#RESIST
Flat spin: no prob; punch it
Awesome.
Airventure (Oshkosh) 2008
This is like watching ballet... such grace. Way back when I watched A-10s and F-4s doing gun runs quals, well that was like being in the middle of a mosh pit at a Slayer concert.
The only birds that come close in cool factor are the SR71 and the A-10.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." - Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776
#RESIST
Watching the demo team perform is one of the greatest things I've ever seen, and somehow I doubt the public even sees half of what that plane can do.
One of my all-time favorite photos:
One of the reasons I think Obama sucked ass was his cancellation of the F-22.
The 4th Gen fighters we have are OLD and I’m not convinced the F-35 can fill the air dominance role like the Raptor.
Don’t blame me. I didn’t vote for that dumb bastard.
I'm of two minds on this. On the one hand, it's an amazing and highly capable aircraft, and our air force should have amazing and highly capable aircraft. On the other hand, they are absurdly expensive, so I can understand where the pressure to cancel the program came from.
It's a little more complicated than just saying that Obama decided not to continue (or extend) production (which is not the same as cancellation). I worked on the program in the 2000s and I know the people who did the cost analysis on continuing production and testified before Congress during the Bush administration on whether or not production should be extended. There are many factors involved in this decision besides production costs, including near-term capabilities and the potential for future upgrades, maintenance costs, parts obsolescence, future armaments development, basing, worldwide threats, and other ongoing aircraft programs competing for funding. During the Bush administration, it was never clear that production was going to be extended, and my impression at the time was that it wasn't likely. Therefore, when the Obama administration finally decided not to extend production, I wasn't surprised. Also - although Obama may or may not have made the ultimate decision not to extend production, it was based very heavily on the advice of senior military leaders (3 and 4 star level) and members of Congress who have their own interests at stake.