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Godholio posted:How is that money not going into the economy? You'll have contractors or CF personnel doing the work, using (purchased) equipment, and getting paid. A lot of people really have their heads up their asses about military spending, and unfortunately that includes almost all politicians.
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Dec 11, 2012 18:14
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Man, I've spent way too much time engaging in/reading F-35 chat... Anyway, UK goons should visit the Imperial War Museum in Duxford.  I think they were offering you a chance to take one of the sets of controls on this thing.  There was an airshow the day after I visited, this was practice.  Most of the photos I took were of their British airliner collection.  But they also have a wing devoted to American aircraft, two other hangars with British aircraft, and a nice collection of tanks.  When I was there they would let you into one of the airliners on a rotating basis, I got lucky and went inside the Super VC-10.   And then I bought a 15-minute ride on this De Havilland Dragon Rapide, pretty expensive but I did at least get an in-flight upgrade to the fire-extinguisher-duty seat.
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Dec 11, 2012 18:36
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It only generates http://www.ulalaunch.com/site/pages/Webcast.shtml edit: spelling :facepalm: Hadlock fucked around with this message at 19:34 on Dec 11, 2012 |
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Dec 11, 2012 18:40
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Nostalgia4Infinity posted:Maybe some people against the spending understand all of that and prefer the money goes towards butter rather than guns? That's usually not the argument, in this context.
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Dec 11, 2012 18:47
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Hadlock posted:It only generates life for the last 9 minutes of it's mission, but the USAF is sending up it's mini space shuttle at the top of the hour, feed goes live here in a couple seconds Thanks for the link and headup. Mission control at 240 seconds: " the vehicle has now 20% of the liftof weight..."  The turbo-pumps of these rockets never fails to amaze me with the amount of fuel that they pump.
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Dec 11, 2012 19:13
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I really hope the X-37B gets developed into the next manned shuttle, it's so drat pretty. E: There is a robot going 13,000mph in space right now. E2: aww, the feed is over now so the USAF can conduct it's secret death ray testing MonkeyNutZ fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Dec 11, 2012 |
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Dec 11, 2012 19:19
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This thing is under development, called the Dream Chaser and NASA threw them a bone for ~$350 million in additional funding back in July. We'll probably never see another side-mounted space shuttle ever again, we proved that design is fundamentally flawed. The Dragon Capsule and Orion Capsule are the future of US manned spaceflight for the foreseeable future (through 2030 at least).   
Hadlock fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Dec 11, 2012 |
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Dec 11, 2012 19:38
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What in holy hell is that abomination in the foreground?
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Dec 11, 2012 22:48
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A friend and I were on our way back from Boulder with a new CNC machine when we spied the Dreamchaser sitting in a field near Rocky Mountain Airport.  It had been moved there so the next morning it could be picked up by a helicopter and flown around to test its aerodynamics. Thing is pretty large.
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Dec 11, 2012 22:52
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dayman posted:What in holy hell is that abomination in the foreground? Its NOT a BF-109 that is for sure. If it is, it must be some sort of licensed manufacturer.
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Dec 11, 2012 23:01
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dayman posted:What in holy hell is that abomination in the foreground? Looks like an HA-1112, which is a Spanish-built copy using a Merlin. They were licensed to build 109s and England was surplusing Merlins after the war so it made sense at the time. Probably still does due to parts availability alone.
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Dec 11, 2012 23:31
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Advent Horizon posted:Looks like an HA-1112, which is a Spanish-built copy using a Merlin. They were licensed to build 109s and England was surplusing Merlins after the war so it made sense at the time. Probably still does due to parts availability alone. The split between airworthy actual Bf-109s and HA-1112s is about half and half. I'm actually surprised there are that many airworthy Bf-109s, I figured there would be far more HA-1112s than Bf-109s. Duxford's example is indeed a HA-1112.
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Dec 11, 2012 23:49
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Nebakenezzer posted:(I have no idea who's flying to Nain, Labrador:) Connies couldn't do London to New York non-stop due to winds so they had to stop for gas somewhere.
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Dec 12, 2012 00:22
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dayman posted:What in holy hell is that abomination in the foreground? This is the only appropriate reaction when first seeing a Buchon Messerschmitt. They're as ugly as homemade, backwood, Kentucky sin and should be kept in a damp dark shack behind the house and occasionally used for spare parts when the non-mutant members of the family need them.
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Dec 12, 2012 01:02
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Kilonum posted:Connies couldn't do London to New York non-stop due to winds so they had to stop for gas somewhere. OK, I knew that, but I thought the stopoff place was Gander, Newfoundland.
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Dec 12, 2012 01:02
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Blistex posted:This is the only appropriate reaction when first seeing a Buchon Messerschmitt. They're as ugly as homemade, backwood, Kentucky sin and should be kept in a damp dark shack behind the house and occasionally used for spare parts when the non-mutant members of the family need them. What about sending them to Reno? They need an Axis class!
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Dec 12, 2012 01:16
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Hung out on a taxi way today. E-3 touch n go. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpFiBb9ud7M E-3 is really loud -- brain bleed loud. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzDukBLoYU4 I have a C-130 vid too somewhere. Edit: Found it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC0_m6LE8f4 bloops fucked around with this message at 03:02 on Dec 12, 2012 |
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Dec 12, 2012 02:41
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Blistex posted:This is the only appropriate reaction when first seeing a Buchon Messerschmitt. They're as ugly as homemade, backwood, Kentucky sin and should be kept in a damp dark shack behind the house and occasionally used for spare parts when the non-mutant members of the family need them. From what I read they were built pretty close to the plans for the 109, which meant that they had a slight twist in their body to compensate for the counterclockwise rotation of the propeller. The problem was the Merlin rotated clockwise, which made a hard to take off aircraft even tougher to get off the ground.
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Dec 12, 2012 02:49
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HeyEng posted:Hung out on a taxi way today. No Raptors, F-  . Although I suppose they don't really use 06 all that often, if they were even flying today.
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Dec 12, 2012 03:29
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iyaayas01 posted:No Raptors, F- Yea none were out. With the way the Pavehawks depart, I could throw rocks and manage to hit them from the squadron parking lot.
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Dec 12, 2012 03:31
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HeyEng posted:Yea none were out. With the way the Pavehawks depart, I could throw rocks and manage to hit them from the squadron parking lot. Did I ever post the pictures of the Pavehawk with the stupid wooden moose we kidnapped from the 703rd? poo poo, I don't think I have them on this computer...if I remember I'll pull them off of my .pst when I get down to Vegas. They're semi-amusing. And I'll have to get a decent camera before this summer so I can get some pics/video when I come back for Northern Edge.
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Dec 12, 2012 03:37
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iyaayas01 posted:Did I ever post the pictures of the Pavehawk with the stupid wooden moose we kidnapped from the 703rd? poo poo, I don't think I have them on this computer...if I remember I'll pull them off of my .pst when I get down to Vegas. They're semi-amusing. Ever do Maple Flag? I haven't but a friend did and got a ride in a German F-4. 
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Dec 12, 2012 15:43
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vulturesrow posted:Ever do Maple Flag? I haven't but a friend did and got a ride in a German F-4. In six loving years we never supported a Maple Flag. That and RIMPAC are the two I REALLY wanted to do (and boy were we lucky the reserves stepped up and offered to take RIMPAC off our hands when we actually had it scheduled...fuckers).
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Dec 12, 2012 18:12
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It appears North Korea has actually launched a satellite successfully.
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Dec 12, 2012 21:00
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vulturesrow posted:Ever do Maple Flag? I haven't but a friend did and got a ride in a German F-4. Nah, I'm not even a flyer...the only reason I talk about exercises is because for the past 18 months I was doing exercise support at the RF-A Det at Elmendorf, to include helping out with Northern Edge, and then even though I'm currently PCSing they're "pulling" me back up there for NE13, as long as my new boss will let me go (They really had to twist my arm, though..."you mean you're going to make me come back up to AK for a month during the summer? Darn, I really wanted to stay in Nevada desert where it's 115 degrees instead of 65 degrees in the middle of fishing season in AK  ")I did get a ride in a RAAF C-130 last year, though. That was probably the most fun I've ever had in an airplane. "Safety brief" consisted of the load telling us "oi mate, if I tell ya to fookin' do somethin' fookin' do it, if there's smoke put this fookin' thing ovah ya noggin, and don't jump out the back when the door's open...let's go flyin'!" There were 6 of us crowded onto the flight deck when they were doing a low level through the JPARC...two were sitting in the jump seats and four were standing behind the pilots just hanging onto webbing, nobody was strapped in, the EGPWS was going off like every 30 seconds because for most of the route we were either ridge hopping or flying through a valley, and then we got to sit three seats from the back of the plane when they did a CDS drop. It was about as awesome as you can get flying in a C-130. Godholio posted:In six loving years we never supported a Maple Flag. That and RIMPAC are the two I REALLY wanted to do (and boy were we lucky the reserves stepped up and offered to take RIMPAC off our hands when we actually had it scheduled...fuckers).  I'm surprised they didn't try and take the RF-A trip the 963 (or maybe it was the 960th, I honestly don't remember) got in August too.
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Dec 12, 2012 22:09
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So I just spent my first drill weekend with my new guard unit, Guess my new Airframe? Its Boeing 707 based. iyaayas01 posted:nobody was strapped in, the EGPWS was going off like every 30 seconds because for most of the route we were either ridge hopping or flying through a valley EGPWS is ALWAYS going off on C-130s, its fun when we get called out for CARA issues and have to play back the GPWS errors because its log is just filled with warnings.
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Dec 12, 2012 22:37
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iyaayas01 posted:It was about as awesome as you can get flying in a C-130. Well, except for Credible Sport.
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Dec 12, 2012 22:54
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iyaayas01 posted:
No doubt they would have, but the ops tempo is so high they're actually deploying now (so is PACAF). Taking the good exercises was their way of "helping" the AD squadrons. CommieGIR posted:So I just spent my first drill weekend with my new guard unit,  I spent most of a day in Warner-Robins. We went to some chain restaurant and asked the waitress what people do around there for fun. Well...there's the Walmart.Godholio fucked around with this message at 23:28 on Dec 12, 2012 |
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Dec 12, 2012 23:23
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Edit: loving doubleposting rear end in a top hat
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Dec 12, 2012 23:27
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Godholio posted:
drat, you are close. It WAS at Warner Robins.
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Dec 12, 2012 23:41
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I was hoping you were dropping a hint at specifying 707-based (135s technically aren't). You'll probably hate your life less, but deployments will probably be equally boring.
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Dec 12, 2012 23:45
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Godholio posted:I was hoping you were dropping a hint at specifying 707-based (135s technically aren't). Its not KC-135s. It is 707 Based. In fact, almost all of them are second hand 707s converted to their current task.
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Dec 12, 2012 23:51
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Out of curiosity, why does the F-35 require climate-controlled hangars? I remember some stuff about the B-2's RAM coating melting off in the rain, or something, but I would have thought they'd figured that out by now. And frankly if an aircraft's skin can't take the extremes of Canadian weather (-40 to +30 celsius, generally) I don't understand how it's supposed to stand up to high altitudes and supersonic flight.
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Dec 13, 2012 00:39
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CommieGIR posted:Its not KC-135s. It is 707 Based. In fact, almost all of them are second hand 707s converted to their current task. If it's not JSTARS (my first guess) then you've lost me.
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Dec 13, 2012 01:00
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Godholio posted:If it's not JSTARS (my first guess) then you've lost me. Correct. And I'm super excited to get to play with them.
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Dec 13, 2012 01:02
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Aaaaah, ok. I misinterpreted this: CommieGIR posted:drat, you are close. It WAS at Warner Robins. to mean it was an airframe not at Robins.
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Dec 13, 2012 01:08
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CommieGIR posted:EGPWS is ALWAYS going off on C-130s, its fun when we get called out for CARA issues and have to play back the GPWS errors because its log is just filled with warnings. Okay, let me clarify...the EGPWS was going off and all you could see out the windscreen was the ridge we were rapidly approaching. Sagebrush posted:Out of curiosity, why does the F-35 require climate-controlled hangars? I remember some stuff about the B-2's RAM coating melting off in the rain, or something, but I would have thought they'd figured that out by now. And frankly if an aircraft's skin can't take the extremes of Canadian weather (-40 to +30 celsius, generally) I don't understand how it's supposed to stand up to high altitudes and supersonic flight. It's an ease of maintenance thing. The B-2's RAM coating is old enough technology that it will almost literally melt off in the rain (okay, not like if it flies through a cloud it's going to instantly not work but there's a reason we spent the money to build B-2 sized climate controlled hangars at all of the FOLs we could theoretically be operating them from). I'm going off my experience with the F-22 here, I assume the F-35's RAM is roughly the same. The Raptor can and has been operated outside/without climate controlled cells for all the jets all the time, they have deployed to Guam and other places for months at a time and operated outside, it's just that leaving them in the elements for an extended period of time drives an increased LO maintenance tempo. When you are dealing with "non-LO" jets, the biggest thing you have to worry about when you leave them parked outside is corrosion/general wear and tear, which is a months to years type maintenance concern. When you are dealing with LO it is gradual deterioration of the LO surface, which is a weeks to months type maintenance concern. So they can fly through clouds/rain/high speeds/whatever just fine, you can fly them after leaving them outside just fine, you can even fly them operationally while leaving them outside, but for a long term location (like home station, for example) it makes sense to build climate controlled hangar space because over the long run you will actually be saving money compared to the increased time/parts/materials/labor/etc maintenance cost of trying to keep the jets LO signature up to snuff while being out in the elements 24/7. \/ They're Australian...they tend to have a little more "laid-back" approach to things like limits and rules and tech data and all that. \/ iyaayas01 fucked around with this message at 01:35 on Dec 13, 2012 |
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Dec 13, 2012 01:15
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iyaayas01 posted:Okay, let me clarify...the EGPWS was going off and all you could see out the windscreen was the ridge we were rapidly approaching. Lets hope their GAC shop doesn't find out they were doing something outside of its limits. The Flight Computer records any instances where the aircraft was stressed past its normal operating parameters, we had a Pilot get in trouble at my last unit for exceeding the G limit and exceeding the allowed maneuver limits. Nebakenezzer posted:It appears North Korea has actually launched a satellite successfully. The rocket worked, but apparently the Satellite didn't achieve successful orbit and is now tumbling. http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/12/13/0033247/north-koreas-satellite-is-out-of-control CommieGIR fucked around with this message at 01:45 on Dec 13, 2012 |
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Dec 13, 2012 01:22
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Godholio posted:In six loving years we never supported a Maple Flag. That and RIMPAC are the two I REALLY wanted to do (and boy were we lucky the reserves stepped up and offered to take RIMPAC off our hands when we actually had it scheduled...fuckers). I went to an Eagle Flag once.  Although I did get to walk around inside the giant blimp hangar at Lakehurst while I was there - we were setup nearby for the exercise and got evac'd there during a thunderstorm.
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Dec 13, 2012 02:38
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ElBrak posted:From what I read they were built pretty close to the plans for the 109, which meant that they had a slight twist in their body to compensate for the counterclockwise rotation of the propeller. The problem was the Merlin rotated clockwise, which made a hard to take off aircraft even tougher to get off the ground. It's the airframe trying to twist itself free from that offending engine and hideous cowl.
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Dec 13, 2012 06:42
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