A question about Camellia

[Robert J. Hansen]

Faramir wrote:
>   Well, I don't think you are crazy, but I am part of the group that
> likes to be able to chose between several options, provided all the
> options are secure.

That "provided" is the sticking point.  Small is beautiful, IMO.  YMMV.

There is an apocryphal story about the United States Navy and the United
States Air Force.  In the 1970s, the USAF and USN made an agreement that
they were going to field the same jet fighter.  This would make it
easier for Navy and Air Force pilots to work together, to simplify
logistics, and so forth.

Two jets made it to the finalist stage: the YF-16 and the YF-18.  The
Navy decided on the YF-18, a twin-engine jet fighter.  They liked the
fact it had two engines: after all, if one engine goes out, the jet
could still get back to the carrier on the other engine.

The Air Force was shocked by this and canceled their cooperation in the
program.  They learned from the F-4 and the F-15 that twin-engine
aircraft had more than twice the engine problems of single-engine
aircraft.  The downside of the extra complexity was greater than the
upside of having a second engine.  They refused to buy any YF-18s.  The
single-engine YF-16 was far superior.

And this is, according to the story, why the Navy flies F-18 Hornets and
the Air Force flies F-16 Falcons.