JediMaster

http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-amp-space/article/2009-09/when-drones-go-wild-air-force-shoots-them-down I've heard several USAF officials state the Predator/Reaper isn't what the USAF wanted or needed, but it was the best solution available when the need arose. If they had to do it again from scratch, they'd have a different system. Of course, how much of these incidents are due to the individual platform and how many arise from the procedures devised to use them is major issue.

Exactly, it's supposed to revert to a holding pattern if contact is broken. I think there's also an RTB option, not sure if that's used or not. To just fly off wherever is bad, so is this the fault of the onboard programming malfunctioning, or do the large number of Predator losses indicate a problem with the basic concept of how it works? We seem to lose more of them percentage wise than any other UAV.

Especially if you want to keep that carrier against determined adversaries.

There are few worse ways to die than from cancer.

LOL, I actually saw that happen once from the ground, only a mile from my house! It was a month or so before the 2004 elections, and the local stadium (as in maybe 3 miles from my house, some MLB team does spring training there) was holding a rally with the President and his brother, our governor. AF1 flew into Patrick AFB, and Marine One flew him out and back escorted by all these other helos (saw them fly past less than a mile north of my house). The rally was like 12-2 or something, and around 1 I was driving back from lunch when I saw this tiny high-winged piston tail-dragger flying south over I-95. Now we see planes like that around all the time with the local little airports, but I knew the rally was going on and I thought "Huh? There should be a no-fly zone here!" I mentioned it to my wife, then turned to look at the plane which was now behind us JUST as an F-16 buzzed him at VERY close range, firing flares. I mean, the plane was under 2000ft altitude, maybe under 1000ft, and I think had a top speed of 90mph or something, so the F-16 wasn't going to be doing any escorting. I guess the guy was flying VFR and had his radio off or something? Anyway, he was forced to land at Merrit Island airport where he had some serious 'splaining to do. I will say this, though...in my opinion the CAP failed. That plane flew within a mile of the stadium at low altitude. Had it been filled with explosives it might have made it there before they could stop it. Had it been filled with some chem/bio weapon that could spread the stadium could've been affected even if it was shot down before actually reaching it. I found this online, tells what kind of plane it was (but it was an F-16, not F-15, not that the media ever gets that right): http://www.sptimes.com/2004/10/24/Decision2004/New_Florida_identity_.shtml This link has some pics from people there: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1254813/posts

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I sit in the center, which means I disagree with everyone at least half of the time.

I've no idea why college students seem to largely be drawn to leftist idealogies, other than perhaps they themselves have nothing but ideas and feel like they shouldn't have to work hard for decades to have something, so why not have everything equal? That will save THEM a lot of time and effort! On the flipside, you'll notice past middle-age most people tend to head to the right because they've spent decades to get what they have and they see no reason why it should be taken from them to be given to someone else!

If someone makes a real RB4, I'm there. Again, assuming it's not some junk with the RB name slapped on.

Don't you mean "wear pink"?

I think there's probably a less than 1% chance that any of them are actually listening to swing.

I'm sure in Chinese it has a different meaning though!

Someone else already mentioned this elsewhere, not that I can recall where... Anyway, it's purely a comparative thing. All "elite members" show as E-9s. Erik is a 4-star.

If the UAE is selling US weapons to China that is a BIG deal.

That looks like it's an IE7 upgrade problem. Try uninstalling IE7 and reverting to IE6 to see if that helps. Then reinstall IE7 and reboot when it finishes.

Yes, and it seems the German ROE take the cake. "Defend yourself, kill the enemy, if something goes wrong, even if it's not your fault, you will be tried in a civilian court!!!"

The answer is "it depends." Even if they let you pick both, the programmers worked in one more than the other and then "ported" it over later. In the case of Il-2, it was done in OGL and the DX rendering is far inferior. 90% of modern software uses DX over OGL, the only other notable exception being id software and its games starting with Quake, and all the way up to the current Doom 3 engine used in D3, Quake 4, Prey, ET: Quake Wars, and recently Wolfenstein. Their new game Rage I'm not sure about as far as OGL or DX, but Carmack seems to love OGL so I'm not betting on it disappearing yet. I don't know if Oleg is using DX or OGL for Storm of War either. Last game I remember where you had multiple equivalent choices was Decent 3 in 1999. No OGL that I recall, you had software (non 3D, it did suck), Direct X, and Glide (aka 3DFx's 3D API for Voodoo cards only). Glide and DX looked and ran about the same on a Voodoo card, non-Voodoo cards had to use DX.

I really don't understand why Hollywood has so many far-leftists...does it attract them, or produce them? I think the issue is too many there have money just handed to them for ideas, they don't really WORK for them. So, why not just give a large portion of that money to the poor? After all, just have another good idea and people will hand you more money, right? The poor are only poor because they must not have any good ideas! When you have the silver spoon handed to you, you naturally don't believe it's hard to earn.

Yes, it could just as well be called a Baby Crusader!

There's only one shot in the entire film shot in Miami...it's the brief scene of them driving south on I-95, obviously done by a 2nd unit crew. That was also not MIA, it was an airport in the UK, forget which one. I lived in Miami for over 20 years and know it well.

That would require someone who has it re-uploading it here, of course.

That and the fact that Pakistan is too unsafe to shoot a movie! They didn't shoot those opening scenes of Casino Royale in Madagascar, either, nor in Haiti. I believe Panama and the Bahamas as well as the backlot at Pinewood in the UK covered all that stuff. Movie magic!

Yes, that's exactly my experience. The arcade mode makes it fly like Blazing Angels or any other console flyer, but the harder modes are nigh-on uncontrollable. Hence my musing about getting a stick.

I agree, I think it could be implemented to some extent. However, no developer is willing to do it so far.

I don't know how much the KC-390 costs, but this has to make Airbus even more embarrassed about the A400M.