I was tuned in on WPR again the other night, and there was a story on concerning the use of virtual reality simulators in flight training these days.

Over in Australia, they have programmed kangaroos into the flight simulators that the helicopter pilots have been using for training. The computer programmers were given the task of adding the marsupials to the landscape their pilots would be training for. They were given the job of adding realistic responses from the animals to helicopters, etc., as the presence of an enemy might be noted by the way that the animals were reacting.

The programmers discovered that they could superimpose a kangaroo-form over the existing Infantry program and achieve the same results, thereby saving them time and the government money.

When Americans visited and were shown the flight simulators, the Australian pilots 'buzzed' the flock of kangaroos, to show off a bit for the visitors. The kangaroos reacted violently, scattering over hills and into brush. The Americans nodded appreciatively. However, neither the pilots nor the visitors were prepared for the regrouped Kangaroos who in turn launched a Stinger Missile attack on the helicopter.

Now there's something you won't encounter every day. Or maybe they will, now that the 'Roo's are packing heat.

-- Anonymous, August 14, 2001

Answers

Sorta like the poacher scene in "Crocadile Dundee" when the pacher yells "They're shooting back!!".

-- Anonymous, August 15, 2001