tflash

Matsushima AB was struck by the Tsunami. 18 F-2 fighters got damaged, 6 can be recovered.

For some reason, I find the F-35C the most elegant and balanced of the 3. Very beautiful aircraft.

Yes, I noticed that, that's why I limited my statement to what we know for sure: "The EOS wasn't activated by the pilot." The problem is that the report then goes on to incorrectly assume that this was due to a pilot error. There is nothing to sustantiate that. A correct statement would have been: "The board was not able to find material evidence as to why the pilot didn't activate the EOS. The board suggests the possibility that this was due to channelized attention". I would say IvanK's hypothesis is as valid as theirs. We just don't know. What we learned from the report about USAF brass and their misguided conception of leadership is disheartening. How on earth can you write a statement like "A damage cost of $147,672,000.00 includes the total destruction of the MA along with its internal stores. The MP did not eject and was fatally injured." ? What about: "Besides the tragic loss of the pilot, a damage cost of $147,672,000.00 is incurred including the total destruction of the MA along with its internal stores." My heart goes with the pilot and his family.

Right. This accident report already has the smell of LM lawyers all over. Most of us will agree the report is clear: There was a bleed air leak The cause of the leak could not be established The oxygen was cut off The EOS wasn't activated by the pilot The highly skilled pilot didn't recover his aircraft timely from a dive, due to channelized attention and spatial disorientation So, what we *know* and all parties agree on, is that a malfunction of the aircraft's systems is at the basis of the event, and that a highly qualified pilot didn't manage to take the right steps to recover the aircraft. What if this happened in combat? Wouldn't we prefer that the pilot could channel his attention to the enemy instead of trying to solve aircraft system issues that require so much attention that even a skilled pilot doesn't manage to save his own life? The report seems to imply that since the pilot was to blame, we could consider training pilots with waterboarding so that their attention doesn't get channeled when they are suffocating during combat.

An article with a pilot's view: http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2011/12/23/f-22-mishap-blames-pilot-not-oxy-system/

Well, I'm not sure I find it a good read. The reports seems to me too assertive in blaming the pilot for failing to save his own life. It would have been more decent to point at the combination of factors and acknowledge that a hazardous situation arose from the bleed air malfunction. But I'm sure the board president will take the air in an F-22 to show how the pilot should have responded.

Supercool!

Maybe a RAM coating like Have Glass on F-16?

As Elvis would say:

First production F-35B:

Thanks, R.I.P. for my unfortunate compatriot! Back to topic: of course I still find the idea that the iranians would have managed to take control of the jet or successfully jammed the communications even more improbable, not to say absolutely unlikely.

Certainly, but statistically improbable. (BTW I guess you hint at the incident in Belgium many years ago, when a pilotless Russian jet crashed on a lone villa with a young guy at home who was killed - I'm not sure it was a Mig though, thought it was a Sukhoi. maybe Ross knows more about it.)

I must say I find the hypothesis that the Sentinel just went astray due to a malfunction and landed unscathed in the hands of Iranian officials not quite convincing. Just open Google Earth and have a look at the mountanious region between Afghanistan and Iran where it is supposed to have come down. They sure needed much more time to find Steve Fossets plane or the missing F-22 in Alaska. I do not believe they just stumbled on it. They must have at least known approximately where it would come down. Unless it simply self-landed in Tehran of course. (So programmer typed the wrong GPS coordinates, can happen :=)

So, we already have the right photo of Megyn Kelly, but still no photo of the captured RQ-170. :D The latter is strange: if you have such a prize, I would guess you brag about it?

We'll never now if they show anything whether it is the original or the Chinese copy. :D

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/05/us-military-sources-iran-has-missing-us-drone/

Original link: http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/dti/2011/12/01/DT_12_01_2011_p34-390579.xml&headline=Libya%20Reveals%20NATO%20Readiness%20Highs%20And%20Lows&channel=defense

Interesting analysis of air campaign: http://bit.ly/vdCfi5

Somehow the rest of us seem not really serious about our hobby :=)

Second that! hello Mizzy! As JEFX sais, DCS:A-10C is also fantastic. I would say not only as a sim, but also as a game. But then again I'm also all for FC3! Let it come!

Well, this is a delivery of the original outstanding order. So the UK will train with an F-35B ... to train for the F-35C. :=) For similar out-of-the-box thinking you can always make an inquiry with the UK MoD, which has a long tradition in Monty Pythonizing defense projects, such as building multimillion pounds maritime survaillance planes for the puropose of scrapping them, or fielding seaborne fighters without a carrier or was it the other way around, I lost track of it :=)

I have the impression the M1 Abrams manages to take me out consistently from more than 3 km.

"from my experience, the community who fly FC3 seem to be around the same age as the MW2 community" Where did you get that wisdom, specially since FC3 isn't available yet, so I'm not sure there is a community flying it, let alone that you would have enjoyed any experience with it? To give you a guesstimate about that FC3 community: I personally belong to the FC2 community, and I am aged 51. :D But then again some of my friends do play MW2 also!

Insane! Whoooohooohh! The Chinook is top, so is the pilot!