Recent content by Nikademus

Thank you. Found what is probably the same reference online, for a fee. It appears the Homare was originally designed for 100 octane but had to be modified by IJA decree to take 87-92 octane fuel due to predicted wartime restrictions.

Hello, I am looking for technical specifications for this series of engine. I am particularly interested in learning what type of av-gas it was designed for. There seems to be some confusion around this as I've seen some online sources say it was designed with 100 octane fuel in mind...

Essentially the case according to Donald Miller. He noted this as a distinct irony. So it was not simply a matter of finding the right choke point and then "precision" bombing it. It was finding the two key choke points and then carpet bombing them repeatedly over and over again with...

Thx. I'll note that book for a future read. Barrett Tillman's book on the B-29 campaign also sheds good light on LeMay's role in the evolution of the SuperFort tactics.

I see it as the other way around. The bonus was the increased bomb loads. LeMay was brought in to fix what was percieved as a major problem, and the servicability/abort issue was one of the big ones. He also was, as mentioned, under intense pressure to get results yesterday so he resorted...

Costello’s book does make a strong case for suggesting that FDR not only was, as you said, bracing for war but actively sought to make it a reality. While it is easy to condemn him thus as a “warmonger” (and some have), I viewed this at the time as him looking at “The Big Picture” in which he...

LeMay ordered the guns removed for several reasons. He was under intense pressure to get results quick, and one of the issues that plauged the command was the servicability problem. Switching to night ops allowed lower altitudes to be selected which eased the strain on the cranky new engines...

If you say so. . I can see that.

I believe that any scenario which doesn't involve a direct attack on the US would be a difficult situation for the Roosevelt administration. While it is true that the US military was building itself up for a possible war, this is often mistaken for public support of a war. The reality was...

The concept of the SDB was that it could penetrate enemy airspace irregardless of enemy fighter defenses and bomb the target without the need for fighter escort because it could DEFEND ITSELF. You keep claiming......without anything other than generalized statements, that US bombers flew all...

Frank McLynn recently promoted that theory in his new book on the Burma campaign. In it he postulated that the Japanese High Command's smartest move (in hindsight of course) would have been to aceed to FDR's demands that Japan remove itself from China thus taking away a major political divide...

that is contrary to the basic principle of the "Self Defending Bomber" concept. Fighters were seen as a wasteful expense by the purists. They were wrong. On the same vein, there is a big difference between exposure and avoidance. If the concept worked as advertised they wouldn't have to...

1. B-17's and B-24's were bombing targets in small packets intermittedly, employing tactics designed to avoid or minimize interception. They did not simply fly in on the notion that they need not worry about fighters. It is still an Apples and Oranges comparison to the mass strategic bombing...

agree with Pars. and JoeB. The IJA was far more than just an org that "Banzai" charged, nor was it made up only of officers who believed in fighting to the death above all else. Even at Nomanhan there were a number of seasoned officers who were disdainful of wasteful operations that did...

"Worked fine" is IMO far too broad a stroke of the paint brush. The 20th initially respected potential heavy fighter opposition enough to employ very high altitude attacks, These stratosphere heights made interception extremely difficult for the handfuls (with a few exceptions) of...