Firelock76 Sorry Johnny, you'll have to find your own! But I will give everyone a sample... From Ralph G. Martin's "The GI War," this takes place after Allied forces have rolled into Germany, and have discovered "...the heart of darkness..." He was a mealy-mouthed runty guy, and he hit the floor every few minutes, every time the GI hit him. The soldier would pick him up, sock him a few times and let him fall, then pick him up and do it all over again. The runty guy was a scientist who had helped invent the V-bombs. They found him in a huge underground factory set up at Nordhausen with a half dozen corridors a kilometer long sliced by several dozen other corridors, all air-conditioned and lit by fluorescent light. Some of the V-bombs were still in the assembling stage. ...Those hundreds of kids back in London lined up around the building with their mothers, waiting to get into the store, because they were selling ice cream again after so many years and so many kids had never had any ice cream before... And then the V-2 bomb coming out of the soundlessness of nowhere blasting kids into pieces for blocks around. The photographer said to the GI, "Would you please lift that runt up again once more and sock him again so I can get a picture of it?" "The pleasure's all mine," said the soldier. Isn't that something? After reading that for the first time almost 50 years ago from that day to this guess what's the first thing I think of when I see a film of a V-2 launch?
Sorry Johnny, you'll have to find your own!
But I will give everyone a sample...
From Ralph G. Martin's "The GI War," this takes place after Allied forces have rolled into Germany, and have discovered "...the heart of darkness..."
He was a mealy-mouthed runty guy, and he hit the floor every few minutes, every time the GI hit him. The soldier would pick him up, sock him a few times and let him fall, then pick him up and do it all over again. The runty guy was a scientist who had helped invent the V-bombs.
They found him in a huge underground factory set up at Nordhausen with a half dozen corridors a kilometer long sliced by several dozen other corridors, all air-conditioned and lit by fluorescent light. Some of the V-bombs were still in the assembling stage.
...Those hundreds of kids back in London lined up around the building with their mothers, waiting to get into the store, because they were selling ice cream again after so many years and so many kids had never had any ice cream before...
And then the V-2 bomb coming out of the soundlessness of nowhere blasting kids into pieces for blocks around.
The photographer said to the GI, "Would you please lift that runt up again once more and sock him again so I can get a picture of it?"
"The pleasure's all mine," said the soldier.
Isn't that something? After reading that for the first time almost 50 years ago from that day to this guess what's the first thing I think of when I see a film of a V-2 launch?
A great film, I need to see it again. On Chandos Place in London, near Covent Garden is an excellent pub called "The Harp." On a wall near the back is a painting of a young James Mason holding a Siamese cat. There's also another painting of a 16 year old Elizabeth Taylor in a low-cut gown. Yow! But I'm just there for the beer!
Interesting. Is it true? Who knows? Since the British had a hard time with the V-1's and couldn't stop the V-2's at all it would make sense for them to try and trick the Germans into sending them into less vital areas. Cold-blooded, but in wartime you do what you have to do, as unpleasant as it is.
Anyone remember the movie "The Desert Fox" with James Mason as Rommel? Here's Adolf explaining the V-bombs to the field marshal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=185vCvsvEP8
Regarding the V-1s, I was in London a few years ago in the Hammersmith area. I got talking to a man and we started talking about the blitz. He said, "Do you notice all the parks and open spaces in this area? It's because info was passed to German agents that the V-1s were landing short of their targets, mainly central London, so they were programmed to fly a little further and landed on Hammersmith." Interesting, I must say.
BaltACD Leo_Ames I've never thought about this until just now, but how were the control cables handled on carrier airplanes with folding wings in the pre fly-by-wire age? MY GUESS - the cables were long enough when a control in the cockpit was operated to allow the wings to be folded. The control, when activated would change the fulcrum point that allowed the cables to perform their intended function when the wings were flight ready.
Leo_Ames I've never thought about this until just now, but how were the control cables handled on carrier airplanes with folding wings in the pre fly-by-wire age?
MY GUESS - the cables were long enough when a control in the cockpit was operated to allow the wings to be folded. The control, when activated would change the fulcrum point that allowed the cables to perform their intended function when the wings were flight ready.
Yes Norm, even after all these years. Do you remember what the letters the pilots used ment( IFRR) and ( IFR) ? I do.
Y6bs evergreen in my mind
Leo_AmesI've never thought about this until just now, but how were the control cables handled on carrier airplanes with folding wings in the pre fly-by-wire age?
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
I've never thought about this until just now, but how were the control cables handled on carrier airplanes with folding wings in the pre fly-by-wire age?
On Pregnant Guppies and such with a hinged tail or nose that swings open to facilitate loading and unloading cargo, the crew has to physically disconnect and reconnect all these cables. Obviously that wasn't the case with the aileron control cables on something like a TBM Avenger though...
Firelock76 A GI correspondant for "Stars and Stripes" named Ralph G. Martin summed up the V-2 perfectly. It "...came out of the soundlessness of nowhere." Ever read Martin's book "The GI War?" Published in the late 60's it's an absolute masterpiece. Find it if you can, and don't ever let it get away. No! You can't have mine!
A GI correspondant for "Stars and Stripes" named Ralph G. Martin summed up the V-2 perfectly. It "...came out of the soundlessness of nowhere."
Ever read Martin's book "The GI War?" Published in the late 60's it's an absolute masterpiece. Find it if you can, and don't ever let it get away.
No! You can't have mine!
Johnny
Firelock76The Brits had a saying about the V-2, "If you heard it, it hadn't hit you, but if it hit you, you never heard it."
You had to keep alert and watch the sky for the ascending contrail, a long straight white line up to brennschluss. I'd expect at least some of the air-raid wardens became quite expert at reacting to this sign. Of course, in poor or cloudy weather (and perhaps at night) your first indication of supersonic re-entry might be, as Thomas Pynchon said, the tip of the rocket on the top of your head...
Imagine the fun with more than a 2000lb explosive payload, though. No amount of V2 production even deployed reasonably TOT would likely top the terror of the night Churchill 'opened the Window'... and yes, had Speer's advice been taken, there might have been fewer planes and far less incentive for that kind of incendiary raid.
Cannonball,
They held the distance record/flight record for longest missions in WW2 until the B-29s showed up. Balikpapan was nearly 16 hours from Austrailia and 13 hours from Mindoro, PI. All over water.
CSSHEGEWISCH The V-1 did not drop silently, the buzz of its pulse-jet engine did give a short warning (a matter of seconds) before it detonated. The V-2, on the other hand, did not give an advance warning after it re-entered the atmosphere.
The V-1 did not drop silently, the buzz of its pulse-jet engine did give a short warning (a matter of seconds) before it detonated. The V-2, on the other hand, did not give an advance warning after it re-entered the atmosphere.
The Brits had a saying about the V-2, "If you heard it, it hadn't hit you, but if it hit you, you never heard it."
An absolutely terrifying weapon, and it did bring London close to cracking, but in the end it did no good. Albert Speer said the money and effort spent on the V-2 would have been better spent on anti-aircraft missles, which the Germans were well along in developing.
Hello BobI saw your post today and a light bulb came on,so I went to mylibrary ( a 1932 steamer trunk) and found my copy of Air Force units of combat groups (heavy) namely308thBOMBARDMENT Group (NON SIBI SBD SED ALIIS) The book says ,station at Davis Monthan 20 June1942. Your grouphad 2DUCs quite impressive. This book came from the Dept. of the Air Force so it must be right~~~~~IZZZAT right. I just wanted you to know I remember all the sacrifices that took place in those times. My Brother in law was in the 11th. airbourn he was one of the lucky ones who landed in the trees and did not get killed by the enemy , he got 2 Japs before they could get him . He passed on in 1952.
Best wishes to you. Respectfully, Cannonball
I believe that one of the first assignments of the Gloster Meteor was defense against the V-1s.
That's why they called them "buzz-bombs." The British developed tactics to shoot them down, one Tempest pilot would put his wing tip under the wing of a V-1 and flip it, thus screwing up it's gyros and it would crash short of the target.
the JU-87 would have almost been welcome if instead of a siren, they played this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkiFi9dNAEM
As I'd heard the same thing, I looked it up. Apparently the early V-1's did drop silently from the sky, but that was a design fault. It was fixed and the rest did power in.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Firelock76 Ugly, all right, kind of like Stukas. Getting back to the "warbird" theme... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuNhtSnLfF4 Of course, that vulturish look was part of the fear factor the Stuka generated, although whether that was intentional or not I'm not sure. Most German aircraft from WW2 seemed to have a sinister appearance.
Ugly, all right, kind of like Stukas.
Getting back to the "warbird" theme...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuNhtSnLfF4
Of course, that vulturish look was part of the fear factor the Stuka generated, although whether that was intentional or not I'm not sure. Most German aircraft from WW2 seemed to have a sinister appearance.
The V-1 BUZZ Bomb by the nature of its motor (on/off propulsion system) was generally a terror weapon...Noisey in flight, but silenced when dropping to the trarget area, silently, to explode without warning.
Firelock76 It is gratifying to see the British Commonweath countries are taking the World War One era and anniversary with a lot more seriousness than we are here in the US. Everything else that's happened here since then has pushed the First World War and the men that fought it off the public consiousness a lot faster than it should have been. Sad.
The aftermath of WW1 left a bitter aftertaste for many Americans after the Armistice and the peace treaties. There was a general belief that while the United States may not have been able to avoid the war, the war should have somehow avoided us. The isolationism so prevalent in the interwar period may have been one of the side effects of a conflict that showed that war is NOT glorious.
I once saw a bunch of vultures eating a dead cat on Jekyll Island in Georgia. They looked just like the ones I've seen in cartoons and movies; hunched shoulders, long beaks. Ugly damn things.
Well, several years back Lady Firestorm got to see a little "nature in the raw" when what must have been a VERY hungry hawk took out a turkey buzzard!
Yep, there was Mr. Hawkie munching away on the buzzard in the next door neighbors yard while about 20 other buzzards were in the trees and on the fence and roofline having meltdowns!
Mr. Hawkie sure was full afterward, he left nothing behind but a carcass and a pile of feathers!
Firelock76We do see hawks fairly often, it's amazing how all the other wildlife in our backyard disappears when there's one around. We know hawks have to eat too, we just don't want them eating anyone we know like our resident squirrels, chipmunks, or bunny rabbits!
I never noticed hawks, not to mention other birds/wildlife, that much when I was out and about until a friend involved with a local outdoor center would mention how many she'd seen on a recent trip from "here to there." Now I have another friend who knows where many of the eagle nests are in the area, so I see them, too.
Don't know who, but apparently "someone" found the squirrels that visited my feeder all last winter over the summer. None of them have returned this year.
Years ago, we spotted a young hawk sitting in a tree above our feeder. Apparently the "dickey birds" hadn't noticed and were still buzzing about. AFAIK, none of them fell prey that day.
Ulrich I saw a hawk last Saturday.. at Bayview Junction.
I saw a hawk last Saturday.. at Bayview Junction.
I saw a hawk myself a few weeks ago, or actually, he saw me!
I was taking out the garbage and Mr. Hawkie flew right past my head! I even felt the wind from his wings! Good flyer too, he missed me!
"What was that, a Stuka?"
We do see hawks fairly often, it's amazing how all the other wildlife in our backyard disappears when there's one around. We know hawks have to eat too, we just don't want them eating anyone we know like our resident squirrels, chipmunks, or bunny rabbits!
MikeFF Firelock, they are actually building new ones. http://thevintageaviator.co.nz/projects/oberursel-engine/oberursel-ur-ii-rotary-engine-build-history
Firelock, they are actually building new ones. http://thevintageaviator.co.nz/projects/oberursel-engine/oberursel-ur-ii-rotary-engine-build-history
Mike, I just read that article you linked. Incredible! Unbelieveable!
That New Zealand crowd continues to amaze. If they decided to build those engines for sale I wonder what they'd cost?
It is gratifying to see the British Commonweath countries are taking the World War One era and anniversary with a lot more seriousness than we are here in the US. Everything else that's happened here since then has pushed the First World War and the men that fought it off the public consiousness a lot faster than it should have been. Sad.
I just watched that Fokker Triplane video again, it's a sheer delight to see one of those airplanes in the hands of a master who knows how to get the most out of it, and I was struck by a thought or two.
The military-historian-former-Marine in me knows the First World War was a blood-soaked horror that didn't need to happen. I know airplanes like the Fokkers and the Sopwiths and others were, despite their toy-like appearance, weapons of war meant to kill. But still, there's just something magic about them that can't be denied. And the magic persists to this day.
Mike
Hey, in the interest of equal time, how's about a little rotary-engine Fokker Triplane action? The narration's "auf Deutsch" but the visuals are darn good!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90SGaZaZjCc
Where they're finding rotary engines for these replicas mystifys me. Fifty years ago Cole Palen, the founder of the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, said it wasn't too much of a problem, a lot more engines than airplanes were built during World War One so finding one wasn't too difficult if you knew where to look.
But 100 years later? I don't know how they do it.
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