Skull Leader

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...

I would imagine a pair of GAU-8 tank-busters would probably have seriously adverse effects on the flight performance of a side-firing gunship. Just a guess though. If it were a forward firing weapons system it might be different... but the primary benefit of having a side-firing weapons platform, is that they ALWAYS have the enemy in their gunsight.

Well, obviously it's far more accurate now (with upgrades in computer technology) than it was in Vietnam. That said, sighting-in the guns was the initial priority after takeoff. Once and if the guns were properly sighted in, they could generally put a 105 shell within about a 10-15 foot area, pretty much wasting anything within that radius. Adding the 105 was a resounding success. It's my understanding that the 40mms that went on the gunships in vietnam weren't as easy to sight in, and differed from gun to gun on how well they did (the rule was, if your gunship got a good pair of 40mms, you did everything you could to keep those guns in top shape. And if you only had one good 40mm, that gun got top priority. The autocannons were never as precise... they still got the job done well though. Nowadays they could target a quarter laying in the middle of a field and proably put the 105 shell directly on it. Computer target-aquisition-gear/fire control systems have become so advanced...

Gunships already have an "intermediate" weapon. the 40mm Bofors cannon. In fact, the U boats are the only Spectres operating with 3 weapons systems right now: 1 25mm "Equalizer" 5-barrel cannon 1 40mm Bofors light cannon 1 105mm Howitzer artillery cannon The H models USED to have this: 2 20mm Vulcan cannons 1 40mm Bofors light cannon 1 105mm Howitzer artiller cannon Since about the mid/late 1990s, the Hotels did away with the 20mm vulcan cannons though, it was decided that with the advancements in AAA and MANPAD technology, the gunships had to get dangerously close for the 20mms to be of any real effect (within around 9,000-10,000 feet, the gun's MAXMIMUM range is around 12,000 ft). The Equalizer autocannon on the U-boats has a longer effective range (around 15,000 ft), hence the reason it still has them. For a little more AC-130 gunship weapons history: When the first AC-130As went to Southeast Asia in the late '60s, they were mounted with 4 20mm Vulcan Cannons and 4 7.62 miniguns. "Project Surprise Package" and the "Pave Pronto" program removed a pair of the miniguns and a pair of the vulcans in favor of a pair of the 40mm Bofors cannons. This was the heaviest any service AC-130A would be armed (around 1980, the miniguns were removed, for the same reasons the 20mms would LATER be removed). When the AC-130E models came to Asia, they were armed the same as the "Pave Pronto" AC-130As. When the "Pave Aegis" program came along, they removed one of the 40s and bolted a 105mm howitzer to the deck. ..... instant tank killer. It could also work over a hardened building pretty good. The 105s and 40mm were later put on trainable mounts, giving them added flexibility. When the AC-130Es rotated through the upgrade program to AC-130H standards, they all received the 105mm gun. AC-130H models of arounf 1971 or 1972 were probably the most heavily armed gunships ever (a pair of 20mm Vulcans, a pair of 7.62 miniguns, a 40mm, and a 105mm), although the gunships of today are FAR more accurate, needing much less ammo to get the job done. They're also currently packing a serious amount of highly-classified ECM gear that renders them pretty invisible after the sun goes down.(although it's seriously "uglied up" the gunship's appearance...)

Just my point. C-130Js have quieter, cooler running engines with a higher top speed and more loiter time. The Gunship conversion program could easily work one over into a wicked killing machine. Add on the Heat-sink/IR Baffles that ACs use on their engines, and I'm betting an AC-130J would be pretty hard to track.

Wow... Macross done "Le Mis" style. Coming from a classically trained musician who has been in a pit orchestra for Le Mes, I can honestly say I'm impressed with the work put into this

Further to that, more Zentraedi/Meltrandi fleets had to have been encountered in the years after space war I. By the time of the Mac7 episode "fleet of the strongest women", they aren't really surprised once they realize they're fighting another Meltrandi fleet and seem to have a set plan ready to go (IE the "Minmay attack". They just take the attitude of "oh, it's another fleet.."

I guess I really should look at this from the standpoint of a MOSPEADA fan, they've not had it quite as good as Macross fans have (whereas most diehard macross fans look to disown Harmony Gold as having ever had anything even remotely close to do with anything Macross-related, MOSPEADA fans kind a see it as a back door to maybe spark things back up in Japan)... kinda ironic, eh?

Bad character artwork, production delay after production delay, still nothing ORIGINAL (they're still using Mospeada stuff), poor animation (examples have already been seen), pick your poison. You're basing your comments on what you've seen in this thread without realizing that there is more out there (and it eats as much ass as what we've seen here).