Colin1
Senior Master Sergeant
Is there a legal precedent for eyeball assault?
To be fair, some of those pre-date the Roc by a decade or so
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Is there a legal precedent for eyeball assault?The French managed it and by a wide margin.
They not only insulted aerodynamics, they tried to bludgeon it out of existence with some of the ugliest aircraft aircraft ever built whose main styling cues seem to be from medieval castles
Is there a legal precedent for eyeball assault?
To be fair, some of those pre-date the Roc by a decade or so
At least none of those planes were fighters.
LOL coulda fooled meActually, 3 of them are fighters.
the single engine, pusher, twin boom aircraft.
The twin engined airplane in the three that resembles some sort of beetle was supposed to replace the Potez 631 and so be sort of a French Bf 110 or Beaufighter.
And the Tandem wing aircraft was a fighter also.
Allison developed the V-1710 on their own dime.
There were other, equally powerful forces at work that determined the fate of the US inline powerplant:
George Lewis, Director of Aeronautical Engineering at NACA took a trip to Germany in 1936 and this was NACA's first intimation that their Langley laboratory might be inadequate for the nation's future research needs.
In response to Lewis's report, NACA set up a special committee under General Oscar Westover, then Chief of the Army Air Corps. It took three years for the committee to address the question of the relation of NACA to defence of the US in the event of war.
Meanwhile, military aeronautical technology in Germany was rapidly overtaking that of the US. As early as 1937 John Jay Ide, NACA's technical assistant in Europe, warned of the results of German advances. He reported that Germany was producing extraordinary aeroplanes and engines that had enabled them, with their ally Italy, to set a 'holocaust of records' (an unfortunate term with hindsight). Ide noted that in the development of aircraft engines, there had been no spectacular breakthroughs. Steady incremental improvements were nevertheless pushing European engine development to new heights. Both England and Germany had developed liquid-cooled engines with two-speed superchargers to power fighter aircraft.
By 1939 Ide had concluded that, so great was the German emphasis on the development of new technology, the next war would be a 'war of workshops'. The country able to develop the most advanced aircraft would have a strategic advantage. Ide emphasized that for the Europeans it was speed above all that was important. The Germans had airplanes that could reach speeds of over 400 miles per hour. The fastest planes, he noted, all had liquid-cooled engines.
By 1939, with Europe converging inexorably on war, Charles Lindbergh had sensed the situation to be so serious, he headed home, meeting Hap Arnold straight off his ship. Arnold recalled it was the first useful information they had received on the Luftwaffe. Lindbergh subsequently chaired a Special Committee on Aeronautical Research Facilities, approving a second research centre (what would become Ames Aeronautical Research Facility in Sunnyvale, Calif) and critically:
Lindbergh was convinced that the development of liquid-cooled engines was not receiving sufficient attention in the US. Other high-level aviation experts shared his view. The periodical Science warned that the nation needed research facilities above all because of 'the superiority of foreign liquid-cooled engines'
The recognition of the gravity of the engine situation coincided with the strengthening of the leadership of NACA. The same day that Lindbergh made his recommendations, NACA elected Vannevar Bush to take charge of forging a wartime research program. A former Dean of Engineering and Vice President at MIT, Bush appreciated the value of research. He greatly admired NACA and looked upon its organization as a model for the mobilization of science. Known as both a scientist and a hard-headed practical engineer, he considered the best engineering to be applied science. For him, NACA exemplified this ideal.
The US had decided in the early 30s not to depend solely on radials, despite their commercial dominance but it was the same commercial dominance that saw only the V-1710 close to production in 1940.
Democratic administration, not a huge defense-spending bunch. In any case the very high taxes used to pay for those programs lengthened the depression.Very interesting info.
Leads me to question govt economic stimulus spending during tough economic times - something relevant during the time of V-1710 development as well as today...
On the one hand, there were massive public works projects (CCC, WPA, etc) to help employ people and stimulate the economy.
At the same time, military spending and research were curtailed due to the poor economy.
It seems to me that large support for aeronautical and engine research development would have provided economic stimulus and prepared the nation for the next war.
Maybe take a few of the subsidized workers building park facilities and instead put them through schooling in support of the advancement of technology.
I have had two British cars and a British motorcycle form the 60s, nobody has to tell me how bad some British electrics can be but fair is fair.