To try and then fail does not make you a failure.
To fail to try makes you a failure.

Unknown

quote:

Golly I can think of a few artistic masterpieces that were not technical masterpieces.

I'm with you Bill.

My example, the Mig 29, a beautiful airplane put together with inferior parts and lack of craftsmanship. Inside is the exact opposite an ugly little ejection seat that is the envy of all in the industry.

quote:

an ugly little ejection seat that is the envy of all in the industry.

Hopefully, that's 'cause they'll have to use them more often than we do.......

The Luger pistol is (to my eyes, anyway) the most beautiful pistol ever made. Save a properly engraved and carved (oak leaf and acorns, please) the late model butter-knife Mannlicher-Schönauer carbine, it is perhaps the most beautiful firearm ever.

The Mannlicher is truly an artistic and mechanical masterpiece.

But, I digress....(HERE?) ........inside, the Luger is an overly complex, fragile, fussy, ammo-sensitive, poorly-sighted, dirt-intolerant assemblage of too many parts with the worst trigger ever put on a firearm. It is truly a pistol with its innards on the outside. It requires hand-fitting and filing of all parts to make them work together. Eli Whitney would spin in his grave if he had known what a backward step military firearm production had taken.

Despite all that, I have several, even a coupla babies.

Curiously, it has the second-longest production run of any pistol, bested only by the Colt SAA design. The Luger is also bested in movie appearances by the SAA, thanks to Westerns.

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Hopefully, that's 'cause they'll have to use them more often than we do

Hey, they're our allies once again

I actually got to see them in action at the Paris Air Show about ten years ago. They were unveiling the new Sukhoi SU-30, an incredible airplane with forward thrusters. It took two pilots to fly this massive fighter attack airplane. Unfortunately, on press day (a day prior to show opening), they went out to do a run through for the press and the #1 pilot misjudged the ground. They almost pulled out in time, but the tail hit knocking out both turbines. The few hundred of us that happened to be there that day (me by total mistake) watched in horror as it pitched up, converted forward speed to about 200 ft of altitude, then both pilots punched out sideways as the plane tail-slid into the ground. I'll never forget the concussion wave as it erupted into a ball of fire! I happened so fast, I forgot the camera in my hands until it hit the ground, but I got some shots of the aftermath. Needless to say, it was not a good show for the Russians or Sukoi.

The '99 show?.....Yep, it was an eye catcher:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh-kuztsE1s

Ageing:
"I have reached an age when, if someone tells me to wear socks, I don't have to"

Relativity:
"An hour sitting with a pretty girl on a park bench passes like a minute, but a minute sitting on a hot stove seems like an hour"

Fame:
"With fame I become more and more stupid, which of course is a very common phenomenon"

Albert Einstein

"Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon. But if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."

Captain John Parker, Lexington, Massachusetts, April 19, 1775

There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking.
Alfred Korzybski