as well as a good pilot and a bit of luck. 😉

must have been doing some very intensive manovers to have something like that happen.

cool. there was a similar report in air international, and it said that the first 24 MKK3s ordered are expected to start deliveries next year with follow-on orders expected.

….

You are simply restating your original “toyota maxim” without logically demonstrating why it must be so. This is not an argument, just assertion.

Furthermore, you are exaggerating minor imperfections (that are barely visible upon inspection) with no effect on combat performance into “don’t pay attention to the outside”- that’s simply absurd.

Demonstrate the logical connection, with evidence, between “finish isn’t as smooth as x” and “must break down a lot”. It’s pure style over substance, nothing substantive there at all.

…Demonstrate the logical connection between “finish isn’t as smooth as x” and “must break down a lot” please.

IIRC, both the PLAAF and IAF had problems with their Su30s’ quality, especially with the engines.

If you look at Russian and Chinese aircraft in detail they don’t look sleek and smooth, with rivets clearly visible e.g look closely at Mig29 and Su27 and compare them with F16.

Does this mean that Russian/Chinese manufacturing techniques are not up to western standards?

well it really depends on when the planes were made.

the old russian/soviet design philosophy was a natural extension of the strategy that served them so well during WWII, and that is to design their weapons so that they can be easily mass produced in enormous quantities. they didnt bother that much with the fine details. as long as it did what it was supposed to, it didnt matter if it didnt look pretty.

there was a shift from that philospohy in the late 80s, and was marked by the introduction of the flankers and fulcrums. however, at that stage, the russians had fallen significantly behind the west in terms of fine tooling, so the earler flankers and fulcrums were of modest build quality.

but that gradually changed as the russians either imported advanced western machine tools or developed ones of their own, and today, brand new russian built ac like the Mig29SMT and the Su30MKs are of the same fine quality as any wester ac with the exception of the stealth ac, which have a much greater degree of manufacturing precision.

china on the other hand didnt have much money to spend until recently, so state-of-the-art machine tools didnt have a high priority in terms of funding, and that resulted in the first locally manufactured J11s (Su27SK) having to be re-manufactured by the russians. since then, china has invested heavily in procuring the best machine tools the world has to offer (and most likely also invested heavily in developing indigous versons), the result of which is that the later batches of J11s are claimed to be off higher quality then russian made ac. rently released close ups of new chinese ac like the F7PG and FC1 have a remarkablily fine finishing and is certainly as good as i’ve seen on any western fighters currently in service.

Ah – yes I know 😀 But as I said, you can’t watch a video of Enrique Inglesias on an iPOD can you? I can with the video single I bought to play on my PC 😀

😀 you can always download a vid of Enrique if you wish. and dont tell me you carry your PC with you when you take the dog for a walk. 😮 😉

well didnt think a plane or drone would be that responsive after being hit by a big a$$ missile, twice.

psst, you can download mucis for free off the internet. 😉

ipods? i think they are for people who either have no real opinion of their own (‘gee, im not sure what music i like so i’ll have it all’) or someone who is too greedy for their own good. 😀 (and no, thats not directed at you Grey 😉 )