Shadow

An RUAF Su-25 that appears to have had a brush with a MANPAD. 

Images of what's suspected to be the An-225.

All I want at this point is a proper movie adaption of the original Crichton book.

Really lost interest in the Hollywood rendition of Tolkien after Jackson stretched the Hobbit out. After what's been shown, I'll be passing on this too.

It's honestly amazing the F-35 appeared to remain so intact from such a hard impact. I also wonder if the pilot was using the auto-landing software that's been around for awhile or was landing manually. 

I also wonder if that's the NGAD.

Also. Apparently the F-35 crash video has been leaked on Reddit.

In hindsight, you also have to wonder if cancelling the proposed F-22 Sea Raptor was alittle premature. It may have done better in filling that gap left behind by the F-14 retirement while offering a longer range twin-engine platform.

She floats.

Interesting video on the history behind the proposed Super Tomcat 21. 

ED is really upping their game with the Apache.

Not sure if this has been seen yet but welcome back Microprose.

On 7/20/2021 at 6:44 PM, kajnrig said:

I'm more upset at how quickly they're blazing through those numbers. Helloooo! We were just at 57, you really had to pass on sixteen other prototypes?

Seems the Russians have adopted the DoD's inconsistent numerical designations as well.

On unrelated note. The Typhoon is returning to the flight sim space.

Just found this amusing.

Currently debating on upgrading from a Ryzen 1600 to a 5600X, or wait until Zen 4 arrives and do more of full rebuild of my current PC.

On 5/17/2021 at 8:40 PM, M'Kyuun said:

That's a very short service life for such a complex and expensive airframe, considering it only entered operational service in 2005, and many Cold War era planes are still actively flying.  Had the right plane been chosen back in '91, I wonder if the F-23 would have enjoyed a longer operational life. It would have been prettier doing so, anyway.

Perhaps the YF-23 design will get a second chance at life in the 6th generation. It was certainly ahead of its time and Northrop could easily make improvements.

Really blows my mind how far flight sims have come.

The AH-56 Cheyenne continues to live on I see.

Did the P&W F100 -229 offer any advantages over the GE F110 -129? I'd heard that while the GE engines offer better overall performance across the envelope, the Pratt engines were more reliable.

Yes, it was an April Fool's thing but still a funny read.

https://tacairnet.com/2017/03/31/navy-to-explore-resurrecting-the-f-14-tomcat-to-replace-the-f-35/

Quote

Under condition of anonymity, a senior-level official with the Navy has informed TACAIRNET that the service intends on bringing the F-14 Tomcat back from the graveyard to replace the delayed F-35C carrier variant of the Lightning II stealth strike fighter. The Tomcat was retired from the US Navy in 2006, just over eleven years ago, having been superseded by the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, a multirole fighter which has more than proven itself over the past thirteen years as an effective carrier-based fighter/attack platform. The Lightning II has seen a considerable number of program setbacks and failures, as described by Luis Jenkins, a defense researcher on Reddit.com, the world’s most trusted source of military technology analysis.

“It just sucks, man, it can’t even fly, it can’t fire its guns, it costs $500 million to build, and we just need a new fighter that can do what the Navy needs it to do,” said Jenkins in an on-the-record phone interview with TACAIRNET. “They shouldn’t even call it the F-35, bro, they should call it the Loser-35. ‘Cause that’s what it is. Get it?”

The aforementioned Navy official confided in us that after seeing a significant amount of negative comments on social media directed towards the F-35 program, which expects to reach full rate production in the near future, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) began to have serious doubts about buying their variant of the stealth fighter. So much so that at an acceptance ceremony for a new F-35C test model, the NAVAIR representative due to formally take charge of the aircraft from Lockheed Martin seemingly got cold feet, leaving the fighter, its builders and a man dressed up as a priest standing in shocked silence at the figurative altar.

The Navy official, in a discussion with us, said: “We’re looking towards the future of fighter aviation in the Navy, and the future is in the past. That’s why we want to bring back the Tomcat. Those armchair generals… err.. excuse me, admirals, on the internet clearly know more about the needs of the Navy than the Navy itself.” In the details forwarded to TACAIRNET, it appears that the Navy will not commission a contractor  to rebuild Tomcats from whatever parts are leftover after the aircraft was phased out of service, but instead carry out the entire project in-house using Navy personnel.

Here is the F-36 Kingsnake. The USAF went dumpster diving and found the F-16XL.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a35865601/f-36-kingsnake-air-force-next-fighter-jet-concept/

Really fascinating interview with a former chief engineer for the ATF program.

Just finished season 2. Overall I liked it although I thought season 1 was still better. I appreciated the fanservice but it felt like they were depending on it too much to carry the season.

I'm pretty sure the second Frogfoot picture is of a Su-25UB trainer. The 3rd would definitely be the Su-25T or TM.

Also, The Blue Angels practicing the Super Hornet.

The new clouds look amazing. Also, that reveal at the end.

Nice to see this shared. Been watching VFAT going all the way back to 2008. It's shrunk in recent years but the displays continue to impress.