David Hingtgen

IIRC, nearly every place taking Wii/PS3 pre-orders, pretty clearly states that a pre-order merely guarantees a system AT SOME POINT, not a launch-day one. Being #1 on the list, you should EXPECT to get one on launch day, but even that's not for sure. #12? Could be launch day, could be the next week, or next month. No different than 360 pre-orders were---they were hard to find for months, but the people who pre-ordered yet still didn't get them on launch day usually got them within 4-6 weeks of launch, vs the people who didn't pre-order and might hunt for months before finding one.

Nothing's "permanent". If it was added, it can be removed. Interesting, the law specifies the color---FS12199. That's "Coast Guard Orange".

I think people are confusing personal callsigns and radio callsigns. If someone's callsign is "Pig" (fairly common) they may be called Pig for years and years---but their radio callsign can change every flight---it may be "Fast Eagle 107" one day, and "Dakota 202" the next.

This pic: http://www2.moeyo.com/img/rev/06/11/12/r1/rl29.JPG shows a sticker for the fuselage kite. It's more subtle than the ejection triangles, but still a sticker.

Graham's back!--it's been like 3 days. He was probably playing with his new, final-version YF-19 all this time...

Having to move the legs for the FAST packs almost seems like a design error. They are supposed to be small enough to fit as-is, that's how Kawamori designed it. Did Yamato try to make them VF-1 sized for some reason, then change the YF-19 to fit?

UN Spacy---the legs twisting outwards at the hips?

Nice, I like it a lot. Some day I'll have to take mine beyond the "removed from sprue and sanded the intake halves" stage. Is that the first one we've actually seen built as a 2-seater here at MW?

I'd guess more like $100, if they're at BestBuy... Launch dates are almost as bad as the "November mass game releases" we have. Nothing for half the year, now EVERY game you want comes out in a 6 week period...

Oooh, Battle 7 would rock. And then they could release a City 7 add-on for like 100,000 Yen... Battle 7 not only looks cooler, it has MAX commanding it!

I've been holding off on buying the GBA remakes of the NES/SNES Super Mario games, hoping they'd be on the Wii. But since none are in the first batch(es), now I'm thinking they're not going to be (at least for a while) so as not to hurt sales of the GBA versions. What we really need is Mario All Stars 2-- 1 through 4, and Yoshi's Island. For GC/Wii.

The YF-19 was accepted as-is for the VF-19A, then heavily redesigned for the later VF-19F and VF-19S. Kind of like how the F-18A/B/C/D Hornet had about 90% of its structure changed to become the F-18E/F Super Hornet. Same basic name and designation, but actually only "looks similar" and doesn't share many parts.

I thought I read the PS3 is actually transparent black, but so "barely" transparent it's almost impossible to tell from opaque black.

Basically---yup. Painting is done last. Think about all the aircraft models with camoflage--the camoflage doesn't follow panel lines or subassemblies at all. Mask mask mask... And Tamiya masking tape is worth the price.

Nani--the VF-19A Excalibur is identical to the YF-19. It's the VF-19F and S Blazer valks, and VF-19Kai Fire valk that are so different.

Half of Yamato's VF-1's are non-canon repaints, do you really think they wouldn't make the best-known canon repaint? We'll probably also get low-vis, stealth, and Roy VF-19's...

"- Engadget has revealed some technical details on PlayStation 3. The PS3 BluRay drive is quieter than the DVD Drive on Xbox 360 " I should hope so!

Anyone see the additional Virtual Console games? (unconfirmed, but the ESRB just rated them, as they're too old to have been rated earlier) * Duck Hunt (E for Everyone) * Hogan’s Alley (E for Everyone) * Kid Icarus (E for Everyone) * Kirby’s Adventure (E for Everyone) * Pilot Wings (E for Everyone) * Pro Wrestling (E for Everyone) * Punch-Out (E for Everyone) * Wild Gunman (E for Everyone) * Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (Super NES; rated E for Everyone) * Kirby’s Super Star (Super NES; rated E for Everyone) * Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64; rated E for Everyone) * Starfox 64 (Nintendo 64; rated E for Everyone) * Super Metroid (Super NES; rated E for Everyone) * Kirby’s Dream Land 3 (Super NES; rated E for Everyone) * The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64; rated E for Everyone) * Excitebike (NES; rated E for Everyone) * Ice Climber (NES; rated E for Everyone) * Dr. Mario (NES; rated E for Everyone) * Mario Brothers (NES; rated E for Everyone) * Ice Hockey (NES; rated E for Everyone) * Soccer (NES; rated E for Everyone)

Haven't checked ARC today, have to go see. That'd be the best thing ever---I always figured they'd might be back as a Super Hornet squadron, or even F-35.

Now to see what UPS will do. My bet is cancelling the A380 for 747AdvF's.

A JT3C-6's water injection rate (707-120 engine) is 667lbs/min with a 5,913lb tank in the plane. KC-135 and B-52 engines are similar. Presumably that's so it can make multiple takeoffs without refilling----they only accept distilled water, and there's plenty of places that wouldn't be available. Fill it up at New York, then fly around the world (literally) and end up back at New York. Water injection is limited to 2.5 minutes per takeoff. I'm guessing the main reason for not having an afterburner is nozzle maintenance and fuel burn. A "low" setting for an afterburner is quite possible. Plus it's kind of a waste to have such a system installed but only ever operated at low power--water injection is certainly easier and cheaper.

The incomplete(wasted) fuel is far, far less than an afterburner would impose. Full afterburner can easily triple fuel burn. The black smoke is caused by "imperfectly" burnt fuel--it was still burnt and providing energy, just not as ecologically-friendly as normal, and wasting a bit of it. Afterburners add a lot of weight and complexity--mainly the nozzle. You're hauling around that extra weight and paying to maintain it constantly. Water injection weighs almost nothing when it's not being used, and requires little maintenance. Basically--water injection is a simple way to occasionally get a little boost. Afterburners are a complex way to frequently get a big boost. I posted this pic earlier in the thread, it's a 707 using water injection: http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0541868/M/

FedEx cancelled all their A380 orders, I believe they're the launch customer for the freighter version. Ironically, the contract to build A380 hangars at FedEx's main hub in Memphis was just signed. Also, FedEx ordered 15 777-200F's from Boeing. 787 is 5,000lbs overweight currently.

If it's simply "smokey", it's just a B-52 with old engines. If it looks like there's 8 coal-burning locomotives under the wings, then it's using water injection. Convair 880's are a good reference for how bad "old smokey jets" can be WITHOUT water injection: http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0004414/M/ http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0004413/M/ The Convair 990 was a bit cleaner: http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0138424/M/ For water injection, the extra-black smoke is simply because the water prevents complete combustion of the fuel, same as any old car or truck spewing out black exhaust. For other jet engines, same problem, just not as bad.

I'd certainly suspect it of using water to takeoff vertically as well, as that requires even more thrust than hovering. It's not some special ability that water lets it hover, nor that it requires water to hover (60 sec water supply, but can hover over 5 minutes)---it's just that water injection is so rare nowadays. Also, it's a sheer scale factor. The larger/more powerful the engine, the less water injection seems to be worth. The most powerful engine I know of that can use water injection only gets a 3% boost in power for most variants. It was primarily used in the 50's and 60's when any increase in thrust was worth it. And the Harrier certainly needs it, as it has such a tiny payload etc---as the thrust increase is about equal to a Harrier's typical bombload. Water injection adds power, in multiple ways. The exact method is tweaked for each engine.