In the first picture, is that an exposed fuel tank directly under the driver’s ass? It has no protection whatsoever (the fuel tank, not his ass).

I will admit I never followed this closely, and it wasn’t clear to me from the article, but I could have missed it... Do we know for a fact that this is true? Was Johnson ever convicted of anything?

The security they have on cars is a joke, they want to put this stuff on motorcycles? A small hiccup in a car could be an inconvenience where on a motorcycle it could be death.

The whole point is that you admit that you didn’t even know there was a C model flying and they you go on to say that it is brave to fly it off a carrier deck. Clearly you also didn’t know that they previously flew them off a carrier deck almost a year ago, and wouldn’t have known about any of the land based testing…

I get the frustration. I am frustrated too. There is plenty of reasons to be pissed at Lockheed. But before we put this all on them, remember that meeting this criteria wasn’t part of the original requirements. This was added on late in the game after the design was done. I agree that it is needed, and should be met,…

I think you make some good point. Lets put this in perspective. The excerpt below is from an Air Force Times article in March of this year. Note that the F-35 ejection seat envelope is 0 to 600 Knots, 150 Knots higher than the previous seat. Nobody wants to talk about that because that wouldn’t be popular around here.

Don’t know what I’m talking about? Because I wasn’t aware of the C model flying?

Aftermarket stealth reduces the signature of the aircraft but much less so than designing it in from the start. The exact figures are going to be classified so I doubt we’ll see anyone giving “real” numbers here.

From what I understand the Marines taking the B has more to do with the fact that, such as it is, the F-35 is more capable than the Harriers they already have. The Navy doesn’t have Harriers and wants full Block 3 capability before going operational.

So he points out correctly that you don’t know what you’re talking about and you counter with a straw man that isn’t even related to the original subject?

Yes, I remember 30 packs. They were rectangular. And in the case of Millwaukee’s Best, available from the convenience store down the block from the dorm for less money than a 24 pack of coke. (We were poor, I know it’s no excuse)

Yes, but not most of the ones employed by ground troops against low flying helicopters.

Lockheed hasn’t decided to sell us a trillion-dollar replacement

I’m an engineer and I could go part time if I really wanted. It would mean the end of my career advancement, bonuses, raises, etc... but I could keep the job. That doesn’t go for everyone in my office. Depends on what it is you do. My situation just happens to be such that I can vary my work load.

Depends on the state, but fired for poor performance usually gets you unemployment benefits, fired for misconduct not as much.

But nobody likes a quitter.

I’m pretty sure that’s the NOS

One other thing Tyler forgot to mention when comparing these to the Wasp in terms of purchase price and operating cost: The Wasp displaces twice what the Mistral does, carries twice the number of troops, has more boat, vehicle, and aircraft capability. And it does this while being 10-20% faster.

I have almost always had them come up with a “fee” after the price negotiation and I always say “that isn’t the price we discussed.” “But it is mandatory, I don’t have a choice” “Then it comes out of your end because that wasn’t the ‘all - in’ price we agreed upon.” The fee usually stays in but it always gets taken…

Yes, the factory will likely happen. Whoever buys them will just have to make sure they aren’t painted with lead paint and don’t use formaldehyde in the insulation.