Soooo...foxtroalpha has turned into huffpost now. Nice to know I’m not wanted. I’ll go somewhere else then.

Or water cool the deck like they do the blast deflectors on big carriers? It is a little late for that to be integrated. Oh well, it couldn’t be helped.

And corrosion enhacement for the jet and the ship...I’m just sayin’

Allow me to say this again. There was an internal struggle in Lockheed as to which jet would be promoted. Both projects knew they competed for the same money, even though performance was very different. The Texas delegation won because they are more ruthless.

Well put, except for the high/low mix thing. That insinuates there are only two choices. Item Number 3 should be to identify the missions that have unique or opposing requirements and design the machines to get each sweet spot. Then, as experience is gained, modify them as it makes sense and use any overlap capability…

Oooooo! Can I get in on this adoration binge? Tyler is the Bomb Diggity. :)

@Pof H: I think you may be missing a key fact in this information thread. The word treason was allegedly used by the Vice Commander of the Air Combat Command describing dissenting opinions from subordinates that got published. The man probably meant to say insubordination, not treason, but now the inflammation he…

H models have the TF-33 or JT3D turbofan if you prefer. The bypass ratio was 1.42/1. It was probably a bigger improvement increment to fit them on the B-52 in place of the J-57 than to fit modern high bypass airliner engines now, especially since the jet was still in production. The TF-33 engine is still used on…

I lost my interest in comparing the performance of the F-35 deviants a few years ago, because it really is not anything special. Nothing impressive in the specs and nothing impressive predicted by analysis. The recent carrier suitability tests motivated me to do a status update of the things I follow. I have about 10…

Good commercials. Remember playing soldier l?

I just re-read Tyler's piece on the F-35B. This might be an opportune time to discuss why the F-35C is the variant (deviant?) that has the best reason for being, not the worst, as is the common opinion. I feel this way because the deck launched capability is a compelling reason for all the compromises made in…

If you mean what is the advantage in the C model over the B model that justifies another version, the short answer is that the C can launch with much more fuel/payload (i.e. more military utility), and recover with more "bringback" (i.e. unused weapons and reserve fuel).

Hence the phrase used by the landing officer to rate an excellent trap: " OK 3-wire". Very business-like.

I think it is more like 9 knots, so this configuration gives up a lot for the wide load. It must be worth it?

Your eyes have observed a small amount of the dramatic dynamics of a catapult launch. The high speed data streams of all the measured parameters are even more complicated, I'm sure. Even though this is a light weight launch, after the hold back lets go, I guess the tow force is building-up to 200,000 lbs in about a…

I would guess that all the afterburning jets can fly off with 30 knots wind over deck at the minimum flying weight, but why?

Foxtrot Alpha, bubba.

I am guessing they are starting out by taking data by launching light weights, so the launch doesn't need afterburner. They will build up to the militarily useful weight as expectations are confirmed by measurements.

Kill them all and let Allah sort it out.