Comments by "Helium Road" (@RCAvhstape) on "Ed Nash's Military Matters" channel.

  1. The 818 looks like it would've been a poor substitute for the Tomcat to me. Dorsal engine intakes cause compressor problems at high angles of attack, which would mean pulling G's in a dogfight would probably not have been feasible. Same thing with the poor cockpit visibility. In the early 60s aircraft were designed for long range interception with missiles and dogfighting was thought to be obsolete. Vietnam showed that to be not the case, so when the Tomcat was designed it had high pilot visibility and was able to handle close in fighting as well as 80+ mile intercepts, so it probably worked out better for the Navy in the end.
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  2. To be Devil's Advocate, McNamara was brought in to get control of the huge cost overruns, which were, and still are, a problem with government contracts. His background was in the Detroit automotive industry, though, and he was ill-suited for making defense policy. He hobbled the services' ability to evolve both technologically and personnel wise, he fucked up the Vietnam War in multiple ways and didn't understand the purpose or needs of the services. He might've made a good advisor to the Sec Def on cost cutting but he never should've had the job.
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  3.  @Paladin1873  Yes, Houston, home of Johnson Spaceflight Center lol
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  4.  @Easy-Eight  Grumman is now part of Northrop Grumman and doing quite well building rockets and spacecraft.
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  5. Notice in real life that the bigger the flying creature is, the slower it tends to flap its wings. A bald eagle vs. a honeybee for example. The machines in Dune are certainly cool-looking, but I imagine a machine capable of doing that would be horribly uncomfortable to ride in due to the vibration. For how they were used in the film, it seems a conventional helicopter would make more sense.
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  6.  @babboon5764  I believe that's common in a lot of T-tail designs.
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  7. One of the all time best carrier films.
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  8. The Phantom is still the meanest-looking jet fighter ever built. Just sitting still on the deck it looks like it's rearing to kick someone's ass, and if you've ever been on the ground when they scream overhead on a low level bombing run it's like a flying locomotive of death going by. They convey a sense of massive power.
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  9. My dad was in the Navy and his ship operated A1 Skyraiders, which they nicknamed "Spads". They were old fashioned and slow, but they carried an enormous weapon load and could fly forever on a single tank of gas, so they got used a lot for close air support. And according to history, they even managed to bag a MiG jet fighter kill in Vietnam. For what they used it for it is a solid aircraft.
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  10.  @hoilst265  Definitely awful
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  11.  @Easy-Eight  But the F-111 never had the makings of a varsity Grumman Cat.
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  12. I am the Jetmaster. Are you the bombkeeper?
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  13. If Boeing ever gets tapped to build another bomber, what are they gonna call it? The Hyperfortress?
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  14.  @Rigel_Chiokis  DaVinci's machine drawing was human-powered, just like the wax wings of Icarus. Splitting hairs here.
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  15.  @billballbuster7186 McDonnel Douglas merged with Boeing and kept Boeing's name, but it's arguable who ate who.
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  16.  @glhx2112  A shame, too, the Demon and Skyray were such cool-looking jets.
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