Seems like some people don’t understand the idea of deterrence

Would explain why the stadium is being built with Legos.

I would love it if every company, every nonprofit, every government agency I interact with had a workforce with the work ethic, sense of mission and dare I say it, manners of our American military rank and file.

Yeah, I know. Looking at sky and clouds...you might catch a gremlin on the wing every so often.

I had to look it up -

Have you watched footage from the early parts of the Iraq invasion? It is exactly like shooting ducks in a barrel. In fact I can’t think of a better analogy.

The F-20, a contemporary of the original F-16, and the ultimate evolution of the F-5 platform. Intended to be a small, lightweight, inexpensive fighter with surprising capability. Despite its humble beginnings, it was more than competitive with the F-16 (of the time) in terms of capabilities, offering things such as…

X-33.

It’s fake, but damn if it doesn’t give me an erection anyway.

Though a bit more pedestrian, the ASF-14 was another example of an interesting proposed aircraft that got slashed. While looking much like a modified F-14, it shared little in common with the original F-14 beyond basic appearance. All systems, including radar, electronics, control, and engines were different; it even…

The dirigible

not really a plane, but the russian buran space shuttle. its only flight was an unmanned test, and the collapse of the soviet union ended its fate.

DO-335

Of course I’m being facetious. A Mach 10, nuclear-powered airliner would’ve been nice though.

Convair NB-36H, the only nuclear reactor-powered bomber. Boom.

The A-12 program was nutty all around, super fast interceptors with super fast missiles and radar powerful enough to give lab rats in California cancer...from Wyoming.

The Bartini A-57. An amazing plane (designed in the mid 50s), a unique concept, and the tale of an incredibly talented engineer who worked passionately for a regime that never trusted him.

I’ll just throw the Spruce Goose into the mix, good concept but needed to be developed