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.

CF-188B c/n 341 serial 188920 was taken on strength on August 21, 1984 and was assigned to
the 433 Squadron stationed at Bagotville, Quebec. In February 1995 the aircraft was reallocated
to the 410th Tactical Fighter (Operational Training) Squadron, the “Cougars” located at Cold
Lake, Alberta. The 410th TFS had received their first CF-18s on October 25, 1982. On November
8, 2001 Finnish Air Force F/A-18C HN-413 collided with another Finnish F/A-18 HN-430. HN-430
was destroyed but HN-413 landed with the front half of the fuselage severely damaged. They
decided to buy CF-188B 188920 from Canada and mate that front half with the rear half of the
damaged HN-413 converting it into an F/A-18D. On December 3, 2009 the “Frankenhornet” made
its first flight and on January 1, 2010 it crashed when a right hand stabilator servo cylinder valve
failed.

Specifications McDonnell Douglas CF-18 (officially CF-188)

General characteristics

Number of aircraft purchased – 62 A / 18 B

Crew - 1x 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)
Weights
Empty weight - 23049 lb (10455 kg)
Loaded weight - 37150 lb (16850 kg)
Max takeoff weight - 51550 lb (23400 kg)
Performance
Powerplant - 2 × General Electric F404-GE-400 turbofans, 16000 lbf (71.2 kN) per engine
Maximum speed - Mach 1.8 (1127 mph, 1814 km/h) @ 36100 ft (11000 m)
Combat radius - 330 mi (290 nmi, 537 km) on hi-lo-lo-hi mission
Ferry range - 2070 mi (1800 nmi, 3330 km) (range without ordnance)
Service ceiling - 50000 ft (15000 m)
Rate of climb - 50000 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 4000 or 6000
shots 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

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