10 Percent True - Tales from the Cockpit

Why did France keep the Super Étendard in service for so long—and why couldn’t it simply navalise the Mirage 2000? Former French Navy Rafale M squadron commander Daffy Leduc explains the lost decade behind the Rafale programme, the proposed F/A-18 stopgap, and why a carrier fighter’s hook, undercarriage and central structure must be designed for repeated arrested landings from the beginning. He closes with a powerful warning about Western pilots transferring those hard-won lessons to China.

Watch the complete Daffy Leduc interview on 10 Percent True.

00:00 Why the Super Étendard served so long
03:22 Why land fighters cannot simply be navalised
08:02 Western fighter pilots training China

#Rafale #CarrierAviation #FrenchNavy #SuperEtendard #MilitaryAviation

Flying a French Navy Super Étendard at 420 knots and just 500 feet, Alban “Daffy” Le Duc struck a large seabird and began losing engine power. With Ajaccio’s runway in sight, he fought to save the aircraft—until his leader’s call of “Eject! Eject!” broke his fixation and sent him out at the edge of the seat’s operating envelope.

Daffy recalls the violent ejection, hitting the cold Mediterranean seconds after his parachute opened, and the remarkable fishermen who rescued him.

Watch the full conversation on 10 Percent True.

#SuperEtendard #Ejection #FrenchNavy #NavalAviation #MilitaryAviation

Former French Navy fighter pilot Alban “Daffy” Le Duc explains why attacking a warship is one of military aviation’s most difficult missions.From flying low and radio silent to locating a moving high-value target, coordinating Exocet attacks and overwhelming a ship’s defences, he breaks down the anti-ship tactics flown by Super Étendard crews.Watch the complete conversation with Daffy Le Duc on 10 Percent True.#SuperEtendard #Exocet #FrenchNavy #NavalAviation #MilitaryAviation

In 2001, a Chinese J-8 fighter collided with a US Navy EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea. Badly damaged and with limited flight controls, the American crew made an emergency landing on China’s Hainan Island.Former EP-3 mission commander Hoover Coggins examines the crew’s controversial decision, the sensitive material left aboard and the intelligence windfall handed to China.Watch the complete Hoover Coggins interview on 10 Percent True.#EP3 #HainanIsland #USNavy #China #MilitaryAviation

This is a clip. For the full episode, subscribe: 10percenttrue.com
Former US Navy Naval Flight Officer Hoover Coggins takes us inside the secretive world of the EP-3 electronic-intelligence aircraft. Flying from Spain and forward bases around the Mediterranean during the Cold War, Hoover progressed from navigator to senior tactical electronic-warfare evaluator and mission commander. In Part 1, he explains the EP-3’s enormous mission crew, its sensors and linguists, how operators identified hostile radar systems, and what happened when Soviet, Israeli or Libyan fighters came to investigate.