F-35, first catapult launch

[Nonotagain]

Was out lunch time looking at aviation videos and found this brand new one that may be of interest to the masses.

This was filmed at Lakehurst New Jersey yesterday. It is not a flight simulator vid, it's the real deal.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkNZfu3EdvA&feature=player_embedded[/media]

 

[hwcurtice]

Wow, what a fun ride!

Next stop: Disneyland!

 

[wreckerman893]

Your childrens future just got catapaulted into the air.

Now you know why we are 15 trillon dollars in debt.

How much a pop are we paying for these..........to the "lowest bidder"?

The last time I looked we had the best fighter planes in the world.

Some corporate lobbiest (prob retired mlitary) convinced enough politicians that the pork would flow to their districts and got the program sold to the military.

Dwight Eisenhower said "beware the military industrial complex".

When we can afford it I am all for new whiz bang weapons systems, our troops deserve the best......but this country is broke and we don't need to borrow more money to keep gooberment contractors in business.

If you want to see some of the gooberment ratholes we are throwing money down go to A-Z Index of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies (A): USA.gov.

I was pissed off before I got through the "A's".

Many of these agencies were stated for a good reason (long gone) and found ways to justify their existance. Once a government agency is created it it almost impossible to get rid of it...no matter how useless or redundant it is.

It is not the governments place to provide jobs to citizens.

My rant for the day.

 

[A/C Cages]

A quote from the pilot " WOOOOOOHHOOOOOOOOOOO"
lol
Thats what I would be saying.

 

[CanonNinja]

there are 15 million things wrong with this program/airframe, and it disgusts me that Obama killed the F-22 program.... how this man with no military experience is making military decisions like this based on financial issues, is beyond me.

 

[PaulbusMax]

Oh?

Your childrens future just got catapaulted into the air.

Now you know why we are 15 trillon dollars in debt.

How much a pop are we paying for these..........to the "lowest bidder"?

The last time I looked we had the best fighter planes in the world.

Some corporate lobbiest (prob retired mlitary) convinced enough politicians that the pork would flow to their districts and got the program sold to the military.

Dwight Eisenhower said "beware the military industrial complex".

When we can afford it I am all for new whiz bang weapons systems, our troops deserve the best......but this country is broke and we don't need to borrow more money to keep gooberment contractors in business.

If you want to see some of the gooberment ratholes we are throwing money down go to A-Z Index of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies (A): USA.gov.

I was pissed off before I got through the "A's".

Many of these agencies were stated for a good reason (long gone) and found ways to justify their existance. Once a government agency is created it it almost impossible to get rid of it...no matter how useless or redundant it is.

It is not the governments place to provide jobs to citizens.

My rant for the day.

Yep, the country's in big time debt. But not so bad the Prez can't walk in and throw a few trillion out to "ailing" industry such as automakers and a half dozen or so banking entities. The good news is we are still striving to maintain world dominance in military technology. There are some, let's say China, that would love nothing more than to take that spot away, and they are working on it. As far as giveaway programs by our government, the list is nearly endless. How many of them are constitutionally mandated? One is for sure..."...provide for the common defense.....Preamble of the United States Constitution. How did the Soviet Union fail? We outspent them. Want China to be number one? Fine, rattle the cages of your reps demanding they cut military spending.

 

[R Racing]

I have heard mixed if not mostly bad reviews on the V35 . We will see if the program gets cancilled or not ?

 

[Nonotagain]

Wreckerman, I wish that I could totally agree with you but our "friends" in China have a different view of the world.

There are news articles of late where China has purchased former soviet block countires aircraft carriers and are refurbishing them for "scientific research" purposes. BBC News - China aircraft carrier confirmed by general BS pure and simple.

As for air power, the Chinese have their own version of a stealth aircraft. The thing that the Russian's and the Chinese lack is reliable fighter engines for the aircraft.

I wish that the world wasn't such a bad place, but it is what it is.

Yes, there's plenty of government waste to go around.

On a MV related subject. No one complains when they purchased a just refurbished truck or trailer. What "We" fail to realize is that "We" the tax payers just paid good money to refurbish the unit. That's where we need to start looking at for waste and abuse.

I've been involved in the military contractor world for a lot of years. Is there waste? Yep, there sure is. Can work be performed cheaper? Yep it sure can. But since the world floats on paperwork, it's document to the wazoo which cost bucks.

 

[wreckerman893]

The bottom line is we cannot continue to spend money we don't have....no matter how well intentioned the program.

The Fed government needs to shrink drastically....now.....any agency that is unnessary needs to go away......agencies that do the same thing need to be combined and downsized (there are two branches of the BATF).

In all the ballyhoo going on about the debt ceiling I do not hear either side advocating slashing the size of the Federal government.

No new taxes say the Republicans.....no entittlement cuts say the Democrats.......pull your collective heads out of your arses and CUT THE SIZE, SCOPE AND ATHORITY of a bloated Federal govenment that is destroying the American way of life.

End all "pork barrel" spending that allows politicians to buy votes.

No unfunded Federal mandates......if the Fed wants a program let them pay for it.

Go to a flat tax (personal and corporate) and lose 95% of the IRS.

Cut the budgets and staffs of all Federal agencies by 10 per cent for the next 5 years and limit the influence lobbist have on elected officials.

Cut all foreign aid until we can pay our own debts.......if we are going to feed hungry people let them be hungry Americans (assuming that we actually have starving people in America which I have seen no evidence of).

Pull most of our troops out of places they are no longer needed......the Russians are never coming across the Fulda Gap....we are keeping troops in Germany to support their economy....not for our national security.

South Korea has a vibrant economy and booming exports....let them pay for their own defense.....or pay us what it cost to keep over 20,000 soldiers on their soil.

This country is like an alcoholic coming off a bender......broke, in pain and looking for some relief.

 

[jasonjc]

Pull most of our troops out of places they are no longer needed......the Russians are never coming across the Fulda Gap....we are keeping troops in Germany to support their economy....not for our national security.

.

Um I thought I truned out the lights when I left Fluda back in the early 90's.

As for cuts how about a 100% cut in the pay of the dumb asses that can stop spending.

 

[paulfarber]

The F-35 is a solution in search of a problem.

The Eagle, Falcon and Hornet are still top tier fighters. With UAV fighters in the immediate future why did we line the pockets of the defense contractors for a jet that will not have half the lifetime of the F15/16/18.

Its a neat video.. but I'd like a refund.

 

[mudguppy]

... a jet that will not have half the lifetime of the F15/16/18. ...

regardless of its service life, the 15 and 16 is essentially obsolete. and much of the 18 fleet is aging badly.

... The last time I looked we had the best fighter planes in the world. ...

so you feel comfortable with #2 being so close that you can feel their breath on the back of your neck?

 

[Terracoma]

As for cuts how about a 100% cut in the pay of the dumb asses that can't stop spending.

I like this idea. They can go without pay until, say...

We recoup that ~16 billion dollars we lost in the course of "saving" Chrysler from bankruptcy. That's a good start.

 

[A/C Cages]

Stop paying all these other countries to keep them above water and take care of our own people and military.
Bring our people home, supply our troops with better equipment on our borders and not theirs. That will save a fortune and get us back on track with a better military.

 

[saddamsnightmare]

July 29th, 2011.

At least the B-52 will still be going in 2040, when the youngest will be around 70! That was a weapons system that paid off big, like the A10 Warthog and the A7 corsair. Our Army, Navy and Marine Corps are hooked on having new toys, instead of having toys that can take a beating and still run. My money would have gone for upgrading and reconditioning what worked, like the M35 And 5 tons, instead of buying FMTV that are technological marvels and unrepairable under battle conditions. Even the battleships deserved to continue in service, as none of our modern Navy ships can take the hit from an exocet that an Iowa or New Jersey could. With anti missle and anti submarine systems, nothings gonna get near enough to a battleship to do what was done at Pearl, not if the crew's awake!

 

[Josh]

I. Still say we need invest in a fleet of 50,000 remote control p51s and b29s. Sure alot would get shot down but alot wouldn't. And they are going to be a **** of alot cheaper. Sure keep the air supporty fighters but win with numbers.

 

[Jump Start]

GREAT Clip Thanks

 

[SMOKEWAGON66]

there are 15 million things wrong with this program/airframe, and it disgusts me that Obama killed the F-22 program.... how this man with no military experience is making military decisions like this based on financial issues, is beyond me.

Agreed that there is 15 million things wrong with the F-35 program. Fraud Waste and Abuse comes to mind. Obama didnt KILL the F-22 program...he just stopped it in its tracks...if he killed it they would get rid of them and all the fine folks who work on or around them, like myself. Im still employed and we still fly them so id say the program is no longer moving forward but definately not killed They need to cancel the F-35...it is NO WHERE NEAR as capable as the F-22. Yes F-22's are expensive but they outperform just about everything on the planet, and will continue to do so for at least the next 20 years...then they can upgrade them a little and have 20 more years air superiority. The main thing the Govt needs to stop spending money on is the govt itself. And wasting money on dead end programs, and giving money to dead end companys doing dead end stuff.

 

[chupa]

Three words.......Awe some.

 

[combatmech]

So glad that the money that WOULD have been spent on an updated version of the F-14 is being spent so well....... Rock on plastic over engineered jet....just wait till they get a flame-out mid-cat shot. Then what???
I'm a Tomcat guy.... And they are a bunch of H#%@s