Comments by "Solo Renegade" (@SoloRenegade) on "Dark Skies"
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Best plane to never fight? HA!!! Never wise to make such bold statements, especially regarding dubious aircraft choices.
Ta-152, DeHavilland Hornet, XF-107, F8U-3 Crusader II, YF-23, F-16XL, F-20, Avro Arrow, YF-12, and countless others deserve that title FAR more.
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@senseofthecommonman Had the Typhoon not existed, other aircraft would have been mass produced even more so than the troublesome and maintenance intensive Typhoon, that would have destroyed those trains and such instead. Therefore, no meaningful difference would have occurred. The Typhoon did a job, that other planes could also have done had the Typhoon not been an option. All the manufacturing and maintenance resources for the Typhoons would have gone into other airframes doing that same job.
And being a combat vet who has received air support from many types (A-10, F-18, AV-8B, B-1, AH-64, OH-58, AH-1, AC-130, MQ-1...). I don't care which aircraft puts ordnance on target, just so long as someone does it. I don't get personally attached to the aircraft, only the results.
The Typhoons consumed a lot of resources in terms of material, engineering, maintenance, time, etc, that could have gone into less troublesome airframes.
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@Zankaroo the pilots did fail, as they also failed with the P-38 initially.
But yes, the ultimate failure was that of the gov/military officials.
But just like the P-38, P-51, F4U, Spitfire, and others, once teh bugs got worked out it turned into a capable plane that could fight a Zero and win. Pilots wanted to turn fight and be aggressive, and they had to be taught to be more patient and use boom and zoom and wingman tactics to win (true for all of the best US fighters including the P-51, F4U, P-47, etc.). The age of pure maneuvering to win dogfights died in the 1930s, and the new pilots had to be taught that.
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@kirkmorrison6131 the P-39, P-40, P-38, and all other US and Western fighters in WW2 were designed as Boom and Zoom fighters, where speed is more important than maneuverability. Japan didn't get the memo in the 1930s and continued to focus on Turn and Burn fighters, which was a mistake. Late in WW2 and into the Cold War interceptors and climb rate became critical in addition to speed.
This meant that the P-40, P-39, P-38 and more were faster than the Zero, Ki43... but less maneuverable, and comparable or worse climb rates. But the late war P-39Q and P-40N were very well matched to the Zero in all but range and maneuverability.
The P-39 and P-40 had as good or better service ceilings, better speed, tougher, self sealing fuel tanks, and relied upon diving attacks and wingman tactics. this proved to be the superior form of dogfighting, and the standard practice for ALL US fighter pilots. The average US pilot was also better trained, whereas the Japanese had a very small pilot pool, and put ALL of their top pilots in one single unit. The F4F was also well balanced against the Zero. And the Spitfire was basically equal to the Zero in every way except range.
Early dogfights in the Pacific, starting on Dec 7, 1941, and going into 1943, US pilots were initially caught off guard by surprise, and werent aware of the Zero prior to Pearl Harbor. After Dec 7 piltos wanted revenge and were too aggressive and wanted to turn fight. It took time to get them to stay disciplined and stick to Boom and Zoom that their airplanes were designed for. Boom and Zoom fighting requires much more patience and discipline, and even online gamers are overall terrible at Boom and Zoom becasue they are too eager and aggressive. But most of the top aces were Boom and Zoom pilots (Red Baron, Eric Hartmann, Richard Bong, Rickenbacker, and many others.). Pilots like Hans Marseille, Werner Voss, and Saburo Sakai were Turn and Burn pilots, using superior piloting to outmaneuver their opponents.
Something to keep in mid, while the P-39 and P-40 werent as good against Japanese planes in maneuverability, they could both outmaneuver a Bf109, and the P-40 was superior to the P-47 in every way below 15k ft other than range and firepower. The P-40 was faster, accelerated quicker, was more maneuverable, was equally as tough taking punishment and still flying home, used in ground attack roles, was an excellent diving airplane, etc. than the P-47.
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@apis_aculei F4F finished WW2 7:1 against the zero, and even the Zero pilots themselves respected the F4F in a dogfight in the early South Pacific campaigns.
Speed, firepower, and wingman tactics are superior to what the Zero brought to the table. Agility ceased being important the day the Hawker Hart entered service with the RAF. But Japan's Samurai mindset refused to accept this reality.
It's just like how in a dogfight between a P-40 and a P-47, the P-40 pilot can't lose. You could replace the P-40 with an F6F, and F4U, etc, and the P-47 would still lose. Because while the P-47 is the superior fighter at high altitude, it can't kill the other planes unless it comes down to their altitude. And at those lower altitudes the P-47 can't defeat any of those airplanes in an even fight. This played out for real in state-side bar bets, where pilots of different types and branches of the military would dogfight 1-vs-1 to settle bets. the P-47s always lost, because their opponent would just keep the dogfight at low altitude where their airplanes were faster and more maneuverable than the P-47.
What good is maneuverability if you can't catch your target? what good is maneuverability if you can't run away from your attacker? P-38s exemplified this. Zeros were at the mercy of US P-38s once the US pilots learned to stick with boom and zoom tactics. Speed controls the engagement in a dogfight, not maneuverability. And in real life combat, dogfighting is a team sport. And setting up your pilots to fight 1-vs-1 fights in a fight where your opponent is using team tactics, even if you brought the same number of airplanes to the fight as your opponent, is a guaranteed loss for you.
War isn't fair, and when you lose in combat you don't get to claim it wasn't fair. Either you use what you have and you win, or you die.
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@ricardobeltranmonribot3182 But the F8F, Sea Fury, P-51, P-38, etc. were/are used as racing planes. People claim the P-47 was faster and such. But if that were true they'd have used them as air racers. Fact is, the P-47 sucked terribly below 15k ft.
A-36 was considered superior to the P-47 as a ground attacker. Faster and more maneuverable down low too.
Also, Mustangs were sometimes equipped with 4x cannons which are better than 8x .50cal.
But you can't compare a late war P-47 model to early war Planes. You need to compare them to other late war models, like the Ta-152, Spiteful, MB5, etc. Since the P-47N made as much contribution to the war as the P-80. You have to compare what was available in the period in question, not hypothetical scenarios about what would have happened had Germany held on for a few years longer.
The P-47N was only used in the Pacific, and P-47s sucked in the pacific due to their inadequate low altitude performance. The Mustangs did the job faster, easier, cheaper, with less maintenance, and for much lower cost. And Mustangs also required less training and were more comfortable to pilots on long missions.
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@specialman6004 But the P-39 started out very slightly better than the Zero in those areas, and improvements leading to the P-39Q (lighter, more horsepower, etc.), led to it improving a lot over the A6M later in the war. Also, US pilots even admitted judging the early P-39s overly harshly and unfairly. They were aggressive and wanted revenge for Pearl Harbor early on, and weren't patient enough or experienced enough yet to know how to use the P-39 effectively. US pilots fought too aggressively, when the P-39 and P-40 called for more patient tactics using altitude, speed/diving, superior numbers, and wingman tactics to defeat the more maneuverable Japanese fighters.
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@Newie69MK Yes, once people learned of the Zero, upon seeing a Ki-43 they'd regularly mistake it for a Zero. Easy to do when detailed info like we have now wasn't available, and when you sometimes only get a few moments to observe some of the details of the design, and probably not from favorable angles. But the shock comes from mistaken identity, or from stupidly trying to outmaneuver it rather than sticking with Boom and Zoom tactics. Both are easy mistakes, even today. Just observe people playing WW2 simulators and watch them make the exact same mistakes constantly. But the Zero was objectively better in testing, the Japanese did dogfight them against each other. And The Zero's early victories soon evaporated as later models of the various designs came along that negated the early advantages.
Did you know the P-39Q when rated at only 1200hp, had a 3k ft service ceiling advantage, a 50mph speed advantage, and a 700fpm climb rate advantage over teh Zero? And it's known the P-39Q engine was capable of 1700-2200hp. Imagine what an additional 500-1000hp would add to those numbers? P-39 in 1941 was at a disadvantage unless it came into the fight with superior altitude. But by late war, the P-39Q, F4F-4, P-40N were easily superior to the Zero (which had minimal to no real improvement over the course of the war). Japan simply lacked the resources and know-how at that time to make better engines. Also, only ~10k Zeros were built in teh war, where as many allied aircraft Each were built in comparable or greater numbers (F4U, F6F, F4F, P-40, P-51, P-47, P-38, P-39, Spitfire, etc). I find it fascinating how much myth and misunderstanding still surrounds the Zero. It's a fascinating airplane, with a fascinating story, it's fearsome reputation early on Was deserved, but it was not nearly as good as people try to claim by 1943 either. I've been studying it in great detail, and mostly from the Japanese perspective and sources.
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@billycaspersghost7528 I agree. It was better in the attack role than other British options. But the engine reliability never seems to have been addressed. The Allison engine, which was first built in 1930 (8yrs before the Napier Saber) lives on even now in an FW190D9, multiple IL2, new Yak 3 and 9, and was boosted to 3,200hp in racing planes, used in racing boats, pulling tractors, etc. A much more reliable engine platform with more power potential. And after WW2 ended, Typhoons were ditched. But WW2 planes like the P-51, P-47, F4U, DeHavilland Hornet, Sea Fury, A-1 Skyraider, A-26, etc. lived on and fought in multiple other wars as late as the 1980s.
To be totally fair, the Sea Fury is a direct descendent of the Typhoon. So without the Typhoon, the Sea Fury wouldn't have existed.
Hawker Hart bomber became the Hawker Demon/Fury.
The Fury became the Hurricane.
The Hurricane became the Tornado
The Tornado became the Typhoon
The Typhoon became the Tempest
The Tempest became the Tempest II
The Tempest II became the Sea Fury
I see the Typhoon as the Sopwith Camel of WW2. The Camel was highly regarded in history, but following the end of WW1, the Camels were very quickly ditched and the SE5a lived on. The Camels killed more of its own pilots than the Germans did. It filled a role, but it was a disaster of an airplane overall. Similarly the Typhoon killed its own pilots and was a load of trouble, but it was available and fit some roles enough to justify the casualties and high maintenance costs/time/resources it demanded.
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@jimdavis8391 Wrong.
2 things,
1) Close Air Support (CAS) - coordinated attacks with ground forces or ships in contact with the enemy.
2) Interdiction - striking railways, trains, supply convoys (trucks or ships), depots, etc behind enemy lines)
the US helped develop things such as dive bombing. The Luftwaffe and their Blitzkrieg warfare model in Spain, Poland, France, and Russia is the basis of modern CAS. The Luftwaffe had the Ju-87, Hs129, anti-tank equipped FW190s, etc. But the Russians seemed to value CAS the most of anyone. But the US and UK definitely both excelled at CAS. The US with P-47 and P-38 in Italy, southern Europe, and Northern Europe, as well as the south pacific using rockets and bombs. Modified B-25 in the South Pacific. P-40 in the Pacific and Mediterranean. F4U was one of the best fighter bombers of WW2 (4-5k bomb/rocket/cannon load from a carrier deck) and arguably the best dive bomber of WW2. The P-51/A-36 was used to bomb and strafe many ground targets. The US used the Mosquitos as well. A-24 Banshee/SBD. A-1 Skyraider, Martin Mauler (both late to the party though). A-20 Havoc, A-26 Invader. And many more US examples.
US was the best at interdiction and CAS overall in WW2.
Russians were good at CAS.
UK was good at CAS and Interdiction.
Germans were famous for CAS.
Italy and Japan sucked at CAS.
Italy, Japan, Germany, and Russia all sucked at interdiction.
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@leonardmiyata482 Yup :) But it also used rockets, and could carry multiple smaller bombs, single larger bombs, etc. Had some decent flexibility for a fighter regarding loadout. I find the F4U to be the best all around fighter of WW2. Land/Carrier plane, fighter, ground striker, fast, maneuverable enough, tough, good range, served well after WW2 was over... Ta 152, P-51, Mosquito, A-26, are some others I admire greatly as well.
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@IllustriousUnknown416 useless? Then why did Russian pilots suffer such horrifically high losses? and Why did German pilots rack up such high kill tallies on the Eastern Front? Germans made easy work of the Russian made planes, including the IL-2. If you can't climb you can't control the fight.
The Yaks were inferior down low to the P-51A, A-36, Typhoon, and others. Even the Hurricanes made easy work of the Stukas in 1940, when the still Yak-9 couldn't do it in 1945. Even the Russians used the P-39Q longer than they used the Yak-9.
People criticized the P-40 due to its inferior climb performance against the A6M, it's lack of range, etc. (and the P-40 was not even as bad as people try to claim). But the Me109 was much the same as the Zero. It had superior maneuverability and climb performance to the Yak-9, and the Yak-9 suffered high losses accordingly. And unlike the Yak-9, the Me109 had cannons that worked well. Heck, even Stuka pilots were able to score aerial victories against Russian planes. And just like the Yak-9, the P-40 could out maneuver an Me109 at low altitude. And the Russians liked and used the P-40 a lot as well. But they still suffered high losses, while the Germans enjoyed high kill tallies.
You say a lot, but none of it is worth much.
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@flarvin8945 The US didn't pull out because the "insurgency" won, they pulled out because we never should have been there to begin with. You are right, military might alone doesn't win a fight like this, but it is winnable, quite easily in fact (I have personal combat experience in this same sort of fight, and I am accomplished at it).
Afghanistan was the same issue, lack of political commitment. In the military we all knew how to win, but try convincing those in charge to let us do what needed to be done (and it's not what you think).
Actually, Vietnam would have gone Far Better for the US had we invaded all of Vietnam. Also, Vietnam was a Major transitionary time period for the US military. So comparing the Vietnam military to the US in Afghanistan is not an apples to apples comparison either.
But you have no actions by China to support your claims. Vietnam was not the same circumstances as Korea. Different time, different war, different politics, different global situation. And while China is willing to throw away lives in combat, the Chinese military lost far more men in Korea than they are willing to admit. Doing the same thing in Vietnam would have ended in even higher casualties for china. You don't anticipate a different behavior because you lack understanding. Things are never so simple as they seem at these scales.
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@flarvin8945 Yes, many in the military don't get it, most fail to see the bigger picture. But the reason I disagree with you is because you are the one failing to see the Even larger picture. There is far more that was going on during the 1960s and 1970s than what you are trying to Massively oversimplify it down to. You should take your own advice. Take a Far deeper dive into this period of history, but look at everything. Look at Vietnam, China, Russia, US, other conflicts leading up to this one. History of how the US got involved. It is not Korea. Just because they did it once, why would they react the Exact same way again? And on top of that we know for a fact (hindsight, people who were there) that China was not going to invade. It was not like Korea where they were just saying it. There is more to consider here than your overly simplistic repetition of school textbook talking points. Look at the political environment, the economic environment, the technological environment...
Actually the effective area needing to be controlled would have been smaller had the US gone north. The Insurgency would have been Far weaker had the US gone north. You clearly don't have a military mind.
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@flarvin8945 Yes, China commits troops when it feels threatened, like how India recently kicked their butts on the border. If the modern PLA can't handle India, they'd have had no chance against the US in the past. Why didn't China commit troops to Afghanistan? They share borders. Keep in mind Russia and China were fighting during the Vietnam conflict as well.
No, I'm not oversimplifying things, I make that statement because I understand how an Occupation of the north would have changed the Entire dynamic of the war, and clearly you don't have the knowledge to understand that yet. For a Basic idea, think of France vs Germany in WW1, and then think of France vs Germany in WW2. Study guerilla wars, then study conventional wars like Korea, WW2, etc. Study the Art of War, learn about Logistics and strategy. But Also learn how agriculture, economics, global politics, and other non-battlefield factors impact the progression of a war. It's a start, but even after studying all that, you may still not understand why I'd rather fight in Vietnam while occupying the entire country vs only half (if I had to fight that war).
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@flarvin8945 I did not fail to account for that, i have Literally been stating this Whole time the US's goal was not to invade the North. It was a police action, not a declaration of war, hence why we never went north. You seriously need to pay attention.
However, had war been declared, going north would have been the right move, no question, and would have made the guerilla war in Vietnam far harder to conduct for the North and China.
China got us by surprise in Korea, and it was a UN action, not merely a US action. The will to fight in Korea wasn't there in the US. We got dragged into a fight the public didn't support or understand. But that was a winnable war. But the US was still dealing with the aftermath of WW2, was distracted, and fighting the last war. But we still bloodied China far more than they bloodied us, not even a close. What straw am I grasping at, Exactly?
And china's actions show that many times since Korea they have not responded to actions in bordering nations with troops. Afghanistan was a US/NATO occupation with zero Chinese response. They have however invaded weak neighbors like Tibet. I too judge China on their actions, such as cultural and ethic genocide, mass murder, and mass starvation. What has China done militarily since Korea? Attacked helpless nations and people, that's all.
Occupying the north makes an insurgency by the north easy to manage and control. Same as in Afghanistan. Not occupying the north game them a base, manufacturing, SAMs, airbases, tanks, etc. All of that would have been gone. You claim I am naïve, but you don't even understand the most basic aspects of warfare. Just read the Art of War if nothing else.
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@flarvin8945 "I am not naïve enough to believe China would sit back let the USA invade north Vietnam without doing anything. ", but that is 100% predicated merely on your ASSUMPTION that you are correct, contrary to all evidence from those who held the decision making authority at the time. I think you are very naïve.
It's not grasping at straws. You claim to base your opinions on china's actions, and I cited examples of there actions, or lack there of. You think China would have stopped the US, despite the modern PLA being unable to take on lesser nations who fight back. China acts, i watch, and I take notes. And you reject anything that doesn't support your argument, and dismiss anything that contradicts your argument.
If the US invaded and controlled North Vietnam, there isn't much the north could accomplish by being "pushed closer to China", since they would have no country to control, and no power with which to snuggle up to China with. Once they are occupied, there is no more north vietnam. You seem to fail to grasp elementary concepts of warfare here. I could teach children these things and they'd understand them better than you. Go ahead and live in ignorance, I don't care.
"Your claim does not even stand on face value. The Vietnam war already taxed USA military resources enough that a draft was required to maintain adequate troop levels." Not true at all. The draft was due to a lack of public support for the conflict. Our military was still strong and capable even at the worst periods.
"So by your logic, added more territory to protect, with a significantly more hostile population and positioning a far more powerful opponent to the north to have to guard against." Again, you clearly lack an understanding of warfare, and how an occupation completely changes everything. The North would be gone, relegated to guerilla infantry and nothing more, losing all their agriculture, manufacturing, technological support, and access to China except by attacking from China across the vietnam border. No tanks, no SAMs, no jets, no AAA sites, no trucks, etc.
McArthur was an idiot, but he still understood warfare better than you.
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@scottinohio701 2 aces? but the Top 2 US aces flew Allison powered P-38s, not P-47.
P-47 was used longer, proves nothing.
P-47N wasn't used in Europe, and existed too late to matter. Same with the Spiteful, MB.5, CA-15, Ta-152, Hornet, F8F, P-38K, F2G, N1K2-J, A7M, Ki-94, P-80 and others.
You like to yell a lot, chill dude, before you have a stroke.
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@kingwein89 You clearly don't understand the fundamentals of air combat.
F4F and P-40 finished WW2 with more kills than losses against japanese aircraft. Your "facts" are false.
You get tired of hearing about it, because it doesn't fit your narrative. You want certain things to be true, even when they aren't. Sakai and other Japanese pilots didn't think much of the early P-40 and P-39 models, but the later models did much better. And the Japanese wholly acknowledged that the P-38, F6F, P-51, etc, completely owned them in the skies. I'll take their word over yours. A few elite pilots can generally win no matter what. But that doesn't make one plane objectively better. Maneuverability doesn't matter in WW2 air combat, speed, climb rate, altitude and range did. But in dogfight, speed, climb rate and team tactics were what mattered to survive.
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