Ah come on people! Yes the harrier can do it too, so what?? people were able to run 200,000 years ago, and we're still watching the olympic games.

What's more, this aircraft can do a hell of a lot more than a harrier (like supersonic flight, for one), it's not just "a plane that hovers".

By the way if you don't like planes that hover, there are two other versions that don't, so be happy!

@otterly:
Stop bitching, this is the product of the JSF program, which means it is funded by the USA, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, Australia, Denmark and Canada.

Yes you CAN use MS Paint to draw complicated things, but it's just a pain in the neck.
But I don't see how it can be used for technical drawings.. there aren't even any measuring tools.
I use it for rudimentary sketches, and even that takes ages to make it look like something better than what I drew in kindergarten.

Beautifully done!
It looks more dignified and relaxed than normal landings on aircraft carriers ;)
Though the plane isn't really a looker..

What's the problem with having BOTH?
Or would there still be people complaining that red and green don't look nice next to each other?

As for the metric system, DOuglas2, adopting it as a standard way of measuring things doesn't imply chopping bits off plywood and replumbing the whole country so that stuff becomes easier to say.
It just means: using a ruler that has centimeters on it.

@hedwig

There are regulations about overloading, but it's the responsibility of the captain to do the math and determine what he can or can't do (provided he knows exactly what's on his plane).

@NorwegianBlue

I really doubt he did that on purpose.. take off has very specific rules (it's the most dangerous part of flight); the pilot rotates the aircraft as soon as it is safe to do it in any case. I think here he might have actually pulled up early to avoid going off the runway.

Anyway.. that was a real close call!

Did anyone find a proper scientific source for this story? I think it needs quite a lot more information than what's at the link.

Noooooooo!!!
Who the hell thought that it was a good idea to stop transmitting tons of energetic gibberish into deep space! You selfish telecom engineers! Think of the aliens!! The damn ALIENS! How are they ever gonna cope without our TV channels! And it's not like power supply is an issue or anything!

Yeah Steven, we all know that magicians are incapable of anything!
Please share your infinite wisdom with the ignorant world of the fools who believe in the pseudo-scientific bullshit theory of "training hard for several months while under a strict diet". Pfah! all this jargon! I don't understand a word of it!
So what's the TRUE "comprehensible explanation"?

User: Hello cleverbot.

Cleverbot: Who's cleverbot?

User: You.

Cleverbot: I'm human. You are cleverbot.

User: What's your name?

Cleverbot: Cleverbot.

Some of these don't seem that strange to me.. especially the renault scenic.. but maybe that's because I'm french

hm yeah.. pretty loose definition of the term "jet engine" there.. a toy balloon is a jet engine as well then. And I think a 300-year old jet engine is less impressive than clowns being able to model dogs out of jet engines.

@Jev

Ok that's true I'm sorry I didn't mean to diminish the work done by people like you. I did research on the Ansari X-prize and I was amazed by how many different teams had so many different approaches and ideas, so more than SpaceShipOne it was the concept that I thought was "cool".
What I should have said is that it is the only widely known cool thing happening, like Concorde and the space shuttle. I think that's important because it feels like nobody gives a damn about air and space travel anymore (except for the people who work on it)! So.. just looking for something that would make it appear less boring to the public.

Alright, but you could do at least 10 sub-orbital flights onboard SpaceShipTwo for the price of the trip aboard the boring 43 year-old russian spacecraft. And by the way orbital flight is the next goal for Rutan.. just take it one step at a time, this is already an amazing achievement.

I'm looking forward to this so damn much!
Although I don't really like Branson I have to admit not many people would invest in something like that. I think Burt Rutan is a genius however, he's the only guy in the aerospace industry who still makes it look cool!
Concorde is never going to fly again ,next year the Space Shuttle will join it, and there are no replacements for either of them, because they're not necessary. But they're COOL! This SpaceShip project is the ONLY cool thing happening in aerospace since the 1960's.