JediMaster

"Later investigation found a pepper kernel in each burger."

American public opinion thinks that because the media has persuaded them to think that because "expensive $$$$ new jet paid with taxpayer money FAIL" gets them viewers and that gets ads which gets THEM money. The fact that this story has repeated itself for every past program escapes them, and when the next one happens they'll have forgotten this one.

That's because modern air combat looks really boring on a screen. A plane sees something on a screen and fires a missile. It may or may not hit. Rinse and repeat.

Is there any historical precedent for the canards on the 21 or are they just your idea?

Actually, gas prices here are less than $1 lower than peak prices from several years ago. So, a full tank then cost roughly $10 more than it does now, but it's still $10 more than it was in 2009.

Considering the Dora is going for $40 alone and we have yet to know what the maps will be priced at, it's not too bad a deal. The original KS was wildly optimistic to me, as were the stretch goals.

Given the time and background there must be some influence on RSR there.

They said Nevada is pretty much done, it's just that it requires EDGE and that is the hold up.

Anyone know what caliber guns the latest Chinese fighters use? J-10 and all those?

The legacy Hornet is out of production, and you don't buy used outdated planes for a new carrier. The Super Hornet is too big for that vessel. Look at what happened with the Kuznetsov and the Su-33...Russia is still kicking itself for not getting the MiG-29s from the beginning. So the Super Hornet might've been a good idea IF they'd designed the carrier to be even bigger...like THAT idea would've flown.

Basically he's complaining that a simple thing like getting used jets from the US takes forever while other countries can do it much faster by simply giving him some of theirs. If he didn't know by now that the US is slow to get anything done, I'm not sure what evidence he was missing. If he didn't know that Russia and Belarus will give you the clothes off their own backs in winter if it means getting money NOW...

FedEx?

And the Whitestars like plucked chickens.

I remember it was March...2011 I think? Black Shark came out the very end of 2008, so just over 2 years for A-10C sounds familiar to me. The Nevada map was in the beta end of 2010 it would be.

Especially as the gov't is so friendly to Iran, they can have them do it. Giving them F-16s is like giving the Iranian AF a guided tour of the Viper.

Above a certain useless caliber (I'm looking at you, .303!), it's accuracy and rounds on target that matter more. US doctrine long emphasized spray-and-pray from the .50s to the M61 vs "higher caliber but reduced chance of hitting" emphasized in Europe on both sides of the curtain. I'm not sure that either approach was ever proven better, but if you could guarantee a 100% hit rate, you obviously would prefer a larger caliber. I know the Flanker and Fulcrum guns were touted as having excellent accuracy, but I don't know if they've been used in combat all that much.

So realistically, what's the best finishing spot the US can hope for? I know it's not going to win, of course, but it seems like historically we do pretty lousy.

I love Honest Trailers, they're always spot on. The one for Frozen had me laughing quite steadily.

As a point of comparison, there was a period of 90 years between US independence and the end of the Civil War resulting in final unification and large-scale peace. Those intervening years were categorized by numerous conflicts from within and without, small and large scale rebellions and wars. If 2003 was their 1776, they've not even reached the writing of the Constitution yet. I don't think it fair to demand they have a faster progression than we did. I just don't think it's our job to fix it anymore than it was France's to fix us after their help in the Revolutionary War.

I think if ED had been churning out planes regularly people wouldn't have cared so much if they did outside stuff, but the long delays on Nevada, EDGE, and any new modern jet since the A-10C I think have people overly anxious. So anything else coming out is pointed to as "time that could've been better spent on X" regardless of whether that's actually true or not. So the P-51 is a big "why did you spend time on it when you really need to spend even MORE time to get more planes, ground units, and terrain done to make it worthwhile!!!!" when the DCS crowd has really been more about late 20th century aircraft and not WWII. In other words, your "average" DCS customer is probably more interested in the MiG-21 than a FW190, and more interested in a Hornet than even a 21 (although there are undoubtedly many like me who like it if it flies and shoots stuff. ), so they get really annoyed at the idea that ED is spending time doing WWII birds that delay that Hornet.

Military pilot selfies anyway. Cessna and other GA pilots generally don't wear full face-mask helmets.

There had to have been a reason the Germans were heading to the P.1101 design, and that the others all followed post-war. I don't know what it was, but considering the 262 and others like the Ar235 were proven in combat, it must have been compelling to make everyone copy the 1101 for planes on both sides of the curtain in US, France, Russia (multiple bureaus)...

If only we'd had the good sense to stay out of Iraq like we have in so many other areas around the world like Sudan, Syria, etc. There was literally no more reason to go there than there would be to go to any of a dozen other places, but no one beat the drum for them like they did Iraq. Afghanistan made sense at least, but that was doomed to fail. Afghanistan will only ever be ruled from within, and as long as those within support theocratic anarchy it will forever be a cesspool.

After 15 years of continuous development with source code access, it's not too surprising.