August 2, 2019

Films in Focus: Lancaster Skies

There seems to be no shortage of WWII-based films coming to the silver screen, some revisiting famous battles, campaigns and even weapons of the savage conflict. Lancaster Skies is just such a film, focusing on the British bomber campaign in World War II while deftly paying homage to the British war films of the 1940s and 1950s.

The plot is familiar: Angry and bereaved by the death of his younger brother, Flight Lieutenant Douglas Miller, a broken, solitary, spitfire ace, who survived The Battle of Britain, transfers to Bomber Command, determined to take the war to the skies over Germany. On arriving at his new posting, he is given the unenviable task of replacing the much loved Skipper of an experienced Lancaster Bomber crew, who was killed in action just days before. Struggling to bond with his new crew, and obsessed with his mission to wage war at any cost, Douglas must find a way to gain their trust, and overcome his inner demons, in order to become the leader they so desperately need.

Look for Lancaster Skies to vault onto the big screen this coming February.

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Star Power

If you thought you were pretty handy with a fractal design package, or knew your way around an ArtStation, you’d better think again. Ansel Hsaio, a member of the Starships and Space Stations of the Galaxy group on Facebook, posted his rendition of a so-called Bellator-class Star Destroyer drawn from the Star Wars universe. He claims his design consists of at least a billion polygons. While we’re not going to go over his creation with a fine-toothed comb, or break out our calculator to verify his claim, we believe him and frankly, so should you. Take a gander at his creation and decide if you have the chops or the time to create something as wondrous as this.

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Anatomy of War: The Su-57 Goes Prime Time

Even though they haven’t signed up a single export partner to defray some of its huge development costs, that doesn’t seem to be a stumbling block for either Suhkoi or the Russian government who have apparently decided to move forward and go into full production with the Su-57. Billed as a fifth generation fighter, the Su-57 is actually less advanced than either the F-22 or F-35 largely because it isn’t nearly as stealthy as either Lockheed aircraft. The Indian Air Force was supposed to purchase the aircraft from Sukhoi to help alleviate its overall cost, but they decided to back out of their commitment a few years ago largely for this very reason.

Popular Mechanics had this to say about the Russian decision to move forward on the project. “According to TASS, a Russian government-owned state media source, Moscow signed a contract for 76 Su-57s last June. At the time, Russia had only committed to buying 16 of the fighters. United Aircraft Corporation, the parent company of the Sukhoi bureau, somehow made the jet twenty percent cheaper, prompting the larger buy.

The big question is how the Su-57 magically got cheaper. Currently there are nine Su-57 prototypes flying, all powered by the AL-41FM1 engine. The AL-41FM1 generates 32,000 pounds of thrust, and the big Su-57 is equipped with two of them. However, the Su-57 is supposed to be equipped with the more powerful Item 30 engines and reportedly cannot cruise at Mach 1 or faster without them. The Item 30s have proven difficult to develop but the Su-57 finally flew with them in 2017. Does the cheaper price reflect the use of the older, less powerful engines? If not, did UAC cut corners on some other aspect of the aircraft’s design?”

For more information on the Su-57, visit Popular Mechanic’s run down on the new aircraft.

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