Recent content by pinehilljoe

Paul Kennedy states the same in Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Nazi Germany needed hard currency.

In Unbroken, Louis Zamperrini gives a first hand account of the B-24 crash landing at sea. He describes the landing as more of crash than a ditch.

I remembered there was a NOVA Episode on Flight 19 that discussed ditching characteristics of the TBF/TBM. I was pleasantly surprised to find the episode on YouTube. Its an interesting episode and account of the Flight 19 incident. Skip to the 24 minute point if you want to listen to the bit...

I think of the Fall of 1942 as the high water mark of the Axis in all Theaters. After Guadalcanal, El Alamein, Torch, and Stalingrad the Axis never had the Strategic Initiative through the end of the War. Herman Wouk called the Fall of 1942 the "Global Waterloo". IMHO that means Allied...

It might not have been as historically accurate as many hoped it could have been, but I think it was moving and entertaining. I looked forward to watching every Friday evening for the past couple months.

If I weren't on the East Coast I'd be glad to volunteer to count screws or sweep floors.

The prototype XP-75 has to be on the top 5 list. I think its an example of a big corporation lobbying to build anything for the War Department.

Awesome. How does the group chose who has the honor to fly the P-26?

when you read about the dispersed production, and how quickly production ramped up its incredible it was all done without even a fax machine. Just long distance telephone, courier and face to face meetings. Drawings all done on the board, with ammonia blue prints couriered around the Country...

Great photos. Love the vacuum tubes. APS-4 was also used for anti sub/shipping. the bottom photo looks like the Avenger also has a Light, like the Leigh Light.

By later in the War, 1944, the need to intercept German night bombers was overcome by events for the USAF, that left the P-61 with more of a night interdiction role. The USN flew CAP Night missions, and I would think with a modern 1944/1945 CIC and data flowing from ship based radar, the...

I posted a similar thread, hard to believe in 2016. Some information you are looking for maybe in the thread. https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/p-61-alternatives.54857/

I hope before the series ends, Cols Blakeslee or Zemke are on screen.

Ironically in the summer of '44 German production reached its apex, after this the production plunged. The bombing may have been much more effective than thought. Germany started the war with slack in its production like the USA, and did not totally mobilize for war production until 1943 and...

It is hard to believe at its peak in 1945, Curtis was a larger company than General Motors, and yet was not able to transition to the jet era, design jet planes, an in house jet engine, or get a piece of what would be the very lucrative pilotless aircraft (tactical and strategic missile) business.