F-ZeroOne
-
Posts
2976 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Gallery
Everything posted by F-ZeroOne
-
That... er... raises... questions? "Fox Two, Fox Tw - did I get him?!" "Er, negative Ghost Rider, but chalk up another set of main gear."
-
I can't remember the country involved, sorry. Other interesting facts are that the Spitfire still holds the record for highest Mach number achieved in a dive for a propeller aircraft, even if not intended (0.92 and nearly broke the aeroplane; later raised to 0.96 but unable to verify due to the fact it might have been an instrument fault). Would be interesting to know for certain. Presumably potential customers do ask questions slightly harder than "Does it come in black?". Not insurmountable I guess. The Harrier has always been a touch short legged, but the Spanish and USMC still seem to like 'em (different models, though). BAe have also displayed a mock-up of an "advanced Harrier" once...
-
Well, the strange thing is that Northrop did propose a land-based Hornet with lighter landing gear etc. Only got as far as a mock-up, one sometimes displayed with Sparrows - yes, Sparrows! - on the wingtips. F/A-18L... And the F-16 was expected, having been chosen for the USAF, to be chosen by the Navy (which decided the F-18 was more suitable for naval development). So there could have been a naval F-16, but it would probably have been a very different animal to the YF-16 (just as the F-18 is a very different beast to the original YF-17). Wasn't a naval F-15 proposed once, too?
-
The Lightning/Spitfire dogfight was because the RAF was about to potentially get involved in an overseas operation where the opposition might be using P-51s, so they wanted to see if such dissimilar combat would cause problems. There was a study looking into navalising the Typhoon, but I don't know how comprehensive it was. Going by how often its suggested as an alternative to JSF, I'm guessing it decided that it was feasible. The general rule seems to be that aircraft designed for naval use generally translate well to land use (F-18, F-4, Buccaneer etc) but rarely the other way round. The Harrier did have the advantage of generally eliminating the main reason why naval aircraft have to be built like bricks...
-
I know of Seafires, but the first naval Spitfires pretty much were just that - Spitfires with arrestor hook. Eric "Winkle" Brown relates a number of alarming accounts of landing mishaps on carriers with the prototypes... And during the 60s, the RAF did dogfight a Spitfire with an English Electric Lightning - it seems that while the Lightning could always choose to engage and disengage at its usual warp speed, the Spitfire did quite well. Maybe fitting a couple of ASRAAMs wouldn't be too bad an idea... It would be nice to see Naval Typhoons, and it would seem to be the best way to spread some of the costs involved around if the UK JSF doesn't happen.
-
Proposed alternatives to the JSF have included the aforementioned Naval Typhoon, F-18E/Fs, and - and you can imagine the reaction the following would cause - Rafales. Options apparently considered but not making the current short list are paper darts, getting the phone number of that guy in South Africa who still has a couple of Buccaneers, and second-hand Jaguars. [1] [1] "All we know is... that hes called The Stig... " Edit: ah, sorry Awacs, missed you mentioning the Rafale already.
-
Theres probably more flying Spitfires out there we could fit with arrestor hooks now.
-
Podcast: Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counterattack
F-ZeroOne replied to Ginrai's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Oh, and for those hating Katejina - she did give us the Zanscare Empire All-womens Bazooka-wielding Bikini-clad Death Squad, so shes not all bad. -
Podcast: Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counterattack
F-ZeroOne replied to Ginrai's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
You were expecting anything else from that director during one of his sad times?! -
What Boeing and Northrop-Grumman are thinking for the USAFs next medium-range bomber. Guess who won't win that one? http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/defen...0a-55be78ed725c
-
Shock find! It has always been assumed that Lynn Minmay played the pivotal role in bringing about peace between Humans and Zentraedi. However, Frontier News Network has uncovered this extraordinary holo-image which reveals that a previously un-revealed factor played a key role in ending the conflict. Our exclusive picture shows Zentraedi ace pilot Milia Fallyna Jenius in a meeting with this mysterious stranger. Where did he come from? Why has no-one seen or heard from him since? Just how significant was his contribution? And, most importantly - WHO is he? Next week on FNN: Lynn Minmay - Saviour of Humanity or Serial Man-eater?
-
I've just seen an article on this by someone who seems to be "in the know", and they were pretty scathing about this story - one theory is that the MoD (Ministry of Defence) is looking for a price cut and spreading scare stories about cancellations to force the issue a bit...
-
The irony of these agreements is that - like Concorde - they were originally created by us, in case our European cousins got cold feet and decided to spend the money on high speed train networks or weekly rubbish collections or something equally useless... Instead, they often come back to bite us in the ars - posterior. I've kind of got mixed feelings about this. I'd love to see Typhoons in Japanese service, but possibly not at the expense of ones with RAF roundels on. Guess it might improve the chances of getting a decent air-to-surface missile on a Typhoon for the next Ace Combat game though...
-
...when it really should have been "Achtung, Hurricane!" [1]. Poor old Hurricanes, they get no love. Its said that many Luftwaffe pilots who were shot down by them would always claim they were actually shot down by Spitfires, as Hurricanes just weren't sexy enough. Mind you, its always easy to see why... [1] There were more Hurricanes than Spitfires (approx twice as many) serving in the Battle of Britain, and nearly as many arguments about it. If the Spitfires incredibly complicated production problems could have been sorted out sooner, it might have been different. on the other hand, the Hurricane was easier to repair by fitters more familiar with wood and fabric construction, but conversely also more prone to damage from fire as a result. Hurricanes were more stable gun platforms, but the Spitfires speed and agility gave it an edge in fighter to fighter combat. And on and on...
-
Today, 4th August, is the 70th anniversary of the entry into RAF service of the Supermarine Spitfire.
-
Yes, probably more accurate - I first saw the design a little while ago and was going from memory; I revisited the design after posting that and yes, it does have more of a FW about it - or, as I say, a Ta. 152.
-
The aircraft is undoubtedly based on the Shinden, but a somewhat upgraded one, rather like how a Spitfire Mk. XXII was practically a different aircraft to the Mk. I, though still sharing some of the classic line. The same goes for the "Mustang-a-like"; to me it looks like a Ta. 152 crossed with a Mustang.
-
Nope, it ain't a Lynx... Blue Thunder taught me that helicopters can't do that...!
-
At the time of introduction, the F-2 was pretty high-tech - it had a Japanese developed AESA radar, AFAIK one of the first in service in the world. However, along with other modifications to the aircraft, this made the F-2 very expensive compared to the F-16 it was based on and the radar has initially proved unreliable in service. Personally, I hope the Japanese will buy the Typhoon, as then we might get some spare cash to spend on some additional Type-45 destroyers and the like.
-
"HARKNESS". Coming to a theater near you, Fall 2008...
-
"Chap with wings, five rounds, rapid!"
-
Theres a lovely story doing the rounds in the U.K. at the moment that some British script writer walked away from £500,000 for a Steven Spielberg script deal in order to work on some British T.V. show no-one in Tinseltown has ever heard of. The writers name is said to be Moffat-something-or-other. A Hollywood insider has been quoted as saying "What is this doctor series anyway? Sounds a bit silly... " (as often happens with the British print media, the details have been a bit obscured in the telling - heres the "official" version: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7517423.stm )
-
Looking for a good sci-fi/fantasy book
F-ZeroOne replied to Morpheus's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Don't neglect your classics, either - Wells, Clarke, Asimov, Bester (no, not the Babylon 5 one...! ) , Heinlein, Walter M. Miller Jnr... -
Looking for a good sci-fi/fantasy book
F-ZeroOne replied to Morpheus's topic in Anime or Science Fiction
Old Mans War by John Scalzi is pretty good, and theres at least three more books in the series. Peter F. Hamiliton, Dan Simmons, Charles Stross, Neal Stephenson, Neil Gaiman and Alistair Reynolds are names to watch out for. If you haven't read any Terry Pratchett, correct this deficiency as soon as possible. Good Omens, written with Neil Gaiman is a good standalone starting point, or if you wish to get into his famous Discworld series, I would suggest beginning with Guards! Guards! followed by Men at Arms and Feet of Clay. Other Pratchett fans opinions may differ. (Small Gods will almost certainly be mentioned... ) Some very good SF is written in comics these days; Warren Ellis is a name that can seemingly do no wrong at the moment (try Planetary or Global Frequency), and get ready for the Watchmen movie with the original graphic novel by scary bearded eldritch comic god Alan Moore. -
Heh. That one reminds me of a story somewhere about some pilots on actual operations that did the same thing (put out fake radio calls to make it look like their formation was larger than it was), but I can't remember the details, not even which war though it might have been during the Battle of Britain...