l_e_m

All of the VFs in Macross Frontier have streamers on their wing tips. To me, those streamers (presumably expelled reaction mass of some kind) are dual purpose thrusters used for propulsion and roll control. They're still there.

Nice. Thanks, Kresphy.

I don't know how accurate the fan sub is, but I have a few questions concerning the meeting at the Frontier President's office. I wonder why the President said this: "Is the Army not following orders?" To me, this seems to imply that the military, presumably UNS, was supposed to clear the way for their manifest destiny but either couldn't or didn't. Who is the gentleman he is speaking to in the white uniform (I will assume that he is military)? What does everyone think his angle is in the series? I saw him yet again in the second episode previews.

I wholeheartedly agree.

The WOW in Macross is back. This is top-notch anime as far as I can tell. It's pure fun and a visual masterpiece. I only wish I knew Japanese, so that I can truly enjoy it. The cliffhanger brought on a deja vu moment with a new twist. I wonder where we've seen that before. No one does it better than the original. It's O.K.

CODY2003 and Stratagos your work is impressive.

Who is the character at 1:21 on the Macross: Frontier trailer? His uniform has a similar color scheme to the white-purple VF-25? In SDF:M, the color of the character's uniform was similar to their variable fighter, at least, for the main characters. Perhaps, it is his. ::shrugs::

According to the line art on your site, afterburners on a VF-1 is 125% (cannot set to over 100% in the sim version that I currently downloaded, so the figures are done at maximum or 100%) power and 200% is in over boost. The thrust obtained from redlining your jets should not be included in the thrust to weight ratio. Since engines are not run at their peak power for longevity's sake unless their is a war on or an emergency, there is no reason to add power that is more than likely to be unavailable to the operator (or broken feature in the sim). I digress. Thrust to weight ratio of the VF-1 (dry) in afterburner (125% power) is 2.2:1.

What we call an "active stealth" system could be a function of advanced models of active scanned array used in later VFs. That's my best guess.

I don't have a problem with VFs having an active stealth system. I just don't think that the active stealth is the reason why most combat occurs at short range. Governments will downgrade or degrade sensitive systems in export fighters to their allies. It's a relatively common practice.

I didn't think so, which is why I asked. That's a very liberal definition of beyond visual range. When you say beyond visual range (BVR), I think of 20nm+ and further away, the range of an AIM-7. With the help of a laser and optical system (limited by resolution), pilots could probably snipe at targets in space with a ballistic weapon from long range if the target moves straight and does not drift. The ability to shoot down missiles negates any effective long range capability in Macross. See Macross 0 (many times), DYRL (many times), and Macross Plus (Isamu vs. Guld), and the original Macross (Max vs. Milia). Some Variable/Conventional Fighters have the ability to use their acceleration to avoid missiles (Nora vs Shin (F-14A+), Guld vs HMM, and Guild vs Ghost). IMHO, long range fighting does not occur in Macross because it is not consistently effective, not solely because of stealth.

What long range weapons do Variable Fighters typically carry that are not missiles? I don't understand why mentioning that "the gun pod is shown firing beyond visual range" should mean anything in the context of your original statement.

I believe that every fight ends up at short range because Valkyries have the ability to shoot attacking missiles down.

I thought that Guild used the same trick that he used against the new maneuver missiles at the beginning of the OVA series. He accelerated before the missiles could arm or something to that effect. He did out-G the "Ghost" missile though. Is that what you are referring to?

That's not accurate in the atmosphere. Even if you fire a missile at high mach, you don't get all of the added speed of the fighter that fired it. Once that missile is released, it no longer gets the propulsion from the aircraft, and it must rely on the thrust of its rocket motor/gravity for its acceleration. A missile will only sustain a "Mach 7" number if it has the thrust to do so, but it will get some benefit from a higher launch speed. The firing speed for a GAU-8 was probably tested on Earth, not in space where there is no air resistance and little gravity acting upon it. Like before, it all depends on the force that will propel the bullet. The distance between the Earth and the moon is a little over a light second, and engagements will never occur at that distance. We are not even talking about those speeds here. To be basic, it's all about v = v0 +at, and a Valkyrie can only go a little over 3G in space in a clean configuration. If force is constant, then the Valkyrie will pick up a little more acceleration as its reaction mass depletes, but it won't be much if the mass of the reaction mass itself is relatively small. It's really not that fast. I'd rather have a large warhead that can cause damage over a wider area (unfriendly to friendlies though) so I am guaranteed a better probability of a hit. Having a missile that has vectored thrust and maneuvering thrusters that can actually change its position as fast as the target (which has more reaction mass to expend) would be another plus. I've seen countermeasures deployed in Macross, but I haven't seen any ECM systems at work against missiles though. A manned fighter can't out-G a missile in the atmosphere, but you can in space. If a Valkyrie is fired upon by a missile with 3G acceleration and it has more reaction mass than the missile, it can out run it. A YF-21 has three times the thrust to weight ratio of a Valkyrie, so that is a distinct possibility. All VFs don't have the thrust output of a YF-21.

The problem with missiles is this: They can be avoided by mecha with higher acceleration and fuel capacity than the missile. We've seen this in SDFM, Macross Plus, and the Macross Frontier Trailer. They are also finite. I'd rather have an energy based weapon propagating near the speed of light with no ammo constraints, which should be more difficult to dodge and detect.

Is the nose really that long? Are the wings set that far back? Or is it the angle? If so, that design is very, very unstable (CoG would have to be placed far back). With the right FCS, it would be a very, very slick ride in an atmosphere. BTW, does anyone have any guesstimates on the dimensions? I might want to model it someday.

I thought you were looking for similarities in the wing and tail. The VF-5000 has similar wing strakes, short, small tails, and a short-span notched, cropped wing just like the X-32. The other designs cited do not have all of those elements. Out of all the planes cited, the Drakken is the closest, except for the tail and the wing inlets. I suppose we're looking at different things.

Disregard the fuselage, and look at the planform of the proposed production model for the X-32. Oddly enough, the X-32B is the exactly same length of 14.03m. I believe this arrangement resembles the VF-5000 IMHO.

Perhaps, there is another possibility. I've seen some deep diving suits (ADS) require "joystick like controls" in order to manipulate the system while under water. I would surmise that Zentraedi powered armored suits worked on a similar principle, which might account for their uncanny mobility during the series. This is not new, but it's an interesting application to variable fighters. Starting with the YF-21, future variable fighters have begun to take on a lot of Zentraedi design. This is interesting.

WOW.

WOW. That's a really, really nice animated model.

Hooray! The VF-1A, at least, is finished. You can grab it here. (If you don't want to join the forums, which is required for download, I can send you the file via e-mail.) You can grab X-Plane 8.6 (1 GB, 6 min limit) demo here. I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for the compliment. That's eye opening. I did not know that the reaction mass setting was used in level flight in the atmosphere in its fighter configuration. I thought the engines were air breathers until you reached a vacuum, water, or mode conversion. I'll have to rework some settings then. Is this the consensus?

Yes, I realize this. Technically, my model has the same control surfaces. They are optimized by airspeed for the most effective maneuverability and control. This is like most all of the current FBW aircraft. For example, when the wings are at full span or moderately swept back--I forget the exact airspeed--spoilers, outer flaperon, and TVC are used for roll control to get the highest, controllable rate possible. If I were to use only the spoilers and TVC, the roll rate would be like a Tomcat, which is not as good. Roll control in a F-14 is controlled by spoilers is a function of its wing size. I have read that a low chord narrow wing is subject to twisting moments at high speed, and a spoiler system is a better alternative. The Valkyrie has a different wing than a Tomcat, so I thought it would be alright. Roll control in the F-14 is controlled by its large horizontal tailerons at high speed, and its spoilers at lower speeds. The wing sweeps back from 20deg to 60 deg from .6 Mach to 1.0 Mach linearly. It's a simple function. The spoilers are cut out at the higher knot ratings where all control is performed exclusively by the TVC, which replaces the tailerons on the F-14. It maneuvers better than an F-16. The Valkyrie meets all the speed ratings in Macross source material within a few percentage points except a high altitudes. We don't know whether the Valkyrie is limited in speed rating due to it's inlets or the composition of its materials. It maneuvers well enough in space for the Valkyrie to make quicker drag free flights in LEO at higher speeds. As for X-Plane, it works for me. I wanted more fidelity.