Comments on: Iran’s comical “stealth” fighter http://blog.aopa.org/blog/?p=4620 Online perspective from the editors of "AOPA Pilot". Mon, 20 May 2013 06:19:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Luis Luciani http://blog.aopa.org/blog/?p=4620&cpage=1#comment-195722 Luis Luciani Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:47:08 +0000 http://blog.aopa.org/blog/?p=4620#comment-195722 Sadly for us, they can probably build 1000 of these for the cost of one F35. At those odds, they can be laughable and still win.

]]> By: Paul Henderson http://blog.aopa.org/blog/?p=4620&cpage=1#comment-195456 Paul Henderson Fri, 15 Feb 2013 20:21:33 +0000 http://blog.aopa.org/blog/?p=4620#comment-195456 Looks like Van’s first kit jet. All it needs now is a jet

]]> By: Tom Gordon http://blog.aopa.org/blog/?p=4620&cpage=1#comment-195406 Tom Gordon Fri, 15 Feb 2013 17:06:37 +0000 http://blog.aopa.org/blog/?p=4620#comment-195406 Does anyone know if they have plans for LSA certification?

If they bring it to market, I’m interested.

]]> By: Mike Perkins http://blog.aopa.org/blog/?p=4620&cpage=1#comment-195388 Mike Perkins Fri, 15 Feb 2013 16:05:25 +0000 http://blog.aopa.org/blog/?p=4620#comment-195388 Comical? . . . How about an oxygen delivery system that poisons its pilots? Or a fly-by-wire system tuned such that it encourages PIO to the point that the test aircraft crashes? . . . . . They might have rushed something out the door, which is not unusual for such a political regime, but there’s time to improve. And in the mean time, the Israelis have yet a new potential threat to counter, causing more money to be spent. Sort of like how the US fought the cold war in a spending race against the USSR, and won it. . . . It’s only funny until it isn’t.

]]> By: Jim Jernigan http://blog.aopa.org/blog/?p=4620&cpage=1#comment-195345 Jim Jernigan Fri, 15 Feb 2013 13:07:27 +0000 http://blog.aopa.org/blog/?p=4620#comment-195345 Perhaps the airplane’s greatest value to the military is the perceived contribution it makes to air defense/offense in the eyes of the Iranian population.

]]> By: Phillip Graves http://blog.aopa.org/blog/?p=4620&cpage=1#comment-195320 Phillip Graves Fri, 15 Feb 2013 11:20:42 +0000 http://blog.aopa.org/blog/?p=4620#comment-195320 I would not dismiss this aircraft as comical, I remember we made the same mistake with early aircraft attempts in Japan in the years before the war, as well as the Soviets and more recently with the Chinese aerospace programs. Now who has a manned space program? With a few years, some more bought technology in airframe, engine and weapons as they did the avionics, all it takes is lots of money and the will. If they have a nuclear program to scare the Isrelies, they have lots of both, the rest is a matter of time. Besides, who says it will be a manned fighter? I think with the capture of a US drone last year, they may looking at a UAV combat aircraft on the cheap. They are smart and resourceful and ambitious for a place on the world stage.

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