It wasn't quite "Even RR realised.. the engine situation wasn't tenable.. ". RR designed and built the early Merlins as a private venture in the mid-1930s. They had no idea whether it would be a succesful engine or not and no way of foretelling what the likely volumes were to be. It made perfect sense for the early…

Made me think of this picture -

Obama's legacy? This mess didn't happen with Obama. It didn't happen starting in 2008. All of the ingredients have been brewing for decades, even back to the days of the Ottoman Empire. You have the consciousness of a short-lived gnat!

After we had our first child 12 years ago, we found out that we were following that up with twins. Three boys, three years apart. At the time, we had my '01 Golf and my wife's '96 Stratus, so we needed something with more room. I really didn't want a minivan or an SUV. So I went looking for a sedan or wagon that…

Very late to the party, but I nominate the Fokker Eindecker.

Fokker E1, the first plane with working synchronized guns, pilots could reliably down opponents by aiming with the plane

The Fokker E.I. Basically the first semi-modern fighter plane, it was a tractor-configuration monoplane with (the first synchronised) front-firing machine guns.

Looks more like a low rent Dalek

There also appears to be a fair amount of agency shopping—if the Army doesn't buy then proposing it to Homeland Security or whatever. Some of these contractors and DARPA type agencies come up with an idea and go looking for an agency to fund it/buy it, rather than an agency identifying that it needs something and…

I guess I just feel like it's sort of a "you don't say!" type of thing to be surprised that the military can't control it's own shopping list or budget. Of course they "need" every new piece of tech or gear. The President (and even the cabinet, to a large degree) have far more important responsibilities which is why…

"No article about an American driver is complete without mentioning Phill Hill, who won the world championship for Ferrari back in 1961. No pressure, Alex." .... or Mario Andretti in 1978

Hmmm.. Love the A10, A6, and A7, and the Army's OV1 - Mohawk they just seemed like really cool planes.

Here and I thought this was a great break-through for Turbine-compounding to make a break into the limelight...

In my first duty station in the Army we had a few Humvees, but then we also had something much much cooler: a Ford Econoline E350 with heavy duty suspension, all wheel drive, a low range transfer case, and all terrain tires.

I don't see the problem requiring physicals. It's a sport, if the car has to pass inspection, why shouldn't the driver?