F-ZeroOne

The final words spoken by a certain visitor from Gallifrey on BBC TV last night. You'll know what I mean when you see it.

Or, always the first choice where Nagano is concerned, the man is nuttier than an explosion in a peanut butter factory.

"Get OUT!"...

If I remember correctly, FASA publicity claimed that the art style for the early Tech Readouts was inspired by Syd Mead, which probably explains the rather sketchy lines.

That might be a little unfair, the Alien only had to be seen mostly briefly in one movie. Farscapes major cast puppets had to be seen in most episodes of, what, a five season show? Also, character can go a long way to making even a bright green sock with ping-pong balls for eyes into a great personality...

The missile models on some of the planes specifically were. Or at least very, very close copies.

Ace Combat games get realism upgrade as now you actually can use Sidewinders against ground targets: http://defensetech.org/2009/12/14/sidewinder-ground-missile/ (of course, really early Sidewinders also had this capability - accidentally. "Heat-seeking" back then meant "Including the sunlight reflecting off your tin roof - sorry 'bout the shack, sir... ")

I always find that kind of story amusing, as one criticism often thrown at fans of mecha shows is that such series they're just designed to sell toys...

I always feel a little bit ashamed about liking the Speedbird 206 story, but it makes me smile every time. I'm not sure if this exchange, by a SR-71 crew listening in to radio chatter, was posted here before; possibly I read it on another forum: "Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios. Just moments after the Cessna's inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed in Beech. “I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed.” Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren. Then out of the blue, a navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios. “Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check.” Before Center could reply, I'm thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million-dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a read-out? Then I got it, ol' Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He's the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion: “Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground.” And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done - in mere seconds we'll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now. I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn. Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet. Then, I heard it - the click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke: “Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?” There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if was an everyday request. “Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground.” I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: “Ah, Center, much thanks, we're showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money.” For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center voice, when L.A. came back with, “Roger that Aspen. Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one.” It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed... " Full version here: http://www.fromtheinside.us/thinking/Groundspeed_Check.htm

So, who is going to sue Richard Branson first, Paramount Pictures or the US Navy? Nice to see it has proper "nose" art, though!

The British gaming magazine "Edge", which has always been the grown-up cool kid wearing the shades and who was listening to The Smiths when all the other UK gaming magazines still thought Bucks Fizz was the epitome of music, once defined a hardcore gamer as "Someone who has owned a piece of gaming hardware with the SNK logo on it - that wasn't a Neo-Geo Pocket"...

"Come get some!":

I had some trouble with that part but got them to sit right eventually. As far as I can tell from that shot, you seem to have it lined up right, so I'm not sure where the problem is... is one side, as seen from above, "crooked", i.e. not as straight as the other side?

I've had a little bit of trouble with both the Max and the Millia. The outermost connector on one wing, the missiles don't seem to want to go in quite right, like the connector isn't aligned properly or the hole is a tad too small. I got the missiles in but they don't seem to be quite as secure as on the other wing.

It seems that the anime-emblazoned Typhoon will have to join the Macross World Fantasy Air Force; some recent reports are stating that Japanese military sources are indicating that the F-35 will be their choice.

Japan makes Ace Combat. They know Typhoons look better in black than F-22s.

Hmm, if only there was a rich export customer that likes advanced technology and is in the market for a new fighter to replace its ageing Phantoms...

I guess we're just going to have to put the F-20 squadrons in our dream Air Force along with the wing of F-23s and the XB-70 bomber fleet...

I suspect the supply chain factor might also have played a part; why introduce a totally new type (even if superior) when you're already building something that can do the job effectively? (also, probably politics... )

The F-20 was mooted for the air defence role in the US, a role which was eventually given to modified F-16As. And it was also competing in the same international market as the F-16...

Chuck Yeager liked the F-20. However, I've read that one problem is that it wouldn't have been as capable of the same upgrades as the F-16, as the airframe would have run out of space for toys sooner. How true that is, I'm not sure...

My favourite Lightning story is about a pilot whose job it was to give foreign pilots from air forces who might be interested in buying Lightnings a test flight. He'd sit in the back and let the visitor take off, fly around etc. The instructor always made it clear to the guests that the Lightning had a surplus of power and could be going really rather quick [1] before you knew it. One of his pupils apparently didn't listen too hard one day just before take-off. So the tale goes, the Lightning was at 50,000 feet before they were able to raise the gear... [1] Possibly the trouble is our British habit for understatement. Some embarrassments might have been spared if a well known phrase involving shovels had been employed instead...

Not a "pose" as such, but Millia and Max about to take their new 1/60 ver. 2s out for a check flight: Just a quick shot, really; only just got them today and didn't have room for a tripod and not much light so a touch soft...

English Electric Lightning. Also known for being quite quick and being able to achieve a fuel emergency state from the moment the wheels leave the runway.

Thats terrible...