Skull Leader

I suppose "newest and hottest" takes preference in bandai's mind over a 15 year old AC story... I know I'm in the minority that really likes X, can't help but wish I guess.

Wow.. when they said they were working over FFIII to bring it up to date, they weren't lying! I have to confess that I really wanted a good, graphically updated, fully translated version of FFIII (rather like they did for FFI and II), but I'll definately be trying this one out.

*sigh* what in the hell does a guy have to do for some Gundam X HGUC stuff? (the HG kits in 1/144 and 1/100 are "passable", but they could get so much better)

I'm not quite ready to shoot this one down yet. There's not enough info. I like most of the original movies (even most of the TNG movies were decent)... I believe one gets better mileage out of star-trek storylines if they're limited to 2-3 hours instead of an entire season (sounds bass-ackwards, I know, but TNG is the only ST tv series I've been able to stomach) Others will disagree, I'm sure. I plan on watching this one develop.

Boeing-Wichita has just announced a serious layoff here too. They've already sold half of their facilities to Spirit Aerosystems, all that remains is the military mod center. Pretty much all they work on here right now are the laser test 747s, Air Force One, and KC-135s (I did see a new italian 737 tanker variant in the hangar a while back though). This used to be a big site for working on B-52s, but that's evidently done somewhere else right now. I don't think they intend to close the facility, it's pretty cheap to operate (they're only paying half the usual upkeep for the runway, the other half shared by McConnell AFB) but it's definately being downsized.

meh, it's 1/144 scale, I can forgive that in such a small scale , in fact I rather expect proportional problems. For example, the bases of the two tailfins are WAY too big in that scale. I will say that the Vegabond stripe is WAY too far forward on the nose (the top should sit under the front of the canopy, not way up in front of the windscreen itself) It appears to pretty much be a diecast replica of the Dragon 1/144 kit.

Except for carrying the LANTIRN pod, it's pretty accurate for an early/mid F-14A. VF-84 never carried the LANTIRN pod, as it didn't really go into service until VF-103 became the Jolly Rogers. Otherwise, looks pretty accurate.

Moot point. The Japanese put mega bank into their F-2s, they're gonna be using them for a long while now so they can best get their money's worth. The first ones only just went into service in 2000, expect a good 20 years of service or more out of them (by which point something much better than the SH is likely to be available). Purely from a performance standpoint, the F-2 will walk all over the Super Hornet with or without a weapons load. From a radar standpoint, the Super Hornet pretty much out-performs the Viper Zero (although the Viper Zero's radar is adequate for the role it does).

Definately old news. This was one of the first fan-made anime videos I ever saw, and it came out pretty much like a week after Cake released the song. 'sok video I guess.

Retroborg, trust me... none of this trivia/information/pictures is anything new. Pretty much everyone here (for better or worse) has seen MacII and knows pretty much everything there is to know about it. Glad you're enjoying yourself though. Designs and music were passable. The story blows dead goats. It's a sad, sick, pathetic copy of the original DYRL story. Same bullsh!t, different people, different day. It was fine enough in the original DYRL, but "Lovers Again" falls WAY short. Throw another mysterious alien into a love triangle, add a very trans-sexual hair dresser, a female valkyrie pilot with hair WAY out of regs, and an entire society too stupid to even consider the significance of the UNS Macross. Most diehard Macross fans spend the entire series pulling their hair out wondering why the UN and the people in general can't seem to grasp the writing on the wall. There would've been important lessons learned after Space War I that would not have allowed for as many fu(k-ups as these guys had. "Lazy and complacent" my ass. The plot for just about every character is way underdeveloped (you had to work twice as hard at that when you're working with a 6-part OVA), with the possible exception of Ishtar. The subbed version was definately the better of the two to watch, as the dubbed voices are easilly some of the poorest matches in dubbed anime history (this coming from someone who is an advocate of dubs) I, for one, am glad Kawamori had nothing to do with this series. It might've been good enough in it's own right, but it's hardly worthy of the "Macross" name. (and before you go on about me being close-minded, I should inform you that I consider myself otherwise, and it becomes evident when one learns what anime I watch besides Macross)

The more F-22s that get sold, the cheaper they'll get. The more we might be able to get for ourselves. (That's pretty much how the Tomcat program got saved. Iran ordered a bunch and drove down the production costs enough for us to fill our initial order.)

I'm still waiting for it and iirc I ordered it on the same day you had mentioned it. 390603[/snapback] Same here, still waiting.

I know a couple people (myself included) who are gonna be all over this.

There was a similar site up a while back that had the whole AC5 sountrack where I was able to get the whole thing. I no longer recall the site or if it still exists though

The perfect edition is the ONE to get. It is remastered and also comes with extra's such as trailors. The one above, settle for it if you can't get the perfect edition. 389504[/snapback] The perfect edition isn't so perfect. In fact, the other version has better subtitles. The only thing that is better on the Perfect edition is the video quality.

Yeah, about the only time they proved useful was during spin-recovery testing. While F-14As had a serious issue departing controlled flight when the pilot flew the aircraft outside the engine's parameters (the airframe could handle more extremes than the TF-30s could... which is why the Super Tomcats got better engines), it was decided that there were enough other things that could be done that made the canards pretty much pointless.

It's not a requirement that you play 5 before zero. In fact, you'll understand 5 all that much better if you play zero first.

There WAS a NASA F-14A out at Dryden that DID have experimental deployable canards, but they were found to be pretty much useless. They were located on the nose just forward of the canopy (kind of under the windscreen). It was F-14A BuNo 157991. One of the original test airframes that was modified as a single-seat aircraft. It had the early glove-sealing plates, tall glove strakes, and a spin-chute dispenser on the beavertail. They had this airframe from 1979 to 1985. They had a second tomcat out at Dryden in 1986 for a series of wing-sweep tests, using a different jet. The only modifications they made were to put some specialized plates on the wings that would make it easier to monitor airflow over the wings. This was F-14A BuNo 158613. Note the early, short gunport on the nose. This jet also had the interim beavertail with no dialectric panels..

AND the 105s..... obviously the 40mms in use today are newer vintage, but during vietnam, there was still plenty of weaponry (and soldiers) from WWII fighting. 389785[/snapback] I'm talking about AC-130s in 2005 and 2006 using the old 40mms. 389940[/snapback] The ones mounted now, so far as I know, are newer builds. I could be mistaken though.

Knight's post should cover most of it. It's worth noting on the standard cargo variants, that beyond a few minor things, all the variants pretty much look alike. Antennas will change from variant to variant, as will the engines in some cases. Except for A models, which had 3 bladed props, most variants have 4 bladed props. The new J models have 6 bladed props. Once you get into the different prefixes, you encounter all KINDS of changes depending on the type. For example. the MC-130 special ops series (nicknamed "Combat Talons I & II depending on the variant) have unique noses molded to the aircraft. EC-130s (having various nicknames depending on the type) carry a great many different antennas on them. The british aren't the only one that use the C-130 for weather tracking. the USAF has a squadron of WC-130s for the same purpose. "Fat Albert" is used by the USMC, not the Coast Guard, but you are right that it's part of the Blue Angels team. It's actually a KC-130H (or is it still an E model? can't remember) which serves as both a refueller for the team in transit as well as a travelling workshop.

yeah, I think a better move might've been to install one on one of the arms. A bit closer to the centerline.

Yes, they have two tailhooks (a bit of over-engineering and a poor move I think). They're stored within the wells of the landing gear mainmounts and are only extended when needed. (edit:) my belief in the "poor move" part is pretty self evident. If he catches a crosswind on that last second in the groove, he may only catch one hook. Care to imagine what a 160knt aircraft will do in a forced power slide? *I* sure as hell wouldn't want to ride it out. With the engine nacelles/arresting gears being so far away from the centerline, it wouldn't be pretty

I've heard the same as Knight, David. I know the ILRP had serious issues, but in recent years has been pretty much hailed as the best variant out there.

AND the 105s..... obviously the 40mms in use today are newer vintage, but during vietnam, there was still plenty of weaponry (and soldiers) from WWII fighting.

Brokeback-tech... I like that...