~”Your comment on our triumph in the cold war is appreciated, but my part in that effort was inconsequential.”~
Every part in the effort, taken by itself, was inconsequential. The team won, and you were a part of it. My children may have other things to worry about; but they’ll never have to worry about being second-class militarily, or about communist invasion. It’s your generation that we have to thank for that.
~”His name was John von Neumann.”~
I’ll have to look him up. Thanks for the reference!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann
Looks like he was one of the great minds graciously handed to us by the Nazis.
~”Congress liked the idea of a one size fits all airplane and was willing to sink a lot of money into it’s development.”~
Along those lines, then, what do you think about the Joint Strike Fighter?
I actually got a close up look at this plane when they were doing some of the early flight test work at Lockheeds facility in Palmdale California. I was amazed as I watched it fly by my position at about 10 mph only 20 or so feet off of the ground. It has a radically new design (British Aerospace) for vectoring it's thrust. It gives the JSF far better stability than the Harrier had in this role. Lockheed and it's partners bet the farm on this new unproven technology and pulled it off. Kudo's to them for their innovation. Not all versions of the JSF will have this capability. This is another strong point in the design. The end customer can buy a jet that fits their needs. I don't think the Boeing version of the jet ever demonstrated this crucial ability. If you ever saw a picture of the Boeing jet you'd think their idea was to make our enemies die laughing looking at it. Gosh it was ugly.
The JSF's function is to replace the venerable F-16 fighter that is used by so many of the air forces in the world. I think it has a good chance of filling the bill. As for the Navy signing on, maybe hell will freeze. They have always been successful in getting the funds to build something tailored exclusively to their mission.