That is simply untrue. I can't imagine there was a single USAF officer - at least likely not anyone involved in flying aircraft, and certainly not in the F-117 program - that would have been that dense. Media? sure.
Hey, if you're the US of A, you're simply invincible, especially fighting what is a Third world army![]()
That is simply untrue. I can't imagine there was a single USAF officer - at least likely not anyone involved in flying aircraft, and certainly not in the F-117 program - that would have been that dense. Media? sure.
I recall these flying through Gander in the 50's. Flying Tiger had them. I thought they were just an ugly variation of a DC3. It is quite a bit bigger when you see them side by side.
No such thing as security in the 50s. As a teenager I could vist the variouis hangers, talk to the folks, with permission, climb into the planes.
The Commando, B-17 and Canso would be side by side and the B17 looked small. It had the same wingspan as the other 2 planes.
Operation Linebacker 2 during the Vietnam War suffered from similar problems of repetive tactics ordered by headquarters staff. The result was heavy B-52 losses. I seem to recall that a field officer sidelined his career by implementing different tactics and overwhelming the NVA defences. Headquarters staff were not impressed by being shown up by a subordinate however.
Being predictable is always a problem in wartime. Warfighters want to repeat strategies and tactics that have proven themselves before, and/or stick to the practices and procedures that have been drilled into them during training and exercises. Which is all well and good, up to a point.
(My post that you quoted was made in response to the claim that F-117 pilots believed their stealth made them 'invisible', a claim which holds no water.)
My bad, I mistook your post to be the last in the series about being predictable and no USAF officer would be foolish enough to repeat past mistakes.
Speaking of the bombing of North Vietnam...
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If what I've read is accurate, the F-105 was the largest single-crewed aircraft ever fielded by the USAF.
Spare a thought for the USS Shaw. She had a royal beeyotch of a war.
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Trim wee thing. Once they worked the major kinks out of her, she transferred to the Pacific, arriving at Pearl Harbour for some additional work.
You've all seen this picture:
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That fireworks display is the forward magazine of the Shaw redistributing itself across a wide area. Once the fire was out, here's what she looked like:
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Makes one wonder how (or why) they'd fix that, but fix it they did, welding up a nasty origami-looking temporary nose onto her:
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She schlumped back across the Pacific with her fresh rhinoplasty and set up in San Francisco for additional "physiotherapy".
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By August of '42 (!) she was ready to go again.
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She had an active war - sunk some barges, was hit by kamikaze, whanged into uncharted undersea geography and tore herself up pretty good - and returned to the US August '45 for repairs and upgrades.
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Once that was done, it was off to the east coast for October. She was decommissioned and scrapped by July of '46.
Tough little boat, that one.
I really dont understand the economics of scrapping ships, even after the war. Its not like repair and maintenance is more costly than building from scratch. how many people would love a short cruise on a converted cruiser? can DDs not be converted for fishing or something? Parts were never off the shelf items, so that is a moot point, new motors can be retrofitted if need be.It just seems so wasteful to me.
I really dont understand the economics of scrapping ships, even after the war. Its not like repair and maintenance is more costly than building from scratch.
I really dont understand the economics of scrapping ships, even after the war. Its not like repair and maintenance is more costly than building from scratch. how many people would love a short cruise on a converted cruiser? can DDs not be converted for fishing or something? Parts were never off the shelf items, so that is a moot point, new motors can be retrofitted if need be.It just seems so wasteful to me.