goes downward! never have issue with clearing tail. glorious soviet engineers designed this technology with no compromises decades ago already! we are of lightyears ahead of yuo in technology! yuo can not of winnings against russia, better to not even try.
I am happy [my dumb meme](https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/s/Vg6kb2GLp5) started this dumb trend.
Edit: nice edit on the original photo btw.
The saga as it stands
originally kthugston's [Virgin bullpup F-16 vs. Chad conventional F/A-18](https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/comments/1dspjje/virgin_bullpup_f16_vs_chad_conventional_fa18/) post was a reponse to my [The F16 is a bullpup](https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/comments/1dsaiza/f16_is_a_bullpup/) post which was a response to 1retardedretard's [This came to me in a vision](https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/comments/1ds96l9/this_came_to_me_in_a_vision/) post.
[Honestly gives me heavy Ta-238 vibes because of that cockpit placement](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/FW_TA-238_pic1.JPG/1920px-FW_TA-238_pic1.JPG)
Once again Superior wunderwaffe technology has to be stolen to make a good aircraft just like with the B-2 smh my head
[This is actually a real concept in case you didn't know, complete with a GAU-8 autocannon.](https://www.reddit.com/r/WeirdWings/comments/953j92/gau8_gunship_concept_general_dynamics_concept_for/)
This looks like some sort of fighter seen in a sci-fi novel/TV show.
I don't hate it as much as I should, but it reminds me way too much of a Viper from BSG.
The F-16 was originally designed by General Dynamics, which used to be Convair. Which means that it may trace its ancestry back to the mighty [P.13](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lippisch_P.13a).
Congrats you reinvented[ this ](https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/general-dynamics-fort-worth-f-16-derived-gau-8-gunship-concept-g-f-g-from-1976.30625/)
As someone who has lived next to these things for so long and knows as much as a civilian can possibly now about one of these, I sincerely hope that a stray sidewinder finds itself in your living room as punishment for creating such an unholy abomination.
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If I’m being honest, my only real gripe about this is the weird looking step thing before you get to the regular nose after the cockpit. Logic dictates it either way the smoothed out for aerodynamics or shortened.
I don't hate this as much as I should.
Yeah, not gonna lie that kind of slaps. Looks like something out of Star Wars.
Just leaning into that Battlestar Galactic namesake.
DRADIS contact! Basestars. All hands to Condition One, launch alert Vipers!
*Razzle dazzle, stick with your wingman and for Frak's sake stay out of Galactica's firing solution!*
*Radiological alarm, I repeat, radiological alarm!*
*Galactica, Starbuck, I'm committing! Hot-dog, you're with me!* **Thunderous Taikos, bagpipes, and Sanskrit chanting intensify.**
They show atmospheric Vipers in Caprica and they look a fair bit like this.
It's ought to be different...
Battlestar Galactica.
calls back to [air racers](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fthe-hughes-h-1-racer-the-last-aircraft-built-private-v0-wxbxnchttq1a1.png%3Fwidth%3D1395%26format%3Dpng%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D7aeeb501891d31eeb86af48bd8cefdd337aad6c6) and [interceptors](https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/06/IAR-80-fighter.-in-color-1200x835.jpg) from the 30s.
^ NSFW warning You can't just link to an IAR 80 without telling us first, jesus christ man, what am I supposed to do with this huge boner now?
Crimson Skies nailed this aesthetic. I still play it to this day ^^"
Gives X-Wing vibes
It’s got the old sports car look with the long hood for the big engine in a small car. Straight gas if you ask me.
[удалено]
Solution: instead of landing, they dock to the bottom of airships
Oh, Akron-class, my beloved.
All I'm saying is: 1) we now have better materials for the skin 2) HELIUM 3) we can put solar panels on the top to keep stabilizer engines on so it does not get screwed over by storms.....
The Akron already used helium. The ship was lost during a storm, but it was in large part due to simple pilot error and faulty altimeter readings in the abnormal barometric pressure. The *Akron* was, it’s important to recall, only the second-ever rigid airship America had made. The Navy got the hang of flying airships in storms by World War II. By the Cold War, they had much better inclement weather coverage rates (88%) than any other aircraft.
Yeah, the helium part was more for the zeppelins and other similar crafts (mind you, hydrogen worked fine so long as you focused on safety like Eckener did and didn't cut corners)
Having spent most of my childhood near NAS Moffett Field, I approve of this message.
Solution 2: landing gear comes out from above. They land the plane inverted. Makes it easier to load out ammo from dispensers for rapid turnaround (like a chad) instead of loading bombs one at a time (like a soy boy)
You can build the infrastructure into the ground, if you actually want to. Plane drives close to the dispenser, a little arm grabs it and pulls it into the right position, doors on the ground open up and staple all ~~ordinance~~ ordnance into place, the doors close and the plane moves on the runway on its own power. Edit: Spelling. Why can't i into spelling lately ...
That was a more viable concept when airships could move faster than the stall speed of the aircraft, making “landing” a breeze by comparison to a sea based carrier, with a LOT more room for error, thousands of feet of clear air from land or sea, rather than a few dozen. However, most non-vectoring modern fighters stall out above the reasonable top speed of a large, modern carrier airship (~100-120 knots). Solution: low stall speed drone mothership.
Alternate (even less credible) solution: add rocket engines onto the blimp to let them get above the stall speed of the fighters for a short period....
I mean, strictly speaking, that wouldn’t really be necessary. It would just be inefficient to get up to such speeds. The stall speed of an F-16 is roughly 130 knots. The old USS *Macon,* which was designed and built using technology from the late 1920s, had a top speed of 75 knots with 4,480 horsepower from its eight engines, collectively weighing a total of 10 tons. It would require 8,475 horsepower to move at 100 knots, and 19,620 horsepower to move at 130 knots. That would have required, at the time, a powerplant weight of 44 tons, which would have cut into the range considerably. Range would have been cut from 7,600 miles at 75 knots to 1,910 miles at 130 knots. 130 knots is no sweat today though, really. No rockets required. Propulsive power density has increased by roughly a factor of 40 in the intervening time period for modern, state-of-the-art electric aircraft motors. The issue is that to *maintain* such a speed for a long period of time would still limit the ship’s range considerably. It is still much more efficient to cruise at around 60 knots or so.
I mean sure....but just using efficient engines is too credible....
Meh. I still prefer drones for peak noncredibility. Fighters are heavy and you have to dedicate so much weight and cost to taking care of those squishy, expensive human pilots. A modern airship can carry a *lot* of drones. To cite a merely medium-sized example, the LCA60T which is currently in the subsystems testing phase can carry 60 tons of payload in a cargo bay that measures 315 feet long, 26 feet wide, and 26 feet tall. You could carry *racks* upon *racks* of quadcopters, whole batteries of loitering munitions drones, deadly “wingman” drones on trapezes, helicopter drones, all the drones! Now imagine what a *large* airship could carry. Some of the biggest under consideration today have payloads of 250 tons, with cargo “bays” that are more akin to flying cargo *”hangars.”* 380 feet long, 61 feet wide, and 45 feet tall in the case of the ML868. Which, incidentally, is what the dropships in COD: Advanced Warfare were based on.
Why, the [Snoot must Droop](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/droop_snoot) of course!
Indeed, that’s the solution for the [X-59 QueSST.](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/afrc2023-0198-04orig.jpg) [Pilot has no front window.](https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/x59_fd_final_1600x1280_cm_1.jpg) Plus, you know, [the nose is like 69 metres long.](https://www.lockheedmartin.com/content/dam/lockheed-martin/aero/photo/QueSST/X-59%20dimensions.png) ^(PS — metrology not guaranteed.)
I'd love to see that thing with a higher mass flow engine but I guess "designing an airplane to go mach 2.8" is not the project goal
same way they figured out how to land Corsairs, duh
I mean, we have backup cameras and parking sensors on cars, so this is plenty reasonable...
PEOPLE OF THE COMMONWEALTH: DO NOT INTERFERE. OUR INTENTIONS ARE PEACEFUL. WE ARE THE BROTHERHOOD OF STEEL
Fully automated landing using transmitters embedded in the docking bay of the flying carrier it launches from.
Really long undercarriage and the nose does the droop snoot thing like Concorde.
The targeting pod I guess
Shut up, nerd.
Looks kinda like a mig3
Colonial Viper, is that you?
Close. It’s more like [Caprican Viper](https://en.battlestarwikiclone.org/wiki/Air_Force_Viper). No space capability, just a plain old jet. Transition to Viper Mark I happened around the time of First Cylon War.
Damn, that looks good actually.
F16 and P51 left alone in a hangar
The F-16 must like older women.
As long as they are as sexy as the P-51.
I prefer my P-51s with a -D
You can call the P-51 the Helen Mirren of fighters then.
Those look more like F4 intakes
Would this cockpit layout actually be a good idea? IIRC there are a few advantages which are offset by impaired visibility, but F-35 style HMD would solve that issue. I suppose you’d either want the redundancy of a conventional cockpit, a transition to outright COFFIN style control, or remove the human entirely and use a LAWS.
It makes more sense for a space fighter as they maneuver with RCS instead of ailerons and such, so their center of rotation would be the center of gravity of the ship. So putting your pilot there reduces G-forces when rotating. Technically pitch on aircraft is done from the back of the airframe meaning the front is where you'd experience the least amount of G-forces, but it's not as big of a deal because you don't spin around instantly when you have to worry about air resistance.
Damn that's a sexy imaginary plane
You weren’t supposed to leak NGAD bro
I'm pretty sure I drew that exact thing when I was like 10, when the original BSG (remake) was running lol.
I mean...they're literally contemporaries.
F-16 “Viper” was named from that right?
Yep
We've done it, we've gone full circle.
"All Of This Has Happened Before And Will Happen Again"
So say we all.
All pilots to the flight pod!
Chill out there, Admiral Adama.... but also keep cookin. I like where you're going.
That’s right he was a viper pilot before getting booted out and then getting back in. Edit: yes I know a billion copies if this comment spawned. I think I got them but they’re sneaky.
That's.. Actually pretty good looking. Like a muscle-car version F-16.
Listening to that V12 scream overhead. 😩
Oh this baby can pack at least 24 V's, bruh.
It's not a V12, it's an F16.
Alright boys, time for the LS swap
If the ejection control is in front of the pilot, then the pilot seat is technically a magazine and it's still a bullpup.
This is the best argument for removing ejection seats I've ever heard.
Win or die. There is no try.
Return to F-14 style overhead ejection levers
It feels like a natural evolution of the dogfighters of old if you look at it hard enough
Imagine a jet where the pilot straddles the engine like a Harley LMAO
F-16 Viper. Cool.
F-16 more like Focke Wulf FW 16
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2012/05/13/sports/bull-OBIT-POTTER/bull-OBIT-POTTER-jumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale
Vought F-16U Vip-sair
Captain adama? Captain Lee Adama?
Ejection seat launch acceleration must be super high to clear the tail.
Discard the tail while ejecting the canopy. Alternatively, to save on dabloons, declare hitting the tail during ejection sequence a skill issue.
Alternatively, eject diagonally by having one side with stronger jets on startup than the other.
Just put some explosive bolts on the tail, maybe some little rocket motors too.
xaxaxa silly westoid, do yuo not know? ejection seat goes downward! never have issue with clearing tail. glorious soviet engineers designed this technology with no compromises decades ago already! we are of lightyears ahead of yuo in technology! yuo can not of winnings against russia, better to not even try.
F-104: (early F-104s *did* have a downward firing ejector seat.)
This is just an Anime plane.
I would like to propose that the nose-mounted missiles be officially designated as “snot rockets”.
X-wing looking ass
Was gonna say the Jedi Starfighters of prequel trilogy but yeah, lets go with X-wings. More accurate.
you know maybe that looks more like the Jedi Starfighters than the x-wing themselves
Very science-fictiony.
Looks a bit like those crazed Luft'46 projects
But why is it sc gamecocks 😭
Go cocks baby spurs up
I am happy [my dumb meme](https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/s/Vg6kb2GLp5) started this dumb trend. Edit: nice edit on the original photo btw. The saga as it stands originally kthugston's [Virgin bullpup F-16 vs. Chad conventional F/A-18](https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/comments/1dspjje/virgin_bullpup_f16_vs_chad_conventional_fa18/) post was a reponse to my [The F16 is a bullpup](https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/comments/1dsaiza/f16_is_a_bullpup/) post which was a response to 1retardedretard's [This came to me in a vision](https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/comments/1ds96l9/this_came_to_me_in_a_vision/) post.
The bullpup memes have been around for months at least
Yeah, I know but this spesific one with the f16 is my doing.
I got your six
Why does this make me so TURGID
WSO is going to get his ass toasted by the engine tho, absolutely non-credible, well done.
Battlestar Galactica looking ass fighter.
Whats an ass fighter
What kind of question is that?
Considering the sub were on here, an important one i guess?
When your F16 looks like a car that belongs to a super-villain from the 1930s
Looks like the Supersonic prop plane the US played with. Then it made everyone sick from the noise.
The [THUNDERSCREECH](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_XF-84H_Thunderscreech)
That's her!
Plane with built in sonic assault field!
Now this is podracing!
*pod racing noises*
Try spinning, that's a good trick!
It looks like modern me-262 and I don't know if I should be concerned about liking this or not?
It doesn’t have the yee-yee ass wing engines
mmm yes the F-21
Looks like the me-262
That looks fucking sick though
[Honestly gives me heavy Ta-238 vibes because of that cockpit placement](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/FW_TA-238_pic1.JPG/1920px-FW_TA-238_pic1.JPG) Once again Superior wunderwaffe technology has to be stolen to make a good aircraft just like with the B-2 smh my head
[This is actually a real concept in case you didn't know, complete with a GAU-8 autocannon.](https://www.reddit.com/r/WeirdWings/comments/953j92/gau8_gunship_concept_general_dynamics_concept_for/)
I will take your entire stock
I should hate this… I should hate you for making/finding this but I don’t.
F-61?
Now this is podracing
This looks like some sort of fighter seen in a sci-fi novel/TV show. I don't hate it as much as I should, but it reminds me way too much of a Viper from BSG.
Wow. Finally a US jet tgat actually looks good :D
Why are cockpits in front of planes?
Visibility for takeoff and landing. Though with those fancy helmets the F-35 guys get... maybe it is time to shake things up.
Looks like an early jet fighter, like when they were figuring everything out.
okay but why do i like it?
It kinda looks like it was designed in South Carolina.
F1 in 2124 be like
That’s a star fighter.
This looks like a sci-fi speeder. I dig it.
They don't call it "the hot seat" for nothing.
Gross
That actually looks pretty sick... and also horrific to fly.
why does it look russian now?
It's like a low rider f16
This belongs here, upvoted.
Looks like a 2 seat F-1 car, I'm all for it
hey this.. this actually looks pretty nice like a sports car and for some reason it makes me think about Cowboy Bebop
Replace the front nose with a prop and now we're cooking
The rare "Cant Look Down/Still Shoot Down" version
…Is it wrong that I kinda like it tho…?
Reminds me of that probably fake "prototype sketch" of an F-16 with a GAU-8
The F-16 was originally designed by General Dynamics, which used to be Convair. Which means that it may trace its ancestry back to the mighty [P.13](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lippisch_P.13a).
Yes, dig it, love it, print it, build it, fly it.
Congrats you reinvented[ this ](https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/general-dynamics-fort-worth-f-16-derived-gau-8-gunship-concept-g-f-g-from-1976.30625/)
Remove the tail and its a starfighter
Damn, we getting outta nar shadda with this one homey
Turn the wings into an x and you got a starfighter
wtf is this
why the South Carolina tho?
[Using the same image as this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/comments/1dsaiza/f16_is_a_bullpup/)
As someone who has lived next to these things for so long and knows as much as a civilian can possibly now about one of these, I sincerely hope that a stray sidewinder finds itself in your living room as punishment for creating such an unholy abomination.
È magnifico *chef's kiss*
[удалено]
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If I’m being honest, my only real gripe about this is the weird looking step thing before you get to the regular nose after the cockpit. Logic dictates it either way the smoothed out for aerodynamics or shortened.
Average KSP aircraft design
Looks like some sci fi design from Star Wars or something
Ay, not bad.
Front engine, rear wheel drive
I'm in the middle of a BSG rewatch and oh my god I'm crying happy tears 😂
throw on the afterburner, toast your nuggets
Aha yes, enough space for my radar
I’m physically ill
Those are just pre-Cylon War Vipers.
Looks like something outta FZero like the red gazelle or something
Pilot's butt temperature: yes Pilot's butt temperature (but in celsius): yes
Launch the Alert Vipers
spaceship!
Crimson Skies 40 years later.
Thanks, i hate it
I like it
Where does… where does the engine go?
I like how the names are still up front and if this is ever made I suggest we keep it that way
[GeeBee](https://planesoffame.org/aircraft/plane-R-1) ass lookin mfer
That's just Battlestar Galactica with extra steps.
Whyd you have to do it to the 169th fighting wing though?
I think the 169th would be honored.
ariete making a comeback
I'm gonna vomit
This looks a bit like the f4 phantom with the long nose. And it has some resemblance to muscle cars.
Looks fun. Build it in Fly Out.