Own Your Own Fighter Jet 222
gimmebeer writes "The Russian Sukhoi SU-27 has a top speed of Mach 1.8 (more than 1,300 mph) and has a thrust to weight ratio greater than 1 to 1. That means it can accelerate while climbing straight up. It was designed to fight against the best the US had to offer, and now it can be yours for the price of a mediocre used business jet."
Ben Quote (Score:3, Insightful)
An elegant weapon... For a more civilized age...
Re:It IS safe! (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, but of course it's your 5 million dollar jet you're ejecting from and not tax-payers, not to mention the bill the US gov't might hit you with for having to clean up the jet scattered over 10 acres. [74.125.95.132]
Of course this is a good deal for drug traffickers [narconews.com]. With a 4,000 kg normal payload capacity [aerospaceweb.org] and cocaine selling for $23,000 per kg [narcoticnews.com] you'd make almost 100 million in one trip, and who's going to try stopping a jet traveling Mach 2? [aerospaceweb.org]
Re:It IS safe! (Score:3, Insightful)
you can eject at over Mach 2 and survive!
What's the point of that? TFA says the plane's top speed is only Mach 1.8
That's called a "safety margin".
Most of the government is doing that (Score:4, Insightful)
The problem is for a lot of clueless users, .com is what everything on the Internet ends with. They aren't aware there are other addresses. They are especially unaware of the .gov address, since it is fairly rare. So a lot of government agencies have said "To hell with it," and registered their .com address. The post office was one of the first I can think of. www.usps.gov still works, but just redirects you to www.usps.com which is their site now. They are still a government agency, they just use a .com address.
Re:WTB: Aircraft Carrier (Score:4, Insightful)
The cobra maneuver. Speed = Energy. In a turn and burn contest the pilot with the must energy wins, especially once it goes into the vertical. They would never use that maneuver in a knife fight. The loss of speed is death in a dogfight. Just because you saw it on top gun doesn't make it an effective tactic. It is more to show the ability of the vectored thrust to allow the plane to turn in ways a traditional fighter jet can not.