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

  1.  @huwzebediahthomas9193  We may laugh but Russia brought the T-62 back into action and that was based on the T-54/55 which dates from 1948.
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  2. Well the XC-99 is not just a forgotten aircraft but one I've never heard of. And as I have been interested in aircraft for many years that takes some doing.
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  3. Seeing that there was another excellent video of Ed's coming up I was suddenly reminded of a book I had years ago. It was a small book full of aircraft like these. Aircraft that were just a little bit late, or never made it to production or were very limited in number. Always found it an enjoyable book. One thing we can see in all of these videos is the importance of timing. If the Woomera had just been a few years early it could have been a very useful aircraft to have if it was working properly. I do wonder about using it as a torpedo bomber as the external fuel tanks do look a bit close together. Was the Woomera the first aircraft to use remote turrets? I know the B-29 used them but was it the first?
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  4.  @rob5944  Funny you should mention the head wind blowing the aircraft backwards. The earliest British and French WW1 aircraft were very slow and did have this problem while returning from flying over German lines. The only way the could return to their own lines was to tack across the wind like a sailing boat. The Luftwaffe was to all intents and purposes as tactical arm of the German army with a limited strategic role. I have to agree with you about the effect of strategic bombing on civilians. Actually this was known much earlier from the Zeppelin and later Gotha bomber raids on Britain in WW1. Something often missed about the raids on Britain in WW1 was that much of what was put in place to deal with them meant that Britain was much better prepared for the Battle of Britain
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  5.  @kentl7228  True but once one was shot down and the realisation that the monster could be slain set in the level of fear was not the same. Also the Zeppelins were never as effective as it was thought they would be. For one thing most nights the wind came from the west which made it a headwind for Zeppelins flying towards England. And if it was a strong headwind this would often mean they would be diverted to other lesser targets. This made them less effective as far as Germany was concerned. And as soon as the Gotha bombers were available in sufficient numbers Zeppelin raids were stopped. Interestingly one of those involved in the fight against these raids was General Hugh Dowding who as Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding would lead the Royal air Force during the Battle of Britain.
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  6. Not sure how I missed this one. When the Royal Air Force approached North American to build some of Curtiss's aircraft for them North American showed the RAF their ideas for a fighter. The RAF said yes but found it to be underpowered. So they took out the Alison engine and but in the Merlin in its place. So the aircraft went from being the A-36 to the P-51. And we all know what happened next.
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  7. The most produce. Yes I do know that. It looks like it was the first to make the famed 25 sorties.
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  8.  @hughgordon6435  Sounds about right. I did come across something on YouTube about there being a special pipeline which runs from a nearby port which is supposed to supply they fuel for a hypersonic aircraft. I think it's hypersonic.
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  9. While the rest of us.🤨
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  10. You may enjoy Ed talking about paint drying but thing of it from his point of view. He has to watch the paint dry without the benefit of his narration.
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  11. It's interesting how the best piston engined aircraft ever produced came right at the end of the war but were just as piston engines were being superseded by the jet engine.
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  12. Keep an eye on your Germans
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  13. Actually the film was shot in Italy and is their latest pasta. Just need to get the size right.
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  14.  @NoName-sb9tp  Thanks
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  15.  @alerossi8564  Thanks
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  16. That China visit has been postponed. The US secretary of state has decided to delay the trip. Interestingly China has claimed it is a weather balloon which was blown off course. So a learning experience for the Chinese. The wind blows things around. This follows on from their last experiment where a man stood outside and discovered that when it rains you get wet. There next experiment looks at what is said about brass monkeys and cold weather. Do they really lose their bearings. No GPS jokes please.
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  17. Great looking aircraft. Pity it wasn't ready in 1939. Imagine the Battle of Britain with squadrons of MB.5s over Kent. You really do not have time to be a perfectionist in wartime. Which is why the whole production run of German Panther tanks was less then three months worth of T-34s. Having said that when it comes to ejector seats you do want something a little bit better then good enough.
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  18. Another little know aircraft to tickle my interest. Always a good day when one of your videos pops up.
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  19. Typical Australia. What's not getting rained on is on fire and what's not on fire is getting rained on. The things you'll do for fun. Stay dry
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  20. As locomotives had been using water condensers for some time by this point I do wonder why they didn't use that.
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  21.  @psz5515  Sorry no. It was some time ago, I think back in the 90s, so I cannot remember the source. I do remember it partly because of the reuse of the Spitfire wing and partly because I found the concept of an aircraft designed to take on these huge fleets of Soviet helicopters fascinating. The Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy do have this thing about low level flying. I know when the RAF took over the RN's Buccaneers and flew them at Red Flag and they were so low, 15 to 20 feet off the ground, the US Airforce could not touch them. So hurtling around at tree top hight would mean nothing to them.
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  22.  @sichere  Funnily enough I had the same thoughts. I know that it the chinook had to fly at top speed the Apache helicopters flying in support could not keep up.
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  23.  @sailingbrewer  You'd think so but as helicopters use chaff and flares as well. So there are times when you just have to use guns. And that means flying low and slow.
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  24.  @clivestainlesssteelwomble7665  This is true. And they also sold opium to China which got us into to wars with China.
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  25. If you wanted something different, aviation wise, you have to go Italian
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  26. I do know of this aircraft and what they planned to do with it. And we all know about the Luftwaffe would later use fighter aircraft such as the 109 to ram US bombers. It's interesting that both Japan and Germany became so desperate that they thought suicide attacks were the solution. But in Germany when your boss is a sycophantic junkie should you expect clearheaded thinking
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  27. start with a monoplane and end with a biplane. Or jets.
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  28.  @casinodelonge  If it isn't mint or something similar then you know not to trust them
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  29.  @direktorpresident  True. But it was the fact that they had to tack across the wind like they were in a sailing ship which struck me as being the most interesting.
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  30.  @politenessman3901  yet Putin's yacht is worth $100 million. His job pays well.
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  31.  @None-zc5vg  Same thing happened to the Mosquito. The glue holding to laminations together came apart in the heat.
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  32. From Antonov, the people who gave you the Antonov A40 flying tank, we have the Antonov AN-14Sh flying hovercraft. Wait. didn't the hovercraft fly anyway. Yes it does fly very low. But it is counted as flying. Even had a pilot and everything. You get a feeling it should have been in a Bond movie.
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  33. Well, they would make good drones.
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  34. Makes the Corsair look like a better aircraft for landing.
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  35. What if indeed
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  36. It looks like one of those self assembly beds you order only to find the parts come from three different beds.
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  37.  @bob_the_bomb4508  I did think of that but as a fighter the wing would make it easy to bounce from above, especially as the enemy is most likely to be ahead of you.
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  38.  @mahbriggs  And the biplane had just reach its peak. Even so low mounted wings were very common by this time.
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  39.  FlitzerFlash  Yep, your right. Still get to watch it happen though
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  40.  FlitzerFlash  When you look at aviation history it is often surprising how much earlier things were. There was a British swept wing aircraft in the early 1920s. Over 20 years before the likes of the Me-262. And I am sure there was others before that.
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  41.  @mikepette4422  But true. Possibly.🤔
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  42. Wasn't there an Italian who built a steam powered floatplane back in the 1880s I think. He tried it out on a lake and claimed it did briefly fly though there were no witnesses
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  43. The between the wars period is one of odd design ideas and things which could have been very good if only.
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  44. Thanks for reminding me about the Airfix model. I'd forgotten all about that.
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  45. Sometimes you don't realise just how complicated aircraft recognition can become. Pilot 1: Is that one of our Maryland's or one of theirs. Pilot 2: Not sure. Wait a minute and we'll find out if they start shooting at us.
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  46. The USAF did fly tactical bombers in the ground support role in Vietnam. They flew the Martin B-57 Canberra, as did the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). I did read the that Canberra of the RAAF was so noted for its accuracy that US Forward Air Controllers preferred to use them if they were available. There is the possibility the the US Army and Airforce missed out on a much better solution in the form of the Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne. A helicopter with the potential speed and firepower to have taken on the role of both the A-10 and the AH- 64 Apache. I believe one of the reasons the AH=56 was not accepted, besides it's speed making it too fast for the army airforce agreement, was its cost. But compared to the cost of both the AH-65 and the A-10 combined it was possibly a much better solution. And it would have meant it would have been under the control of the US Army rather than the US Airforce and would therefore have been under the armies budget.
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  47.  @DraigBlackCat  Thanks. Some interesting thoughts
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  48.  @willstand2514  This does seem to be more of a problem with getting things made in places like China which are not set up for western sizes. So it is more a case that your feet are the same size but the sizes shown are wrong.
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  49.  @johnp8131  We're showing our age John
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  50. Well, it's been awhile since anyone went balloon busting. Though the balloons were usually at a much lower altitude and were much better defended. And the USAF pilot who shot this one down has to get another 35 to beat the Belgian ace Willy Coppens.
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