RCAF CF-18s feature several differences compared to standard F/A-18As, like a fake cockpit outline painted on the bottom
The CF-188 Hornet, better known as the CF-18, is a versatile multirole fighter aircraft. It serves in air defense, air superiority, ground attack, tactical support, pilot training, aerobatic demonstrations, and aerospace testing and evaluation.
The Hornet is a quick, lightweight, and highly manoeuvrable aircraft. Thanks to its power, speed, and target-tracking ability, it has achieved considerable success in numerous military operations in Canada and across the globe.
Notable Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CF-18s have several features that set them apart from standard F/A-18As, including a prominent identification spotlight on the port side of the fuselage just ahead of the cockpit, a different ejection seat, and a painted false cockpit outline on the underside.
The second feature was seen as an excellent idea by US Air Force (USAF) F-15 pilots stationed in Europe, who flew numerous dissimilar air combat training (DACT) missions against Canadian Hornets based at Baden-Soellingen in what was then West Germany during the Cold War.
At first glance, the mock cockpit can create uncertainty in an enemy pilot’s mind, making it difficult to tell whether the aircraft is turning toward him or away from him. “Some Eagle pilots mockingly suggested we should paint our aircraft like submarines: ‘Just think: That brief hesitation as he thinks, “What’s that submarine doing up there?” may be all the advantage you need!'” says former F-15C pilot Robert “Scout” Winebrenner in Issue 23, “McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A/B/C/D Hornet,” of Aviation Classics magazine.
Winebrenner was able to watch the Canadian Hornets in action while serving with the 32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron in Soesterberg, the Netherlands. During that same assignment, he became a Tactical Leadership Program (TLP) instructor and flew a sortie in his F-15C with a CF-18 piloted by Canadian Captain Greg “Claw” Morris. As Scout recalled, “After checking the applicable national regulations, we determined that it was not allowed to fly dissimilar close formation. But there were no prohibitions on dissimilar tactical formations. So we found the best weather on Low Fly Area (LFA) 7 in southern Germany, and briefed up a low-altitude VFR ingress through France at a slower speed to save fuel, intercepts on target of opportunity in LFA7, and a high-altitude recovery to individual instrument approaches at Florennes.”
Upon arriving at LFA7, they found that several aircraft were already operating in the area, and both the F-15C and the CF-18 took part in multiple engagements against Neuburg Phantoms, Memmingen Tornados, and two F-16s.
The two aircraft complemented each other well, and Scout and Claw operated effectively as a team, but Winebrenner observed that everyone spotted his F-15 while Claw’s CF-18 went unnoticed. In the final stage of the intercept, their targets would consistently respond by turning toward the US F-15 in search of the ‘second Eagle,’ leaving Claw with more close-range belly Sidewinder shots than he likely wanted.
A similar situation occurred when two CF-18s pulled up and turned toward Winebrenner’s Eagle, leaving Morris directly behind them, but Claw quickly warned his fellow pilots to check their six, as Scout recalls: “Hey, what are YOU doing back there? I’m with the F-15! Fox 2 on both of you!”
Even today, Winebrenner still regards that mission as one of the best he ever flew in LFA7, but the feature that most strongly reminds him of the Hornet is a different one, as he explains: “After 26 years in the air force, I retired in 2005. Now my only exposure to the Hornet is watching the US Navy Blue Angels practice over my home in Pensacola. I did note disappointedly that they don’t have the fake canopy.”
Photo by Cpl. Manuela Berger / Royal Canadian Air Force and U.S. Air Force
