Amazing how you could fit two people in that cockpit!

It is amazing…usually we see them like this;

Lettonia National Guard An-2 :

Where is Lettonia ?

I think the imminent threat of war would triple the pace.

You kind of wonder if aircraft companies that build planes for the military intensionally start out with a flawed plane like the F-35. It is not rocket science to think that they know after Billion have been sunk into the project, the gov wont want to drop it. Then the A/C companies can make further billions by improving it to make it squadron ready.

IMO they could make an excellent airplane from the get go if they wanted to. I offer as an example the F-8 Crusader. It was great from the beginning and needed little development to make it squadron ready.

I figure F-35 is a complex system that can have both VTOL and STOL version…and go supersonic in stealth manner..that is 10 fold more difficulty than a F-8.

Khruschev is Russian, but grew up in Ukraine.

That could explain why he gave Krim to Ukraine…he felt sorry for them. Tough case to experience I bet.

Khrushchev gave Crimea to the Ukraine now they want it back.

Now I see why Khrushchev did not last long.

Stalin gave them hunger ( Holodomor ); http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/genocide/ukraine_famine.htm

canopy change was already discussed. potential reasons may be different and safer ejection procedure (reason listed for f35) though i personally think weight savings could also be non-negligable.

Looks like it is a metre longer as well..few thousand liters more fuel ? It is totally different aircraft than the previous models.