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F-ZeroOne

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  1. F-ZeroOne
    So, er... we can has compact nuclear fusion reactors? http://aviationweek.com/technology/skunk-works-reveals-compact-fusion-reactor-details
  2. F-ZeroOne
    I would imagine that once the airframe is complete a small amount of "flex" wouldn't matter all that much as a whole. It was just in this case, the particular tolerance was incredibly precise, the pin had to fit in a hole; once its in the hole... (as speeds got higher, though, you had to worry more - the Concorde airframe actually expanded a few inches at high speeds and temperatures and had expansion sections to compensate; theres a famous story that during its testing, a technician dropped his hat in one of these spaces and when he returned to retrieve it it had been squashed as the section contracted again!). Another thing about that Spitfire, they painted it with the original black/white recognition aid under-colouring scheme, which I haven't seen on a flying one before.
  3. F-ZeroOne
    Technically, the "Tigercat" existed about sixty years before "Macross Zero"... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_F7F_Tigercat Regards the freezing of the Tornado components - its not just modern aircraft. There was very recently a programme on UK T.V. about the rebuild of a rare Mk. I Spitfire; one of the pins used for fitting the wings had tolerances so tight that the presenter held it in his hand a for a few minutes and his body heat alone was enough to cause the metal to expand just enough that it wouldn't fit anymore - they had to leave it lying on a cold desk for a bit so that it would fit again! (David would like that rebuild, by the way - the owners of the airframe insisted it be refitted as correctly as possible, which included recreating a rear-view mirror originally from a MG car that wasn't part of the original spec but a personal modification by the pilot!).
  4. F-ZeroOne
    Turn-A Turn, Turn-A Turn, TURN-AAAAAAAAAAA!! Slightly pleased.
  5. F-ZeroOne
    A number of "Tigers" have been made for movie use; IIRC, the most famous ones are the Tigers from "Kellys Heroes", which were built on T-34 chassis. As has been pointed out above, the lack of non-interleaved road-wheels is the biggest giveaway thats not an authentic Tiger.
  6. F-ZeroOne
    Ah, thank you - I'd heard of it before. miles316, I have a reasonable idea what blue signifies in Macross - basically, AWESOMENESS is about to happen.
  7. F-ZeroOne
    Sorry to go off-topic (sort of), but whats the blue Valkyrie that looks like an upgraded VF-1?
  8. F-ZeroOne
    I seem to recall, though, that having encountered problems with the F-111 Grumman deliberately designed the F-14s wing-box (i.e. the point around which the wing swiveled) to be extremely durable; I recall reading that it was basically entirely machined out of titanium.
  9. F-ZeroOne
    In the UK, AnimEigo releases were handled by a company called Anime Projects. They operated from a place called Bangor in Wales. If you've just done a double-take at that location name, then you've probably seen "Super Deformed Scramble Wars"...
  10. F-ZeroOne
    I liked the first one, and the Robin Hood episode I felt was a very enjoyable bit of escapism. The rest... hmm. The trouble with having an unlikeable Doctor is that the stories had better be bloody good to compensate until he regains his bearings, and... I liked the premise of the episode, and the Doctors had the final few minutes coming the whole series, but every bit that touched upon science made my brain hurt...
  11. F-ZeroOne
    "Is that your boyfriend in your pocket or...?" Regards the human fossil record, I know that its getting better all the time, I'm just trying to point out (and this actually goes for all species) there will probably never be a fossil you can point to and say (in a 1950s public broadcast voice) "And THIS, gentlemen, is the exact moment we stopped trying to eat rocks and invented cuisine!".
  12. F-ZeroOne
    True - though IIRC the RAF at least looked at the F-14 for the air defence requirement that eventually went to the Tornado ADV.
  13. F-ZeroOne
    Just a few more thoughts on the "simple fighter beats EVERYTHING! school of thought" - the F-16 was originally conceived as a simple dogfighter with a simple radar, and a simple armament system. As it happens, there was already a fighter that was very similar, with the exception of top speed. It was called the Sea Harrier FRS.1. Agile, simple radar, close-range dogfight missiles and gun. It gained a very favourable exchange ratio in close-range combat. Despite this, the opponent air force, operating under difficult circumstances which meant they could not use their own aircraft to the limit of their capabilities managed to inflict great damage on Royal Navy ships during the Falklands using "dumb" bombs and a handful of modern anti-shipping missiles. What they might have achieved with different equipment is a touch sobering. If the Royal Navy had been operating F-14s - big, heavy, complex - though, would they have even tried...?
  14. F-ZeroOne
    Sprey does tend to forget occasionally that all the best fighters of their respective eras were, with few exceptions, the very best and most expensive that their nation could provide. The Supermarine Spitfire had such a protracted development process that it was very nearly cancelled. The F-14 was very nearly unaffordable, even for the U.S, and that was, at first, a single-mission fighter.
  15. F-ZeroOne
    Nekko Basara, at least one Pucara ground attack aircraft was shot down by gunfire from a Harrier by the (in)famous Commander "Sharkey" Ward. I used the word "couple" though now I think of it that may have been the only definite kill, but there were also several gun passes made without success. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FMA_IA_58_Pucar%C3%A1 Dogfights occurred during the Falklands because of the way the opposing sides were equipped; I mentioned what would have happened if the Argentinians had had long-range missiles - its also common to speculate on what would have happened if the Royal Navy had still had a fleet carrier in service with F-4 Phantom IIs embarked, as well as Gannet AEW aircraft.
  16. F-ZeroOne
    There were a couple of air-to-air guns kills, plus a few gun attempts, during the Falklands conflict though its worth bearing in mind that in a number of ways it was a rather atypical conflict to start with (though aren't they all?) - its often overlooked the great ranges the Argentinean pilots were having to fly to reach the combat area and their general lack of air-to-air refuelling (as well as eventually running out of drop tanks) which tended to dictate their tactics to a great extent. If the Argentineans had had even SAR missiles and more time over the target area, they could conceivably have done much better in air-to-air combat.
  17. F-ZeroOne
    Its reasonably likely we're never going to find that direct link; leaving aside that the "human" fossil record is notoriously patchy (though always improving with new discoveries etc), most accounts of biology point out that it doesn't really work like that (direct link to direct link to direct link etc).
  18. F-ZeroOne
    Isn't the first time anime has taken that sort of thing as an inspiration; "Gatchaman II" was heavily influenced by "UFO Culture". And then, of course, theres "Mysterious Cities of Gold"...
  19. F-ZeroOne
    Its worth doing so to find out a little bit about where artists can take inspiration from. I was doing the British equivalent of high-school biology then so it was really striking at the time. For the really curious, spoiler alert:
  20. F-ZeroOne
    Thing that always got me about the "Dominion" manga was that I read it just after having learnt what a "T-4 Bacteriophage" was. (it makes sense in context... ).
  21. F-ZeroOne
    Bandai - they announced a western Turn-A Gundam Blu-Ray release, but it disappeared into the void when they wrapped up their US operation. As a bit of a convert to the series, I was... annoyed. Regarding Lum figures, there was a pretty good Figma release a couple years back.
  22. F-ZeroOne
    Just for the record, Freema Agyeman also appeared as Martha Jones "cousin" who was turned into a Cyberman before Martha Jones appeared in the show...
  23. F-ZeroOne
    Remind me again about that line that goes something like "canards are nice on someone elses fighter"...?
  24. F-ZeroOne
    Now I think about it, ships in the West End Games books also had a rating for "consumables" i.e. fuel, oxygen etc (a concept I've always felt never really fits with the "Star Wars" feel, despite the Trade Federation ships being revealed to have "fuel tanks" - I think they should have referred to them as "power cells" or "explodey ship parts" or something). An X-Wing had 1 week of consumables, so that gives us a cricket pitch (excuse me, I mean "ballpark") figure for the distance from Hoth to Dagobah - 1 week or less; similarly for Dagobah to Bespin (Luke apparently finding a space gas station somewhere en route). Some of the larger starships have consumables ratings listed as "years". And of course, Bespin must be really close to Hoth for the Falcon to get there without a hyperdrive...
  25. F-ZeroOne
    They still promised!
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