You missed a weak point: Pilots are susceptible to damage from having a shovel firmly whacked in their faces.
There's a grate on the intakes.
They can claim they built them for radar reasons, but we know it was to keep shovels out.
Please get your act together this proposal is silly.
Hmm. Small measuring spoons?
Advanced tactics: forgo dirt, just dump in a bin of carefully-oriented 1/4 teaspoon measures.
Use powdered milk, it gets everywhere and sticks to everything. Very hydrophilic, rust city USA
Powdered whole milk in hot tea is magic! Maximum tea, minimizes dilution. I'm assuming, of course, that you are in a Challenger.
I did not expect to see that referenced today. It seems like pretty obscure old sci-fi to me, but I guess I found it once somehow.
I should do napkin calculations on how many blankets they'd actually need to get an airtight-ish space at breathable pressure.
Edit:
Honestly just an airlock shouldn't have been too hard, seeing as leaking atmosphere was no issue. Seal it up, crack a little valve on the side you're going towards. Every blanket scheme I can think of is just a shittier version of that.
Just as a sealant for structural gaps I imagine blankets would be impermeable with a bit of coal tar added, but maybe I can do some math for unimproved blankets.
The story actually specifies 30 blankets, on a double-check. There's science now known to be bad elsewhere, but it's all excusable considering when the story was written. Ditto for the weird gender dynamics.
I assume this guide is for engaging the F-117 in midair hand-to-hand combat after you've leapt aboard. But in that case, where are you supposed to get dirt? Bring it with you, like some kind of peasant?? Just use your sword like a normal ninja.
Gimme a ~$112 million budget and I'll at least get it a few feet closer. No promises, though.
Hole with nuke on the bottom, spade blocking the hole entrance
Spend the rest on booze and bbq
Everything checks out. Pretty standard stuff, really. Shovel to air defense has been around since at least the '80s, and that's just the ones the government wants you to know about.
This post reminded me of the saga of tanya the evil. Her and the company of soldiers used their trench shovels to smash heads in quite a few times.
