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Showing posts from September, 2024
  The tailless configuration for carrier ops    iss2                                  Prof. Prodyut Das “ I seriously want to know your aeronautical opinion of the F7U Cutlass or F4D Skyray. Cutlass had all sorts of mods to make it work on a carrier but the crash rate was its defining descriptor. Skyray was loved by pilots but it was quickly superceded by F8U and F4H aircraft.” Dear Mike Mueller. It is always a pleasure to exchange views on aircraft though the two you chose are somewhat of rara avi! Since you have a background of having worked in a Grey Funnel Line you may find some of the explanatory notes “known”   stuff   but I am an Indian and write for a largely Indian audience; there are those who like a more informative “ Aufklarung” style with “patter”. With that as an introduction let us begin: The fall of Nazi Germany was the aeronautical equivalent of the fall...
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  Funds, facilities or Panchayats?                                                                        Prof. Prodyut Das Any discussion on our track record of weapons development is always explained away by blaming inadequate funding of Defence R&D. Some point out the massive defence R&D funding of China and the US. I hold that given our inefficient Defence R&D structure even if we spent the same amount as the US on Defence R&D we would still be importing weapons. This is because we are structured wrong. One of the several wrongs is a focus on developing in isolation, the fashionable rather than the needed e.g. one does not des...