Is it a conspiracy theory to believe that auto companies only build and market SUVs and crossovers because they can sell them for a higher markup than the trucks and hatchbacks that they are based on? Or is that just how the market works?

Also I feel safe in saying that if we had maintained a large navy during the inter-war period in the 1920s and 1930s we would have just lost more ships and men to the Japanese in our mad scramble to modernise our navy with carriers.

Seeing as keeping a large standing navy around only makes sense if our navy where to engage another navy in large blue water battles It makes total sense not to needlessly spend money on maintaining a navy for the purpose of fighting the 1980 Soviet navy in 2015. The Russian navy today is rusting in siberian ports and…

Greatest automotive marketing idea of 2014? Getting people to buy an otherwise normal hatchback but with a lift-kit for an extra 2,000-3,000 dollars.

Bear Gman,

Yes, I would suspect boom operators must have a high level of spacial awareness much like fighter pilots and astronauts. As I said in a previous reply though the astronauts on the ISS still use looking through windows on the station to supplement "looking through a straw" video feeds that they use to monitor docking…

will the cameras be good enough for visual inspection of the planes?

Yes, it's hard to think of a better backup system then a slab of transparent silica for either a LCD screen or VR based refueling control system. There is a reason why the astronauts on the ISS pretty much exclusively use the cupola windowed observatory to dock or assist in the docking of spacecraft. Sure they are…

Since the fuel probe can only operate in a small volume, there isn't a need for the operator to look at much besides that area.

That makes a bit more sense and reminds me of an old military branch joke.

Hold it together there Beeblebrox.

I reloaded the page and saw the new refueling control station photo. So they will not be using a VR headset, but multiple screens with a main and large(ish) polarized 3D display with the operator wearing polarized 3D glasses. This setup will increase the cognitive load on the operator vs the more intuitive "just look…

three-point hose and drogue refueling system

Renting the tankers? What was Boeing thinking with that? I would like to have seen Boeing attempt to repossess the tankers during a wartime operation.

Amazingly not that hard to do, Car & Driver built a last gen Mazdaspeed 5.

I with Mazda used this upgradeable model, I would love a Mazda Protege5 with a 1.6 or 1.8 SkyActiv drivetrain.

Interesting to see the folded wing bend slightly at the hinges during the roll at 02:22.

Looks just like my 8 year old puppy.

Paint it red, put a tassel on it and sell it to disgruntled Doctor Who fans.

Is there any difference between the two different types of refueling system? There is the flying boom and the probe-and-drogue systems I know that, but I am wondering why some aircraft of the same general size use the flying boom while others use the probe-and-drogue system.