Featured in May on the blog of Aviation Week Network, this retro advertisement for the then-brand new McDonnell Douglas F-18 Hornet was published in the April 19, 1976 issue of Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine. It would be a further decade before the F-18 first flew in anger in April 1986. Fast forward almost 30 years and the US-built Hornet has evolved into a highly capable, multi-role warplane that remains in active service today, with a variety of countries and manufactured in a number of variants, from the legacy F/A-18C/D to the larger Super Hornet.
In a world that, for good or ill, has embraced multi-role combat aircraft over more specialised platforms, the advert makes for some interesting reading:
Fighter and attack. Until the F-18 arrives, it will take two aircraft. The US Navy’s new F-18 will outperform either the F-4 or A-7… The fighter and attack versions of the F-18 will be more than 95% common. This means a reduction in stores and support equipment as well as savings in training and maintenance time.
(Image: US Marine Corps)
Above: US Marine Corps Captain Kevin Reece of VMFA-212 pilots an F/A-18 Hornet jet through the bright blue skies above the South China Sea, on a flight from Singapore to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan’s Nishiki river delta. The image was taken by USMC photographer John McGarity on October 8, 2003.
(Image: Philippe Colin)
End of the road: above, the worn out hulk of an early F-18B stands alongside other retired Aggressor Squadron Hornets formerly on charge of the Naval Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) at NAS Fallon, Nevada.
Related – Boneyard Bandits: Aggressor Squadron F-18 Hornets Await Scrapping
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