My brother used to fly F-4's and later, F-15's. He also flew OV-10's, RF-4's and some other hardware. He said that he realized that being second-best wasn't so bad after all when he noticed that the best guy always got killed.

I never thought about the 2 to the 5th power thing. But it's not just supreme confidence in oneself. It's the training and tactics, the support of everyone who keeps the craft in the air and the fact that the U.S. makes some darn good stuff. Take the F-15 as an example: We decided that the F-22 needed to be made to maintain air superiority, yet the F-15 has never been beaten in air-to-air combat. Service delivery on that plane began in 1974 and it's still viable.

John B.