Snow blower? Why is the engine just point back and not down then? I think this is really just the worlds slowest jet powered train locomotive. It isn’t used anymore because it tended to set the first few box cars on fire.

They are in flight training squadrons now. They are training up pilots and maintainers and working out the logistics tail. The B model will theoretically be “operational” later this year. (before you jump on me, note the quotes).

From the article (emphasis added):

the entire program was put on hold at one point for the fan.

The jet would have been out already if not for the extra dev time on the B model

“... Hint: You’re doing it wrong.”

I remember Seafair as a kid when they were running pistons. We lived just under 10mi away straight line distance and I could hear them from my house. I think it was Miss Budweiser that showed up with a gas turbine first. I think it was less than five years and the field had almost all gone turbine, it was much…

We carried a couple of 4' sections of 4"x4" posts for a variety of things. I do remember in one case being ordered to shove them in front of the front wheels (one each side) of a car on fire on a slope.

This is not actually a new concept. It goes back to the early days of automobiles as a substitute for the thermostat valve. I saw these on semi tractors, some were manual, but some were automatic based on the ambient temperature in the engine compartment using a purely mechanical system. That was back in the 1990's…

Good point. But the companies that do make trailers will get on board if there is demand. Some of the changes that are independent of the tractor will get put in if the users are willing to make the investment for the long term pay-off.

They are working on it. The common carrier OTR trucking industry runs on very thin margins. As this stuff proves it can save money in the long run it will be adapted. It will probably not look as polished as this, but you will see the changes. I remember in my youth (revealing my age) when cab-overs and flat faced…

If they could use just any helicopter then this program wouldn't have been a problem. At least part of the issue was the extensive modifications to the aircraft and the wide variety of requirements that were not all to be found in any one type in the inventory... Luxury, safety, defensive capabilities…

From the article:

"Didn't navy retired all those Pegasus and other hydrofoils already?"

Sorry, it was Gates in 2009 that declared it a cold war relic.

"Hey the Raptor was shitcanned by Bush" I am not sure of your intent as I think there is a typo somewhere in the rest of the sentence.

The competition was Boeing. McDonnell Douglas was in prior to 1996 but was left out when they cut the field down to two for the Concept Demonstration Phase. For Douglas it didn't really matter because just a year later they were bought by Boeing. Both Boeing and Lockheed were given government contracts to build…

"So they're just flying around wasting fuel?"

The Reaper can not carry these at this time.

The guys who were copying the Harrier propulsion system lost the JSF competition back in 2001. Besides, I'm sure all the smart people who were instrumental in the design of the Harrier have long since retired.