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Ditto. My wife and I are watching college football and wrapped up in a snuggler blanket. Life is mellow and easing into a new year is a quantum leap over charging into it as I did in my youth.

Have you ever wondered what would happen to those centermounted engines when the rocket exhaust hit them? I suppose for the same reason the Russian Su-27 family and the MiG-29 family have fenders on the front wheels and the MiG-29 even shuts the intakes on the ground when the engineers put the nose gears too far forward. Who thinks about FOD until you're replacing motors every other week. Then again, who am I to criticize.......................after all, it is good for the Russian jet engine production. Every launch, two new engines!!!!

Right on the money. Do you want to move dirt or shoot down bad guys? A-7 carries more dirt moving stuff and wins on the dirt-moving subject. A-4 is a better dogfighter?? Depends on the version. The never-built, but really hot A-7F is better at both. The Israeli version of the Scooter, probably better than the latest US version. Gets back to the basic argument, what you have military aircraft for. Hate to pop the bubble, but moving dirt is the job. Painting kill marks on your jet is fun, but does not achieve any but a small part of your mission objectives. If your task is extended artillery, then get the jet with the best capability to do just that. A-7, hands down.

Ditto.

Thanks, guys!

Wrench, is the manual control animation key user assigned? If so what key do you use (CTL-C)?

Veltro, you still da man!

Good on you, Weasel Keeper. A huge thank you in the name of all your drivers, well done!

Looks about right. Just above the horizon there is a sky blue part missing that fades to the black as your eyes move up.

Mantra repeat......ONE pass and HAUL ASS. Just do good on the one pass.....................

I told my wife I could've had an OCC Chopper for what I have lost in the past three months. My son's business, Overhead Garage Doors of Lexington, has had to let go about 60% of the work force and will do well to stay afloat if things don't pick up soon. I told my wife that I am glad we kept a big house, just in case some of the kids need a place to sleep. The saddest thing about it is that it is just all about confidence. We'll prosecute the offenders, put back in place the laws that were supposed to prevent the things that have happened in certain sectors, Auto workers and the US auto companies will have to tighten their belts, but probably need some chapter 11 court guidance since they cannot get there by themselves, and people will have to realize that you can only own what you can afford, not more. Some consumer common sense, a positive outlook, and a confident attitude could turn this thing in the US around in a heartbeat. My thoughts and prayers are with those who are struggling. There are only two categories here, those who have been there and done that and those who are going to....

Ditto [Afraid not. It's eight hours bottle to brief, big guy.] That's what 100% Oxygen lever is for! 50 feet bottle to throttle is better..........................

That skin is beautiful!!!!

I seem to recall being quite nervous when one was in the neighborhood..............

Excellent observations, Syrinx. In my opinion we are doomed to financial misfires and failure if we make the space thing a race. I don't see how we can get humanity from this surface to another planet's surface without combining our efforts. What is wrong with a joint mission that opens a new frontier on Mars? I really don't see how any individual nation can do it by themselves. Think about the multitude of talent we can gather if there are no constraints on who joins the mission and all contribute. Might have some difficulty with some fundamentalist cultures, but they'd just be left out again just as they have been so many times before. I really don't see any reality to the project any other way.

It just kills me to say it, but..............the Mirage is a beautiful jet. Que beleiza, amigo!

First of all, is this awesome or what? Second, how do I become a member? I have all of the YAP1 missions, but don't have login and pwd set up for this new site. Anybody got any ideas or contact URLs?

Great read. Some would think that Americans, with their soft life, don't have the grit that their famous forefathers had. I say only that the US military took Iraq in 21 days. No sleep, hard fighting and hard driving. True it wasn't cold, but it was very hot for those volunteer men and women in chem gear. We still have an equal representation of people who are against the war and a media that dearly loves to fan the flames of political discontent. All that aside, the grit is still there. Call out the Eagle at your own risk because we'll be there quicker than you think and with more horsepower than your ready to deal with.....................................

Would that be Direct X 10 or 9c? Can't get patched 2.08 to run on XP w/9c. Before installing Direct X 10 I want to make sure since uninstall could not be fun.

Gots to keep in mind that it is a labor of love. Money comes and goes, but a 'vette, once owned and driven, is right there in your heart forever...................even when its a station wagon, bitchin spouse, and rowdy kids......................it is still there doin a low crawl to a deep throaty tune.

That is absolutely sweet looking. You know you have more disposable income than you have good sense, right? My wife overruled my 'vette rehab for a new sofa for the living room. The only rumble you hear from it smells bad............................

Ditto

I hate to keep bringing it up, but wasn't it an Iraqi MiG-25 that scored the only ATA kill in Iraqi Freedom against a Navy bug...................................

Ghostrider, my thoughts and prayers are with you, your family, and your countrymen as well as with the Pakistani people. Leaders start wars, not people trying to earn a living. My hopes are that cooler heads prevail, because a nuclear cloud is not discerning as to who it envelops. Wars need to be fought on the CA site, not for real.

Most flying stations have a duty that is usually the most boring thing on the planet to accomplish. A pilot is stationed out near the approach end of the runway and makes sure the guy driving the jet remembers to put the rollers down. In training command and combat command, it is called "Mobile" duty. You get a pair of binoculars, a radio, a flare gun, and get to sit for hours making sure the flyers don't mess up the taxpayers' equipment. The only exception to the rule is the U-2, where they pack a radio and a flare gun in a souped up Camaro and you charge out on the runway to chase each and every touch-and-go and landing of the U-2 and talk the pilot down. (see picture) The landing phase of a U-2 mission is critical because the pilot is usually exhausted and the bird does not want to land at all. In addition to flying the wings to a dead stop, the aircraft will not stay on the ground unless it is at or below stall speed. The mobile can tell if the aircraft is at stall speed by looking at the relative height above the gound of the tail wheel and the main landing gear. When the tail wheel is level with the bottom of the main landing gear, the aircraft is about to stall and the pilot should have guided the aircraft to about 2 feet above the runway when that situation occurs. The mobile calls out the altitude from about ten feet down to touch down based on the approximate diameter of the main landing wheels of 2 feet. After touchdown the mobile will still help the pilot to keep his wings level until stop by calling to raise the appropriate wing. Following the landing, the mobile is the safety supervisor for the installation of the pogo wheels under the wings and for assisting the pilot to taxi the aircraft to parking, which, since the tailwheel can only rotate 6 degrees in either direction, can be a sporting affair. You can log this under vague and somewhat interesting things about the real flying world.