Monday, February 18, 2008

Coanda weeps

Still flying B52s and F15s. When are the flyboys gonna get their new planes?

6 comments:

My Frontier Thesis said...

...just so long as the airforce doesn't turn into a rehash of the Spanish Armada, circa Queen Elizabeth.

Although, some argue that any armada would've been dominated by that timely Protestant Wind.

Tecumseh said...

Ahem... Whatever you say, MFT. But what exactly does this have to do with the need to modernize our Air Force, when F15s are starting to disintegrate after 20 years of wear and tear? In the meantime, China is on the march, Russia is back in force with all that oil & gas money, Iran and NK are challenging us big time, etc. It's a tough world out there. And, if we lose our air superiority, we're fokked, my friends. No two ways about it.

Arelcao Akleos said...

Hey, our air force is a marvel of sustained innovation compared to NASA. Now that's a comfort, right?....right?

Tecumseh said...

NASA is geriatric. They haven't really done anything new -- at least in terms of manned flight -- since the early Apollo landings. The only good stuff are the probes to the planets -- I'd put more money into that, and simply scrap the Shuttle.

Tecumseh said...

On the other hand, the F-22 Raptor is something really good. We need more of these. Of course (pace JJ), it uses the Coanda effect:

Thrust vectoring is the newest technology using the Coanda effect and is being used in the new F22 Raptor fighter aircraft. By changing the direction of the jet engine's exhaust thrust the F22 can perform manuevers not possible by conventional fighter aircraft.

My Frontier Thesis said...

I remember helping my little brother put together a plastic model F-22, oh, it must've been 14-15 years ago, when that plan was in its prototype phase.