David Hingtgen

As simple as it gets. Total thrust of the engines divided by weight of the plane. Bigger is better. Numbers above 1 allow straight up flight. The issue is--what weight? Empty, max takeoff, or "typical combat load"? There is a defined standard for "combat load", but few people use/agree with it. Something like 1/2 weapons and 3/4 fuel. And some people like to do the opposite, which is weight-per-thrust units, where lower numbers are better. (In other words, how many pounds of plane must each unit of power carry). (based off the common "pounds per horsepower" measurement of cars) PS---converting kg to Kn? Are you sure? I've never seen engines measured in kg. That's not technically a valid measurement unit for thrust---mass vs force. I'm betting someone got confused somewhere, and figured since a "pound of thrust" was valid, that you could just divide it by 2.205 and get a "kilogram of thrust"---but it doesn't work that way.

I don't like Mustangs, and I DESPISE ricey cars. This is both combined.

The VF-17 resembles the F-117 because it's the best-known "stealth shape". It doesn't NEED to resemble the F-117 to have passive stealth due to shape, but that's certainly a VALID shape for it to be. Basically: a passive stealth valk should resemble some real-world stealth aircraft. An active stealth valk can have any shape. (the YF-21 is both IMHO, having passive and active stealth--so I presume if the active stealth system shuts down or something, it's still somewhat stealthy) Kawamori wanted people to instantly recognize that the VF-17 was stealthy (due to passive stealth) so he went with the most recognizable stealth shape there is.

Space is tight because my movie/gaming TV is in my bedroom, not the living room. And my bedroom is packed with models and books. The big living room TV would cost WAY too much to upgrade to an HDTV, and I wouldn't want to anyways, as I will be doing far more HD gaming than HD movies or TV. (I have mecha on top of both speakers and the stereo, including valks--actually the stereo has more valks than any other place they're displayed) (yet another reason to buy electronics with FLAT tops)

LOL---how big is it? Room is a critical factor. (It's why my SNES is boxed up at the moment) But honestly, speakers are the main problem. I have 2, and that's only because one is squished on top of my dresser, surrounded by model airplanes, and the other just sits on the floor. There's not really a good way (or any way I think) to get a surround setup right now in my room. I basically sit "back left corner", relative to the TV. Any speaker mount would have to be basically touching the ceiling, and ahead or to the right. (every inch of wall space in my room is either the closet, window, or shelving). I have LOTS of shelves. Many airplane books, and many airplane models sit on those shelves. And I have CD and DVD towers tucked in anywhere there's room.

If I can get Dolby pro out of an optical output on the TV from an HDMI source, but it still just goes into a basic stereo with only 2 speaker locations (left and right), is there really any point to do that vs RCA cables? Since that stereo's not going to do surround sound no matter what signal it gets. Would the Dolby pro over optical have an inherently better signal/clarity/quality, even if it does end up being 2-channel?

Found it! TOSlink optical to mini optical adapter. Right at the top--and a lot of other nifty adapters too: http://www.minidisc.org/part_Fiber_Optic_Hardware.html It is literally a very small optical connection. Headphone jack sized or thereabouts. Even more useful, they do seem to make optical cables with a TOSlink on one end and a mini on the other.

Question: for the time being (as in, not spending any money on audio) is there a way to hook up a TV's optical output to a minidisc optical input? That's the only optical input my stereo has. For "free audio" I can only currently use minidisc optical or RCA. (guess the brand and vintage of my stereo based on that statement) Though I wonder if optical from a TV to a "mere" stereo would even be worth it vs RCA, as my stereo speakers can't do surround or anything. Anything's better than a TV's own speakers though.

Dated, due to lack of caring/money when it comes to audio (as I've stated). It will probably be a year or more until I actually get a receiver etc.

OK, I just found out that it seems that due to HDCP etc, no HDTV will output DTS/5.1 from an HDMI source, via digital output. So how do you get surround sound from external speakers, from an HDMI source? Do you have to use composite connections? If so--what's the point of having a digital output on a HDTV, if they won't output anything good with it?

Low-alt, high-speed B-52 pass: F-14 with visible sonic boom. (And yes, I mean a boom, not your standard Mach .95 condensation cloud) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ2pkmISOLM

Found something really useful for Mass Effect players, a map of the citadel with EVERYTHING marked. Every keeper, plot person, elevator, etc. Numbered, too.

Wow. One heck of a receiver. (Denon) It costs more than I plan to spend on my TV, and has more connections than stuff I own: http://i16.tinypic.com/7wpbrkx.jpgp http://i9.tinypic.com/7xx4b2s.jpg 4 HDMI, 5 component, and too many others to count. It's the first receiver I've seen that really can eliminate a switchbox for us who own many game systems in addition to the standard VCR/DVD/HD-DVD stuff. ::edit:: Whoops, 4 component, one's an output. But 4 HDMI, plus an output.

Look at the v.stabs and nosecone. Also--there is just the initial one, so that's the one with Flanker parts...

Vasteel? Any connection to Thunder Force?

PS---yes, the IDW F-22's rock. Why couldn't movie SS have looked like that?

But the Berkut itself is half Flanker parts...

Personally, I'd skip Cyclonus. It's just not a very good toy. I mean, I was a HUGE Cyclonus fan, he was a present for my 7th? birthday. And I remember thinking he just wasn't as cool as I'd hoped. And that was as a child. Frankly, he has a minicon/gobot transformation, and a fairly sucky robot mode.

If you try it, please let me know if it works.

I don't want to read through 40 pages to find an answer: Kaiyodo figs often include multiple heads etc for different expressions. Is this feature possible with the Fraulein Revoltech line? (I'm basically asking if it's possible to do a head-swap within the line)

Almost all their stuff is. http://monoprice.com/products/subdepartmen...amp;cp_id=10240 I notice that many of the colors are selling out, I may have to wait until after XMas--I plan to color-code some of my new TV's connections once I get them. (PS3=blue, 360=green, etc)

Do you like cool camo? Then go see the new scheme the F-16's are using in Alaska: http://macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=24441

The paint's literally only been on for a week.

Well, the F-16 has an angled seat, said to give like .5 or .75 extra G's of "resistance" for the pilot. Fact: (AFAIK). It was not designed that way because of G's, nor did they expect such a benefit. It was the only way to fit the seat under such a low canopy.

What a lack of love for the -21 there is!