Uxi Posted January 27, 2013 Posted January 27, 2013 The F-35 has been growing on me and I'm growing to really like it. YF-23 remains my favorite plane, of course, t hough, so I'm hoping to grab an Italeri or Testors YF-23 and start an "F-23A" using F-22 paintjob and decals instead of the ATF scheme. Quote
Bri Posted January 27, 2013 Posted January 27, 2013 A lot of people talk about the Dreamliner but I wish they would bring back a Concorde style supersonic airliner. I know that Lockheed-Martin had the QSST for a while but I think that has been quietly swept under the rug. As it is, I feel like the aviation industry has stagnated to be honest. No more H.Hughes type pushing the envelope. Aside from general upgrades, it doesn't seem like the "magic of flight" grabs people anymore. I'll never forget the old Yogi Bear and the Sproose Goose Cartoon as a kid, made you think aviation was going to be this amazing thing then you look now and see all these companies going bankrupt every few years. Too many providers IMO. I think it's just part of the times. Transport technology just don't seem to catch the imagination anymore. Maybe it's due to blockbusters and games making the real thing look tame, maybe social media have reduced the need for travel. Sometimes I think the only tech that impresses people is the next smartphone. Quote
Atharun Posted January 27, 2013 Posted January 27, 2013 Bri, I couldn't agree with you more. I think one thing that plagues aviation is the length of the development cycle though. When it comes to planes, concept to production (if it ever gets there) is such a long process. I understand safety 100% but it just seems like upgrading older models is more common than new design. Quote
LOW_ALT Posted January 28, 2013 Posted January 28, 2013 ^Though it seems like they're rushing the new models before complete safety can be achieved, as seen with the F-22, F-35's, Osprey, etc. But it's nice to see the old favorites getting the cool modern upgrades like the F-16's getting the HUD helmet visors and such. Quote
DarrinG Posted January 29, 2013 Posted January 29, 2013 Can someone tell me what the 3 accessories are actually for in this Hasegawa kit? The 2 green items and the red cart thing? Quote
Knight26 Posted January 29, 2013 Posted January 29, 2013 The two green carts, look like start, power, huffer, or Air Conditioning carts, you use them to power a plane on the ground or start them up, usually for Mx or ground tests. The red one, you know I see those out here all the time, but most are yellow here, I think it is a fire extinguisher, a really big one for dealing with airplane fires before the fire department arrives. Quote
David Hingtgen Posted February 2, 2013 Author Posted February 2, 2013 And Elmendorf remains my fave F-22 wing:http://www.ktuu.com/news/ktuu-f22-pilot-flies-young-boys-letter-after-his-request-to-get-it-close-to-heaven-20130128,0,6792287.story F-22 pilot flies boy's letter to his late father 'close to heaven'ANCHORAGE, Alaska—A Joint Base Richardson-Elmendorf pilot carried out a very special mission on Thursday, after hearing about a unique request from a 9 year-old boy who had lost his father.Army Staff Sgt. Justin Gallegos was killed in Afghanistan in 2009. His son MacAidan, who goes by "Mac", was five years old at the time. Every year on January 24th, his father's birthday, MacAidan and his mother celebrate by doing something special like baking cupcakes or throwing a party. But this year, MacAidan, now nine years old, decided to celebrate differently. He recently wrote a letter to his father that included ten very important questions."Dear Dad," it read. "I have some questions. What is it like in a tank? What is like to be a scout? How old are you now? How old were you when you died? What is your favorite food? What is your favorite animal? What is your favorite hobby? What is your favorite activity? What is it like in heaven? Have you seen what I have accomplished? From, your son."But Mac wasn't finished. He said that he wanted to try and get the letter as close to heaven as he could. His mother, Amanda Marr, put a post on her Facebook page describing Mac's request, and it caught the attention of Helping American Veterans Experience Alaska, or HAVE Alaska, an organization that decided to help make Mac's wish happen.On Thursday, MacAiden met reserve F-22 pilot Lt. Col. Brian Baldwin. He said he handed over his note, hand-written on red construction paper. Red was his father's favorite color."I said 'I hope he gets as high as he possibly can,'" said Mac.The flight happened on January 24th- his father's birthday."I wanted to write a letter because I wanted to know more about my dad and to show that I didn't forget him and to show that I also love him," said Mac.Mac plans to write a letter to his father every year and says he is still coming up with delivery ideas for next January. Quote
Graham Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013  And Elmendorf remains my fave F-22 wing: http://www.ktuu.com/news/ktuu-f22-pilot-flies-young-boys-letter-after-his-request-to-get-it-close-to-heaven-20130128,0,6792287.story F-22 pilot flies boy's letter to his late father 'close to heaven' ANCHORAGE, Alaska— A Joint Base Richardson-Elmendorf pilot carried out a very special mission on Thursday, after hearing about a unique request from a 9 year-old boy who had lost his father. Army Staff Sgt. Justin Gallegos was killed in Afghanistan in 2009. His son MacAidan, who goes by "Mac", was five years old at the time. Every year on January 24th, his father's birthday, MacAidan and his mother celebrate by doing something special like baking cupcakes or throwing a party. But this year, MacAidan, now nine years old, decided to celebrate differently. He recently wrote a letter to his father that included ten very important questions. "Dear Dad," it read. "I have some questions. What is it like in a tank? What is like to be a scout? How old are you now? How old were you when you died? What is your favorite food? What is your favorite animal? What is your favorite hobby? What is your favorite activity? What is it like in heaven? Have you seen what I have accomplished? From, your son." But Mac wasn't finished. He said that he wanted to try and get the letter as close to heaven as he could. His mother, Amanda Marr, put a post on her Facebook page describing Mac's request, and it caught the attention of Helping American Veterans Experience Alaska, or HAVE Alaska, an organization that decided to help make Mac's wish happen. On Thursday, MacAiden met reserve F-22 pilot Lt. Col. Brian Baldwin. He said he handed over his note, hand-written on red construction paper. Red was his father's favorite color. "I said 'I hope he gets as high as he possibly can,'" said Mac. The flight happened on January 24th- his father's birthday. "I wanted to write a letter because I wanted to know more about my dad and to show that I didn't forget him and to show that I also love him," said Mac. Mac plans to write a letter to his father every year and says he is still coming up with delivery ideas for next January.  That bought tears to my eyes. Forum software really needs a 'like' button. Graham Quote
ultimateone Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 Â Â That bought tears to my eyes. Forum software really needs a 'like' button. Graham Agreed, on both accounts. Quote
David Hingtgen Posted February 2, 2013 Author Posted February 2, 2013 Update--apparently the USAF did allow for a Streak Eagle-style zoom climb, and it went well beyond the F-22's official 60,000ft ceiling. So the Air Force has a heart and they really got it up there. Quote
D.D. Ivanov Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 http://theaviationist.com/2013/02/02/iran-new-stealth-fighter/#.UQ2ko2eYty5 Oh Iran... Quote
mechaninac Posted February 3, 2013 Posted February 3, 2013 How cute, the built themselves a TV/Movie prop and a RC model for flying footage... Quote
Chronocidal Posted February 3, 2013 Posted February 3, 2013 I love how someone in the comments pointed out that their instrument panel looks like it has a car stereo faceplate glued to it. Quote
David Hingtgen Posted February 3, 2013 Author Posted February 3, 2013 A *stealth* faceplate obviously. PS---it obviously also has such advanced FBW it doesn't need rudder pedals. Quote
VF-19 Posted February 3, 2013 Posted February 3, 2013 (edited) Update--apparently the USAF did allow for a Streak Eagle-style zoom climb, and it went well beyond the F-22's official 60,000ft ceiling. So the Air Force has a heart and they really got it up there. Well, the pilot got quite the noble ride. I wonder how high he went before he ran out of atmosphere for his control surfaces, 80, 000+ ft? Edited February 3, 2013 by VF-19 Quote
GU-11 Posted February 3, 2013 Posted February 3, 2013 http://theaviationist.com/2013/02/02/iran-new-stealth-fighter/#.UQ2ko2eYty5 Oh Iran... Looks very sci-fi...a very low-budget B-movie kind of sci-fi. Is it just me or does the pilot look like a 50-year-old hobo? And they didn't even bother to make it to scale? The way he's sitting in there, it looks like he's taking a bath in a really small tub. Quote
renegadeleader1 Posted February 3, 2013 Posted February 3, 2013 How cute, the built themselves a TV/Movie prop and a RC model for flying footage... Reminds me of Space Above and Beyond's Hammerhead, but at least that looked real enough to fool the Russians. This thing? I've seen fan made X-wing mock ups that look more real. Quote
mecha2241 Posted February 3, 2013 Posted February 3, 2013 "Hey, let's slap the wings from Firefox and some canards onto this F-35 mock up and call it our new stealth fight." "Okay, done." Quote
F-ZeroOne Posted February 3, 2013 Posted February 3, 2013 Theres apparently screenshots showing that even Iranian TV had stated that the flying shots were of a model, but yes, someone has been playing a little too much "Ace Combat" and making "Airfix" kits when they should have been working... Its been pointed out from other released images that the cockpit instrumentation appears to be all commerical, off-the-shelf stuff (not entirely unusual for prototypes and demonstrators, the X-29 for example was built partly from spares from other aircraft)... Quote
David Hingtgen Posted February 4, 2013 Author Posted February 4, 2013 Well, the pilot got quite the noble ride. I wonder how high he went before he ran out of atmosphere for his control surfaces, 80, 000+ ft? A zoom climb's purpose is to exceed what you can actually "fly" at---you're running on pure inertia/momentum at the top of the climb---the wings would have stopped providing sufficient lift long ago, but still contribute enough, along with the engine thrust, the "sustain the climb" for a little while. You then run of out momentum, and just kinda nose over and fall down---eventually you'll come down enough for everything to start working again, and actually have a CONTROLLED descent for the remainder. It's not THAT far off from firing a bullet into the air---it may not be able to actually FLY to that altitude via wings/lift, but you can get it up pretty high with enough speed given to it at the start... The fact that you're not really "flying" at the peak is why official altitude records set by this method are not the absolute height reached---but the height at which the plane was still flying and in control. The SR-71 certainly holds all the records for sustained level flight, altitude-wise, even if an F-15 has beaten it by many thousands of feet in a zoom climb. Did a quick check and the Streak Eagle hit 103,000 at the top of its climb. Who knows what an F-22 could do. (though I doubt it got anywhere near that, as this was just a standard F-22, and not a stripped-down specially-prepped plane like the Streak Eagle) Quote
electric indigo Posted February 4, 2013 Posted February 4, 2013 They still have to beat the MiG-25's 123,000 ft. Quote
renegadeleader1 Posted February 4, 2013 Posted February 4, 2013 Theoretically couldn't the F-22 zoom climb and then at the top up the thrust vectoring nozzles to maintain controlled level flight? Would that count towards breaking the record? Quote
LOW_ALT Posted February 4, 2013 Posted February 4, 2013 Looks very sci-fi...a very low-budget B-movie kind of sci-fi. Is it just me or does the pilot look like a 50-year-old hobo? And they didn't even bother to make it to scale? The way he's sitting in there, it looks like he's taking a bath in a really small tub. The F-117 prototype, "Have Blue", was also build to a smaller scale. This has been the case for several other prototypes in the past I believe. They do this to test the concept of the air frame no? Quote
David Hingtgen Posted February 4, 2013 Author Posted February 4, 2013 Theoretically couldn't the F-22 zoom climb and then at the top up the thrust vectoring nozzles to maintain controlled level flight? Would that count towards breaking the record? Probably not, I'd guess. They still have to beat the MiG-25's 123,000 ft.A lot of places/people (including me) don't count most Russian records due to the massive modifications done. There's a difference between stripping the paint off an F-15 to save weight, and putting new engines and tailfins on... Quote
Shadow Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 Another video of the Su-35 putting on an aerobatic dance. Some interesting stuff between 1:45 and 2:30. Quote
David Hingtgen Posted February 5, 2013 Author Posted February 5, 2013 I thought the 7-minute mark had the best stuff personally. Anyways---no airbrake on this model? (I have utterly given up on keeping track of the Flankers now---I pretty much stopped caring after the -30MKI/MKK, and now just assume everything afterwards is re-named, re-used, or one-of-a-kind at this point) Quote
electric indigo Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 Once again those Flankers dance like WWI biplanes. Quote
Falcon Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 I thought the 7-minute mark had the best stuff personally. Anyways---no airbrake on this model? (I have utterly given up on keeping track of the Flankers now---I pretty much stopped caring after the -30MKI/MKK, and now just assume everything afterwards is re-named, re-used, or one-of-a-kind at this point) Don't like Flankers? Love the design over the F-22. Last of the great designs before everything had to look stealthy. Quote
David Hingtgen Posted February 5, 2013 Author Posted February 5, 2013 I meant, I stopped caring to keep track of all the new variants (which all seem to be re-hashes and combinations of the previous ones). I still like Flankers a lot, but only the "main" variants---Su-27B, Su-33, Su-30MKI/MKK, and the original Su-35. (re-using the Su-35 designation for the new one REALLY causes confusion) In short---don't show me a pic of a new Flanker from 2010 and ask me to identify the variant. Quote
electric indigo Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 I love the -34 (except for the current marine camo paint job) Quote
David Hingtgen Posted February 6, 2013 Author Posted February 6, 2013 Which I think is really an Su-30 variant... Quote
Fatalist Posted February 14, 2013 Posted February 14, 2013 (edited) Just saw this,,,,,http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nw0gjw1XIIk#! Jolly Roger's Carrier Ops. Edited February 14, 2013 by Fatalist Quote
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