Knight26

What it will all eventually come down to is politcal wheeling and dealing. As has been stated an upgraded F-15 will be much easier and cheaper for Japan to maintain and to purchase, they can easily buy 3 or 4 F-15s for the price of a single F-22. Would it be nice to see a production model F-15ACTIVE, hells yes, but it won't ever happen, as was stated it was merely a tech demonstrator, and NASA/DRYDEN still uses it to develop newer computer systems. But, all that aside what will happen is the that the USAF will have its reps talk to the JASDF reps, and explain to them, that if they buy F-22s that they can buy more F-22s, and maybe Isreal will buy some F-22s, or the UAE, or Saudi Arabia, or name another US ally who buys US aircraft. It really will be a wait and see thing for the rest of us. Will the export F-22 be different then the US version, of course, the engines will be down rated, the radar a less robust version, etc... As for the ease of use of the different cockpit set ups. Yes, glass cockpits are easier to use, but analog instruments, dials, tapes, etc... tend to have their information stick in people's minds longer the straight digital information. Also don't make assumptions about how easy a plane is to fly by a simulator, trust me the real thing is so much different.

Just snapped the tail hook off, nothing too major, it was a test of the tail hooks stopping ability.

There already is a live action tentacle rape movie, the original Evil Dead, ok yes it was the forest that raped the girl but same effect.

Wrong on so many levels. Of course I say that about Hentai in general too.

I love watching F-16s trap with their tail hooks, it's always such a mess, heck we had an F-22 here last quarter that tried to tail hook trap, *snap*

Plus the whole Superman series and Justice League series were direct sequels/spin offs. That more then anything else makes the end of JLU hard to bare. I loved the 90's series and Mask of the Phantasm is probably the best batman movie ever, with Batman Begins bringing up a very close second.

Oh I remember that canarded F-14 now, IIRC the canards also created unfavorable vortex flow into the engine intakes, and pilots complained about visibility problems with them. The canards would have been most useful on landing, but becuase of their placement they also interfered with seeign the carrier deck, oops.

I didn't want to start an argument, i was just curious as to waht you meant, as even with canards it really wouldn't look like a VF-11 IMHO.

I thought that was in perfect memory, looks like I was right. Really though that is probably the best way for a VF-1 to catch the wire, though I doubt it would use both hands. Like I said they probably just extend the pinky, lol.

More then likely IF NASA gets an F-14 or two they will be used in the same way as their old F-111s, general testbeds for swing wing technologies. The current NASA F-111 have been used for a lot but most notably as morphing wing technology developers. AS for putting canards and TVEs on F-14s, sorry not going to happen. There is really no place to put the canards, except for maybe where the glove vanes are, but even then their use would likely prove impractical and of limited usability, unlike on the F-15. The F-14s design would just not welcome their installation. And no, you could not mount them on either side of the cockpit, they would interfere too much with airflow into the engines. As for TVEs, I have already stated that they would have to completely redesign and rebuild the aft end of the aircraft to put them in, possibly moving or removing the vertical and horizontal stabs in the process. Also, how would it be a bootleg V-11, more like a bastardized VF-0.

Interesting idea Shin but the rear fuselage of the F-14 couldn't support TVEs without serious modification.

Man you are behind the times Phalanx, the X-33 has been canned for a long time, too bad it was a nice design, loved that linear aerospike. Also NASA stands for the National AERONAUTICS and Space Administration, they still do a lot of aero work, not everything they do is space related.

What is with all the really lame steampunk designs? Also why would they be born female, it seems that it would make more sense if they were born genderless or hermaphradidic. Of course that whole part reminds me of the one "girl" from They Were 11, great anime BTW.

Ah yes DH the Mission Computer and CIP problems that they WERE having. Those were problems in early blocks that even the pilots/engineers/FTEs here noted. To the best of my knowledge a lot of that has been fixed. I'm still surprised that Lockheed did that anyway, heck we can practically fly the C-17 with the wing falling off and all the MC will do is yell at us for it. Phalanx: As for the X-36 the project is completed. Basically the X-36 was just an RPV used to study/experiment with tailless design concepts. IIRC it was counted as a very successful program, and the two planes are now in storage out here at NASA/DRYDEN. It was a very interesting design, too bad that it did not go full scale and is probably one of the prime reason why we see so many X-planes going unmanned now.

Global Security to the rescue: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/sys...t/c-130-var.htm

Though they are never seen in any animation there is lineart and some models that do feature the twin tail hooks coming out of the main landing gear bays. The thing is that is not the best idea as if you only caught one it could be disasterous as you could potentialy be pulled one way or the other and with a crowded carrier deck you can imagine that might end badly. There is also some anecedotal evidence, from some SD drawings that the VF might use its hands as tail hooks. I personnally like that theory, just extend the hand slightly upon landing and catch the line with the pinky of one hand, it is probably strong enough. Of course the VF-1 also has reverse thrusters ont he intakes/hips so those could also potentially be used, and more then likely were the prefered landing method in space, get in close, burn your retros and just coast in.

Who is telling you this DH, most pilots I have talked to have universally liked the J and the AMP once they started flying them. I know there were a lot of misgivings at first because of some initial design problems, but those have since been resolved.

man I gave up doing any 3-D work and sci-fi meshes for lent, someone please post it, argh.

Actually most new Spectre gunships will probably be AC-130Us that have been given the AMP upgrade, I doubt they will convert brand new AC-130Js. THough I could be wrong, I can ask around here as my squadron also encompasses the C-130 CTF which busy getting ready for more C-130AMP and C-130J testing this summer.

Last I heard about the old KC-747 concept was that the Aussies were looking to bring that old 60's concept back. However, I thought that everyone was pushing that aside in favor of the KC-767 concept, at least until the next big refueling/cargo concept plane gets developed.

Color me unimpressed, this looks bad from the get go and those outfits just scream that a fanboy loser desifned them.

Very nice, Kitty Pride sucks Juggernaut into the floor, good use of your powers girlie. Of course, IIRC wouldn't that kill someone after she lets go, and then wouldn't she have killed the soldier she ran through in the last movie too? And, is it justm or is this the third kitty pride we have seen?

Dang it Kalvasflam I told you not to tell people about those projects, now I have to hunt you down.

And don't forget COCKPIT which is about pilots right around the time that the bomb was dropped including some kamakaizes, really cool flick.

Actually SL the prototype F-35B can take off and land in hover, but not a full fuel or with weapons. Of course the current harrier can't take off vertically with a full weapons and fuel load either, it has to take a running jump. Several friends of mine work on the JSF and cutting weight has been a major deal, bonuses are paid out by the pound to engineers to who can reduce weight, major bonuses. At one point there was a joke going around that all they had to do was get rid of the weapons, since the RFP for the JSF did not specifically call them out. In the end the most successful variants will probably be the A and C models, since they won't have to deal with the extra engine and associated hardware and weights. But it all boils down to one thing, the JSF is just an F-117 that can carry weapons to defend itself, plain and simple. It can't carry the warload to replace the F-16 or F-18 and doesn't have the punch to replace the A-10. Plus only the B model has any form of thrust vectoring, and that is just the hover mode. When pretty much everyone else out there is making their new fighters thrust vectoring you have to wonder what the US is thinking. There is an axiom amongst missile designers, no missile can hit a thrust vectoring airplane, it takes several. So here we are sending out a fighter that can only carry two AMRAAMs and maybe a gun, A model, and you expect it to successfully engage a thrust vectoring target that can carry a half dozen or more A-A missiles?