Which combat aircraft never saw action?

[FourWheelDrift]

F-22 Raptor so far. Too expensive to lose.

/sarcasm

[aeropilot]

The Hypno-Toad said:

Johnnytheboy said:

I've just been trying to work it out using Wikipedia and now it's really bugging me.

Early 60s large supersonic fighter/bomber, turned out to be rubbish, but found a second career as a reconnaissance plane in Vietnam.

Really pretty - used to be one on the USS Intrepid museum in New York.

I have a book on the damn thing at home but it's gone out of my head....

F-105 Thunderchief?

F-101 Voodoo?

The Voodoo and the Thud were both used extensively in Vietnam.

Only US fighter type I can think of that didn't see any combat was the F-106.

As said already we had quite a few types that only saw RAF use and not with any other forces (for example the RSAF Lightnings were used on a few occasions in the air-ground role in ME)

The Javelin and Se Vixen already have been mentioned, but you can add the Supermarine Scimitar and Swift to the list.

As said, Valiant used in Suez, and Vulcan in Falklands, but while the Victor never used as a bomber, although, given its extensive use in Falklands and Gulf War as a tanker, it should be included.

[Europa1]

Teddy Lop said:

MKnight702 said:

Something French?

they're quite good at flogging their kit to a variety of countries that'll use it in anger though.

Indeed. Argentina in 1982 springs to mind.

[Simpo Two]

RizzoTheRat said:

Simpo Two said:

Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter?

Dunno about the A, but F5's in general have seen combat, Several African nations such as Kenya and Ethiopia have them.

I think people are getting confused between 'Which combat aircraft never saw action?' and 'What about that really good looking 60's US plane I can't remember the name of that was a bit rubbish?'

[caelite]

Could almost say the Westland Wyvern. Designed in the 40s, large turboprop multirole fighter. MOD decided a few years after it came into service that future military aircraft would be jets only. Think it flew very briefly during the suez crisis, then was retired.

[Dr Jekyll]

MKnight702 said:

Something French?

Mirage IV?

[Ayahuasca]

Tornado F3 ?

[aeropilot]

Ayahuasca said:

Tornado F3 ?

Wasn't for the want of trying by the crews during GW1....

[FourWheelDrift]

aeropilot said:

The Javelin and Se Vixen already have been mentioned, but you can add the Supermarine Scimitar and Swift to the list.

"The Sea Vixen saw action in Kuwait and the East African state of Tanganyika in the early 1960’s helping to avert a full scale war and quell a local mutiny. In 1964 Sea Vixens of HMS Centaur saw service once again in the Persian Gulf, including the launch of air strikes against rebel forces with HMS Centaur’s 892 Squadron Sea Vixens stationed off Indonesia, helped to prevent an escalation of President Sukarno’s Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. In the later 1960’s Sea Vixens saw further service, performing duties on Beira Patrol to enforce an oil blockade of Rhodesia as well as providing air cover for the withdrawal from Aden."

https://warbirdaviation.co.uk/Projects/sea-vixen-g...
also on other sources on Sea Vixen history.

[Johnnytheboy]

Dr Jekyll said:

Johnnytheboy said:

I've just been trying to work it out using Wikipedia and now it's really bugging me.

Early 60s large supersonic fighter/bomber, turned out to be rubbish, but found a second career as a reconnaissance plane in Vietnam.

Really pretty - used to be one on the USS Intrepid museum in New York.

I have a book on the damn thing at home but it's gone out of my head....

Vigilante?

Come to think of it it's a bit harsh to exclude reconnaissance from the definition of combat. If it's a reconnaissance aircraft doing it's stuff and gets shot at, that is near enough combat.

Yep - that's it - for some reason it came to me when I started actually doing some work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_A-5_V...

[Eric Mc]

Johnnytheboy said:

I've just been trying to work it out using Wikipedia and now it's really bugging me.

Early 60s large supersonic fighter/bomber, turned out to be rubbish, but found a second career as a reconnaissance plane in Vietnam.

Really pretty - used to be one on the USS Intrepid museum in New York.

I have a book on the damn thing at home but it's gone out of my head....

The Convair B-58 Hustler never saw genuine action.



Vigilantes saw a lot of action in Vietnam. They had already been reallocated to the recce role by then so they weren't expected tro drop anything nasty on anything - but they certainly were "engaged" in combat.

Edited by Eric Mc on Tuesday 18th September 13:20

[geeks]

Baron von Teuchter said:

magpie215 said:

Raf EE Lightnings

There's a good story about a pilotless harrier being shot down by a Lightning...

https://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/...

Enjoyed that!

[aeropilot]

Eric Mc said:

Vigilantes saw a lot of action in Vietnam. They had already been reallocated to the recce role by then so they weren't expected tro drop anything nasty on anything - but they certainly were "engaged" in combat.

Indeed, and 18 of them were shot down during the Vietnam War.

[Ayahuasca]

F105 Starfighter?

[aeropilot]

Ayahuasca said:

F105 Starfighter?

F-104....

The Hooter saw use in Vietnam too in the early days.

[Europa1]

Ayahuasca said:

F105 Starfighter?

Do you mean F104 Starfighter or F105 Thunderchief?

Pistonheads: pedantry matters.

Edited by Europa1 on Tuesday 18th September 13:40

[Eric Mc]

Ayahuasca said:

F105 Starfighter?

No such aeroplane.

There was the F-104 Starfighter and the F-105 Thunderchief.

USAF F-104s saw limited action in Vietnam and also the Pakistanis used them in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War.

The F-105 of course, saw extensive action in Vietnam with around 50% of the total production run being lost in action.

[Ayahuasca]

Eric Mc said:

Ayahuasca said:

F105 Starfighter?

No such aeroplane.

There was the F-104 Starfighter and the F-105 Thunderchief.

USAF F-104s saw limited action in Vietnam and also the Pakistanis used them in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War.

The F-105 of course, saw extensive action in Vietnam with around 50% of the total production run being lost in action.

Damn. I meant of course the F104.

[Europa1]

Ayahuasca said:

Damn. I meant of course the F104.

Not to mention its reputation for going to war on its own pilots.

[Eric Mc]

Ayahuasca said:

Damn. I meant of course the F104.

It did see action - as mentioned above. Nationalist Chinese examples might also have had run-ins with Communist Chinese MiGs as well.