TKC1101

About TKC1101

Curmudgeon (Reserve Status), Corporate Refugee, Proud Grandfather, Small Business Advisor and Salvage, Heinlein American

21 Responses to 1000 Words

  1. BrentB67BrentB67 says:
    5 May 2017 at 11:57

    Nice picture and sentiment.

  3. DevereauxDevereaux says:
    5 May 2017 at 12:48

    Wow! A B Mustang. Don’t think there’s a bunch of them about.

  4. Mike LaRocheMike LaRoche says:
    5 May 2017 at 19:58

    America owns the skies.

  5. Vald the MisspellerVald the Misspeller says:
    6 May 2017 at 03:01

    This image doesn’t really give you an appreciation for the difference in size of the two aircraft. Try this one:http://www.richard-seaman.com/Aircraft/AirShows/Nellis2005/Highlights/F22P51HeritageFlight10oClock.jpg (sorry, can figure out how to link an image in comments)

    P-51: length — 32 ft 3 in; wingspan — 37 ft; empty weight — 7,635 lb

    F-22: respectively, 62 ft 1 in; 44 ft 6 in; 43,340 lb

    [These are Wikipedia numbers, so probably in the ballpark if not entirely accurate]

    I remember seeing a replica of a Fokker Dr.1 (the famous triplane favored by von Richthofen’s Flying Circus), and being stunned by how small it was. For your edification (amusement? horror?) the specs for the Dr.1 are: length — 18 ft 11 in; wingspan (top wing, the others got progressively smaller) — 23 ft 7 in; empty weight — 895 lb ……. (!). The fuselage frame was 20MM steel tubing, everything else was plywood, fabric and wire. In addition to excellent hand-eye coordination, fatalism, it seems, would have been among an early aviator’s most valuable qualities. Because it must have been like flying off to war in a goddamn box kite.

  6. drlorentzdrlorentz says:
    6 May 2017 at 11:14

    A friend of mine recently took some pictures at Langley AFB. Enjoy.

    http://whfoto.net/Fotostream/2017_2/2017-04-21/index.html

  7. Avatarctlaw says:
    6 May 2017 at 23:43

    “America makes some awesome aircraft.”

    Why are you using the present tense? The Raptor has been out of production for nearly a decade.

    What do we make now?

    • TKC1101TKC1101 says:
      7 May 2017 at 04:27

      The capability demonstrated is still there. My viewpoint is long enough to encompass the use of the tense.

      I refuse to let the eight years of Obama darken my view of America. It is merely a dark hiccup in the legacy.

  8. DevereauxDevereaux says:
    7 May 2017 at 02:51

    F-35. You hear the hype but I’ve heard the fighter types say it’s a dog.

    • BrentB67BrentB67 says:
      7 May 2017 at 03:36

      The F-35 is the most amazing situational awareness IT solution ever conceived wrapped in a low performance and much lower RCS airframe.

      Thankfully it appears to do very well beyond visual range and very well air to surface even with its short legs. That is a good thing because it is so heavily wing loaded that it will bleed energy and get sliced up in a visual engagement.

      • DevereauxDevereaux says:
        7 May 2017 at 04:22

        I understand (what little I understand) is that this is because the Marine Corps insisted in vertical take-off. I think the concept of VTO is interesting, and in the Marine Corps some case can be made for same, but I am not at all sanguine about the current orthodoxy on its usage. Sort of reminds me of how infantry officers misused artillery in the Civil War.

        But the F-35 is looking like McNamara’s dog, the TFX – for similar reasons.

        • BrentB67BrentB67 says:
          7 May 2017 at 11:45

          The USMC has no choice since their LHA/LHD class ships do not have catapults.

          If the USN had more carrier battle groups then the USMC variant could be shelved and USMC could put a squadron of F-35C on Nimitz/Ford class CVN’s.

          Additionally, the VSTOL variant is driven by international requirements, specifically the United Kingdom.

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