David Hingtgen

I would not presume to guess where a VF-1's center of gravity is----it's clear from the published weights/dimensions that their density/mass is WAY off from a modern aluminum fighter jet---and a huge part of a fighter's weight and center of gravity is its engines----and I'd say we have no idea what an OT turbine weighs---much more, much less than a jet?

Evangelion is so NOT for the family. Escaflowne rocks though, and has just about everything you asked for. Cowboy Bebop--also awesome, but again, not for the family (though better than Eva). Any Miyazaki movie is great for anyone.

Stupid question---how new is that mold? Brand-new, 5 years, 20 years? I'm really out of the loop for non-Lego SW stuff.

That's why Metroplex is the lamest of the cities. The Decepticon ones were much better. Trypticon may not have the most complex transformation (better than Metro's though), but all the money/engineering went into making him walk and light up. He'd have probably had an even more impressive transformation and better city mode if they left out the mechanics.

Brazil bought Rafales (and a lot of other stuff): http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/artic...QDbHPB1oH7LMn5g

Coanda effect of where? The VF-1's upper surface is dead-flat between the tailfins. And unlike the F-14, there is almost no glove outboard of the intakes. Also--the first FBW was indeed a modified F-8. Flew in 1972. Note that 1972 is 2 years after the F-14 first flew.

Have I mentioned how often I agree with myk?

The best Energon combiner is one you make yourself. Bruticus works very nicely if you use 2 planes from Superion. 4 different limbs---A-10, F-22, heli, tank. (though I often actually go with 1 plane and 1 constructicon)

I felt it was NOTHING more than an animated instruction manual for the game. (having viewed about 1.5 eps) No plot, even as merchandise-selling kids anime goes. "Oh no, someone has used the so-and-so card in a type B situation! What should I do? I'll use the new counter-cards that just came out this month (packed 1-in-4) in the following pattern." "And in this dream-sequence, I'll show what viewers at home should do if type C situation had occurred instead". About as interesting as the DOS 3.0 manual...

Well, a big factor is that a lot of stuff of that era doesn't have any other name---they simply don't name things like the West does. Fulcrum is the ONLY name for a MiG-29 AFAIK. Same for the Flanker. The Flanker is nicknamed "Crane" by pilots etc, but it is not officially called that---kind of like "Viper" for the F-16. Missiles and the like we now know the proper designation (R-27 instead of AA-10) but again---they're not named like the Sidewinder, Sparrow etc.

I really could(and should) have worked a lot more on my MP TC this week, but I did get the last 2 pins back in. Gotta work up the nerve to hack the tailbooms apart, then I can paint the fins black...

India wants to go STOBAR? I'd assume only because of the Russian carrier connection?

Revoltech is overall hideously underused. If I owned Kaiyodo, I'd be buying licenses and pumping out mecha left and right. And I'd have continued the Street Fighter line! Hello, Cammy figure? Dark Stalkers? Instead, the line spends the majority of its resources on idol-anime, and nigh-hentai stuff now...

For me, it all comes down to "I'm not waiting 3 years for you people to badly dub it, when I *only* want subs". Yes, I realize that the eventual dub sales retroactively fund bringing it to the US in the first place, but it's still no excuse to not release a sub-only version earlier.

Blu Plus? Drool.

Remember--a literal barn door will fly with proper alpha and thrust. Lift/drag ratio sucks, but it will produce lift.

I doubt all those countries will continue to operate carriers in the future, and many of those that do will switch to choppers I bet, especially with the cost of new planes. As for UK---every other report out of there is either "carrier/JSF program threatened" or "RR abandoning development". If the UK switches to the CTOL version, the VTOL version will be threatened.

Probably the F-4 Phantom's designer. Also--Kyp, those aren't canards, they're ventral fins. They are only for yaw stability at high speeds/high alpha----they provide neither lift nor control. Canards are by definition at the front of the plane.

FAKE photo. (c'mon, look just above the base of the tail---it's obvious) (in addition to the photo's own caption)

The airplane buff in me wants to kill whoever decided to use the term "canard" for anything on a car, especially in combination with the term "spoiler".

F-35B still a year late since production started, #1 still hasn't left the ground in many months due to tech issues, much less hover. But Sec. Gates says "we can't afford not to have the F-35" so they're gonna spend another dozen billion or whatever to continue fixing/developing it... Should have just bought more F-22s---they work! At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if the F-35B is abandoned (especially with the UK cancelling), and we only have the A and C variants, and the Marines just have to lose their VTOL jets, and settle for a fleet of Ospreys and Hornets...

That's canon to on-screen. Bandai didn't make it that way---Kawamori (or at least the animators) did.

Awesome footage: 747 firefighting in southern Cali: http://www.myfoxla.com/dpp/news/local/Stat..._Video_20090831

I ended up with the PS3 version----camera's supposed to be zoomed out a bit when fighting, and I do like the general dual-shock design over most controllers. (the 360 and Dreamcast are actually among my least-favorite for long-term use)

Anyone get the latest PS3 system update? (3.00). Everything's sparkly! New logo, too. However, either PSN itself is down, or it killed the ability to sign in.