Comments by "Big Blue" (@bigblue6917) on "Ed Nash's Military Matters" channel.

  1. Definitely one for the list of 'we'd like to have seen that one in service.' One of the things I've wondered about with this sort of configuration is how do you protect the engine as this is the rear of the aircraft is the area most likely to be hit. I think I read in Air Vice Marshal James Edgar 'Johnnie' Johnson's book Full Circle that he mentions that many Italian pilots did not want enclosed cockpits because stunt pilots did not use them. It was a case of if they don't use them I don't use them.
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  2. I understand the Russians had a secure phone called Era. This would help them talk to each other without being listened in on. The reason it is not working is because they destroyed the Ukrainian phone masts which they needed for their phones. The latest death of a Russian general was discovered on an expletive laden call between two people from the FSB. Which was not secure. Do they have a WhatsApp group do you think. A US expert has been looking at photographs and footage of the Russian trucks which have flat tyres. From what he has said the problem comes about because the trucks have not been moved for a long time which means that with the heat from the Sun and other weather factors has made the tyres fragile and subject to splitting. He believes these trucks have not been moved for a year.
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  3.  @JanBruunAndersen  that brought up a smile. The Chinese military have the ability to do just that because it is so corrupt. So both sides will be adding their percentage
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  4. I did know about this aircraft but this fills in much of the missing details. Thanks.
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  5.  @michaelbizon444  I supposed we'd have to do back the the flying apartment to do Art Deco.
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  6. The Mixmaster. Think I've got one of those in the kitchen. Actually I do know about Douglas XB-42 Mixmaster. Looks a handy aircraft for speed and range. But, as always, timing is everything. Pity it did not turn up in1942. Also I think if they lost the turrets and relied on speed like the Mosquito the top speed could mean only German jets could have caught her.
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  7. I understand that in 2015 the Thai air force held an exercise with the Chinese air force with the Thai's flying the Gripen. Though the Thai's did come out on top, especially with beyond visual range combat, they did have problems withing visual range. So they may have decided that rather then upgrade to a newer Gripen they would take advantage of the F-35.
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  8. @JZ's Best Friend It's classified.
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  9. Growlers would be a good addition but I was under the impression that they take time to get the dedicated crews trained up. I know the Russians just treat it as another mission, like flying ground attack or as escort, which is one f the reasons they lost so many aircraft to SAMs
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  10. Thanks Ed. Another aircraft brought out from the mists of time. It would have been interesting to have seen the B-534 as a monoplane with a retractable undercarriage. It would have been rather racy and it does look somewhat like the Hawker Hurricane with a longer nose.
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  11. There has been the sound of some serious back peddling there. It now turns out they can stay in service. But they are also buying some two seater turboprop aircraft for fighting in places like Afghanistan instead of using the A-10
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  12.  @jbepsilon  How to get yourself banned from an entire planet.
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  13. I love the 1930s aviation industry. Another day, another aircraft. Or three.
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  14. When I saw the photograph I thought it was some sort of flying radar for the fleet
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  15. I have come across this aircraft before so it is good to get further details about it. When I first saw it I looked at the nose and thought it was designed by Junker as it does have something of the Stuka about it. The German navy seems to have made the same mistakes about its composition that were made by the Kaiser before WW1 in trying to compete against the Royal Navy with surface ships. Back then the submarine was an unknown entity but after WW1 they had a better understanding of how to use them. And it's not like Hitler planned to take on Britain anyway.
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  16. Back in the early 60s the West was shocked to see the first Tupolev TU-22. The supersonic bomber. Turns out the biggest threat was to the crew as of the 311 they built 70 of the crashed. On the up side the air conditioning ran on what was effectively vodka.
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  17. It'll be interesting if the USAF does to Russia what they did to Iran and support the next drone with a couple of F-22s.
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  18. Not to worry. The crab people will get them. Tried to add an emoji but for some reason there is no half human and half crab emoji. You don't think the sea otter people got to them do you.😮
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  19. I had wondered what happened to the Fairey Delta as she showed such promise. So it is good to finally find out. Thanks Ed. Of course the best and most famous delta wing aircraft has got to be the Avro Vulcan. It had a phenomenal power to weight ratio which meant that at 60,000 feet it could out turn many fighters aircraft of its day. There was a joke that if it had a gun it could dogfight any Soviet fighter of the 50s or 60s.
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  20.  @20chocsaday  One of the things with the TSR 2 was that they wanted it all singing and all dancing. Whereas something more realistic, and much less expensive, could well have worked for the role it was to be used for. The plus side is that many lessons learned from the TSR 2 were carried forward with the Tornado.
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  21.  @xmeda  And watching you undercarriage fall off.
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  22. It is somewhat ironic how WW2 advanced some aircraft designs such as jets. while others like this one came to an end. I think we'd all like to have seen it fly. Without the wings collapsing. A couple of insect related aircraft stories for you. There is a story that Dr. Ernst Heinkel, the German aircraft designer, once told Hitler that the it was impossible for the bee to fly, but because as the bee did not know this it could fly. When I first came across this my thoughts were that the fact that the bee flies would suggest the Heikel was wrong. Turns out Heinkel was wrong, yes there's a surpise. High speed video has shown that not only does the bee fly but that it's method of flying is so advanced that we are not likely to replicate it anytime soon. Story number two. And here's one you may be able to make a video on. Post WW2 Britain built a research aircraft using something taken from some flying insects. In the past some insects had four wings but today only have two. A short stub of the original wing is still there and acts as a counterbalance to the remaining wing. So when the remaining wings beats down the wing stubs move up as a counter balance. This helped that insect with stability. So with the idea in mind it was thought that this could help with keeping aircraft stable when they fly. So they tried it out. The aircraft took off and once in the air the test pilot switch them on. Now it has been some time since a read about this so some of it is a bit sketchy. But as I remember it the stabilisers immediately cause great difficulties for the test pilot which left him struggling to fly the aircraft as the stabiliser was causing a lot of vibration. What's more he could not switch the stabiliser off so all he could do was extremely carefully fly the aircraft in a circuit until he could land it. He said it was the most terrifying experience he's ever had in his life. And no it was never flown again.
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  23. Ed does have a knack of finding these little gems to present to us.
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  24. I have heard of the Pirate but it usually came up in the ones that never made it chapter.
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  25.  @billdyke9745  Trouble is the rest has followed.
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  26. So the population of Montana
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  27.  @xgford94  Nope. That would make them way to close.
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  28.  @skepticalbadger  That's rather confusing. Are they a singing group or is that a reference to they do not bathe very often. Or possibly a mention of the fact they are not noted for being deep thinkers. Or is that all of the above plus several more which cannot be mentioned in polite company.
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  29.  @nowthenzen  I thought that was the Welsh
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  30.  @jaxxmadine  It didn't but they count those passing through.
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  31.  @IvorMektin1701  it wasn't a case of Britain not adapting more a case of different tactics. Over Britain the RAF were intercepting the Luftwaffe at much higher altitudes than the Soviets were. As the P-39 was no good at that hight it was of no use.
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  32.  @NoName-ds5uq  As I said. Once you've found its niche just stand back and leave them to it. It would have been interesting to have seen the CA-15 in action.
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  33. Sometimes mother knows best.
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  34. I've also noticed a few aircraft from this period where without the markings you'd be hard pushed to tell which navy it flew for.
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  35. Another peep behind the hanger doors of aviation history and those might-have-beens. They are now getting their 15 minutes of fame. I would be worth your while taking a look at many of the post war projects, many of which are quite astounding.
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  36. I, like you, are one of the few who have also heard of it.
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  37. Interesting that the Fury got 20 mm cannons while the Sabre still used the 50. calibre machineguns. This despite the fact that towards the end on WW2 the USAAF recognising that the machinegun no longer had the stopping power it once had.
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  38. The down side of in-depth research is is you get too in depth with the research. The downside you ask. Okay. You've got me there.
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  39. A very stunning looking aircraft. It was a while ago but I seem to remember reading that its method of delivering its nuclear weapon was to fly over the target then once it passed it to do a loop and tossed the bomb over its should just as the aircraft reached the top of the loop. The aircraft would complete the loop before flying off at high speed just as the bomb landed. Just imagine being on the ground at the target and watch the aircraft fly passed, then just as you thought you were safe you watch it do a loop and lob the bomb back your way.
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  40. I do know about the Welkin but it was a fairly brief mention which lacked your details.
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  41. So not the famed Football War.
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  42. The Hurricane was libel to water damage. So they thought it would be better to build the Hawker Sea Hurricane instead. This interesting because, as we know, the Japanese did a floatplane version of the Zero with some 327 being made.
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  43. This aircraft, along with the Italian Caproni Ca.60, make it look like an unaired episode of Dastardly and Muttley. Actually we should remember that though referred to as a triplane the Fokker Dr.1 was, in effect, also a quadplane as the Nighthawk was. This was because it had a wing between the wheels. Both the Fokker Dr.1 and the earlier Sopwith Triplane had big problems with wing loading for the top wing. In 1929 the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) investigations found that the upper wing of the Dr.1 carried a higher lift coefficient than the lower wing. At high speeds it could be 2.55 times as much. So I do wonder if the Nighthawk had the same problem.
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  44. Thanks, Ed. One thing I love about this site is that it fills in the blanks on aircraft I have heard about but would love to know more. Part of the problem with the French was that much of the aircraft earmarked for supporting Dien bien Phu were suddenly taken away for another operation, which meant they were not available for support at Dien bien Phu which was so desperately needed. A case of French muddled thinking. America did not make that mistake with Khe Sanh. The Soviet Su-25 looks very similar to the failed rival to the American A-10. It's thought that a Soviet spy satellite photographed that aircraft but missed the A-10.
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  45.  @EricIrl  It's been all down hill since Eric Bloodaxe. Eric got something of a bad reputation for other Eric's after him.
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  46.  dimapez  y that time they could have bought them from Britain.
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  47. Poor Thomas Selfridge. I am sure when he became involved with aviation it was not to be the first person to die in an aviation accident. We sometimes forget how the Wright brothers tried to monopolise aviation which is at odds with the fact that even they had to admit they had relied on other peoples discoveries.
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  48.  @Caseytify  the German navy did want to use airdropped mines but as the navy had to rely heavily on the airforce, and Goring was not going to oblige the navy, the pilots were untrained and dropped them without regards to their proper placement. This is what you get when you don't foster cooperation between people.
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  49. Definitely comes into the unsung hero category.
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  50. Always had a soft spot for Swedish postwar aircraft. Especially the Saab 35 Draken. Interestingly you can now buy the Draken. I'm going to need a much bigger piggy bank for that one. The British BAC/English Electric Lightning was also capable of intercepting the SR-71. Even, on one occasion, passing above the Blackbird.
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