Official "Discuss the latest page" thread

[SoulWager]

Who says she has to give up flying to teach? What better way is there to teach a newbie how not to die, than to ask for her scimitar with a training loadout and show them how you DO die.

[Sarkus]

I realize we are winding down now, but I have to say that when David made his big announcement I expected we'd reach the end before he made the move. Good for him in putting the effort into ending it the way he wants to end it.

[cbhacking]

Who says she has to give up flying to teach? What better way is there to teach a newbie how not to die, than to ask for her scimitar with a training loadout and show them how you DO die.

Flight time is expensive, and there's also the risk of newbies hurting themselves or damaging valuable equipment. You ideally do get lots of flight time before you go into combat for real, but when you've got a lot of pilots and low resources, a lot of the training is going to have to be classroom. Then there's simulators, which are as close to actual flight as the engineers can make them (and by the time we reach the tech level of CD, probably very close indeed) but still are only *virtual* reality.

That said, there's always a need for some real combat flight instructors, even if only for the simulators. Assuming PTSD doesn't get in the way, Kari is certainly a good candidate for flying that role, both as guide (although she's not experienced with their fighters) and as opponent.

[charles]

See, I think Vaegyr and Hal actually got on a bit. It almost seemed like Vaegyr earned a bit of his respect. It was more than a man to man thing 'cos Hal picked on Daniel all the time. But somehow, I think him and Vaegyr managed to get on... Maybe Vaegyr's diplomacy is just that good.

Whatever the case, I still rate him as their best crew member at a technical level but the worst at a charismatic one. He drove Sarah away and she seems almost equally as good. But I'd probably put Whisper down as the second move valuable crew member at a technical level (although I'd also put her down as the second worst for Charisma).

[SoulWager]

Who says she has to give up flying to teach? What better way is there to teach a newbie how not to die, than to ask for her scimitar with a training loadout and show them how you DO die.

Flight time is expensive, and there's also the risk of newbies hurting themselves or damaging valuable equipment. You ideally do get lots of flight time before you go into combat for real, but when you've got a lot of pilots and low resources, a lot of the training is going to have to be classroom. Then there's simulators, which are as close to actual flight as the engineers can make them (and by the time we reach the tech level of CD, probably very close indeed) but still are only *virtual* reality.

That said, there's always a need for some real combat flight instructors, even if only for the simulators. Assuming PTSD doesn't get in the way, Kari is certainly a good candidate for flying that role, both as guide (although she's not experienced with their fighters) and as opponent.

Well, I'm sure a few tanks of fuel is worth avoiding a dead pilot and a wrecked fighter.

[cbhacking]

Well, I'm sure a few tanks of fuel is worth avoiding a dead pilot and a wrecked fighter.

It's a bit more than that. First there's the simple cost of the fighters. Craft used for training are craft that can't be used in combat. You keep some back anyhow, but if you've got more people than equipment, a lot of the equipment you do have is going to be needed for active duty. Second there's the maintenance cost. No idea what it's like in CD, but (from Wikipedia, and note that this estimate is disputed): "July 2009, the Air Force reported that the F-22 requires more than 30 hours of maintenance for every flight hour, with the total cost per flight hour of $44,000." Training time for those things is going to be *expensive*.

[SoulWager]

Well, I'm sure a few tanks of fuel is worth avoiding a dead pilot and a wrecked fighter.

It's a bit more than that. First there's the simple cost of the fighters. Craft used for training are craft that can't be used in combat. You keep some back anyhow, but if you've got more people than equipment, a lot of the equipment you do have is going to be needed for active duty. Second there's the maintenance cost. No idea what it's like in CD, but (from Wikipedia, and note that this estimate is disputed): "July 2009, the Air Force reported that the F-22 requires more than 30 hours of maintenance for every flight hour, with the total cost per flight hour of $44,000." Training time for those things is going to be *expensive*.

$100,000 for an hour of training sounds like a lot until you realize losing an F-22 in combat costs over 1500 times as much.

[Arv]

Speaking of fighters, I wonder what's to become of Kari's Scimitar? (Assuming it hasn't come up already.) Vaegr owns it if I remember correctly, but he won't have a pilot for it if Kari leaves. Now that I think if it, I'm not even sure if the Scimitar survived the destruction of Niobe; I don't believe any mention was made of it one way or the other.

As for today's comic... Heh. I can practically see Whisper drooling.

[Knowles2]

I think the Republic is being framed, not necessary by the Cirins military although I would not put it past them but may be the political elite or the collective or some other party out there who want war.


I doubt Kari is going to let her friend become the new Republic celebrity.

I am sad we have only got two pages to go as well. Anyway we can have both pages on Friday and go out on a bang.

[NefariousDrO]

Funny, I was just thinking about that news-cast and it's point of origin. As someone who studied far too much history in college (and beyond) I've learned that any news agency has its bias, and the safest response is to view several, knowing that they all have their own views. And I don't mean that each is necessarily spinning the news, but people are adept at seeing the things they want to see, and not seeing (only only partially seeing) what they don't want to see. I can't help but feel like the focus on a peace movement within the Republic could easily be wishful thinking inflated by minor events. If this story were continuing, I'd really expect to see how much the reality matches the Cirin's news coverage. Alas, we won't. I'm really glad that David's getting some of the success his obvious talent deserves. I sure hope he is able to revisit this comic someday, but not at the expense of doing a job he can be proud of.