Johnny5

So this is it. Hollywood has finally ran out of ideas.

Well, if you want to sit through the pain, be my guest... I always lived by the motto "No pain, no pain". I'd rather be on a losing 4-way team than a winning football team.

Oh yeah, I had both a nerve block and general anesthesia. I highly doubt the procedure would be done with you awake in either case. Take my advice- have the nerve block in either case. I'd rather be on a losing 4-way team than a winning football team.

Hey man, Sorry to hear about your injury. I was in a car accident and tore my shoulder out of socket pretty well. I had a shoulder arthroscopy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthroscopy#Shoulder_arthroscopy ) under general anesthesia to re-attach the tendons to the rotator cuff tear (3 of the 4 tendons were torn). I had my arm in a sling for 8 weeks and physical therapy for 6 months before I was back to normal. Be prepared to do your physiotherapy and don't try to rush it. Better have ~6 months on the sidelines and a healed shoulder than 3 month recovery and problems for the next 30-odd years. Best of luck with your recovery! I'd rather be on a losing 4-way team than a winning football team.

I think for now, the easiest way to get a nice big-way out of it is if you join the Para-boys! I'd rather be on a losing 4-way team than a winning football team.

Yeah, they both solo'd... I work in the development team for one of the Tier-1 suppliers. So we get a lot of photos and info from the flight test teams through the wire. I'd rather be on a losing 4-way team than a winning football team.

Just a couple extra shots, I'm not sure if these are already available in public domain. Apologies if they are duplicates. I'd rather be on a losing 4-way team than a winning football team.

Maybe the loadmaster dispatched from the front door?! I'd rather be on a losing 4-way team than a winning football team.

I do not understand the relevance of your statement to the discussion at hand. The A400M is not currently being presented for any US contract as far as I know. If you are referring to the KC-X Tanker program, I would advise you to revise your statement. The Airbus A330 was chosen as the winning bid on merit, but the announcement was retracted after pressure from your government. Subsequently, Northrop Grumman / EADS retracted their bid since the criteria was changed to suit the Boeing bid. Even with American companies backing overseas competitors, it has proved almost impossible to enter the American market (ask US Aerospace...) However, if you mean that American companies no longer have the technical skill to compete against foreign contractors, I will leave that for you to decide. I'd rather be on a losing 4-way team than a winning football team.

The powerplant is manufactured by Europrop International (http://www.europrop-int.com), a consortium of 4 existing companies. I'd rather be on a losing 4-way team than a winning football team.

Low-Noise cruise is around 655RPM and normal cruise is 750RPM. I'd rather be on a losing 4-way team than a winning football team.

Just to give you guys an idea of scale: the powerplant was tested on a C-130 before installation on the A400M. The powerplant had to be run at less than about 60% power in order not to cause adverse yaw! See attached. I'd rather be on a losing 4-way team than a winning football team.

No, these tests were conducted on 4 Nov over the Fonsorbes drop zone near Toulouse. I'd rather be on a losing 4-way team than a winning football team.

The A400M has reached another step in becoming operational. Paratroopers from France and the UK are busy evaluation the ability of the new aircraft. Here are some shots of the aircraft releasing her load. I'd rather be on a losing 4-way team than a winning football team.

Nonesense, the cat loves chasing the gerbil... I'd rather be on a losing 4-way team than a winning football team.