[JR2000Z]

I think we all know what they were really doing away from the patrol group

[Fergus]

Yes, being constantly attacked by evil (sorry Carl) Shivans.

[Roanoke]

you'd think he'd get cramp from sitting a cockpit for days on end

[NGTM-1R]

If Kappa 3 survived constant attacks from Shivans for weeks, then he makes Alpha 1 look like somebody just entering flight school.

[Flaser]

Originally posted by Striker
And to think, that herc pilot's little hologram gizmo lasted for 35 years...

We can already do it.

Let's say it together: NUCLEAR POWER.

Actually the US Army just started to use it - Beta-isotope nuclear powersources. These only emit beta radiation - which is practically electricity since beta particles are electrons.

With such a powersource a mobile phone could function for 30-40 years without refueling. Of course it's low voltage, but it will still last a damn long time.

[FireCrack]

Speaking of that little hologram, what the hell is the point of the image on it? it's liek a buisnessman and his wife.

[Goober5000]

Maybe it's him and his wife.  Or his parents.  It looks like a wedding picture.

[FireCrack]

yes it does, but who the hell takes a wedding picture with them on a fighter?

[Yogert]

Why not? Think of it as a reminder of what he's fighting for, or merely the assurance that he has someone to go back to had he not been shot down.

[FireCrack]

Why not in his quarters though? what the hell does he do with it in his fighter? turn it on in the midst of a dogfight? no wonder the wingmen suck.

[Yogert]

It's something to look at during long patrols or in subspace before a battle. Something to calm his nerves and whatnot.

[Flipside]

Might well be a good luck momento. Always chokes me up a bit to see that bit, I always thought it was the pilots spouse and that he died knowing he would never see her again or indeed know if she were alive.....

I suppose the real choker is if you think that hologram of his wife was the last thing he chose or wanted to see before he died.

[Japong]

At that stage of the war, I doubt anyone was really staying in any one place all that long. In WWII pilots often only owned what they had could carry with them, especially in Britain where airfields and airplanes were bombed regularly. A lot of people would probably keep a couple of small, treasured mementos on their person, like soldiers with letters to their families, things like that.

[NGTM-1R]

It's not hard to understand. People carry photos of their girlfriends or wives with them all the time. Pilots are no different.

[Petrarch of the VBB]

I always assumed it was his parents, rather than him and his missus.

[aldo_14]

I think it's more likely to be the missus, myself.  Otherwise why have a wedding 'photo'?

[Liberator]

Did you ever think it might be his parents?

[Flipside]

I did think about it, but it was around that point of the Monologue that Bosch mentions the lost generation. The photo has no kids in it. Seems strange, if you wanted a picture of your parents, you'd want one of you with them, I would have thought

[Unknown Target]

I always thought it was him and his wife. And the monolouge that goes with that one scene is very compelling, methinks

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by Liberator
Did you ever think it might be his parents?

Nope.  I don't have a piccy of my parents, but even if I did, it would be of some family event rather than their wedding.  Especially as 90% of the time the wedding is likely to be before you were born or at least old enough to remember it.