Comments by "Helium Road" (@RCAvhstape) on "Boeing 818 TFX; The Actual Aardvark?" video.

The 818 looks like it would've been a poor substitute for the Tomcat to me. Dorsal engine intakes cause compressor problems at high angles of attack, which would mean pulling G's in a dogfight would probably not have been feasible. Same thing with the poor cockpit visibility. In the early 60s aircraft were designed for long range interception with missiles and dogfighting was thought to be obsolete. Vietnam showed that to be not the case, so when the Tomcat was designed it had high pilot visibility and was able to handle close in fighting as well as 80+ mile intercepts, so it probably worked out better for the Navy in the end.
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To be Devil's Advocate, McNamara was brought in to get control of the huge cost overruns, which were, and still are, a problem with government contracts. His background was in the Detroit automotive industry, though, and he was ill-suited for making defense policy. He hobbled the services' ability to evolve both technologically and personnel wise, he fucked up the Vietnam War in multiple ways and didn't understand the purpose or needs of the services. He might've made a good advisor to the Sec Def on cost cutting but he never should've had the job.
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@Paladin1873 Yes, Houston, home of Johnson Spaceflight Center lol
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@hoilst265 Definitely awful
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