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F-ZeroOne

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  1. F-ZeroOne
    Its probably an issue for most democracies, I guess. Theres so much pressure to get "bang for the buck" that theres a tendency to stuff as much as possible into one package, because that might be all the package you're going to get. And most democracies have competing pressures for funding, Though again, I'm not sure its entirely a new issue - we developed the MK. VIII Spitfire, but the Mark IX got built in bigger numbers - because it was much more suited to the immediate requirements at the time.
  2. F-ZeroOne
    Was there a time when aircraft were "designed, manufactured, and sent into action within the span of a year" though? World War I, maybe, but if you look at some of the aircraft from World War II - usually the period held up as the era when aircraft design was "right", compared to the current age with its doohickeys and cost overruns - I'm not entirely certain that applies in many cases. The Supermarine Spitfire prototype first flew in 1936. It didn't go into combat until three years later, and production was only just bought up to speed in time (in fact, one could almost argue that at the time it was seen as the F-35 programme of its day, a near endless procession of production bottlenecks), The Hawker Hurricane, the "simpler" of the two, first flew in 1935, entered squadron service 2 years later and 2 years after that was already being regarded as just barely capable against its main opponent and increasingly obsolescent after that. The P-51 prototype may have been rolled out just over a hundred days after an order had been placed, but they didn't enter RAF squadron service until 1942 and the "war-winning" models with Merlin engines not until late 1943/early 1944. North American also had the benefit of being able to obtain combat data that was unavailable to R. J. Mitchell or Sydney Camm and their teams. All these aircraft - especially the Spitfire and Mustang - were on the cutting edge of their day but they were also more basic than later jet aircraft, I'm not going to disagree that defence procurement isn't borked - I'm British! - but I'm just not sure things were as simple "back in the day" as is sometimes made out.
  3. F-ZeroOne
    You... have some serious trouble with sheep rustlers in the US, don't you?
  4. F-ZeroOne
    On the note of F-16 variants, Japan lost another F-2 today, though thankfully both pilots are safe: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190220/p2g/00m/0na/053000c
  5. F-ZeroOne
    Oh, thats easy. You launch it from a bigger flying aircraft carrier...
  6. F-ZeroOne
    A flying aircraft carrier? Where have I heard that idea before... DUNDUN-DUN-DUNDUN-DUN!
  7. F-ZeroOne
    I originally bought mine for "Elite: Dangerous"(which I never did play that much in the end, just didn't have time to learn to fly a spaceship... ) and it certainly made a difference there, but then the general opinion is that a flightstick was pretty much a requirement for that game...
  8. F-ZeroOne
    Warning for PC users hoping to use a HOTAS setup - there is currently a bug that prevents use of many flightsticks with the game (including, initially, the official Thrustmaster tie-in sticks - this is apparently fixed now). At least, its claimed its a bug, others are claiming that Bandai/Namco and Thrustmaster are telling you to go fly with the angels, mister!: (PCs being PCs, there will probably be a fan workaround made in the next 24 hours that resolves the issue anyway... ) :
  9. F-ZeroOne
    And now, sadly, another 200AD great - Ron Smith, also best known for his work on "Judge Dredd": https://comicbook.com/comics/2019/01/10/judge-dredd-artist-ron-smith-dies/
  10. F-ZeroOne
    Somewhat to my surprise, I just found out today that the PC version (which I ordered to possibly finally get some use out of my Thrustmaster) isn't released until the 31st January. Nuts. First review is in: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-01-18-ace-combat-7-review-a-stellar-return-for-the-skybound-series
  11. F-ZeroOne
    I can pretty much guarantee that whatever they build, it will look nothing like that image. Lots of concept art floated around in the late 80s after the ATF competition was announced, virtually all of which was about as accurate as that Testors "F-19 Stealth" fighter model...
  12. F-ZeroOne
    Okay, Argentinas Skyhawks got the F-16 radar. Other countries, including Brazil, Australia and Singapore all had their own upgrade programmes that differed from Argentinas in various details.
  13. F-ZeroOne
    I don't have the time to check the costs now, but there were a couple of countries - Brazil and Argentina, I think? - that upgraded their A4s with some F-16 avionics, including the APG-66 radar. That might give you a baseline to work from. This was several years ago though, possibly back in the 90s.
  14. F-ZeroOne
    Few guesses; for one thing the A-4 which is the lowest cost plane on that chart was probably a lot simpler, even given that jets were kind of the New Big Ticket Thing back then. Economy of scale is another. They only made 57 F-117s, and although they made a lot of F-15s, they've only made 225 F-15Es (and theres significant changes between a F-15C and E, it wasn't just a case of strapping more bomb shackles on). The F-111 and F-14 were arguably among the most technically sophisticated aircraft of their day, and thus costly. The A-6E was a developed variant of an earlier model, and therefore some of the cost had already been "sunk" (compare to the F-111, which is listed as a single model when there were several different variants). The F-22, well, they only made 187 compared to the originally planned several hundreds; its cost would probably be less overall (though still probably upper tier) if that had happened. By most accounts the F-18E was essentially a new aircraft, and in that context accounting for inflation its cost isn't that that much higher than the F-15. Avionics almost certainly makes a difference; the A-10 is one of the lowest cost aircraft on that chart but also the most basic avionics-wise (in its original form). This is all supposition and "gut" feeling just from looking at that chart though.
  15. F-ZeroOne
    MAGIC PLAY IS DANCING, again! A world of smartphones and drones and the sisters still aren't using masks...
  16. F-ZeroOne
    David! That must be a F-22, we all know the F-35 can't climb/turn/dive/fly!
  17. F-ZeroOne
    Regards the Ace Combat 7 trailer, thats not the one I saw but you can what is likely the Su-57 at about 25 and 40 seconds in.
  18. F-ZeroOne
    Theres a 30 second "Ace Combat 7" trailer doing the rounds on some gaming sites and its blink-and-you'll-miss-it but I think I saw a Su-57 in there at one point.
  19. F-ZeroOne
    For British retro computing fans, there was a lot of love for that era of the hobby - I did a double take when I found out who played the author of the "Bandersnatch" book and just why he looked so familiar... (show creator Charlie Brooker is a big videogame fan and worked for second-hand British videogame/electronics retailer "CEX").
  20. F-ZeroOne
    Ah thanks, Sildani, that makes more sense.
  21. F-ZeroOne
    How can you have a "Passive Active" warning system? Doesn't one contradict the other?
  22. F-ZeroOne
    Runway closed again after another suspected drone sighting. This time of year, its probably going to turn out to be Venus...
  23. F-ZeroOne
    The runway reopened this morning, disruption is expected to take until at least tomorrow to clear. Unless its changed since I last checked, the perpetrator remains at large. The maximum penalty under current UK law for this sort of act is up to 5 years in prison, there may well be a rethink about the penalties. As far as government conspiracies go - a UK politician in parliament was explaining how guard dogs barking scares away drones from prisons, does that sound like someone who could engineer such a plan to you?
  24. F-ZeroOne
    In what is likely to be a watershed moment for civil aviation, a drone has caused travel chaos at Londons Gatwick airport from late evening yesterday well into today: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-46640033
  25. F-ZeroOne
    I will point out that every episode of "Zeta" promised that "YOU WILL SEE THE TEARS OF TIME!". Its just taken a while for Mobile SUIT technology to catch up.
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