Air Force grounds entire fleet of F-35s

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• I'm waiting to see what the committee comes up with to replace the A-10.

  • A Wright Flyer.

• an airplane designed by a committee

  Kind of like the Bradley?
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXQ2lO3ieBA

  • Jeez I loved that! That's pretty much how the F-35 was designed, I'm pretty sure.

    • If I remember the movie correctly, at one point they wanted to make the Bradley out of aluminum to save weight.

      • No, they DID make it out of aluminum. Then when they realized shit would slice right through it, then ricochet around inside fricasseeing everybody, they added a layer of steel. Which probably left them heavier than if they had just used steel in the first place.

        • Kind of like adding ceramic plates to the Hummers that were so heavy they bottomed out the suspension.

• All this aircraft stuff is over my head, todays weapons just need a launch platform, the B-52 is proof of that.

• Someone's pet political project rather then something those who fight wars actually wanted?

• The whole program should have been scrapped years ago. It's been nothing but a boondoggle.

  • This oxygen thing has been happening for years. Literally, years. That's ridiculous. Either figure out how to get oxygen to the pilots or restrain the aircraft from turning fast enough to render them unconscious. Duh. I get the distinct impression they're trying to make an excuse to remove human pilots from the equation. "Hey, this fighter works perfectly fine if we take out the pilots who keep fainting and fly them remotely." I think that would be a mistake.

    • I think they're getting ahead of themselves trying to replace proven technology. I see it on the new generation aircraft i maintain. Something as simple as a lightbulb has become an electronic goose chase these days. Used to be a cabin light went dead, we replace the dead bulb. Now, the defective led module isn't necessarily the one that isn't lit! I have to run a computer diagnostic to tell me which module is bad. I've replaced an LED module that is actually producing light, in the front of the aircraft to correct one that isn't burning in the back of the aircraft! Then, they don't have one module fits all for overhead lighting, it winds up being 7 different part numbers, thus increasing the need to stock a lot more different modules. Same for wingtip lights. To top it off, these things are supposed to last for years, but we're seeing these things fail at an alarming rate within months of aircraft delivery.
      These oxygen generator systems are great when they work, but LOX and bottled O2 works every time.

      • "To top it off, these things are supposed to last for years, but we’re seeing these things fail at an alarming rate..."

        Sort of like those new expensive-as-hell LED lightbulbs the government decided I should buy when they outlawed the cheap incandescent bulbs I used to buy. Not only do they not last nearly as long as they claim, they all tend to go out at the same time because I started on the LED thing pretty much at the same time so even now, years later, I generally have to replace every bulb in the house within three days of each other. You would be immensely entertained watching me curse and swear as the bulbs go out. And I never have enough of the damn things in the cupboard when they all start failing.