Nied

Valks could fly on mars but not very well. JB0's comparison to the blackbird is actually pretty apt. While the blackbird can fly in an extremely thin atmosphere, it has to fly at mach 3 just to stay up in the air, any slower and the thin atmosphere isn't enough to keep it aloft. The fun starts when you try a turn, just like the blackbird a valk would have to make very slow and wide turns, both because it's control surfaces wont have much authority in the rarefied atmosphere (which in the VF-1's case could be mitigated by thrust vectoring and RCS systems), but also because anything but the gentlest of turns would result in a really nasty stall. All of that is manageable when you're cruising in a relatively straight line 90,000 ft above earth, but it would be a nightmare trying to dogfight above Mars at the altitudes they showed in "Bye Bye Mars." What they should have done was shown everyone flying around in GERWALK mode, the downward pointed thrust would have more than compensated for the loss of lift, and the thin atmosphere would have negated most of the drag issues.

417631[/snapback] If only it were true...

You know what's been bugging me: I don't know the position of the Super Hornet's Control surfaces when it's shut down. Does anyone know what they are?

U.S. Navy would disagree with you as Ike is a very important U.S. hero, patriot and leader long before becoming president making him more then eligible for a ship to be name after him. Whether a carrier and not something else would have been after named him had he not been president is a logical question. 417525[/snapback] I imagine that he probably would have gotten a DDG named after him if he weren't president (or more likely had a tank named after him).

Behold the power of risers.

House votes to lift export restrictions on the F-22. This is great news. Selling the Raptor reduces the price for us, and for most of the potential buyers bolsters our regional interests. Hopefully the Senate will follow suite. On a related note Knight I've been meaning to ask you: do you know if the new COTS processors that the Raptor is supposed to get soon solve some of the heat issues it's been having? Is that info OPSEC?

The stuff Clinton did in office to the military is far more then enough to ensure his name will never be use on any military kit let alone an aircraft carrier. I would respectfully disagree. But this seems like a far more productive line of debate. It still seems like it might be crossing the line. I'd like to add one more thing about the Cheney discussions that have gone on here before: for the most part they been restricted to "Dick Cheney chose the Super Hornet over the F-14 and I think that was wrong." Now the first part of that statement is a matter of public record, and the second part only gets into politics because Cheney is now VP (I've never seen any complaints about people disagreeing with McNamara's decisions). His decision making skills on that one matter were questioned and for the most part the discussion didn't go much further than that (I think I may have gone a little far when a I made a face shooting joke during the last incarnation of the thread but that was in a post defending said decision). I fail to see how that is in any way comparable to making a blanket statement about Bill Clinton being a treasonous coward. Impossible not to discuss politics as long we're stuck on carriers naming schemes and why those names are chosen. 417494[/snapback] Which getting back to the topic at hand is exactly my problem. The Navy (or the military at large) should not be used to venerate a certain political ideology, and trying to name ships after men who are still heavily tied to a certain political school of thought does just that. The US Military is there to defend American interests not those of the Democratic or Republican party.

I didn't mention anything about his time as a politican, the stances or actions he has had as a politician,etc. Granted this was him showing off his political leaning on this subject matter, but I thought it was appropriate. I simply stated the facts of what actions he did as a private citizen. If you noticed, I purposely avoided mentioning issues of defense and national security under Clinton. So I gotta ask that in a few months when the F-14 Tomcat is removed from service completely, how many of you guys are going to hold back your political commentary about Dick Cheney? I remember someone on this board seriously wishing they could go back in time and kill him over this subject matter... yet no one complained and no one demand a moderator to step in! I see every now and then jabs and slams at George W., but again no call for moderation and no sign of a moderator stepping in. Obviously a double standard here. To whatever extent he (Cheney) was or wasn't actually involved in preventing the Tomcat program from moving forward (production of the Tomcat 21, preventing replacement parts for existing aircraft from being made) etc., mentioning his direct or indirect involvement with the F-14 is a political discussion because its the political decision of a politican on a national defense issue. I have no problem with you guys talking about this subject matter (Dick Cheney and the F-14), but I should surely hope we can be consistant here... 417471[/snapback] Uh when did anyone fantasize about killing Dick Cheney? You've seen criticisms of his decisions regarding a particular aircraft program sure (gosh how surprising in the AIRCRAFT vs Super thread), but nothing beyond that. If I were to say Dick Cheney is a draft dodging war profiteer would that be OK? I didn't address his political career just stated the facts of what he did as a private citizen. If you want to criticise the Clinton administration about decisions made about some kind of aircraft (or even defense related) programme go right ahead, but if you just want to baselessly accuse a former president of treason take it to some wingnut site like Freerepublic.com or LGF.

Well as you pointed out, the F-414 wasn't a sure bet. the Super Hornet is seen as a generally successful example of modern procurement. I believe it was implemented using Cost as an Independant Variable managment, and was basically on cost and delivery without major flaws... which is a bit surprising when you look at other programs today. Imagine all the gripes you guys would give it IF it was overbudget and delayed? I'm almost assured that there will be a F-414 spiral to it, if it already isn't happenening today. In a 2003 article penned by the F/A-18E/F's project manager, he hints that there might be one. 417424[/snapback] Whats a spiral? Is that an engine turbine or upgrade? Sorry I'm not too knowledgeable concerning engines. 417427[/snapback] Spiral is a development term. Basically it's a way to mark various phases of development, you introduce the base system (say the F/A-18F with basic APG-73 radar and basic backseat) then plan and add various upgrades over time as needed (like an APG-79 AESA radar or, ACS for the back seat). From what I have heard GE is working on a higher thrust/lower emission version of the F414 that might be installed in a later spiral. ::edit:: Another good example of spiral development is what is now going on with the F-22, it IOCed with baseline capabilities, and new ones are added over time (such as integrating new weapons or the EW capabilities they're working on).

Tada! Politics! I'd edit this if I were you.

The Reagan was so named before the man died. Frankly the whole idea of starting to name things after a president so soon after his (or her) death (or in Reagan's case well before) always smacked of desperation to me. FDR, and JFK were great men in their own right and history has judged them as such, they didn't need to be put on coins or have aircraft carriers named after them to get that judgement (I'd give it another decade or so for Reagan), trying to push history's judgement in a certain direction by doing those things just seems desperate to me. Stuff should get named after people because history judged them to be great not the other way around.

Yeah I always thought it would be a better idea to have designed the F/A-18F around a larger engine as well. They were already re-designing the fuselage and a small upscale of the rear fuselage doesn't strike me as too big of a challenge. That would have given it enough room to plug in some of the better next-gen engines down the road as well (as awesome as a Super Bug with F110s sounds, imagine it with F119s or F136s ) Knight this is the first I've heard of the Navy being displeased with the F110, what kind of problems did they have with it specifically (or rather have since there're still a few F-14Ds banging around for another month or two)?

I think the problem with the current naming system is that it has become way to politicised. Recent presidents are getting stuff named after them more as a F*ck you to the other political party than as a way to honor revered statesmen. I find that more than a little repulsive, the military is there to defend all of the country not just whoever's party happens to be in power at the moment and I think the naming of ships should reflect that (a the idea of a USS Nixon is horrifying to me, and as much as I liked him as president, the idea of a USS Clinton doesn't sit much better with me). I would like to see a return to the old tradition of naming carriers after famous battles, or if we must name them after presidents, only ones that have been dead for at least 50 years. (USS Franklin Delano Roosevelt anyone?)

I would think that on range and sensors alone the Rhino is worth the money, the rest is gravy.

Not this again! The Rhino is stealthier, carries more, has way better sensors, is vastly more maneuverable and has way more legs. Not only is it worth it as a Baby hornet replacement it's a damn good Tomcat replacement to boot. GE is working on a higher thrust version of the F414, but AFAIK no TVC version. I don't know if TVC is really needed anyway, the Rhino is plenty maneuverable as it is.

Yeah trimming the "waddle" makes a huge improvement to the look of the toy. Looking at the original wire-frames again it looks like they could upsize the wings and control surfaces and still keep the look right in batroid (I watched M+ again last night and I had forgotten how much the wings stood out in batroid mode). Overall I think what we've see so far is a good start, but a little more work will make this the ultimate YF-19 toy.

The pilot was meh, but in the same way the Venture Bros. pilot was. I could see it becoming a good series. On the other hand Tom Goes to the Mayor had a kinda meh pilot (the part at the end with the kids getting caught in bear traps made me laugh) and that show has become some kind of black hole of funny.

Nukes don't make exciting battles that's why. 414363[/snapback] That and Macross Plus explicitly mentions Nukes being politically dicey.

Well it's official the F-35 is the Lightning II the name they should have given to the F-22. Check Out Lockheed's little graphic incorporating both the P-38 and BAC's legless fighter.

Not now, later. Next week? I don't remember. It's before the end of the month though.

I always forget about Harvey Birdman because, while the show is great, it goes on a year long hiatus after new episodes are shown. I honestly thought AS had cancelled it (and have before only to be surprised when new episodes are announced). Space Ghost was like this, I only realized the show was cancelled because the current hiatus has gone on for years now.

In response to your rhetorical question I have but to mention "Peewee's Playhouse"...WTF??? Other than Venture Brothers and Robot Chicken their original line-up sucks major monkey balls. 414169[/snapback] "Peewee's Playhouse" actually makes some sense for CN and AS (it's like a cartoon with live actors, and the whole porno theatre incident still makes it hard to show it to kids). "Saved by the Bell" on the other hand is major WTF?!?! territory.

It's gotten crappy. Back in the day when Brack and Space Ghost were still on and before they drove Aqua Teen deep into the ground it was one hell of a funny line up. Now I can't even sit through stuff like Tom Goes to the Mayor or Minoriteam. Like everyone else here I stay for the Venture Brothers and Robot Chicken (Moral Oral gets some laughs out of me too), and shows like 12oz Mouse and Squidbillies can be funny if you're drunk enough.

To be fair to any current Naval aviators it's also a product of the times. This is back in the days of a conscription based military (IIRC my dad joined in '66 and served stateside through the height of Vietnam) which tended to make the culture a little different from the professional force you're in. If you'd like I can PM some more stories for you and any of the little bits of tradition I might have picked up talking to my dad (and uncle, they served together).

Consensus on both ARC and F-16.net says that this ended up being the same guy flying when happened.