I am not obsessed by anything GK
But if I were designing a tailhook system - I would be looking at other aircraft and wondering why they have a larger wheel to hook distance...it aint rocket science - it has all been done before,reinventing wheels is ok if one uses some common sense !
LM have fallen into the old trap of trying to make a jack of all trades aircraft out of one airframe - this concept has failed on many occasions in the past !
rgds LR