BEST FIGHTER FOR CANADA

Captain Buster was never one to say know to a free lunch, especially lately.  As his financial planner was fond of telling him, Captain Buster was much better at flying a CF-18 than managing his debt.  While he was not exactly starving, his bank statements were not exactly heartwarming. Besides, Captain Buster was looking forward to catching up with his old buddy, who had left the RCAF to join the private sector.  Vought-Republic, one of the biggest defense contractors around, was picking up the lunch bill today.  What Buster did not realize was that his friend would be bringing a co-worker... "Thanks for meeting with us today, Buster.  It's great seeing you again." "Yeah, it really is good to have a chance to catch up.  How has civvy life treating you?" "Really good!  I've just made junior vice-president.  You should see my office, it's got a great view of the city." "Wow." "Let me introduce you to the man res...

X-47B Pegasus Captain Buster felt his stomach tie in knots when he was told the news.  How was this possible?  After countless years as one of the RCAF's most talented pilots, he was now wondering what he would end up doing until retirement. "Sorry Captain...  But I'm afraid you are now obsolete.  These new drones are cheaper, stealthier, fly longer, and can maneuver way harder than any manned fighter.  They really are the future don't you see?" Captain Buster was not convinced.  "How is some bucket of bolts going to make up for years of experience?" "That's the beauty of it, don't you see?  We just upgrade the software every couple of years and these things will be better than you could ever be!  Don't feel so bad.  It's much safer to stay on the ground anyway." "I don't know how to do anything except fly!  What am I supposed to do?" "Maybe we can switch you over to flying a transport or somethi...

"PEW PEW PEW!" Captain Buster Junior cleared his throat and spoke loudly and clearly into his helmet microphone. "Computer...  Initiate air combat protocol.  Arm all missiles, activate all electronic warfare modules, and charge up the directed energy weapon." His order was confirmed by the CF/A-55E's onboard artificial intelligence.  "Affirmative.  Sensors confirm two hostile bogeys coming in from the east.  Radar jamming initiated.  Missiles armed.  Fusion cells charged to ninety-eight percent." "Great."  Captain Buster Junior answered.  "Transmit the usual multi-language message stating that they have violated Canadian airspace and..." "CAPTAIN!  Missile launch detected!" The pilot reflexively banked his aircraft into a defensive maneuver and barked back at his aircraft.  "CRAP!  Okay, target that missile with the DEW turret and prepare to fire CUDA missiles!"   "Acknowledged.  Directed Ene...

Captain Buster climbed into the familiar cockpit, and let his muscle memory do the rest.  Flick a switch here, push a button there, check that dial over there...  It was all such a routine now that he did it without thinking.   "Captain Buster!" Zoned out, the CF-18 pilot ignored the voice in his headset and continued his preflight checklist.   He was just about ready to start up the engines when the rude voice in his headset woke him from his zen-like trance. "CAPTAIN BUSTER!" "WHAT?  Can't you see I'm busy here?" "Captain Buster, you may want to double check your surroundings.  That's not your aircraft you climbed into." "Everything looks alright from here...  Look, I've already completed the preflight checklist.  Why can't I just fly this CF-18 instead of my usual one?" "Normally, that wouldn't be an issue, but we are not authorized to fly that aircraft!" "Since when...

Is one of these a deathtrap? There was a decent crown at the air show today.  It was a beautiful August Saturday, with just the slightest wisps of clouds high up.   "Time to start the show." Captain Buster said to himself as he throttled his trusty CF-18 Hornet demonstrator up and off the tarmac.  Buster had a privilege of following The Snowbirds that day, so he knew he had his work cut out for him.  "No problem." he thought, those 50-year-old CT-114s may have their precision, but the ol' Hornet had raw power on its side.  Captain Buster imagined he could hear the crowd's "Ooohhs!" and "Aahhhs!" over the roar of this after burning GE404 turbofans.  Even after 30 years of service, the Hornet was still an impressive plane.  Its high thrust and high angle-of-attack performance allowed it to perform maneuvers that seemed to contradict the laws of physics.  "Not bad for an old girl..." thought Buster with a smile. ...