Nightshade/PR

But there are times you get lucky...this was an SA-6 miss over the Korea(V3) Terrain as I was trying to egress the target area. When the missile started to climb after me, I let it get danger close, rolled inverted into a dive, ran underneath it, and hightailed it for home

Jinkin' & Prayin'.....worked this time....

If I may place a vote, I like the idea of Diego Garcia. It offers a wealth of potential flashpoint scenarios for an extremely interesting part of the world. Especially for bomber operations.

Just out for a little sightseeing.....

I downloaded & installed the latest iteration, and this happened..... It's the BOMB!!!!!!!

Having been a SNCO in the military, I understand that a breakdown in....well, everything, as this abbreviated Navy article states, can lead to disaffected personnel doing unforgivable things, and they should not be excused for their actions. But I cannot fathom the rush to judgement on this one man, regardless of his alleged actions, for the loss of an entire ship. Damage, yes.....but I simply cannot see where this one thing made the entire ship's destruction possible, given the initial report. There were SO many things that had to go wrong, the investigation is by no means over, and like many, that report led me to suspect there were a cascade of failures running way beyond one individual that would contribute to this. And there were. Hold all the individuals that were at the core of this disaster responsible when you have ascertained with a large degree of certainty just who is to be held responsible. But JFC, don't disparage the entire service for a command breakdown that happens in EVERY military all over the world. Some just never make the news. I may rag the sister service unmercifully on occasion (I was Air Force, so screw them mop-heads), but they aren't all a collection of disgruntled ne'er do-wells looking for a free meal. (That's the Marines ) https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2021/10/19/uss-bonhomme-richard-fire-spread-wildly-due-to-repeated-failures-investigation-finds/

And now, The Rest Of The Story. Navy probe finds major failures in fire that destroyed ship (apnews.com)

"If SAMs were launched at a Wild Weasel, it was the backseater’s job to track them on a tiny, two-square-inch cathode-ray tube and call out maneuvering measures to the pilot. The usual SAM-avoidance maneuver was to wait until the missile was danger close—about a mile—and then perform a 4G pitchout that broke its radar lock". https://www.historynet.com/why-pilots-loved-the-f-105-thud-despite-its-vulnerability.htm Having used this maneuver in-game WITH an F-105, my personal name for it is the "This Sh*t Better Work" move.

Eye Candy or not, it's a beauty. So many years ago, this model introduced a wide-eyed country kid (masquerading as an adult) to places in the world that he'd only read about in books. Like so many people, I was saddened to see them retired. But at least here, she lives and flies again. Thank You.

Speaking of those distances.... https://www.space.com/bernardinelli-bernstein-comet-close-approach-2031

I would bring up the A330 MRTT , but I'm afraid to have Eurofighter Typhoons targeting my house.

This was great. The Finns and the Rafale were show-stoppers.

In this case, bragging is okay. Congratulations Sargento.

I worry more about WHAT is out there, versus WHO. Using Eric's distances, I have to wonder about WHAT is out there coming our way, that we don't have any knowledge of due to those distances. And therefore we have no plans, no strategies, nor any real ideas on what to do about it. As we have read, star, planetary, and galaxy formations are a mussy business, with lots of remnants left over roaming the cosmos until they run into something. If there is any one thing that gives me the chills where the universe is concerned, it's this. There may be all sorts of cosmic anomalies and fragments of unbelievable sizes & densities headed our way that will destroy us completely, and we'd never know until they entered our neighborhood. When I think of all the money we have wasted over time (as a species) over things that would not matter on iota should that come to pass, instead of using that time to learn more about the universe and creating technologies to save us from what eventually WILL come, up to and including leaving this ball of dirt, I feel only despair. Because it seems the epitaph we'll leave behind for the rest of the universe will be that we were "too busy defending ourselves from ourselves" to concentrate on saving ourselves.

https://www.cadnav.com/3d-models/model-11378.html

This has been an interesting search........ Here's link to a 3-D model (Yugoslav) without all the modernization's. Finding a blueprint of the Kuwaiti version has proved quite challenging. https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/m-84-main-battle-tank-a6839bb9b0d7403aa80951c31d76fe18 https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/1984-uro-akovic-m-84-141ef5a5934742329b7d618c2e004f92

This help? https://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.php?armor_id=525 https://drawingdatabase.com/t-84-oplot/

Because these numbers don't seem real to the vast legions of science-denying people that continue to spout the same nonsensical line as "proof" that we are alone in the universe: "IF there's someone else out there, why haven't we heard from them?' There is absolutely no conception of the distances involved in that statement. They're just numbers to many people, and being mathematically challenged to begin with, the figures don't translate into anything they can understand. And sadly, these same vast legions have no desire to learn or understand any of this. If they did, they would realize their beliefs about their place in the universe was BS from the word "GO", and as one former work acquaintance put it, "If I let myself believe any of that, it would make me feel insignificant".

SpangQuentin Gunslingers in the Cold............

In the last few days, there were a few updates from Microsoft for Windows 10. At first blush, things seemed fine, but I noticed a few oddities in my game controls. There was another one this morning, and now, all the commands I have/had programmed into my stick are all over the place. On the configuration screen, everything looks normal. But when you save it and start the next mission, all the commands seem to have mapped to somewhere else. I pulled a saved version of my control setup from a backup file, and once again, everything looks good. Start the mission, and the control setting are once again everywhere but where I set them. I was using a Saitek X52 (courtesy of Trotski), and all those functions went to the great control panel in the sky. Soooooo, I pulled it off and tried my old Cyborg EVO. Once again, it looked good in the Control Panel, apparently saved just fine, and I thought I had it beat. Start the game, and after 3 seconds I realized the problem was back when I tested the rudder controls and my engines throttled up. Uttering what may be the classic understatement "this could be a problem", I tried the Weapons selection switches, and got Radar Toggle, ECM, Chaff & Flare, and when I selected the Cannon, I got AGM-88's on the screen. (At that point I made a reference to some bombs that were discussed a few days ago) I'm gonna figure this out one way or the other, but has anyone else been seeing these anomalies? I haven't seen anything like this before and I'm kinda stumped. It's comical in one aspect, but annoying as all get out in another. I'm thinking it's something peculiar to my system and Windows version, and praying I don't have to do a reinstall, so I'll take & try whatever suggestions I can get.

While i agree with your nod towards inclusion of all our explosive brothers, drop a string of these 1000 lb special children from an F-4 at less than 50 feet (before the chute has time to fully deploy) over an enemy runway, and the resulting negative reaction of your aircraft to pieces separating hurriedly from the frame will make you utter that very phrase, and THEN you will understand why they are called "retarded" bombs. And it ain't got nothing to do with the bombs. Trust me on this one.

https://fstudiosweb.com/f15c-black-knights-fine-art-aviation-profile-prints/classic-white

I'm rather surprised not to see the Serbian M-84 AS1 in this lineup.

THAT is cool!!!

NO. At some point this illogical & persistent myth is going to HAVE to be put to rest, as there is no scientific data anywhere that shows this virus was a deliberately created pathogen, a laboratory construct, or a purposely manipulated virus. If there were, it would be front page news worldwide, and not consigned to conspiracy web postings run by youtube educated research scientists looking to spread fear and confusion. I suppose that for whatever illogical reason, it's how they get their jollies. I can understand the fear the virus engenders....but NOT the hell-bent rush to blame any country that is suffering from the same virus that we all are dealing with just because they are the "Boogeyman Of The Month". If it takes a 3rd shot, get the shot, encourage everyone you can to get the shot, move on, and let the scientific & medical professionals continue to work at it.