David Hingtgen

The A can be upgraded to the A+, which actually makes it the best of the Legacy Hornets according to some. Avionics of the latest-version C, but lower weight, and the latest engines means it has the best avionics+best thrust/weight ratio. The US was quite late in switching over to the better engines, so not many USN C-models have them. But the A's engines are getting old, so they need new ones--so they get the latest version. Basically--while your average C model has the original avionics, plus dozens of new little black boxes stuffed in every cavity they can find with not an inch to spare--the A+ model basically has "every upgrade the C model ever had" in a single box. While it was originally believed the A+ could be easily identified by the IFF bird slicers on the nose, VFA-201's A+'s do not have them. Might be the only squadron like that, or they had an "incomplete" upgrade. A big part of the reason for the A+ program is that the C models are actually getting old---due to so many combat ops in recent years, many of the C models are running out of trap-life----carrier traps are far harder on a plane than flying hours. But with so many of the A's sent to the reserves at a relatively young age due to the introduction of the C model--they may have more hours than the C's, but far fewer carrier landings. And so they're thinking about converting even more A's to A+'s, and using them to replace some C models. Very few C-model squadrons are getting E models, the few that are generally have very late-model C's that will get passed down to the not-so-late C squadrons, and the oldest C squadrons will get the A+.

Me---my Target has so many Prime/Megs 2-packs clogging the shelf there's not room for Skywarp/Magnus even if they have it---just checked today.

At least it's not a "Stealth" thread.

Oh yeah, SR-71's have red "no steps". Thanks for the reminder.

Nope. It's all conjectural. Hasegawa just likes putting "common US Navy jet markings" with all their Macross kits, and the practice has spread to Yamato valks now, too. (And it is specifically US Navy markings) I'd go with grey, personally. Don't think I've ever seen a red "no step" on anything.

Australia seems close to getting Super Hornets. 24 F-models for delivery 2009/2010----to fill in the gap in strike capability between the retirement of the F-111, and the delayed arrival of the F-35.

Licensing means NOTHING. Trust me. NOTHING for accuracy. It is PERMISSION, not a guarantee. Know the least-accurate Super Hornet money can buy? The one Boeing licensed and sells in their gift shops, with the big "Accurate and approved by Boeing" sticker on the box. The most-accurate one, beating many plastic models? The unlicensed one made in an anonymous factory in Hong Kong. Overall, the following statement is quite true, having seen most every model out there: The licensed one is the least accurate, the unlicensed one is the most accurate. Other stuff: Boeing often rejects corporate models because of the shade of grey or blue used for the windows/canopy glass. Yup. Couldn't care less about the shape of the mold. American Airlines sometimes licenses models of planes they never operated, because the woman in charge really doesn't know airplanes that well--AA's only concern, and thus her job, is to make sure the tail logo isn't printed backwards. If that's right--it's approved. You could probably get them to approve a Concorde in AA colors, if the logo was right--but that one might be distinctive enough that they'd catch on.

So much aviation humor, yet it rarely shows up in this thread. That said: The different takeoff procedures of military aviators --------------------------------------------------------------------- Naval Aviator: On a carrier, the Naval Aviator looks over at the Catapult Officer ("Shooter") who gives the run up engines signal by rotating his finger above his head.. The pilot pushes the throttle forward, verifies all flight controls are operational, checks all gauges, and gives the Cat officer a brisk salute, continuing the Navy / Marine tradition of asking permission to leave the ship. The Cat officer drops to one knee while swooping his arm forward and pointing down deck, granting that permission. The pilot is immediately catapulted and becomes airborne. Air Force Pilot: We've all seen Air Force pilots at the air force base look up just before taxiing for takeoff and the ground crew waits until the pilot's thumb is sticking straight up. The crew chief then confirms that he sees the thumb, salutes, and the Air Force pilot then takes off. This time-tested tradition is the last link in the Air Force safety net to confirm that the pilot does not have his thumb up his ass. Army Aviator: If you've ever seen an Army helicopter pilot preparing for takeoff, you will note that the pilot gives the ground guy a thumbs up before he is given hover and takeoff signals. There are two theories about the origin of this gesture. One is that it is to show that the pilot has identified which of his fingers is the thumb so that he will be able to properly operate his controls. The most compelling theory says that this is to show the ground crewman that the pilot indeed knows which direction is up.

Techromancer's awesome IMHO. It's not a rip-off, it's a deliberate parody. The plot is, if anything, more Tenchi-Muyo based than anything. This is still the #1 game that "I can't believe they actually translated it and brought it to the US".

This shows the pod a bit better, and also here's the last pic I have.

I skipped Classics Prime and SS, to wait for the 2-pack. Will probably get it when I see it--have to see what color Skywarp really is in person. (I know that purple just doesn't photograph well---especially plastic---photographing purple legos is impossible, they'll look either pink or blue)

It's officially the MiG-35 now--it says so on the nose! And like all planes, it looks coolest with as many missiles as it can hold.

Re: NCC-1701. Of course. The funny thing is---I expected Hiro to go "Sulu?!?!" upon seeing him the first time. Have to wonder exactly what is and isn't pop-culture in the Heroes world.

Well, anyone who watched tonight's ep knows the answer.

Hey, C-17's are also painted 36118 grey. What color would the toy be? MP SS is green, Blackout is blue....

I'm hoping/waiting for a Grimlock repaint/remold--fix all the flaws.

If you're going to go to the effort of redoing the head area for a cone-head, you might as well do all of the cone-heads, since they'd only need new wings etc.

Well, I would presume they either: 1. Block off the un-needed part of the mold. Most models are made this way---Hasegawa has a "master mold" for every part for the entire F-4 family. But they can turn on and off various parts of the mold, so that only the parts needed actually get plastic injected into it. They have a quite complex mold for the F-4, there's literally dozens of combinations they could make--they mold EXACTLY what each kit needs. For Hasbro to block off a single area with Ramjet's pieces would be very simple. 2. The un-needed pieces are immediately sent back and re-melted to be used in the next batch. This is the other way, usually done when the un-needed pieces are few, and not worth changing the mold setup. So either all the un-needed Ramjet pieces were being re-melted and used in other Starscreams (it's clean, and the right color already), or the pieces weren't made in the first place, with the Ramjet part of the mold being blocked off (and hopefully, there's Dirge and Thrust pieces on the mold also being blocked off). If you can see the sprue itself, it's obvious where the sprue separates/blocks off different groups of parts. Usually a large cylindrical area perpendicular to the main section of the sprue. Actually, the most likely scenario is that only the fuselage, arms, and feet are "always" on, with every wing and tail variation being one of the "optional choices" on the mold--thus, even Starscream's parts aren't "inherent" to the mold. (This is how the Hasegawa F-4 mold is set up)

They could have used teal insead of gold, that's very different from white, and is one of Ramjet's original colors. (and it was metallic teal, too) And fine, BURGUNDY wings instead of red. And would have liked to see BLACK instead of grey. (Same issue I have with Titanium TC) TC, Dirge, and Ramjet have BLACK hands and feet, not grey. Sure hope they do TC right--dark metallic blue and BLACK, not pale blue and grey. 2nd-coolest paint scheme ever (after Skywarp) but rarely recreated right. Ok, I understand the mold/coloring issue. Could still have gone with black though--he'd have black feet, engines, wings, weapons, tailfins--all correct. Only issue could be his face (easily changed with paint, plenty of TF's with painted faces). Still, black with burgundy paint on BOTH sides would have looked even better. (And teal accents---gold on a robot is practially neutral) That should also mean, if there is just the single large mold with all the optional parts, if there's going to be a Dirge and/or Thrust, then the molds for those parts already exist, we just haven't seen them yet.

joshin'---"joshing"----mocking, "pulling your leg", light-hearted joking. And with that, we should get the thread back to the Sv-51, (specifically, complaining about QC)

Hey, I still rank the Countach as the coolest car of all time... (and yes, I prefer later versions with all the extra bits tacked on--87/88 is the best)

Well, generally twin tails are used when you can't fit a single large tail. I think part of the reason is simply that most delta canards are pretty small, with a narrow rear fuselage (usually single engine, or two small ones) and there's not really room to have side-by-side fins.

Hmmn wha?

What'd you originally vote for? I have to remove the original vote, or things will be off.

Eurocanards all look the same. (Not my term, but so perfect I use it all the time).