JediMaster

The problem is it requires the enemy fighter to be VERY close to you (basically guns-only range), and if you're in that position you've already failed. If the enemy is NOT that close, it's a great way to set yourself up to be nailed by a heater.

Well, generally speaking a turbofan is better under Mach 1 and a turbojet is better over Mach 1.

Weird that they only did it themselves for WAPJ, and that WoF and IAPR didn't get them. I love mine, have them all!

I'll add a few others missing: Layne Staley - Alice in Chains (RIP) Kurt Cobain - Nirvana (RIP) Don Henley - Eagles David Gilmour - Pink Floyd Roger Daltrey - The Who Rivers Cuomo - Weezer David Lee Roth - Van Halen Bono - U2 Brian Wilson and Mike Love - Beach Boys Scott Weiland - STP/Velvet Revolver Dennis DeYoung - Styx Billy Corgan - Smashing Pumpkins

Some A-4s and F-4s had that extended nose gear for better AOA off the deck, but not all. I was thinking specifically of the wooden decks with JATO as well. An occasional use might not be a problem, but any regular use I think would be tempting fate. A concrete runway is a different matter.

Would JATO have been safe to use on those carriers?

...the edit button??

I always thought that a serious oversight in a game called "Pacific Fighters". They couldn't premap those controls??

Some stadium do indeed have ear-bleeding acoustics. I remember when I saw Paul McCartney at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami in 1990 (who knows what it's called now, they keep changing it, it'll always be JRS to me)...when he started "Can't Buy Me Love" the roar drowned out the (admittedly very loud) music and the concrete balcony started bouncing. All I could think was, "is it supposed to do that??"

Yes, they'll hold the bodies for 2 years just to use as leverage. What's really sad is this because they believe THEY are the ones in the right. I guess they needn't concern themselves with doing anything wrong, they're justified in ANY action they take.

I will see it the afternoon of the 19th. Just rewatched BB a couple of weeks ago, hadn't seen it in about a year. Can't wait.

Who knows? A campaign promise and $4 won't even buy a gallon of gas. However, if all the troops now in Iraq were in Afghanistan instead, things would be going very differently there, that is certain.

Those planes were designed to be maintained by a conscript army with inadequate (by Western standards) training and short supplies of spares. They succeeded in doing things most Western planes would've collapsed doing. I'd much rather belly land a Russian jet than a Western one, that's certain!

...because Iran's AF is mmm-mmm-good?

What I don't know is the fuel storage capacity of those smaller carriers. Props and jets use different fuel, plus props use the more volatile of the 2 (which is one reason the USN wanted to go all-jet on carriers ASAP), and that makes extended ops more difficult.

I remember in the 90s a pair of F-15s shot down a Blackhawk or two in Iraq in the no-fly zone due to a breakdown in comms with AWACS. They asked, AWACS said "clear", it wasn't. However, the other thing to remember is with each passing year the commercial air traffic just goes up. The odds of accidentally shooting down another airliner (after both the USSR and US did it in the span of what, 10 yrs?) would certainly give the higher-ups pause. Of course, the F-22 can probably sneak up on the 6 of another fighter and get a look before engaging, but that's about it.

IIRC, there were some F-15s that carried 120s during Desert Storm, but none were fired. It was sort of an OPEVAL for them before the IOC was reached. Of course, the biggest thing used then that wasn't yet operational were the J-STARS.

I saw ESB at a 3 screen theater in Miami. I remember standing in line for 2 hours. I also remember someone had a radio they were listening to and "Funkytown" and "Cars" played.

LOL, is it a helicopter that never learned to hover??

I don't think the AI do that in any sim. The "cobra" is a "post-stall" maneuver and pretty much all AI routines say "avoid the stall". Only LOMAC has it, but it's a scripted event that only the player does.

Other than the "hundreds" of militants I've seen no figures for the numbers of friendlies involved. Likely we won't know as that would be covered by OPSEC I would think.

I remember the early hours after the disaster as everyone was wondering WTF happened. It was quite some time (a day? two?) before the reverse angle shots showing the burnthrough of the O-ring on the booster were made public. In the meantime, people were instead speculating on the SMEs blowing since it happened when we heard "Go throttle up" from the orbiter. In fact it was just a coincidence, but that seemed unlikely at the time. I remember I had just recently watched the miniseries "Space" on TV which started with the multiple rocket failures the US space program suffered in the 50s and wondering what had happened all day until I got home (since there was no TV in the school I was in to see the news...which was odd as my elementary school years earlier DID have them in most classrooms...whatever). When I saw the actual footage I remember feeling hollow that it seemed so banal.

Well, if it's an attack by planes, helos, or cruise missiles, Harriers can NOT compete with an AEGIS cruiser. I think they carry close to 100 missiles and can launch them at dozens of inbounds in mere seconds. Against surface vessels, subs, ground forces on land, an AEGIS is worthless!

I was wondering how one "drove" a percussion instrument.

The main thing about the Flogger was how high-maintenance it was compared to the 21 and earlier jets. The 3rd world countries that were often given the planes found them difficult to keep in combat shape as a result. That's why the 21s are still around and getting upgraded more than the 23s. Didn't really matter how good the plane was when it was sitting in a hangar!