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They did, until one was hit by a Spitfire and they did drop a 250kg bomb, which is why I questioned your 3 ton bomb load for Ju488s. Aerodynamics, power generation and cooling at 48,000 ft was experimental. At these altitudes measurement in feet or meters is academic, you are in a different atmosphere at 48,000 ft over Egypt than you are over UK. BTW as you know but didn't say the JU 86 used Nitrous Oxide to get up to 42/44,000 ft, it wasn't a "service altitude"The Luftwaffe did use Ju 86R reconnaissance aircraft (which could still carry a 250kg bomb) on harassment raids over the UK in 1942 and no doubt was aware of the problems of bombing accuracy from those heights.
They did, until one was hit by a Spitfire and they did drop a 250kg bomb, which is why I questioned your 3 ton bomb load for Ju488s. Aerodynamics, power generation and cooling at 48,000 ft was experimental. At these altitudes measurement in feet or meters is academic, you are in a different atmosphere at 48,000 ft over Egypt than you are over UK. BTW as you know but didn't say the JU 86 used Nitrous Oxide to get up to 42/44,000 ft, it wasn't a "service altitude"
When I see these pics of American industrial might in the 1940s I wonder how much of this is left today. If China went full on appearing to attack Taiwan and maybe threaten Japan, or if Russia threatened the NATO Baltic states, how quickly could America covert civilian automotive and other manufacturing over to military production? In today's high tech era, where many of the essential components (semi conductors) and materials (lithium) come from China, I'm not sure.Since the Ju 488 was supposed to go about 45,000lbs empty equipped (or over) and well into the 70,000lb range for take-off I think most of us would agree it is not a medium bomber no matter how it was derived. Both Prototypes were wrecked by French saboteurs and never flown and the next 4 prototypes never came close to completion. All performance numbers are manufacturers estimates.
Understanding an engine setup and being able to mass produce it are not the same thing.
Being able to build prototypes and small batches of engines (and turbos) are not the same thing as building scores of engines every day.
View attachment 616691
P & W R-2800 engines.
That would make a great model, maybe a subject of a group build?Since the Ju 488 was supposed to go about 45,000lbs empty equipped (or over) and well into the 70,000lb range for take-off I think most of us would agree it is not a medium bomber no matter how it was derived. Both Prototypes were wrecked by French saboteurs and never flown and the next 4 prototypes never came close to completion. All performance numbers are manufacturers estimates.
Understanding an engine setup and being able to mass produce it are not the same thing.
Being able to build prototypes and small batches of engines (and turbos) are not the same thing as building scores of engines every day.
View attachment 616691
P & W R-2800 engines.
You remember certain details of the Sept 28 intercept but not all. The Spitfire was spotted when it was at a height others had reached but continued to climb, they used NO2 to try to climb away but didn't manage to, the Spitfire made several attacks but because one cannon was jammed every time the other fired the pilot lost control and altitude. It is quite clear that if the Ju 86 could have climbed away it would have and it had ample time to do so.Ju 86R2 managed to get to 50,000ft, presumably with GM-1. The August 28 Spitfire IX intercept seems to have reached over 44,000ft. The Ju 86 was at about 42,000ft when it reacted to the Spitfire and responded by jettisoning their bomb, engaged the GM-1 and began to climb. It's possible that had the Ju 86 begun evasive measures earlier they may still have gone beyond the Spitfires altitude.
Germany's U-2 - WW2s Highest Air Combat - YouTube
The BMW 801TJ-1 was flown on the Ju 388 and Ju 88S2 since 1944 and understood. The Germans had valuable high altitude test chambers wind tunnels that could simulate any temperature, air pressure and air speed to assist in engine development. This greatly helped German axial jet engine development.
You seem to fear the BMW 801 TJ wasn't systematically developed by engineers who knew how to do thermodynamic calculations or without the ability to manage a systematic development and test program.
The BMW 801TJ-1 had some issues with excessive fuel consumption not altitude performance. The BMW 801TJ-2 was already test flying and the BMW 801TQ was soon to follow, all with improved turbo superchargers etc.
The Luftwaffe's high altitude program was more focused on ultra high altitudes to escape interception than the US one which was focused in high speed cruising to high altitudes.
The Ju 488 V401 bomb load is unclear to me. Some sources say 3000kg some say 2000kg. The aircraft inherited its bomb panier from the Ju 388K which was 2000kg but its possible it was longer given the Ju 488 was a fuselage stretch of the Ju 388. The much larger Ju 488 V403 had a wider longer panier and was rated to 5000kg (11000lbs).
Incidentally at the end of the video Mark Felton states that a spitfire V shot down a Ju 86 over the Mediterranean. This never happened and has been debunked. It's technically impossible for a Spit V to reach a Ju 86P however one Ju 86 did crash over 150 miles away the next day due to engine failure
Much of that might did not exist in 1939-40. Part of America's might was the ability to build, equip and man those factories in a short period of time.When I see these pics of American industrial might in the 1940s I wonder how much of this is left today.
It started long before 1939-40, the R2800 first ran in 1937, when Ford broke ground for a new factory in Sept 1940 they knew what they would produce and how they would produce it. Preparation for war in USA was not far behind the UK they just had different neighbours. There were many designs and factories planned before Sept 1939, the Merlin Shadow factory was started in 1937. Things like harmonisation of 100 octane fuel didn't happen with a meeting between "bods" in 1940 they had to have been discussed for a long time before. Similarly National Aviation didn't just say "we will build a better fighter than the P-40" they quoted chapter and verse of why their design would be better, based on what they and many others had already seen of the war so far.Much of that might did not exist in 1939-40. Part of America's might was the ability to build, equip and man those factories in a short period of time.
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It started long before 1939-40, the R2800 first ran in 1937, when Ford broke ground for a new factory in Sept 1940 they knew what they would produce and how they would produce it.
I wasn't referring to a particular company or product but the whole of UK and USA industry. The "Spitfire" factory at Castle Bromwich was actually just a factory put up by the UK government to make aeroplanes, since it started in 1936 it was by no means certain that it would make Spitfires or anything at all if politics changed, it would make what the government wanted and in fact also made Lancasters. Technology had moved on but the USA was a similar distance in time from a declared war (Dec 1941) with that Ford R-2800 factory as the UK was with its Glasgow Merlin and Castle Bromwich "spitfire" factory with war declared in Sept 1939.BTW part of Fords contribution to the R-2800 saga was not in developing any new models of the engine but in changing how the the engine was made.
P&W specified a forged cylinder barrel made of SAE 4140 steel.
Ford developed a casting technique that eliminated 50% of the machining needed for a forged barrel. Ford also claimed a better finish and a higher bursting strength.
Molten steel was poured into a centrifugal mold that ran at 750rpm. The Molds were mounted on an indexing table with eight stations. a complete cycle took 3 1/2 minutes.
This may have been the most extreme example but the US auto industry did NOT make aircraft engines or airframes in their old plants (mostly) or on old car machinery.
They did use their expertise in mass production to change the Aircraft Industries low volume production methods to high volume production that used fewer workers (or hours) per unit (engine/airplane/tank) using specialized machinery and better production line flow.
Ford later figured out how to make cast cylinder heads instead of forged. At least for the B series engines. Many companies bought their forgings from sub contractors rather than doing them in house so developments like this had ripple effects. In house casting could free up the sub contractor who supplied forgings for other work/companies.
Not quite, While they did tour the P & W factory in Aug of 1940 and Broke ground less than 30 days later (they basically copied the P & W East Hartford Plant) P & W themselves had built fewer than 10 production R-2800s at the time the Men from Ford toured the plant.
The first engine built with the above mentioned cast cylinders was in the first 100 engines built, if not much earlier in the run. ford was under contract for 10,517 engines at this point.
Ford started casting cylinder heads in March of 1942,
Ford had built just 262 A series before they built their first "B" series. They would build another 692 "A" series engines (ending at the end of Merch 1942) while they got "B" series engines into production. The Bill of materials for the "B" series engine had been given to Ford back on Oct 17 of 1940, just about one month after breaking ground on the factory. there were at least 17 differences between an "A" series and "B" series but many of them were minor.
One problem the western world has today is the lack of the 'human element'.Much of that might did not exist in 1939-40. Part of America's might was the ability to build, equip and man those factories in a short period of time.
Ford went from a bare plot of ground in Sept 1940 to delivering the first R-2800 10/05/41, In Sept of 1942 Ford delivered 640 engines and was still ramping up (and expanding the factory) In Sept of 1943 Ford delivered 1389 engines. Peak production was in July of 1944 with 186 engines per day. By July of 1944 P&W Kansas Ciry was making about 300 engines a month, Chevrolet was in the process of switching form R-1830 production to R-2800 production, P & W Hartford built 532 R-2800s but was also switching to the "C" series engine. Nash-Kelvinator was building around 800 engines a month.
A lot of this might may be gone but the industry to rebuild does exist perhaps also to a lesser extent, but then nobody else really has the ability to ramp up their production very quickly either.
US capacity for large trucks, construction equipment and other equipment remains large.
Why so many soldiers nowadays return from war zones with PTSD?
In the summer of 1862, John Hildt lost a limb. Then he lost his mind.
The 25-year-old corporal from Michigan saw combat for the first time at the Seven Days Battle in Virginia, where he was shot in the right arm. Doctors amputated his shattered limb close to the shoulder, causing a severe hemorrhage. Hildt survived his physical wound but was transferred to the Government Hospital for the Insane in Washington D.C., suffering from "acute mania."
Hildt, a laborer who'd risen quickly in the ranks, had no prior history of mental illness, and his siblings wrote to the asylum expressing surprise that "his mind could not be restored to its original state." But months and then years passed, without improvement. Hildt remained withdrawn, apathetic, and at times so "excited and disturbed" that he hit other patients at the asylum. He finally died there in 1911—casualty of a war he'd volunteered to fight a half-century before.
The Civil War killed and injured over a million Americans, roughly a third of all those who served. This grim tally, however, doesn't include the conflict's psychic wounds. Military and medical officials in the 1860s had little grasp of how war can scar minds as well as bodies. Mental ills were also a source of shame, especially for soldiers bred on Victorian notions of manliness and courage. For the most part, the stories of veterans like Hildt have languished in archives and asylum files for over a century, neglected by both historians and descendants.
You didn't nessecarily need to have direct contact with the enemy to suffer PTSD. Both my Mom's older brothers suffered from it to a certain degree from their combat in the Pacific (WWII) - one was a Submariner and was savagely depth-charged in one boat and on one occasion, had his boat sunk (he was a torpedoman and escaped via the foreward tube). My other Uncle served aboard Destroyers and saw considerable action, including the Solomon's where his Destroyer was sunk during a night battle.
My Grandfather (US Army cavalry WWI) lost most of his foot, my Stepdad (USMC, Korea - Chosin survivor) was severely frostbitten, one friend was US 10th Mountain Div. WWII and suffered from the Italian campaign (especially the 88 barrages), another was a Marine in the PTO, having 5 AMTRAKs shot out from under him during the course island campaigns plus brutal hand-to-hand action where even trenching tools and helmets became weapons.
Another was a crewman aboard a Silverplate B-29 that Atom-bombed Japan, which constantly haunted him.
The list goes on, but these people were from a different time, where life was not easy and you had to be tough to get by and so they dealt with it and moved on. Sort of like when I was a kid and got hurt during a game and Coach would tell "come on, get up and walk it off!"