"Once the rockets are up, who cares vere zey come down, that's not my department! Says Wernher Von Braun..."

-- Tom Lehrer

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by C-Bass
A few years back, I was working a mod for the Navy out on Pt. Mugu, when a AN-124 landed and taxiied in. One of my colleagues commented how much it looks like a C-5...

I looked at him and said, "does it?

 

Russian AN-124




C-5 Galaxy

 

Real close, except for the tail. I suppose the Soviet craft is considerably larger as well.

 

It's no coincidence that a lot of the Soviet era aircraft are very similar to US designs - they knew that they could never match the US industrially and in terms of R&D so they spent lots of money on the industrial espionage division of the KGB instead. If you can't afford to do the R&D yourself, just wait for someone else to do it and then steal it from them!

It's what the Chinese are doing thesedays.........

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by boughtans2k
I never understood why the cockpit was so cramped in the SR-71. I got to sit in one when I was about 12 (1973) and was in heaven. Yeah it was a violation of a several laws but I got into a lot of stuff that I wasn't supposed to back then. Amazing what growing up on Air Force bases with all of the big shot pilots and security guy could get you. I wish I still had all of the stuff I had from Air Force One back in the early 70's.

 

boughtans... you were a very lucky guy. Not only the 71, but AF1 too! I've always wanted to get on AF1. The outside was as close as I got.

Hey Red, I'd be looking for that napkin on eBay... except that it's almost too priceless to sell.

and now... back to the planes...

 

These photos are at least somewhat related to the discussions we've been having in this thread. I figured y'all might find them interesting . Taken at an airshow down here about a month ago:

 

I've been thinking about that a lot since I first read it last night.

Fighter and test pilots are very confident men, and it shows, but they are rarely (if ever) prone to boasting.

I know full well that I've never done anything that other people could not have done at least as well, and you can bet that guys like Yeager feel the same way. "What one man can do, another man can do." - The Edge
When people make a big deal out of something that you feel (and know) that many others could have done just as well if they'd had your luck, it's hard not to say, "Aw shucks." It's not really humility at all. It's honesty.

The truth of the matter is that a few people, actually quite a few, get breaks that others don't, and they end up with very cool jobs. The breaks come in part because the people love their work, and anything you love doing, you tend to do well. Often it is really a matter of "playing hard" and getting paid for it. So there you are, having a great time, doing just what you want to be doing, and it FEELS like you are getting away with something. Then you run into people who are in awe of what you're doing, and the more they say, the more humbled you are. I'm quite sure that if Yeager were here (and I never met the man) he'd agree that this is the case. "I just got lucky and got the good job."

My breaks all started with a burned valve in a Fiat 850, and could have happened to anyone. I just got lucky. Where is there room for pride when you know it is all just blind luck?

Pride comes with successes, but it is a very personal and private type of pride. Yeager or White would love to tell us about their experiences, because they are proud of what was accomplished, but I'm very sure they'd show no sign of the vice of arrogance. After all, it is just a job.

Drew, did you get your name in the credits ("The Right Stuff") ???

RED

 

Ehh, I don't agree.

The F-22 was designed as an interceptor. The lack of a need for that role resulted in an attempt to make it an attack aircraft.

It is a plane without a purpose, good at nothing we need it for (the lack of hard points will require we develop bombs for it alone) makes it a pointless waste of money.

The 23 was a better plane all around that may well have risen to the challenge. It is a sad reality that politics and not performance guided that decision.

All of this aside, the 15 is an antiquated platform that is nothing like it's concept. The reality is our requirements have changed, all we want to do these days is drop shit on folks. The need for interceptors etc is no longer there.

If it was, the Soviets would be in a better position than us. Crude or not; inside a 60 mile radius one on one they can now own the skys.