F-ZeroOne

Apparently Grahams never heard of The Clangers... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clangers I'm assuming we're discounting Japanese-inspired Western SF animation, co-productions and DC/Marvel Comics superheroes franchises, all of which could be said to be SF to one degree or another? Battletech (well, unless you're looking specifically for good Western cartoon TV SF series) and Exo-Squad might count. And, oh... calling Mr. Tracy. And Spectrum is Green! And anything could happen in the next half hour! Etc...

R.e: Military vs Civilian: "Razgriz Flight, this is Heartbreak One. Unidentified bogies at twelve o'clock. All pilots, report in." "This is Razgriz 2, Edge, standing by." "This is Razgriz 3, Chopper - whoo-hoo! Action at last!" "Cut the chatter, Razgriz 3. Razgriz 4, you there? Blaze, report in." "..." "<breathlessly> Ragriz 4, this is Razgriz 2. You are truly insightful. Hopefully, one day I shall share your insight and we and our nations can move towards a new era of peace and... " "This is, er, Razgriz 5. Callsign... um... Keith." "...and together we will march fearlessly into - wait, what did you say?" "His callsign is what?! Oh, man... " "..." "<pause> This is Heartbreak One. Ragriz 5, please repeat last transmission. Everything after "um"." "Uh. This is Razgriz 5, Keith. From accounting. Erm, you know, just down the hall from human resources?" "<under breath> Give me strength... this is Heartbreak One, no time for this now! Incoming missiles! Razgriz flight, break!" "Razgriz 2, roger!" "Razgriz 3, yee-hah!" "..." "Ragriz 5... try not to get shot down, anyone, I'll be up all night filling in the forms... "

Davids referring to a "Military vs Civilian" AC6 tournament; it loads in the top left corner after a little while.

Don't make me choose between Gundam and Babylon 5. Thats cruel. Plus Ivanova will rip your lungs out.

The story can be found in the book "Backroom Boys", by Francis Spufford, and according to the book was related by a SR-71 pilot to a Concorde captain, who then passed it on. I realise that doesn't count as a completely reliable source, but going by the information in the story, the SR-71 wasn't travelling at its highest altitude.

A few additions to whats already been said - would an AIM-9X catch Concorde if it was launched 5 miles behind it and Concorde was already doing Mach 2 +...? Hmm... SR-71 - apparently, they never did work out how to seal the fuel tanks properly; no filler ever made could stand the heat at top speed. The problem was "solved" by the fact the aircrafts fuselage expanded due to the friction, thus sealing the tanks completely at full speed. IIRC, SR-71s had to top up their tanks after take-off from a tanker... Back to Concorde - the story I heard was that a flight engineer once left his hat (or dropped it) it just before a speed run; it fell into a gap and after the run was completed was found to have been squashed completely flat due to the expansion of the airframe. Theres another lovely story about a SR-71 crew who were tootling along at altitude when they were asked to make a course correction. They were a bit puzzled by this, as at their normal altitude and speed there shouldn't have been anything else up there. As they sat there in their little metal cocoon, clad in flight suits designed to protect them from a totally hostile environment, they were then passed by a Concorde, with 100-odd passengers in normal shirts looking back at them...

Davids not joking here - in the 80s British Airways offered a Concorde to NATO for targeting purposes (a friend of mine thought this a little odd until I reminded him about supersonic Backfires). The only fighter that got close was an E.E. Lightning - not exactly a slow-poke aircraft itself - and even then the pilot described that particular aircraft as being quick, even for a Lightning. Theres still a Concorde lurking at Heathrow. Race ya home, F-22?

How about this as a compromise - both planes will kick a certain amount of ass, exactly how much to be determined the first time someone is dumb enough to line up for kicking of said ass...?

Hmm, interesting - Orguss volume One appears to be region free, but Cats Eye volume isn't. Orguss will play on my Brit X-Box 360, but Cats Eye won't...

Little factoid about the Dambusters movie (because, uh, there is more than one movie in that clip, huh? ) - at the time the film was made, the Bouncing Bomb was still classified. The bombs in the movie are ball-shaped, as the producers didn't know any different, and although that shape was used in some development versions the actual bombs used in the raid were drum-shaped. More Dambusters fun, relying on the movie bomb described above: (though if the German sentry had tried that for real, he'd have been flat - the bouncing bomb weighed about 4,000libs...! )

I think it was something they put in the tea back then - you know, sugar, hot water, maintain composure whilst defeating Axis... I took the tour at Bletchley Park a couple of years ago and someone asked the guide why no-one ever spoke about what they did there for so long. And he just replied "Well, you just didn't, back then... " This was a place that every history of World War II written since the 70s has had to take account of, yet no-one of the several thousand who worked there let on about it until then. Its worth pointing out, though, that the Dambusters mission was a RAF mission - which meant that it was an international mission. Off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure at least one Canadian and one New Zealander was involved, at least...

I broke a rib laughing at the introduction. I have a slight suspicion that, for a lot of British people of my generation, that is pretty much how World War II looks like in our heads...

"I'm Batma - I mean, Gatchaman Ken!"

Yeah? Well, the Typhoon will have one thing the F-22 won't! RAF Roundels! Er... And a helmet-mounted sight. Eventually...

All the above you mentioned was in at least the past two Ace Combat games as well. The last mission on Ace Combat 5 has an entire allied air fleet - including the AWACs - singing together as it flies into the fight. Ace Combat is a fun game to play, but suspension of disbelief is the first victim of any battle fought in its world. Edit: I don't think that would be "your" character on the radio, the Ace Combat games usually have no dialogue for the player and instead wingmen chatter away merrily; this can be a little embarrassing if they're going on about what a legendary pilot you are just before you fly upside-down into a tree. And yes, the accents, dialogue and story from that trailer are exactly what I'd expect from an Ace Combat game. Long may it stay that way!

I suspect what you had was a "Jumbo Machinder" Mazinger toy - released in the US as "Shogun Warriors". If you go to a site like Toybox DX they should be able to tell you all about them, its probably the most well known Jumbo Machinder around!

A Takatoku Toys Blitzkrieg Combination Big Dai-X. I actually saw one in Tokyo a little while back but it was just a touch too beat up...

Can't believe I forgot this one - the "Scorpion" MBT from the Halo series! One of my favourite video-game sequences is in the first game, driving that thing around and just blasting bad guys to pieces!

Well, if we're mentioning 2000AD I'd like to add the "Blackmare" tank from Rogue Trooper - the comic book version, not the one seen in the recent video game.

If by "spider-tank", you're referring to the very tall, spindle-type walking tank from the Dominion graphic novel, that design is actually based on a T-4 Bacteriophage...! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T4_phage

http://ga.sbcr.jp/mgame/007747/ Gundam vs Gundam game. Or, in other words, Tomino Gundam vs. Everyone Else. Finally, you can Moonlight Butterfly SEEDs butt!

Good grief, when did Judge Dredd decide to become a Fattie?!

Yay, someone loves Turn-A!

Worlds fastest production road car versus Worlds - ahem - greatest fighter jet... http://www.tv.com/top-gear/show/27682/rich...47980/msgs.html

Challenger 2s: Well 'ard. "In one encounter within the urban area a Challenger 2 came under attack from irregular forces with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades. The drivers sight was damaged and while attempting to back away under the commander's directions, the other sights were damaged and the tank threw its tracks entering a ditch. It was hit directly by eight rocket propelled grenades from close range and a MILAN anti-tank missile, and was under heavy small arms fire for hours. The crew survived remaining safe within the tank until the tank was recovered for repairs, the worst damage being to the sighting system. It was back in operation six hours later after the repairs. One Challenger 2 operating near Basra survived being hit by 70 RPGs in another incident."