F-ZeroOne

I have a 1/40 Orgoid and an "M-Lover" Maaie. Although the latter has a reputation for extreme fragility, it did once survive a fall off my PC case! Nice toys, if always feeling a touch flimsy, and it'd be nice to see a modern company give them a try...

Ah, I never knew the dropship was called the "Cheyenne". Someone knew their helicopters!: http://tri.army.mil/LC/CS/csa/ah56002.jpg

Hmm. Let the images decide! http://hk.geocities.com/patrol_labor/tech1.htm (scroll down slightly - the F-15 variant is fictional, though) vs. http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/f2/f26.html (while the movie may describe a thrust-vectoring nozzle and different wing, I'd be extremely surprised if, based on that sketch, the baseline F-2 wasn't used as the model... )

In one manner of speaking, the F-2 is already an anime plane - it appears briefly in Patlabor: The Movie 2...

Nice design! The only slight thing I'd point out is that, from the side view, the cockpit canopy glass seems to go too far down - it looks a touch odd, and with the fuselage "chine" there wouldn't be much point to having glass that low as I would think the chine would block the view downwards anyway...

Not entirely sure about the take on Claudia, but pretty good art: http://www.marilith.com/comics/20060221.jpg

He'll be missed. "MOLLARI!"

I'm assuming the F-22 is our most advanced fighter? We can't even get the thing to do a cobra manuever? Why would one limit it's abilities? 371262[/snapback] Another reason is that aeroplanes can break. High-G stunts stress the airframe as well as the pilot. Theres quite a few horror stories from World War II about the effects (my favourite involves two pilots arguing that it was impossible to pull the wings off a P-51 in a dive. They were interrupted by a strange sound, looked up to see two silvery objects fluttering down from the sky, followed by a plunging, wingless Mustang burying itself into the turf... ) of putting too much load on aircraft. With modern materials, its probably less of a problem, but then again engines are much more powerful than they used to be. Perhaps the bigger problem is simply pilot loss-of-control.

Azrael, I must admit I didn't pay as much attention to it - but I do remember it that it didn't look quite right. On closer examination, the canards are much bigger and in the wrong place...

This do?

I don't think this has been pointed out before; I did a search and couldn't find a reference. I was looking through my copy of Miyatakes Design Works the other day, and I noticed something on page 36. At the top of the page, theres a rough of the "X-01" hangar from Macross Plus New Edwards base. Lined up on the ramp are the YF-19 and... ...the YF-23. No, not the YF-21, the YF-23! See? It made it into service after all, it just took forty years for the military to realise how awesome it is...

I've just snorted coffee out my nose! And remember... it must think in Russian! 368372[/snapback] My bad, let's try again! MiG: "землÑ!!" Sukhoi: "ветер!!" Ilyushin: "пожар!!" Yakolev: "вода!!" Tupolev: "Ñердце!!" New Jet: "При ваши Ñовмещенные Ñилы, Я буду ПРОЛЕТÐРИЕМ!!" 369234[/snapback] Thats two new monitors you owe me now...

Turn-A is not without a few problems; Tomino does like to drop people into things without much in the way of explanation, the ending feels a bit rushed and theres not really a nice, charismatic villain to yell "BOO!" at. Theres also a few story elements which can be a) confusing and b) tend to fall apart if you think about them too hard. All of these, however, are totally outweighed by its strengths. The fact that every single thing that initially appeared as a weakness, such as the bizarre mecha designs, actually... er... "turns" out to be a real strength; to the extent that, at least in my estimation, the Turn-A has gone from being a hearty chuckle to one of my favourite Gundam designs. And conceptually, Turn-A is streets ahead from certain "G" series I could mention... One thing I loved about the original Gundam series was its use of O'Neill cylinders. Turn-A takes a similar proposal and makes excellent use of it; I won't spoil it here but when I found out what the "Zacktrager" actually was I felt like applauding - I think its the first time I've ever seen that particular idea used in a SF series or film. Perhaps the biggest shock, though, is that Tomino does have a sense of humour. Those who suffered through the first half of ZZ might find it hard to believe, but Turn-A shows a lightness of touch that prevents the series becoming the sort of character death-spiral Zeta became. That the show still manages to display the serious aspects of war is just part of why this series is highly recommended, not just to Gundam fans, but to anyone with a passing interest in SF.

I've just snorted coffee out my nose! And remember... it must think in Russian!

That is beautiful, but I think I can forsee some more business headed the way of the third-party decal providers...

I'm trying not to think about that aspect too hard - after all, given the amount of time thats claimed to have passed since the U.C. period in Turn-A, all I can say is that Zakus must have one heckuva warranty to have lasted so long, even before the nano-machines got to them!

I finally managed to finish watching Turn-A. Short version? Best. Gundam. Ever!

Where does he get those shirts?! Many happy returns to the "God of Transformation"!

Blast, you beat me to it on the A-9 - I couldn't remember the serial number but I thought that it looked uncannily like a Frogfoot, and I remember reading somewhere that the Frogfoot bore a passing resemblence to the loser of the fly-off that was won by the A-10... Isn't 14 a Buckeye, the ex-US Navy training aircraft?

"Tone and lock" suggests a missile has been targeted on an enemy - some missiles produce a tone in the pilots headphones to indicate successful "lock-on", acquisition, of a target prior to launch of the weapon. "No joy" probably means just that i.e. lack of success. "Bingo fuel" usually indidcates the aircraft is down to a set minimum of fuel reserves to return to base. I don't think its quite the last "possible" fuel state - I think most aircraft are given a final reserve in case of emergency. Edit: just looked at that linked image. Only ones I recognise off the bat are "STDBY" - "Standby" and "CAP" - Combat Air Patrol, typically a defensive patrol flown by carrier aircraft around the carrier or fleet in order to increase the chances of intercepting potential attackers before they get too close.

To bodily go, where no man has gone before... I have to admire the fact that Shatner's willing to do this, despite it being kind of tacky. And in the end, the tacky's actually part of the charm, as Shatner willingly exploits himself for a laugh and charity. Wait, so you're actually suppose to... pass these things? Through there? *looks down* But... the orifice... is not... that big. O_o It's supposed to hurt like hell. And you're only expected to pass the small ones. Larger ones can't get into the pipe, and have to be operated on(especially if they jam befor ethey get to tbhe bladder, as the kidneys are vERY sensitive to pressure). 361854[/snapback] The English diaryist Samuel Pepys survived just such an operation. Back in the 17th Century. By all accounts, yes, it hurt like hell.

Almost certainly, or something very like it. The original YF-16 was a much simplier aircraft than the production F-16; European customers demanded much more capability which changed the specification a fair bit. If the YF-17 had been selected, then its reasonably likely that the same thing would have happened - Northrop even had plans for a F-18L land based version which would probably have been pretty much equivalent to a F-16C - not having been navalised, it was lighter, faster (Mach 2) and was shown in mock-up with Sparrows mounted - on the wing-tips!

US fans, we bring you this gift from the Great and Bountiful Human Empire: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4607966.stm I've recently been re-watching the first series on DVD, and with the chance to reflect a bit after the intial excitement of the TV broadcasts, I have to say the series is actually even better than my first impression. There are a few weak spots, and SF fans might quibble about some of the concepts, but this is balanced by the terrific performances, brilliant writing and great lines ("I am fully sonic-ed up!"). The standout episodes to watch for are: Dalek, Fathers Day, and the two-parter The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances.

"My pretty girl... I've been waiting for you... " huh, David?

Snake? Snake?! SNNAAAAKKKKE!!!