Picture of the day

donor said:
That book it's titled The War Magician and it was written by David Fisher.It old enough to be in public domain so here is text:

https://epdf.pub/david-fisher-the-war-magiciana759b38caa149ec6bdaad58357d30ac925975.html

Amazon.ca has it in new shiny print and book was published so often it should be easy to find.I have my old paperback somewhere found in good old Salvation Army store.
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I downloaded that pdf. That is the book I recall. It is an excellent story and history of the desert war.

I have had occasion to use some of the "magic" techniques he described. Very effective.

Yes, he was part of a major Allied victory that involved fooling the Germans about where the Allied armour was stationed.
 
In a very-thinly-related bit of news, I realized today that the first reboot of Star Trek - the new one - is now a ten year old movie.

Before Neil (PBUH) was the first of our species to walk on a place that wasn't Earth, he was a hell of a test pilot. One of his mounts was the Bell X-5, a slick little job that was the test mule for swing wing design:

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You'll note the resemblance to the Messerschmidt P.1101.

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PURELY COINCIDENTAL, I'm sure. :) Thank you, Operattion Paperclip.
 
Rumor has it some of SS staff working for Messerschmitt decided to go to Sweden at the end of April '45.Who knows,maybe persuaded by Saab or Swedish Government.

Maybe it was the similar deal like Mauser engineers who landed in Spain?

Look at the Saab designs up to '45 and after it.Day and night difference.Very different direction,assembly techniques etc.Tunnan,Lansen and Draken are all echoes of German designs.

Mandatory picture with question below it:

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Canadian CF-104 had been fitted to carry nukes.Has anyone ever seen picture or drawing of CF-104 with one,even dummy one?
 
SE.2410 Grognard I
The SNCASE Grognard was designed as a single-seat, low-level ground-attack aircraft. Although in development in the 1950s for the French Armée de l'Air(first flight on 30 April 1950), the program was cancelled in favor of the Sud-Ouest Vautour II.

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Whitcomb Area Rule must have come later. :)
 
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So you're England. It's 1940, and most of your really effective kit is sitting on a beach in France where you left it. You're concerned that any day now Fat Hermann will be landing Falshirmjageren on your airfields. Can't spare armoured cars or tanks, and pillboxes are just so, well, stationary.

Enter Mr. Charles Bernard Matthews, Director of Concrete Limited, and his concept of a mobile pillbox.

Take a heavy truck chassis. Pour a concrete fighting compartment. Fit part B to part A, and Bob's your uncle.

Three types were made, 1, 2, and 3. Here's the largest, a Type 3:

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The slightly smaller Type 2 had a canvas top over the driver's compartment. One still exists at Bovington:

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Another vehicle used for this purpose was the Armadillo. Here, steely-eyed mofos from the Home Guard await Hun paratroopers on an airbase somewhere in England...

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There's something of a "spunky high school play" vibe in these designs. England needed tools to fight so they made 'em.
 
Dark Alley Dan said:
Another vehicle used for this purpose was the Armadillo. Here, steely-eyed mofos from the Home Guard await Hun paratroopers on an airbase somewhere in England...

1280px-Four_Armadillo_mark_I_with_RAF_crews.jpg
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Suits, ties, helmets and Lewis guns every other truck. That'll show the Huns off the property. All four trucks (not lorries...they are too small) are different. Gerry will be flummoxed by the camouflaged licence plates.
 
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