SayethWhaaaa

Ant, got two words for you bud: KNOWLEDGE BASE!!! Seriously though dude, just about any problems you have with the game, you'll find solutions in there. With the weapons sepecifically, look under "intermediate" and then adding weapons. The Weaps editor can be a bit iffy, but like Gwar said, run the compatibility mode under win 98, it'll work like a charm. If you're using the most up to date patches, you'll also need to use the WOI specific editor as the older ones won't work with WOI or the patches for the series that bring them all up to WOI standard. Let us know how you go.

I got 2: Breguet Atlantique Tu-142 Bear F

It won't be as agile as the P-3 at low altitudes, but the Allison T-56 (I think it's still the primary engine) has quite a few shortcoming in comparison to a current generation GE or Rolls Royce turbofan. Fuel efficiency and throttle response/acceleration are supposed to be a significant improvement over existing P-3 turboprops. Hell, if the Orions had the composite 6/8 blade and engine upgrade programs similar to that of the Herc, they'd be able to capitalise on the newer technology too. But wing fractures have been a increasing problem for the USN and will be for the rest of us soon (Especially for the RAAF if the add some of the stand off strike responsibilities frpm the F-111 when it's retired!). The fact of the matter about the 737 choice is the economy of scale behind it. It's a new airframe and still in production. Development costs are much reduced, has a proven flight and safety record, although obviously, not under militart conditions such as the ASW flight profile thus far. And... the P-3 is a 47 year old design. Still doing a fantastic job though! Hey Ghost, why only 8? I always figured India has a MASSIVE and busy coastline. 8 always seemed insuficient...

Dave, mate, you know I respect you, yeah? But the Raptor is definitely "touchable". ...especially when the ratio is 12:1 in their (not my) favour.

Hmmm... no kidding. It always just looked a bit longer to me. Damned European visual trickery!

Yeah, but I'm talking about non USAF and USN F-35s, ie, the European ones from nations also using the Meteor. To me, it just seems a little redundant to buy a plane for it's stealth (amongst it's other qualities) only to compromise it's stealth by carrying long range missiles under it's wings. Not meaning to start a flame war about it, but I'd be curious to see if the Euro F-35s will have their bays modified for it.

Isn't it going to be too long for the F-35 bays? It's longer than the AIM-120. Or will is just fit snug in the lower fuselage? I got the impression the Meteor was around the same length as the longer ranged R-27 series...

Seriously Veltro... love the work, but get some damn sleep!! You're always working on something...

My friends say I haven't been the same since I had it leaked to me...

Here's one way to get a kill with out a hit registering... And this is all the damage I received. The JF-17 was destroyed, I took one on the chin and not a shot was fired...

Cheers guys. I've sufficiently recovered from the shindig. Happy bday Fates! I hope 40's the new 20. It'll make it easier to get over the hangover...

You're undead?!?!

It came up in, like, 2 seconds on mine...

Yep, we usually do when its warm (as opposed to when it's f***ing hot!! like it is most years). Got to about 31'C yesterday (about 88'F) and most places I went to were having a BBQ. I had a lunch with my gf's folks that felt like a formal dinner on the Titanic and went down hill after her uncle, a navy man of 22 years, found out I'm in the Army, had a few drinks and then decided to get lippy! It was... interesting. My folks had a nice set up, lotsa Turkey, ham, beer and seafood, although I'm viciously allergic to seafood! Although, the best part of Christmas in Oz is the Boxing day test the next day!!

It's only two hours until Christmas, so I thought I'd kick it off this year. Merry Christmas and happy holiday season to all you fine folk who visit us here at CA. Thank you for all your contributions and we look forward hanging out with this awesome community for the year 2009! As for Christmas this year, what are you all getting up to, aside from pigging out getting sleepy in the afternoon?

Anyone who's spoken to you or worked with you for more than two seconds knows you're a stand up guy. And we all have moments of tactlessness.

Admin, boring...? NO! Really...?

She was the voice of all the Starfleet LCARS interfaces, wasn't she? That totally sucks about her death!

Are those really tiny vertical stabs or are they angled? It's messing with my eyes man!

The story I've been hearing is that the F-22 is the priority, but in the event they can't get the comfy number of 381, 183 will be the absolute bare minimum that will have to be built (in the air forces eyes). I think that's enough for ten 16 plane squadrons. Its not on the chopping block per se. If this turns out to be the situation, the USAF/DoD planners are looking to fill the gap with the "Golden Eagles", C model Eagles with the lowest airframe/flight hours. I know they'll be upgraded with AESAs and modern, standardised cockpits but I'm not too sure about engines, fire control or other avionic specifics. To the best of my knowledge, the USAF wants to keep all of the Mud Hens from the 80s and 90s batches, although Boeing offered to keep the production line open for future F-15 builds but the idea was rejected by either the USAF or DoD as it was seen to potentially threaten the F-22 program. There were a few articles about this. Online, I know there was one over at the Jane's website. And AFM in the UK did a piece on this about a year ago.

Yes and no. Part of the reason the Lebanese reactivated their Hunters was that the siege of Nahr el-Bared camp pointed out that they were lacking a fixed wing strike capability for situations such as that (In that situation, they modified a UH-1H to drop two 250kg bombs to provide close air support for the Army). Remember, Lebanon is still recovering from the De-facto Syrian control and occupation, so nation building, recovery and stability are still the prime motivations of the government. The aircraft will be more of a symbol that the government is taking seriously it's promise to restore order and protect the population from the threats from Hezbollah and other Pro-Syrian and Pro-Israeli factions. That said, the aircraft won't pose a threat to either Israeli or Syria (who have aircraft ratios of roughly 25:1 and 30:1 respectively), but even still, I would be surprised if it suddenly became very hard for them to import parts for the Migs over the next few years.

Alright peoples, dial the rants back a bit. The Pro/Anti-nationalist sentiment you guys are sinking your teeth into is off topic in relation to the question of the thread "Do you fly for your own nation?" Yes some people have stated why, but it's not important why. Everyone will have different reasons for doing so. Build a bridge, get over it. In that case, don't be playing GTA or Scarface. The drug dealing, car jacking and shootouts with cops could end badly for you dude.

Are you kidding me? Of course that's true. You guys have been here how long and you're just realising it now... sheesh! The person below me thinks man boobies are a beautiful thing...

Nah, I don't think so, purely on the grounds that the advantage over existing competing fighters is so massive that there won't be much, if anything that could compete with it. The F-22's biggest weakness is it's cost, no question. They'll probably continue low rate production for a while yet, but you're not going to see large numbers of F-22 entering service in the way of F-15s/F-16s (nor F-35s for that matter) when you have an air force whose average age per aircraft is around 30 years (the avg during Vietnam was 9) and you have major needs such as a new tankers, CSAR Helicopters, a decision on which heavy lift aircraft to invest in (C-5/C-17). If a knock off had been designed, or at least planned for in the first place, these costs could have been offset by export customers. I think defense planners may have shot themselves in the foot on this one. It'll be painful, but it could be done. ...plus a costly war in Iraq and a plethora of companies effectively giving free credit to people who weren't able to pay it back and eventually screwing the economy hasn't helped either.

I was only talking relative to Israel, ie, a specific model intended for a nation in particular like the F-15K or the F-15SG, etc. Personally, if there were an export model, I think there'd be more of a chance of seeing JASDF F-22s long before we'd ever see Israeli ones. Chinese officials may kick up a bit of a fuss, but there's more of a strategic threat to the US's interests in that region and the JASDF aren't guaranteed air superiority should the PLAAF muscle in on Japan during an hypothetical conflict. Israel's vital to the US too, but Israel would more than likely have air dominance with the assets and organisation they currently have. Not to mention the 250+ nukes they posess.