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Post by RNRobert on Aug 13, 2015 17:52:19 GMT -6
In the book "MiG Pilot", Lt. Belenko describes the Soviets having to put guards on the MiG-25 because of the quantity of alcohol used as coolant for some function (radar?) of the aircraft that escapes me at the moment. Alcohol was used by the intercept radar which was high powered. This required alcohol evaporation to maintain a constant temperature. The set was all tubes, and they get very hot. the F-4B had the same issues with the APQ-72. All tubes and it did get hot. The use of alcohol was cheaper, had low weight and was not toxic like our coolants. However, it did have to be stored differently and reloaded after each flight. Most times the Mig-21 and Mig-25 did not turn on their radar until GCI got them within visual range, then they would engage the radar, lock up the target and fire. This was done to limit the use of the alcohol and remain undetected by our ECM systems.
Update: Picture of a Smerch A radar - s138.photobucket.com/user/delisa_07/media/Mig-25/Smerch-A.jpg.html -follow the pictures for the tubes
I've heard that Russian servicemen referred to the MiG-25 as "alcohol carrier" for this reason.
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Post by RNRobert on May 23, 2015 5:35:08 GMT -6
I recently spent two weeks on vacation in Tennessee, and while there I spent an hour or so on the Cherokee Indian Reservation. I took some pictures at the Veterans Park there and they had this artillery piece on display: I think it is a 105 mm, but I don't know. Anyone know what it is? This is an M114 Towed 155mm Howitzer circa 1942. It was used in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. In some countries it is still used. Elevation is about -2 to +63 degrees, ROF about 40 rph and max range of about 16,000 yards. It used separate bagged charges. Thanks, Dennis. I knew you'd come through! BTW, they also had a M60 (at least I think its a M60) in need of restoration: farm6.staticflickr.com/5455/17728890549_251ff90ccd_b.jpg
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Post by RNRobert on May 22, 2015 20:44:20 GMT -6
I recently spent two weeks on vacation in Tennessee, and while there I spent an hour or so on the Cherokee Indian Reservation. I took some pictures at the Veterans Park there and they had this artillery piece on display: I think it is a 105 mm, but I don't know. Anyone know what it is?
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Post by RNRobert on Apr 24, 2015 6:57:22 GMT -6
We speak of situational awareness and it is vital in air combat. A pilot or leader must know where he is, how many enemy planes he is facing, which direction they came from, weather, and are there other enemy planes lurking around. This is an easy task with one to three aircraft but when you get thirty or forty, then SA drops dramatically. Aces always understood this and this is why most would stay on the fringes of the massed air battle waiting for a straggler or wounded aircraft then attacked them. This wasn't something the Red Baron figured out on his own, it was part of Dicta Boelke. Boelke taught it too his pilots, McCudden did it, Ball, Billy Bishop, they all did it. Don't be surprised when you read about the Baron flying on the edge of the combat area waiting for prey to show up, it was a learned technique of all good pilots. All predators; lions, cheetahs, alley cats etc. all wait for a straggler or lame prey and attack it. Reminds me of something I read about Eddie Rickenbacker. When he was assigned to his squadron, Raoul Lufbery (who had flown with the Lafayette Escadrille) took him and another newbie on an orientation flight over the front lines (the airplanes the squadron had recently been equipped with had not yet received their machine guns). After the flight, Lufbery asked his neophyte pilots what they had seen. They remarked that they had seen nothing. Lufbery then proceeded to inform them of all the friendly and enemy aircraft in their vicinity during the flight which they had failed to notice.
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Post by RNRobert on Apr 22, 2015 10:56:31 GMT -6
I recall reading about Richtofen many years ago. He started out in an Uhlan (cavalry) unit on the Eastern front. His unit was later transferred to the Western front, and when trench warfare set in, is unit was disbanded and Richtofen was assigned to be a supply officer, a task that did not exactly appeal to him- he wrote his CO "I did not go to war to collect cheese and eggs, but for other reasons."
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Post by RNRobert on Apr 18, 2015 7:47:07 GMT -6
Speaking of shooting skills, I believe Rene Fonck was quite the marksman.
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Post by RNRobert on Apr 17, 2015 18:32:40 GMT -6
Ok, let's see if you know your WWI fighters and can assess their strengths. You are flying an SE-5A scout, at 10,000 feet and you meet a Albatros D V. How do you fight him? What does he do? From what I do know of WW1 fighters, the SE-5 was pretty fast (130 mph, I think the fast of the WW1 fighters). I would use my speed to get into position, and speed to get away if the situation turns against me. The Se-5 also has a Lewis gun mounted on the wing, so I get can below the Albatros and shoot into his belly.
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Post by RNRobert on Apr 17, 2015 7:45:44 GMT -6
Thank you Robert, these are interesting and add to the discussion. What discussion? I thought we were discussing the Red Baron.
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Post by RNRobert on Apr 16, 2015 9:04:30 GMT -6
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Post by RNRobert on Mar 23, 2015 16:43:51 GMT -6
Have you tried another NWS game, Warship Combat: Navies at War? It covers naval combat of WW1 and WW2 (and the WW1 OOB includes the IJN and Russian ships of the RJW). It is a turn-based game (each turn is 3 minutes) that while not as detailed as SAI (nor is there a campaign mode), but that does try to model naval combat as realistically as possible, and is easy to learn.
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Post by RNRobert on Mar 4, 2015 13:26:37 GMT -6
I remember that movie (read the book, too). The questions raised in the article remind me of Star Trek: TNG- "You will become one with the Borg."
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Post by RNRobert on Feb 17, 2015 20:39:19 GMT -6
Let me give you a real life situation that occurred with the AIM-7. It was thoroughly tested at Pax River and Nellis. Problem is neither of those locations are jungles near the equator and this was the primary problem in Vietnam, with this missile from 1964 to 1968. Even after this was identified it took a while to develop and retro fit all the missiles. You test till the cows come home, and its good training and development but nothing can substitute for combat. BTW, a document: Report of the Air to Air Missile System Capability Review DTD July-November 1968 related the problem after four years of combat by the USAF and the Navy. It was never identified at Nellis...... a desert over 800 miles from the ocean. Gee, I wonder why? Sounds like the Norden bombsight.What it could do in the clear skies of the southwest was one thing, and what it could do in the cloudy skies of Europe was another.
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Post by RNRobert on Feb 9, 2015 20:48:23 GMT -6
In the years prior to WW2, Japan placed special emphasis on nighttime training. They were concerned about the numerical disparity between their battleship fleet and that of the USN (thanks to the 5-5-3 ratio prescribed by the Washington Naval Treaty). They planned on using torpedo attacks by their cruisers and destroyers in nighttime torpedo attacks in an attempt to thin out the US battle line. Of course, the attack on Pearl Harbor meant that the battle they planned to fight would never occur (although their night fighting expertise stood them in good stead in the battles off Guadalcanal). In this hypothetical battle, the Japanese get to see if their tactics would have worked. They have six battleships to the USN's eight. They have eight CAs armed with the deadly Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedo, while the Americans have four CAs and four Omaha class CLs. Both sides have two divisions of destroyers- one of the latest designs and one of WW1/early twenties vintage DDs. PLAN ORANGE 1939.txt (10.03 KB)
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Post by RNRobert on Feb 4, 2015 9:31:28 GMT -6
Interesting reading. Everyone wanted the Cold War to go away, be careful what you wish for. BTW, several years ago we did a cruise on the inland waterway from Amelia Island near Jacksonville to Charleston. We sailed right by Kings Bay, Georgia sub base. There was a big hanger like structure with several boats moored outside and one inside.
There is one silver lining to this cloud. We now have a target rich environment to shoot at; Russia, China, North Korea, Syria and don't forget Iran. Nice
I think we were better off during the Cold War. The hangar-like structure you saw at Kings Bay is probably used for loading ballistic missiles. I was stationed in Bangor, Washington when I was on the USS Georgia SSBN 729, and that base had a building that the subs would pull into to on-load and off-load missiles (the structure had a crane built in to the ceiling).
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Post by RNRobert on Jan 31, 2015 10:04:55 GMT -6
When I was a kid I recall watching a half-hour television show called Between the Wars. Hosted by Eric Sevareid, it discussed US politics and policies from the time of the Versailles Peace Conference to the Pearl Harbor attack. I recently found the complete 16 part series on YouTube. Posted below is the link to the first episode: www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2R-5EPs2_s&list=PLMZ40U1fwG9uPbYGKancMaTnLYzL2Roh3
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