RARE
F18H
Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
The Rhino
“The Hornet name, on a much bigger airplane.”
Boeing · military
Length
60 ft 1 in
Wingspan
44 ft 9 in
Max speed
1,030 kts (Mach 1.8)
Range
1,800 nmi
Ceiling
52,300 ft
Engines
2x GE F414-GE-400 (22,000 lbf each)
Crew
1
Typical config
F/A-18E single-seat; F/A-18F adds a weapons systems officer
Built
632+
The Super Hornet shares a name and a silhouette with the classic Hornet, but it is a new airplane — about 20% larger, with 33% more internal fuel and far more powerful engines. It is the backbone of US Navy carrier aviation, flying from every deck, and it even refuels its own squadron-mates using buddy tanks.
Fun fact
Navy crews call it the Rhino on the radio, so nobody confuses it with the smaller legacy Hornet around the carrier.
How to spot one
Bigger than a classic Hornet, with angular rectangular intakes instead of round ones — that is the giveaway. The Blue Angels have flown Super Hornets since 2021.
Sounds like
Twin GE F414s with a crackling, tearing roar — in humid air the Super Hornet famously pulls clouds of vapor off its wings
One might be overhead right now.
Bogey turns the The Rhino from a dot in the sky into a card in your logbook.
