General Background

The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet is a supersonic twin engine all-weather night fighter and attack aircraft. The F/A-18s first flew in November 1978 and the first production flight on April 12, 1980. The first 380 aircraft were F/A-18As and in September 1987 production switched to the F/A-18C. Variants A and C are single-seat aircraft while B and D are tandem-seats. The Hornet can operate from either aircraft carriers or land bases with the capability of in flight refueling. A total of 1,480 A-D variants were built.

The Aircraft

In 2012 RCAF CF-188A 781 (US registry 188781) MSN 0556/A464 was selected to receive the special paint scheme to represent Canada’s Demo aircraft for that season. The aircraft paint theme was “The True North, Strong and Free” and flown by Captain Patrick Paco Gobeil, a former Snowbird Demonstration team member. Images on the aircraft depict the Arctic with 13 snowflakes to represent Canada’s 13 provinces and territories. Also shown are Northern Lights, Canada’s Maple Leaf, a polar bear and an Arctic hunter.

Specifications

• Number of aircraft purchased: 62 CF-18A / 18 CF-18B
• Crew: 1 x CF-18A / 2 x CF-18B
• Dimensions
• Length: 56 ft 0 in (17.07 m)
• Wingspan: 40 ft 0 in (12.31 m) with Sidewinders
• Height: 15 ft 4 in (4.66 m)
• Weight
• Empty: 23,049 lb (10,455 kg)
• Loaded: 37,150 lb (16,850 kg)
• Maximum Take off: 51,550 lb (23,400 kg)
• Performance
• Power Plant: 2 × General Electric F404-GE-400 turbofans, 16,000 lbf (71.2 kN) per engine
• Maximum Speed: Mach 1.8 (1,127 mph, 1,814 km/h) @ 36,100 ft (11,000 m)
• Combat Radius: 330 mi (290 nmi, 537 km) on hi-lo-lo-hi mission
• Ferry Range: 2,070 mi (1,800 nmi, 3,330 km) (range without ordnance)
• Service Ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,000 m)
• Rate of Climb: 50,000 ft/min (254 m/s)
• Armament
• Nine Weapon/ Store Stations (5 pylons: 1 Under Fuselage and 4 Wing Stations) (2 LAU 116 located on sides of fuselage: deploys AIM 7 Sparrow and AMRAAM Missiles)(2 LAU 7 located on the wing tips: Deploys AIM 9 Sidewinder Missile), carrying up to 13700 lb (6215 kg) of missiles, rockets, bombs, fuel tanks, and pods
• 1 × 20 mm M61A1 Vulcan internal Gatling gun with 578 rounds, with a firing rate of 4,000 or 6,000 rounds per minute
• Missiles
• Air-To-Air - AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-7 Sparrow
• Air-to-ground - AGM-65 Maverick, CRV7 rockets
• Bombs - Paveway, Mk 82, Mk 83, Mk 84, GBU-10, -12, -16 and -24 laser guided bombs
• Avionics
• Raytheon AN/APG-73 radar
• BAE Systems AN/APX-111 IFF
• Rockwell Collins AN/ARC-210 RT-1556/ARC VHF/UHF Radio
• General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems AN/AYK-14 XN-8 mission computer
• Smiths Aerospace AN/AYQ-9 Stores Management System