For the record, Pukin is on a temporary sabbatical of his own choosing. Ironically, his decision to disconnect from FreeRepublic for a while isn't entirely unrelated to threads just like this one. Being the most well known resident expert on fighter topics, he frequently found himself having to explain things like why the triplane is no longer the greatest threat in the sky, and why Navy pilots prefer silk socks to cotton.
Oh by the way, he does scan through FR occassionally. He just doesn't post.