Comments by "Vikki McDonough" (@vikkimcdonough6153) on "How 100,000 Balloons Caused Chaos in World War 2" video.

  1. Operation Outward: One of the most cost-effective military operations ever. Operation Fu-Go: One of the least cost-effective military operations ever.
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  2. Minor quibble: all of these balloons (including the barrage balloons) used hydrogen, not helium, not just the Outward strike balloons. Hydrogen was vastly-cheaper-and-easier-to-get than helium (and still is, although to a lesser degree), it produces more lift for a given-size balloon, and its main disadvantage (its flammability) is basically a nonissue for unmanned balloons (especially given that the burning hydrogen rises up into the air, away from the ground).
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  3. 0:12 - When Germany started launching V-1 cruise missiles at the U.K. in 1944, they equipped their wings with devices to cut through barrage-balloon cables so that the wing would take out the cable rather than the other way around. I've never understood why this solution wasn't used earlier, or on manned aircraft.
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