the saddest thing is they put them self there. with all the eggs in one basket, (JSF)they have no back up plan what so ever- every fixed wing combat aviation brach- USAF,USMC,USNwill be left with dud aircraft US expeditionary power woul diminish and it would take years to recover. If boeing were smart they woul continue development of a completely different type from JSF just in case

That’s my worry too. I’d be happier BAe were working on a new aircraft, perhaps VTOL…. perhaps with a European partner. I don’t see that CVFs and JSFs go hand in hand at all. The new carriers should be compatible with several aircraft types at the same time anyway.

I hope Australia will too. while I’m a staunch supporter of our alliance with america, I’m sick of having F-35 propaganda shoved down our throats. F-35B whould be handy for a rebirth of the RAN’s Fleet Air Arm on the Canberra class ‘phibs, but as a air superiority over the northern half as australia? give me a break. the rest of the world being used to develop America’s new F-16 replacement? disgraceful

I agree with all of that. On the last part, it’s worse. Using as much of ‘the rest of the world’ as possible soaks up a lot of defence budgets, and therefore supresses potential competitor aircraft, which means the final JSF suite doesn’t have to be as competetive on performance or price anyway. It s::eek:x It’s dangerous.

Been discussed here before.

I wonder who is behind “studies have been commissioned”.
Sea Typhoon is absurd. Rafale has all you need.

Let’s see if there is any reaction from the U.S., since pressure is growing on the B version, as well as on the whole programme.

Hi Distiller,
I thought we would see some interesting comment from you in this one. Is there a big difference between Rafale and Typhoon? I know Rafale is already navalised, so it makes some sense there. What about a Navy Gripen?
Whatever…. if UK is thinking about pulling out of JSF they need to do it quick, so the carriers can be CTOL equipped. Although the carriers could be so equipped, it isn’t designed in at the moment. That seems slightly absurd for a NATO carrier anyway, IMO.
I seem to be thinking only of the navy requirement !

I have twice been on flights where there was no significant turbulence, but a sudden, very nasty bump occured. The first time there were injuries aboard too, and I didn’t know what caused it, cos the rest of the flight was smooth. A few weeks ago we went through a huge bump. This time I knew what it was…. wake.. we had just gone through a contrail. When all around is calm, some people DO take their seatbelts off. I just slacken mine. I imagine pilots try to avoid contrails and wakes, but this last one was visible even to me, well before we hit it.

Hi Deano, Who am I to say these things?…. Well, I am afraid I am one of the silly sods who wastes too much time flying around Europe too much. Doing this amongst others (we all talk to each other) who do the same forms some fairly strong conclusions. I think you misunterstood me a little. As you say the ground based infrastructure is inadequate. It is overloaded with little scope for increasing it’s capacity. I am all for regional flying, but out of regional airports and using turboprop aircraft. Right now I am forced to use LHR, LGW or a grotty shopping mall in Essex called Standstill. My most common flight is 2 hours on a jet, and with travelling at each end takes 8 hours. Most of that extra time is at the UK end. If I could fly into a regional airport nearer my destination in UK I am pretty confident that this could be reduced to 5 hours on a Q400 and be a much more pleasant trip doing a little less harm to the environment.

At least I am smart enough to have a proper job, so would never consider going into politics. That lot are even sillier than I am. 😀

I guess what you wrote is not what you meant….;)..

And as you state it helps in low speed, high alpha flight.. not sure how its relevant to M3 flight but hey ho..

As to the records…mmmm we have had this discussion before…

Operational versus non-operational airframes….
Actual payload capability…v SR-71 at 2T…

I think we should stop….

NO ! …. Don’t stop, please….

This thread is up to 400 posts and 9400 odd reads. It is in eighth place and people have bets on it now. I can’t imagine any more sensible reason for starting this thread. Besides, it is keeping certain users out of the interesting ones.:)