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Noyhauser is specifically asking about F-35 vs. Gripen for Canada's purposes. If Canada buys it, it will be the F-35A (conventional non-carrier version), so that's the point of comparison. Going by David's standard for weight, let's see if I can revise my thrust:weight calculations. To reiterate: Gripen max internal fuel is 2270 kg, half that is 1135 kg, which is 2497 lbs. I'll go with 2 sidewinder, 2 AMRAAM and 80 27mm rounds. (That's 2/3 of the 120 max; look here and here. Yes, I'm using robotechresearch as a source in this case, because they in turn refer to Jane's and Periscope. Also note that only counting 80 rounds is slightly generous since I believe the gun stores spent cartidges instead of ejecting them.) Globalsecurity.org (which I'm henceforth going to use for all data unless noted otherwise) has Sidewinder at 190 lbs., AMRAAM at 335 lbs. This Eurofighter page gives a weight of 270g for the Mauser ammo. 80 rounds * 270 g = 21.6 kg or about 48 lbs. Total "reasonable weight" is thus 14300 (empty) + 380 (Sidewinders) + 670 (AMRAAMs) + 48 (bullets) + 2497 (fuel) = 17895. That's a little less than the "basic fighter configuration" I cited earlier. Thrust is 18100 lbs. (afterburner) giving a T:W ratio of 1.01 based on my "reasonable weight". It's 0.97 based on the "basic fighter configuration". This site uses slightly different inputs to arrive at a T:W of 0.94. Now for F-35A. Various numbers for internal fuel; I'll go with the Flug Review, which is highest at 8300 kg. Half that, converted to pounds, gives us 9130 lbs. I'll once again assume two Sidewinders and two AMRAAMs--this makes the F-35A nonstealthy. (I don't know if it might be possible to carry two AMRAAMs and two ASRAAMs internally. I doubt it, but if it were possible, the JSF would be a 61 lbs. heavier although stealthy.) Like the Gripen, the F-35 will use a 27mm Mauser, and since I can't find the amount of ammo carried (if indeed that has been settled at this time), and since the weight of ammo is a small factor, I'm just going to assume the same amount/weight as the Gripen. Total "reasonable weight" is thus 22500 (empty weight F-35A) + 380 (sidewinders) + 670 (AMRAAMs) + 48 (bullets) + 9130 (fuel) = 32728 lbs. Thrust is at least 37000 lbs., giving a T:W ratio of 1.13. However, this site gives a T:W ratio of 0.83. This is rather a large discrepancy, and it is attributable primarily to the fact that the 0.83 figure is based on a "normal takeoff weight" of 19000 kg (41000 lbs.). Underlying this is a supposed empty weight of 12010 kg (26422 lbs.) and perhaps different assumptions about armament/fuel. Overall I'm inclined to trust my calculation; for one thing, it agrees with the ratio cited in this article, which is otherwise critical of the F-35. That's all I feel like doing for now. Maybe later I'll look at wing loading and electronics.

I was under the impression that performance varies among the various memory cards...with CF being the fastest (?). Also, price/megabyte may vary--and regardless of any of the above, the previous poster has a point if a certain kind of memory is only used by a certain company's cameras and vice versa. By buying into that format, you're stuck. ANYWAY, I think Blu-Ray is interesting for the increased picture quality potential. Ability to store more episodes of a TV show per disc is also interesting, although it wouldn't be likely to lower the cost. (Content is the main factor in cost, not medium.) So I think I'll probably get a player if the format catches on, and once I have an HDTV. I probably wouldn't go for a PS3, though, unless the price was competitive with standalone players. And I'd be leery of the format if it had regionalization and anti-copying features that were markedly stronger than DVD. If that had been the case with DVD, the only way we'd be able to watch M0, M7, DYRL, etc. would be with a Region 2 player and a script printout. I also agree with Keith about the regionalization issue with PS2 games.

Yes, although we can pretty much agree at this point that Blu-Ray isn't going to force anyone to rebuy their DVD collection, DVD is inferior in resolution to HDTV. So when you record to Blu-Ray (see the article I linked) or buy a movie in Blu-Ray format, it will look better than a DVD on your HDTV.

Blu-ray plays DVDs: http://news.com.com/2100-1041-990826.html End of worries.

Another pair of useful references: http://www.flug-revue.rotor.com/FRTypen/FRJAS39.htm http://www.flug-revue.rotor.com/FRTypen/FRF-35.htm Let's see...combat radius... F-35 600-800 nm (depending on source and version--assuming not the V/STOL variant); Gripen about 430 nm. Both are capable of inflight refueling. Note: the last source gives Gripen a 1620 nm radius with maximum external fuel tanks--don't quite know what to make of that or how to compare with F-35. Regarding cost, I'm less sure about the comparison I made earlier. The F-35 is generally projected to cost about $40-50 million each depending on whether the buyer is a member of the original "team" of countries behind the program. Not sure about flyaway cost of Gripen. Edit: Gripen flyaway cost is apparently in the $25-30 million range. Obviously the projected cost of the F-35 is subject to revision upward as time goes by.

Attempting a JSF/Gripen comparison...first let's get some sources out of the way... http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/sys...t/jsf-specs.htm http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/row/gripen.htm http://www.airforce-technology.com/project...ipen/specs.html http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/jsf/specs.html The JSF is bigger and has a higher max. takeoff weight. JSF empty weight 22500-24000 lbs; Gripen 14300-18700 lbs. (the higher number is "basic fighter configuration", so it may include internal fuel and a couple of missiles). JSF max. takeoff weight 50000-60000 lbs; Gripen 27500-30800 lbs. JSF has about twice the thrust. Thrust:weight ratio (based on empty weight) of JSF is 1.54, of Gripen is about 1.25:1. As we know, the JSF has stealth, the Gripen doesn't. The JSF is more expensive to buy (may not be in above sources, but I've seen prices elsewhere); ownership is a separate issue, on which I have no numbers. The Gripen is available sooner. That's all I have for now.

David, are you sure FAS.org is dead? In any case, I was under the impression that globalsecurity.org is not directly affiliated with the Federation of American Scientists, even though a lot of the text is the same on both sites. About the current question, obviously we'll have to see once the F-35 reaches production, but another factor to consider is (again) maintainability/lifecycle costs. Also, I'm surprised that a Flanker variant doesn't figure somewhere in Graham's list, at least for the sake of argument. Not that it's a lightweight figher. Edit: Ah, I see what happened...John Pike, who did the military stuff for FAS, left FAS and started globalsecurity.org. I also see that he has a bit of a sense of humor: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/sys.../fa-37-pics.htm Interesting... Shall we help him out?

Based on the human fig, he looks like he's about 18 meters tall. Male Zentradi really only average about 10 meters. Another way of putting it would be to say that a 1/72 Zentradi should be about 14 cm tall. Britai, at 13.54 m tall, would be just shy of 19 cm. If your guy is as big as he looks in the picture, he could plausibly be a tall 1/48 Zentradi. By my calculations, in "real life" he'd be about 12 meters--about the same height as Kamjin (Khyron).

Out of the Robotech Macross Saga toys, I think the Power Armor is probably one of the weakest in terms of sculpt (surpassed only by the hideous 12" dolls, and the majority of the 3-3/4" and 6" character figures). The sculpt represents a Nousjadeul-Ger and is around 1/96-1/98 scale. It was sold in a green "Botoru division" version and a purple "Quadrono division" version. Since "Quadrono" is the RT term for the Queadluun-Rau, either somebody was dumb or they got lazy and tried to pass a purple N-Ger off as female powered armor. But it's possible that purple N-Ger's appeared somewhere in the show; in fact, the the Imai 1/144 N-Ger kit shows it in a purplish blue scheme: The problem with the Matchbox version is just that it doesn't look all that hot. On the other hand, it's the only N-Ger toy out there, and if Yamato ever makes one, it's very likely that it will only appear in the DYRL version, which has a radically different appearance. (The Q-Rau changed somewhat less from TV to DYRL, so that people have been able to make nice customs, and it wouldn't be too hard for Yamato to eventually do a resculpt.) So if you're a fan of the N-Ger TV-style sculpt, and you don't plan on building the 1/144 model, I'd keep at least one of the Power Armor toys. I have a green one; here it is posed with a 1/100 Valkyrie:

Maybe you could try taking the pics outdoors on a bright but overcast day? I.e., lots of diffuse light--will help counteract the glossy/shiny appearance.

M*A*S*H* is from the era when CBS had great sitcoms. Mary Tyler Moore. Rhoda. Bob Newhart. Also Carol Burnett's variety/skit show. I remember liking M*A*S*H when it was first on--before any of the original characters left--but as time passed, it became less and less of a comedy and more of a drama, a trend which eventually killed it for me. Anyway, if you want good stuff, it's still out there both on TV and in the movies. You just have to look around.

Please post a heads up when the Discovery show is going to air.

Not obvious from the page, but if you click on a picture it will open in 1024x768. But they screwed up one of the links. The pic at the top of this thread is at http://www3.nsknet.or.jp/~zuka/px/50thANNI/50th_3.jpg The blue scheme's nose detail in 1024x768 is really nice. Yes, based on babelfish and excite (had to use both to be sure), the paint scheme is to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the JASDF.

I think commander mcbride is a lo:mac fan, maybe you should shoot him a PM.

Somehow this is more cool to me than the X-Prize stuff. How much did it cost to put that baby into space? And are there any plans to try for orbit?

Sorry to hijack the thread but are there any good propeller-era combat-sim type games for the PS2 out there?

hm. A couple things to share. First, JsArclight's 1st post had me looking up some obscure stuff about ejection systems, and I came across a very nice history: http://www.ejectorseats.co.uk/History.html The main site is worth a look, too. Second, in case somebody's never seen it, I offer a (probably apocryphal) selection of "squawk sheet" entries (i.e. communications between aircrews and maintenance personnel)--it appears in many forms, this is the most extensive I could find: http://www.campbells.org/Airplanes/airplaneSquawks.html Third, a famous incident known as "Pardo's Push"--an F-4 pilot managed to push another damaged F-4 58 miles by contacting the latter's tailhook with his windscreen, so that the crew of the second jet could avoid ejecting over enemy territory. Here's one of the longer accounts: Pardo's Push. Something similar happened during the Korean War with two F-86's, but unfortunately in that case the pilot of the damaged aircraft drowned after ejecting. You can find one account here.

I think many of you are going at it backwards. The Japanese designation, which hasn't changed, is almost certainly the best representation of the creators' meaning; the English translation is only that--a translation. About the use of "monitor"--most monitors were incapable of operating outside of coastal waters and had to be towed if they were to move across the open sea. A few "seagoing monitors" were laid down during the war, however, and a few "modern" monitors were constructed in the 20th century which would sort of fit the ASS-1 type. These were mainly built by the Royal Navy; a list of them can be found here. Still later, the US Navy used "river monitors" in Vietnam--small single-turreted boats. However, the type of ship really only fit a few niches--coastal bombardment or coastal defense, or in smaller sizes, river patrol. Moreover, the term "monitor" arguably applies not only to an operational role, but to a specific layout: a small ship with one or two large revolving turrets. So the term doesn't fit the ASS-1 very well, in my opinion. If you do a search on the kanji 砲艦 you can get a general idea of what the Japanese term means, and indeed it's basically the same as the English "gunboat"--a small vessel carrying a relatively heavy armament, appearing in diverse forms at different times and for different purposes. Here is one example of a ship which a Japanese person would call a "gunboat": http://www.oceandictionary.net/mupy2.html and here is a web page devoted to the type of ship: http://www.down.ne.jp/ish/ijn/gbhist/ (I'd recommend using http://www.excite.co.jp/world/english/web/ to translate. Use the second radio button option to translate from Japanese to English.) Interestingly enough, the most common appearance of the term in a web search is in the Japanese name for the Steve McQueen movie, The Sand Pebbles--in Japanese, it's called Gunboat San Pablo, referring to the ship on which the film takes place--a small patrol ship assigned to the Yangtze during the 1920's. (According to what I've found on the web, the ship in the movie is fictional, although it was based loosely on the USS Villalobos.) Edit: also remember, we're talking about the Supervision Army vessel designated ASS-1, not the refit/reconstruction UNS ship, SDF-1.

It doesn't smear, or it doesn't smear much. And if it does, that's part of the charm of watercolor. Experiment: draw something on a piece of paper with a #2 pencil. Pour water on the paper. The real hard part with watercolor is waiting for one part to dry before adding a neighboring part. You can use a hair dryer to speed the process, if you're working indoors. Otherwise, hopefully it's a sunny day. If you do this, you get nice effects as the colors "layer" over each other at the edges without "mixing" or bleeding. Of course, at other times you want to take advantage of the mixing/bleeding to achieve color/value graduation.

How can you not like it? It's THE ROBOT THAT CHANGES! And it also defends that whole Galaxy! That's pretty amazing. I doubt the VF-17 has the range to cover 100,000 light years! Well, Voltron was Defender of the Universe. So just a galaxy is kinda lame. Yeah, but... If the Universe is EVERYTHING, then what the hell is Voltron protecting it from?? Voltron is the ultimate SLACKER. Maybe the universe needs to be protected from itself. Just a thought.

Nice pics, Mechmaster. Where'd you find them? Especially the diorama with the bugs.

Looking good so far. Keep us updated!

Customs is only supposed to go after stuff which the licenseholder tells them about. So it doesn't matter if anime X has been licensed for sale in the US or not; it's up to Bandai whether bootlegs of anime X are going to be confiscated. Source: US Code 17, section 603. As for legitimate region 2 DVD's, the relevant law is US Code Title 17, section 602, paragraph b. The notes on the section are also helpful. Essentially, if it's not a bootleg, but is simply a legitimate product which isn't licensed for sale in the US, the Customs Service is generally not authorized to confiscate the product. All the Customs Service can do is notify the copyright owner about the importation, provided the owner requests such notification. So (a) it's up to Bandai which bootlegs to go after, and Customs will enforce that. But (b) Bandai can't get Customs to confiscate or exclude legitimate Region 2 DVDs, although Bandai could get Customs to report such importation; using that information, Bandai could (if they choose) sue the importer in court. I'm not a lawyer, though, so no one should take this as legal advice.

Ugh. I wish they wouldn't call the Super Hornet "Rhino". That one's already taken by the F-4. Edit: so, did the article mention any difference in tactics? How did the Super Hornets try to compensate for lack of thrust?

Yep. You can tell that Will Ferrell and his buddies handle a lot of the scenes via improv and multiple takes, and in a few scenes I feel that they never quite nailed it. But there are many, many scenes where I was dying. I also enjoyed seeing Christina Applegate...I know she's been in other stuff since Married With Children, but I missed those, so this is the first time I've seen her in a non-airhead role.