David Hingtgen

Skull Leader--there was a pic of a Shornet with flaps up hours after shutdown? I must see that. I thought the final consensus (and what I've seen) is that they droop pretty darn fast. (I wouldn't dare ask this at ARC)

Also, while I find it the best place to read about real planes, it is first and foremost a MODEL airplane forum. And most discussion is related to that in some way. Most people talking on the forums are doing it while waiting for a primer coat on their Hasegawa F-16 to dry. Oh, another thing. Do not bring up the topic of what position a Super Hornet's control surfaces are in when the plane's shut down. (can't believe that one was forgotten) Also do not ask about Academy vs Tamiya F-16 kits.

I think the seat rotates, mainly from comparing the prototype robot mode to the detailed schematic of jet mode we got. It looks like the whole glareshield/panel/seat rotates back 90 degrees, so that in robot mode you are seeing what is basically the cockpit forward bulkhead.

No, the -400 is actually one of the oldest versions of the F110. Standard GE engine numbering system: USAF engines are -1xx, and USN ones are -4xx. Thus the F-20's F404's are -100's while the F-18's F404's are -402's. The F110 for the F-16 includes the -100 and -129, while the F-14 has the -400. Putting F110 129's would have only let the the Tomcat 21 supercruise at like Mach 1.05 while basically clean, not enough to care about. The F110-GE-400's true power has been hard to figure out. It's officially listed as 27,000lbs, which makes sense since the basic F110 is 28,000lbs. However, the F-14D's own NAVAIR manual states 23,600lbs static at sea level, increasing to 30,200lbs at Mach .9 at sea level.

No offense but reading about situations like this kind of makes me wonder ... who was the less sensible one. The person that broke a toy unintentionally or the person who knew if they just did what they were told, they'd get what they so deeply desired. Again, no offense is intended, but if I saw something like this about to happen today, I'd tell the kid to just suck it up and do it already. 403854[/snapback] I think you mis-interpreted the story. It wasn't to be a "reward" for cleaning my room it was "holding something dear to me (that was already mine) for ransom".

Could have at least waited, say, a MONTH OR TWO until the several dozen Tomcats that had already had TF30's removed, waiting for the already-delivered F110's to be installed, were complete. The TF30-to-F110 conversion required either Calverton's or Oceana's own facilities, and destroying them made those F-14's either engineless and thus scrapped, or have the TF30's re-installed. There's stopping a program, and then stopping a program literally while planes have their access panels open waiting for the guys to get back from lunch to finish the job. PS---anyone know what happened to the unused F110-GE-400's they had waiting to install? That model is F-14 exclusive, cannot be used for anything else.

I lurked there for a year before signing up. Some people have truly scary amounts of knowledge and no tolerance for "beginner" questions. It's worse than any "go ask in the newbie thread, noob" you might see here. But that is also why there is so much good info there--they REALLY know their stuff. PS---they will happily explain most anything (unclassified) if you ask nicely. Most of those guys (like me) like nothing more than to show off their knowledge by spouting it out.

God no. Anything slower than a Hornet cannot have the name "Lightning"!!!! And there's NO chance they'll call it the Spitfire. Of those names, I like Cyclone. (nevermind the obviously UK Hurricane and Tornado). Black Mamba's not bad, but too long. Just "Mamba" would work better, but then few people would know what it was. Why not Rattler? One of Cobra's best planes, AND it was a VTOL! And with the generation of pilots likely to pilot it, they'd remember it. PS to Phalanx---also at ARC do not ask any F-22 pilots etc obviously classified stuff, like "how fast can it REALLY go?". They won't answer, and you'll just get 50 other people saying they can't tell you. PPS---ARC is heavily pro-F-16 and pro-F-14. They will expect you to know what the difference is between an F-16C Block 32 and Block 50, and what truly makes an F-14 a bombcat. Again, F-16.net can help a lot.

The recommendation was actually to use foaming tire cleaner on the engine, as it seems to have some degreaser in it and is of course safe for rubber hoses. And yes, it's my mod-duty to request people try not to quote images, or we're going to see LOTS of cars appear over and over again as people guess what they are. Try to reference either by post number or who posted it or something.

I like just running like crazy down the ravine---full throttle from the moment the stage starts until you hit the dam.

YF-23 #2 is "somewhere", as it's no longer at the Hawthorne Museum. YF-23 #1 has been at Edwards for years, but shuffles around a lot, so it could be either basically mothballed, or being converted into a 2-seater...

I don't ever recall watching Robotech in the 80's. My intro to Macross (in any form) was Macross Plus AFAIK. Anyways, Transformers was THE show. Better than GI Joe, He-Man, Voltron, MASK, C.O.P.S. and Thundercats.

The YF-23 is so cool nobody else deserves it. It's the anti-JSF. "US only, Air Force only" Though the YF-23 would make a great carrier plane IMHO. It's already got HUGE wings, so low approach speed. And it already has F-18 main gear on a wide track.

LOL, Joint Strife Fiasco. I still say we should kill it. Kill it now, and use the money for F-22's. Want an F-16A/early C replacement? F-16E. F-18A/C replacement? Duh. Harrier replacmeent? That's the only thing that really "requires" the JSF. But for a VSTOL alone we'd be much better off with simply a joint US/UK new VSTOL program. JUST for the USMC and RAF/RN.

Because it's what fuels our toy obsession in our 20's and 30's---we want back what they got rid of. Or the new, improved versions thereof. If we had all our old toys, we wouldn't want new valks as much.

Don't know. Aircraft manufacturers didn't start demanding licenses until years after car makers did. And there is (sometimes) kind of a grandfather clause----G1 seeker reissues didn't need a license AFAIK because they were identical to the previous ones from 1984, and MDC hadn't sought licenses back then (licensing was almost nonexistent then). It'll be interesting to see what shows up on MP SS's box.

I've heard of WD-40 being used, but in my experience WD-40 leaves sticky gunk behind that just collects more dirt than before.

Oooh, I've got a good one. So good my Mom STILL feels guilty after all these years. My fave TF (and toy) was Thundercracker. And Mom knew it. By 1987 the original seekers were almost impossible to find, but Thundercracker was still available via robot points. I had gone through several Thundercrackers over the years due to sheer wear (never broke them, but they could only be played with so many times before they wore out and got dirty). My last Thundercracker had been acquired via the robot points offer, but it needed replacing too. Mom knew I wanted a new Thundercracker more than even an entire combiner team or TF city. However, that offer had expired, and Thundercracker was no longer available. But knowing how much I liked Thundercracker, Mom called Hasbro directly, and after being switched around a lot, got through to someone to basically order the last Thundercracker in Hasbro's entire warehouse inventory. And so a nice new Thundercracker was my birthday present. Last one in the world. (Or at least, the US) No full-color box, just a plain brown cardboard, and I think no styrofoam. But it was complete and brand-new. A few days later, I had refused to clean my room, and so Mom "ransomed" my new Thundercracker. She had intended to "gently" throw it in the trash right in front of me if I kept refusing to clean up, and fish it out later----being right on top, it'd be fine. However, several pieces fell/broke off when she threw it in the garbage bag after I still refused to clean up, and we never found them. She had ruined my brand-new Thundercracker that she had worked so hard to get for me for my birthday. Losing the nose gear alone pretty much ruins a G1 seeker's jet mode, but breaking off a missile and a tailfin too? She still remembers (not that I let her forget) that she's the one that willfully ruined my favorite toy of all childhood, that she herself had tried so hard to get for me as a birthday present. All because of a really stupid idea of how to get me to clean up my room.

I've been wanting to clean my engine/engine bay for a while, but every single discussion/thread/FAQ on it always comes down to 2 things: 1. Simple Green is corrosive, so don't use it despite everyone/everywhere saying you should. 2. Orange/citrus ones are ALSO bad, and corrode or crystallize, so don't use them either despite everyone/everyone saying use it instead of Simple Green. It keeps coming down to "lesser of two evils" to choose what to use. Anyone have any comments or experiences in cleaning engines? A few requirements: 1. No pressure washing. I won't dare risk it. 2. Are there any orange/citrus cleaners that DON'T have the "background" smell of Goo-Gone/mineral spirits/varnish/lacquer/gasoline? They almost all smell like orange-scented Goo-Gone to me, not just "orange". And to me mineral spirit/goo-gone smell is very obvious and incredibly lingering, and couldn't stand for my car to smell like that. 3. Have seen a few people say use foaming tire cleaner. Anyone tried that?

Megaforce---I loved that line, and just a few days ago was trying to remember what it was called... Anyways--actually, since I was quite specific in what toys I did and didn't want, I rarely got stuff I didn't want, and usually got the stuff I did. Even back then I knew to pass up on several little toys in order to get a single larger one. One G1 seeker or headmaster is worth a BUNCH of TF minibots. I honestly can't really think of anything I didn't get that was important. Well, there was G1 Hot Rod. But that was due to availability. It was to the point that my parents actually gave me the money for him (and I was like 7) to buy him if I EVER found him. Never did. Nor could any grandparents, aunts, etc. I never, ever found a G1 Hot Rod for sale and never got him soley for that reason. Strangely I never remember asking for Omega Supreme, yet I got it for my birthday. As opposed to Trypticon, which I begged for about 6 months straight and got for Christmas. Equal price/size, yet very different "want" levels. Still, LEGOs were the hardest to get. They're just plain expensive. (Actually, I think they're cheaper now than they used to be, accounting for inflation--still expensive though, but not so outrageous as they were). Even back in 1989 the big pirate ships retailed for $110. Of course, the 2 largest LEGO ships are still among the best sets ever, and frankly the best pirate ship toys ever. Now if they only made the 16-wide hulls in black, I could make the Black Pearl... (yes, I have saved ONE set from childhood--the Black Seas Barracuda, set 6285, best LEGO ship ever) Ironically, that is one of the few sets ever re-released... http://guide.lugnet.com/set/6285 Black Seas Barracuda, 1989 http://guide.lugnet.com/set/6286 Skull's Eye Schooner, 1993

US planes don't count UK names. Fury II in the US, Fury III or IV in the UK, depending if SEA Fury counts as well

Maybe, maybe not. May be functional, may not. May have ammo, may not.

2 weeks to US DS Lite release, bumping thread, and a comment/question: Has anyone here actually seen/held a Navy DS Lite? I've read a LOT of comments lately about how it's more glossy than the others, and REALLY shows fingerprints and smudges, to the point that it looks pretty bad most of the time. And I hate fingerprints... I might go with white for that reason alone--better to dislike the color and have it look good, than to like the color but think it looks dirty 24/7. And of course Europe gets BLACK...

Again: You get planes by killing Ace squadrons that use it. Very few exceptions. Did you fight Schnee Squadron, who use F-14's? Probably not, since you didn't get their plane. Who you fight is determined by whether you are currently a Soldier, Knight, or Mercenary in that mission.

Thus it should be the Fury II.