If you suffer motion sickness this video is not for you: low level flying with a Super Hornet

Published on: May 28, 2012 at 9:58 PM

Someone might find it a bit boring whereas others will suffer motion sickness symptoms.

Anyway, I think this video gives a clear idea what flying a U.S. Navy’s VFA-137 F/A-18E Super Hornet during a low level sortie through the Sierra Nevada in East California out of Naval Air Station Lemoore, Ca., looks like.

Since it does not feature any soundtrack, the footage let’s you literally hear the typical cockpit sounds as the pilot, wearing a JHMCS helmet, pulls some Gs on aggressive low level turns needed to avoid obstacles and take advantage of terrain masking (to prevent detection by enemy radar systems).

As already explained, in the age of stealth bombers, standoff weapons, drones, cyberwar, electronic warfare, etc. low-level high-speed flying is still one of the most important parts of both planes and helicopters combat pilot training.

http://youtu.be/c9uGD2upNGE

H/T to @AeroSamm for the heads-up

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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.
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