Comments by "John Burns" (@johnburns4017) on "Real Engineering" channel.

  1. +Max Steele "the only real flaw the plane had was small fuel tanks" Not so. The Spitfire was designed to be a short range fast interceptor. It was not designed for long range, so that is not a flaw. When the RAF needed a plane that could fly over to Germany they developed the Mustang, getting a US company to make it for them as British aircraft companies were working 24/7.
    7
  2. +Fascist Canuck "The flaw was they caught fire too easily AND there were never enough pilots." The pilots, not a flaw with the actual plane.
    7
  3. +Baker7498Army "Fatal flaw" doesn't stop Spitfire from being in service until the jet age, one of few pre-war fighter designs that lasted that long. In 1957 the the Spitfire made its last operational flight, in active British military markings, from RAF Woodvale near Liverpool.
    5
  4. The Spitfire was the most complete plane at the time.
    4
  5. +Bad Beard Bill Excellent leadership on the British side meant the BofB was a one sided affair.
    2
  6. Not in the winter war.
    2
  7. bwda666 After the 1940 peace deal the Finns moved closer to Germany. They would side with anyone to keep the Soviets out. The Soviets were retrieving former territory as far as they were concerned. The Germans gave the Finns weapons and oil which was a rare commodity for the Germans. Finnish leader Mannerheim (who could hardly speak Finnish being a Russian speaker, needing an interpreter), was the only non-German leader told of the Barbarossa attack. Not even Mussolini knew. Hitler went to Finland to wish Mannerheim a happy birthday. Finnish troops would attack the USSR simultaneously with Germany. Hitler was furious that the Finns stopped their troops at the 1939 borders. He thought they would go further with the Germans. Some Finish troops did go further into the USSR but for strategic defence reasons. Finland is not actually in Scandinavia, although they would like to be. They were one of the 4 Baltic states, but pushed themselves into the Scandinavian sphere with many thinking they are in Scandinavia. The people originate from Russia near the Urals, while Scandinavians and northern Germans are of the same stock as the British. The Finns were not in NATO fearful of the Soviets moving into the country again. They did all not to antagonise the Soviets. Finland is an eastern European country, but speaking to them you would think they were in the middle of the Irish Sea.
    2
  8. Martin de Angelis You bet your boots!
    2
  9. +barracuda7018 What world are you in? Holland did no such thing. ♦ The aim of the Germans was to destroy the RAFs fighting capability to resist a seaborne invasion. ♦ The Germans never destroyed the RAF. ♦ More Germans planes were destroyed than British. ♦ There was more British planes at the end of the battle than at the beginning. ♦ The Germans lost. ♦ It was a British win.
    2
  10. +Berge Jermakian The Spitfire had eight machine guns to give a greater spread of fire.
    2
  11. +Fascist Canuck "The flaw was they caught fire too " New to me.
    2
  12. +Fascist Canuck You are seriously disturbed.
    2
  13. They would also pull out of dives that would rip the wings off the little Me109s.
    2
  14. The housing crisis is solved by Land Value Tax. LVT prods people to use land efficiently. This also has to be backed up by relaxed planning regulations. LVT near eliminates land hoarding and speculation in land. Anyone familiar with economics will know the devastating effects of these negative activities on an economy - and housing people. Technology will not solve the housing problem. It has not in over 200 years.
    2
  15. This does not cover zero emissions hydrogen as a fuel. Hydrogen is much lighter than aviation fuel for energy per weight. But more volumous. Hydrogen would need to be stored in the body not wings making the plane fatter. Hydrogen fuel in planes is a real thing with much R&D going on.
    2
  16. Ireland.
    2
  17. Oh no! History is not his strong point. "the Germans as usual, were well ahead of the competition." How wrong.
    2
  18. Mikkel Bjäll You are one screwed up man. Get therapy quick.
    2
  19. In Italy American troops played a minor role in the operation. Throughout the war even the ‘American’ Fifth Army usually had as many, if not more, British, Canadian, NZ, Polish, Italian, Polish or French troops in the army than Americans. It was not until almost 1945 that even the US Fifth Army was majority American troops. Americans rarely made up more than a third of Allied ground forces in Italy.
    2
  20. Germany produces too much electricity in the summer. This can be used to produce hydrogen which can be used in winter.
    2
  21. The first mass manufacturing was in Portsmouth England. The Royal Navy's massive fleet of wooden sailing ships needed millions of rope pulley blocks. A mass manufacturing factory was set up making them. They also sold them to merchant ship makers.
    2
  22.  @majesticredneck4093  The Jumbo Sherman broke down a lot, as the mechanicals were not up to moving the increased weight.
    2
  23. True it was not unique to Merlin powered planes.
    1
  24. +Bad Beard Bill Carburettors were inefficient and cheap. At certain speed the centre two cylinders would have more fuel than the outer two and the reverse in other situations. Control was poor. Compared to even electro/mechanical fuel injection they are crude.
    1
  25. +soaringtractor Tractor McTrackface, the Carb' problem was solved immediately. Two-stage auto-superchanging was fitted giving the engine 70mph more and another 10,000 feet of operation.
    1
  26. +Thee Adjudicator "It's a miracle we won the war given we were always a technological step behind." *The British were ahead in the scientific war. The Germans could only dream of making planes like the Lancaster, Mosquito, Mustang (basically a British plane), Tempest, Meteor, etc. The British were far ahead on RADAR, SONAR. Proximity fuse, armoured aircraft carriers, etc. The British figured out how to produced the A-Bomb (the MAUD Committee). The British also developed germ warfare but never used it. The experiments on a Scottish island meant until recently no one could go on it.
    1
  27. The Germans were not involved in the 1939 winter war. They were in the later conflict when the Soviets attacked the Finns. The Germans aided the Finns as a diversion to slow down Soviet progress into Germany. The Finns made a peace with the Soviets and Britain and then turned on the Germans to get them out.
    1
  28. The Germans flatly refused to aid the Finns in the 1939 winter war as they signed a pact with the USSR months previously. Between them they divided up countries. The USSR was to have the four Baltic countries which Finland was one and Germany the western part of Poland. Finland was not regarded as being grouped with Scandinavia, although in the Nordic Council. Only 20 years previously Finland was part of Russia, with the Soviets reoccupying their territory. Germany was not allied to the USSR. The British and French were attempting to get arms to Finland with some getting through. When the Soviets were threatening to invade Finland again, the Finns allowed German troops onto their soil, although not being allied to Germany. Britain then declared war on Finland being a co-belligerent. When Finland made peace with the USSR and Britain a part of the peace deal was the ejection of German forces from Finland. The Germans were asked to leave. They never, so the Finns fought the Germans to get them out, otherwise the Soviets would have run right into Finland.
    1
  29. bwda666 Yes. Most of Norway went Germany's way and there was a move keep the north of Norway which would give access to Finland. Matters in France took on a different complexion with French troops moving home. Without holding northern Norway it was near impossible to supply Finland properly. The Finish peace deal with the USSR which meant Soviet troops were not occupying all of Finland, scuppered any troop deployment to Finland. Churchill, who was not PM then, objected to abandoning northern Norway.
    1
  30. The large frontal area was a disadvantage for radial engines, giving a greater fuselage width and a greater area for bullets to hit from the front.
    1
  31. The landing gear was only a real problem on the Seafire, the carrier based Spitfire. The pitching decks gave it a problems. Planes designed specifically for carriers had the wheels wide apart.
    1
  32. +thevoxdeus "If neither the US or USSR ever entered the war, the Germans would have eventually worn down the Brits" An opinion of course, hardly a balanced view. The reality was that British industry was equal size to Germany's. The British could raise an army of over 40 million from it's empire. The British assembled 2.6 million to march into Burma, far larger than any US army in the Far East. The Royal Navy blockade of Germany was highly effective starving Germany of Food, rubber, oil and vital metals, etc. Read Wages of Destruction - The Making and Breaking of the NAZI Economy by Prof Adam Tooze.
    1
  33. +diGritz1 "Most don't realize it but it was almost as dangerous to simply fly some planes as it was to take into combat." The last Spitfires in the RAF flew in 1957 being relegated to weather data gathering (Thum unit) based near Liverpool. They just flew them around in circles at different levels gathering temp and humidity data. In the 1950s two pilots in the Thum unit were killed.
    1
  34. diGritz1 "One of the most incredible aspects yet relatively unknown were the female ferry pilots that were tasked with delivering planes through both theaters. I believe in the UK a total of 15 female pilots were lost during these operations in the UK" Mustangs were finished off in Liverpool. Young girls test flew them over the Mersey estuary (one killed there) and delivered them to units, US and British. They would take a bomber with them and all get in it to fly back home - flown by a lone girl. The US men at bases were amazed when a whole batch of new planes were delivered, young girls got out and showed them the basics of how to fly them. Some would not accept instruction from the girls.
    1
  35. +Martin de Angelis This is all being wise in hindsight.
    1
  36. Flying inverted and diving are not quite the same thing. If a Spitfire peeled away in dive initially the engine would cut out. That was solved for the Mustang.
    1
  37. +The real doktorbimmer Bimmer McBimface, the later version of the Merlin had Lucas Fuel Injection. Now you know.
    1
  38. The US carbs were used to fit on US made Merlins under licence on the USA. It meant a shorter lead time.
    1
  39. +The real doktorbimmer The carbs have been explained to you many times - idiot!
    1
  40. +The real doktorbimmer The Spitfire was the best fighter design.
    1
  41. +The real doktorbimmer This one is barking mad!
    1
  42. +barracuda7018 "UNDER EQUAL CIRCUMSTANCES 109'S WOULD HAVE EATEN SHITFIRE'S FOR BREAKFAST " Total drivel " the 109 was the superior fighter" More drivel.
    1
  43. Only because the German had to rely on it as they developed only the FW-190 after it. The British made the Typhoon, Tempest, Mustang, etc and some US fighters. Comparing type for type the Spitfire was superior, as the Germans found out over Dunkirk and southern England.
    1
  44. Bimmer McBimface, as the video states, the problem was solved before RR got Packard to make the Merlin under licence. The Merlin later use fuel injection.
    1
  45. +soaringtractor Tractor McTrackface, The Spitfire was a short range inceptor. The Mustang was specified by the Britsh Air Ministry to have a longer range to operate over Germany from England. Now you know.
    1
  46. This video is very poor in some points. The carburettor problem was immediately solved by inserting a venturi invented by a women engineer, Mrs Shilling, as stated. Called Mrs Shilling's little hole. The planes were immediately retrofitted during the early stages of the Battle of Britain, with the negative Gs causing the engine cut out not a problem. Later Merlin engines had fuel injection, as did the Me109. But from 1942 the Merlins also had fully auto supercharging.
    1
  47. 2/3 said yes? Obviously Americans.
    1
  48. He keeps mispronouncing the word "many", pronouncing it is as manny. He is wrong, as the Soviets produced more T-34s than the US produced Shermans.
    1
  49. Stangford Lough is in Northern Ireland, not Ireland. Northern Ireland in a different country to Ireland being in the United Kingdom.
    1
  50. @pjd412 You may have a point.
    1