The Martin P6M SeaMaster. A blue-water seaplane powered by 4 jet engines. It was conceived as a strategic bomber for the Navy, a way for Naval Aviation to retain relevancy in the SAC era. It had the misfortune to be introduced at almost the same time as the first sub-launched ICBMs - and also some serious control…
Like the world’s worst-conceived mashup of AC/DC and “Saved By The Bell,” I give you: THUNDERSCREECH.
Is there a chance this is satire, or does somebody need to be lit on fire?
Not if the idea is to turn any random scrap of land into a potential explosion. The notion of using them against aircraft is just a guess. The whole point might well be to create what amounts to an air-dropped, randomly-placed minefield.
Seems like that’d be a more effective strategy if they were treated like mini-barrage balloons. Tether ‘em with fishing line or something (not that I believe anybody in Syria is flush with high-test nylon line, but you get my drift). Just releasing them to float around, land and detonate at random isn’t a military…
Improved weaponry has been a major component of the Syria’s civil war since shortly after it began.
Improved? I mean, I suppose they’re a step up from the used jimmy-hats I used to find when I cleaned movie theaters for weed money back in high school, but...not by much.
(Tyler - was that perhaps supposed to be…
THANK you. Came here to post this. That Chevy abomination is NOT what I was promised.
No. Goddammit, NO.
How much of this is institutional overcorrection in the face of having a nontrivial proportion of the strategic missile force gutted due to a cheating schedule that commanding officers ignored/tacitly approved?
Not to mention pilots who are texting while they’re flying!!!
Isn’t there an area of low pressure over the 380’s wing, though (due to it moving through the air and generating lift)?
Cracked the window and just slapped the damn thing.
Heeeeeeere we go.
How is it that Wes Anderson hasn’t put this in a movie? It’s a Wes Anderson character, in automotive form.
Anathem by Neal Stephenson has a memorable scene where these are deployed...against a dormant volcano. (Spoiler: bring the s’mores.)
That one’s going on the library list, thanks.
Garden State Gas Pump Ignorance is a cancer.
The aero-brake on that white FXX-K at about 4:26 demonstrates how the Ferrari is putting on a class on how to get through Eau Rouge / Raidillon quickly.
The fuel/weight/cost/time problems with junking satellites into the sun has been amply covered. Let’s talk about burning satellites!
