Ahh... Its all right if your favorite ride is a bit old, especially so if it can still smoke most things in the sky!

OLD? You mean like me? A bit up there in years but still the fastest bird in the sky. me = Still have the bark but the old fangs are not what they used to be! LOL

Nahh... Old as in relation to the birds I want to fly one day... After all, tech ages much faster than people do... Whats that figure? Computer power doubles every 6 months?

Sounds about right. So graduate, then get your degree then go to officers training school. By that time, there should be craft that will make the shuttle look like a toy!

I'm no graduate yet... Also, my path doesn't lead to the air force but I should still be able to fly some day...


Errr.... Ummm... My mind is shutting off now... its 1:37 here... night

Wow, I completely forgot about air transportation. I'm with you Winter, the SR-71 is badass. Though I also like the MiG 25 Foxbat, and the aborted XB-70 Valkyrie Mach 3 Bomber.
For all the Air Force junkies, one novel to look for would be "Fortunes of War" by Steven Coonts http://www.amazon.com/Fortunes-War-Stephen-Coonts/dp/0752826417/sr=1-2/qid=1169749117/ref=sr_1_2/103-0289228-4440651?ie=UTF8&s=books

MIG-15 (the faggots, who gave them this stupid fuselage shape?! those russians.. lol)

best plane ever putting the Me-262A1 aside here..

The best jet to date is the F-22 Raptor. I think it does a wonderful job filling the role of air superiority fighter. Supercruise capability, passive radar, stealth capability, and first look-first shoot-first kill capability (yes it is called that).

Well To be honest. I only started thia after seeing the new Rolls Royce for a starting price of $300,000 USD..

Thought I would do a semi funny by being a future auto dealer. lol

So much for ugly humor on my part! lol ....

there are so many aircraft that I like. Some are old but true beauties, others are U.G.L.Y. ! But I just love em!
Old Beauties include;

B-17 Flying Fortress, B- 24 Liberator, B-26 Marauder, B-29 Superfortress,
F6F Hellcat, F4U Corsair, CW-21 Demon (flying tigers),

U.G.L.Y. A-10 Thunderbolt (Warthog), lol but I do love it!

There are others but I'm being to lazy to look them up! lol

Of the newer ones someone mentioned the F-22, I had the actual model (plastic) 6 months before the plane was released to the military.. ( gotta love Janes military books)

the A-10, you (lack the english expressions here and spare you my german) lol

well, the Republican P-47D Thunderbolt was long time my favorite (who cares about stats, just look at her, that's what a "bulletproof" lol plane should look like!

or you might consider her a beauty..

The A-10 what Mal? lol It is ugly. but that is one reason I like it! You dont have to win a beauty contest to offer a serious Whoopin! LOL

And in my Book your P-47D Thunderbolt, is a beauty.!!

lol i messed here a bit with the terms (as always..)

so the picture here is an american remake of the original messerschmitt 262A1 Sturmvogel (or stormbird if you want)

the P47 Thunderbolt belongs to your successful pacific fleet back then but it's the nicest piston engined plane I know of (well it's raw, but that's the beauty of her in my eyes )

I thought that looked like a Me-262. One of my favourite old jets along with the RAF's Gloster Meteor:



Here's a nice P-47D for you Mal:

nice one.
yep, they had that lot of zookas mounted in the "D"-Version, bombed/strafed pretty much all the me-262s away at the ground (yeah, if you can't hit them in the air, get them at the airfield, ain't it?! )

the RAF planes .. sorry, I only liked the typhoon, even mosquito bombers didn't quite have the same catch as the B-17s and marauders ..

Ya they pretty much had to take them out before they were airborne to have a chance at all. I sure would hate to be in a piston aircraft trying to take down a jet fighter with 200Km\h on me 8O

Raven actually it was done. In the late 1990's a member of the Texas Confederate Airforce flew a bi-plane and scored 5 out of 5 kills against an f-15 E Eagle and an F-16 B .. Seems even though they had the speed they could not get a lock with thier missles due to such a low heat exchange from the exhaust of the bi-plane.

*S*

Give my A Curtis Jenny anytime! Or a Fokkler DR -1 what a fine aircraft!

Lol, if they were using heat seekers against an aircraft that doesn't produce enough heat to lock onto, no wonder they lost. With a couple of quick runs the autocannons on those jets should have been enough to take out any biplane. And both the F-15 and F-16s are capable of near Mach 1 even on just military power (non-afterburner) so how did a Bi-plane even hit them? Must have been one good pilot, or the Jet pilots let him win

Ok Winterhawk. We'll duke it out. You can have your choice of the Curtis Jenny or any Fokker model. I'll take an F-22 Raptor with a couple AIM-120 AMRAAMs. I don't need a heat signature with those

You bet Raven! Lets see. For you to turn it takes you around 7 miles, whereas I can do it in a couple hundred feet! Remember All I have to do it put my bullets into your intakes. where as you have to spend several passes just to "try" to shread my paper fuselage and tail structure. LOL

Lol you forgot the AIM-120s, I'm not going to get within 10 Miles of you. Hell if I went with the AIM-120D I wouldn't have to get within 100 Miles of you I'll just fire off one of those and let the active radar seek and destroy you

I guess I forgot about the turn radius though, that would give a Bi-Plane a big chance.

Maybe we could race instead?

LOL Silly rabbit..


for radar, you have to have a large signature to "fix on" Otherwise, it would be mute.

Sorry but I was an armament systems specialist in the Air force! (Specialised in Nuke)

Now I can see a "Fly by wire" type working quite well. However with both, the speed they have can easly zip right past me and miss! LOL

OOPS what that? Do I hear your engines sputtering cause they are full of lead? lol

lol I wonder if an apache stands a chance against a fast&maneuvrable jet plane? I mean the firepower is certainly there, more than on a Fokker triplane hehe

In Comparison.. I do not see how it could. Even with the current jamming systems as well as the flare deployment, both craft use state of the art guidence systems. Where the Apache would have an advantage is in its ability to use ground cover to hide its overall signature.

Now Stealth is a different matter. They still have problems with it although Janes was asked not to publish it. Seems around certain seams on wingtips and a certain part of the understructure tend to bubble under high speed conditions causing a flaking which the exposes bare metals to radar contact. Which is a major reason they fly primary at night and at a lower speed setting.

LOL..

so in choosing.. I'll keep my Curtis..
However I built a 1917 Bristol - Bruster in 1/4 scale. (It comes complete with functional wing warping and a syncronised dual .25 cal front mounted machine gun.

( It is not an actual plane) I made it up as an RC model..

All you have to know about planes is that if I'm ever allowed to fly one, you're all in for a lot of trouble .

LOL I thought the same thing.. lol.... *Must be why I was ground crew and not a pilot.. lol*

Fox,

I owe you an apology. I was watching future weapons on discovery channel tonight. By chance they showed your F-22 Raptor. this WAS NOT the bird I was speaking of. Mine is an older version and was black , also it was set as a primary bomber.

Now onward. The F-22 is the replacement of the F-15 Eagle - E series.
A bird I just loved !

This new one is impressive indeed! 70,000 lbs thrust at takeoff an able to reach mach 1.5 without afterburners. Tri split flaps for a tighter turn radius,
variable pitch alerions. most impressive. Heads up display with multi configurations for real time battle display. *Note* pilot can set configurations to what ever fits him/her best. **

Now for the Bad side of this unique bird;

Same gattling gun config. You would think that they would have improved on the 350,000 rounds per minute gun placement. Oh well some old things are still usefull.

While stealth it is an excellent show of force with its 4:1 ratio for a fair fight. 4 enemies against 1 raptor..

The other weapons systems are still weak. Sure they are hidden, but once those bomb-bay doors open the stealth is out the window and even though the launch sequence is fast 3.7 seconds from open, launch, close. The armament is so lacking.

Granted it can carry 2, 1000 lbs bunker busters and 4 J-Dam missles, I have to say to me it is just a tad weak. J-Dams are all out dated compared with the newer weapon systems that are brought out and into service.

Then again it was designed as a "dogfight" type craft so to me the heavy bombs were added as an after thought.

I give it 4 stars out of 5.. I'll still take a Curtis over that fancy sweet toy any time!

Meh but what do I know.. lol I'm an old fart!

Actually it's a bit faster, Mach 1.7 is it's "official" supercruise speed



But they only give them 480 rounds, enough for a 5 second sustained burst. It's a BVR aircraft remember?



Not sure about that, considering it would still have a better stealth profile than any other similarly fighter. This is enforced by the fact that a pair of F-22s was able to take out 5 F-15 Eagles before they were even detected.



Exactly, someone needs to make A-10 pilots feel useful

And I'm still not willing to cede defeat on our dogfight Winter...
I'm not even sure if your old machine guns can penetrate the reinforced armour of the F-22. I'd come in with AMRAAMs on a high altitude 45 or 50 degree AOA, after determining the best plan of attack by watching you from up high for a bit

Well we're never going to settle this until it's tried. Anything else to rebutt or should we call an end to the hypothetical debate and get on with admiring our favorite modes of transportation? Personally, while the F-22 is a magnificent bird, I fancy the old F-4 Phantom.

I just like her curves

One other I like is the Su-47. The forward swept wings give this beauty one of the coolest profiles of any jet I've seen!

[ Exactly, someone needs to make A-10 pilots feel useful ] **LMAO**

[ And I'm still not willing to cede defeat on our dogfight Winter...]

No Problem I will. While the excitement of a good discussion is always welcomed, I'm fully open to compromise.

[ I'm not even sure if your old machine guns can penetrate the reinforced armour of the F-22. I'd come in with AMRAAMs on a high altitude 45 or 50 degree AOA, after determining the best plan of attack by watching you from up high for a bit] our correct , at best they would need to be sucked into the intakes but as protected as they are it would be something to see.

[ Anything else to rebutt or should we call an end to the hypothetical debate and get on with admiring our favorite modes of transportation?]


Sounds good to me.
[ Personally, while the F-22 is a magnificent bird, I fancy the old F-4 Phantom.] An F-4? hmmm *pondering*

I just like her curves = I can agree with that.

[One other I like is the Su-47. The forward swept wings give this beauty one of the coolest profiles of any jet I've seen!]

That SU-47 is quite interesting! Seems like I seen that design years before but not as military aircraft. Very nice though!

But all this amkes me wonder. In Trek, why is it we never saw anything for undersea crafts? One would think that they would have colonized the Seas also. but I do not recall watching or hearing anything of this nature.

Speaking of... The Germans.. *I have to applaud them* Have designed and built the first Submarine that is all but quiet. I'E. it is SILENT! and fast. lol And it even has a type of front Window! lol
Saw it on future weapons also.. is really cool!

The only episode I remember that had anything to do with the oceans on Earth was the one in TNG that Picard went back to his hometown in France and was talking to a guy that was studying something underwater (Atlantis?). I remember they tried to recruit him for it.

sure, that was the last episode IIRC. they wanted to do something really big down there in the water but I remember another one, namely Star Trek IV, where kirk saved the world from drowning but still I believe there was no mentioning of anything built underwater like a city or something. Actually I kinda think living underwater is something not so adorable, don't you too
I mean I like to have a sky to look on somehow..

Well I'm not so sure. I mean I couls see a place beside the great barrier reef or along some really clear water with all the different species swimming by. IT could be quite beautiful.. But I guess we will never know.