Recent content by iron

I would argue (based on my readings in Meirzjewski's "The Collapse of the German war economy") that had the effort in this time period been focused on the German transportation infrastructure and internal lines of communication instead of being tossed hilly-nilly against an unfocused and...

I can't remember the name of the creator of the video for the life of me. It is a brand new posting to YouTube so it should show up pretty easy in a basic search. It's about 20 minutes long and covers the whole concept from start to finish. Search terms: super Phantom should take you right to it.

I watched a YouTube video the other day where they took a look at Boeing's proposed super Phantom update. This involved a substantial set of upgrades to the later production model F-4s, then in service. Included in these were new engines (P&W F100 derivatives), a conformal fuselage modification...

I've often thought that the Germans may have a missed opportunity of sorts in not repurposing the v1 cruise missile as a stand off weapon for use against USAAF bomber formations. It would require some changes to operate in this environment and role, but these should be doable with existing...

The same basic thing happened at Maple Flag when the Buccaneers came to play.

Back in 1977 a handful of guys in CF-104s made life pretty difficult for most everyone at Red Flag, F-15s included. This was all boom and zoom and strictly based on firing solutions for the 20mm Vulcan. It should be noted that these were all high-time instructor pilots from the OTU (417 Sqd) in...

Could you imagine coming down after a two and a half week trip like that one (Gelb)? WTF did I just do? I've never touched the s*** but I have some friends from the past who have completely wrecked their lives.

My thoughts? Economics, plain and simple. If they didn't go to war (to secure vital foreign exchange by plunder), the Nazi economy would have collapsed. This is the primary reason why Hjalmar Schacht bailed on his offices in 1936 and Goering's ministries(4 year plan/ RWHG) stepped in. Goering...

That is indeed what I am saying. We were in a very, very different set of circumstances when that particular deal was done. Canada held a huge amount of leverage in the bilateral relationship at the time. We had been punching way above our weight class (with regards to our military) for about 10...

Beaverlodge? Up by Grande Prairie? With your mention of tornadoes it would have to be there during Maple flag or at Goose Bay when the NATO low-level training for the German air force was happening.

Over the horizon backscatter equipment was a pretty nascent technology at the time. Things in this field were evolving at a ridiculous rate, both for communications, as well as for radar usage. The transient nature of the atmospheric electromagnetic activity in the North played havoc with these...

A couple of problems with this idea. First and foremost, the "Mark 3" Arrow does not exist, other than as a napkin sketch. The amount of engineering that would be required to redesign this aircraft (to meet a role it was never intended for) would be staggering. As it was, the interceptor was...

I've never seen that map before in all of my years hunting around for stuff on the CF-105. Most interesting. I think it's safe to presume that a lot of these FOBs they are showing here would have required significant upgrading to the runways/support infrastructure in order to operate the Arrow...

I'm not sure who you are disagreeing with? Me? Or RJO?

Indeed. It opens up a whole different pile of butterflies as with regards to Germany's prospects for an earlier economic dominance of Europe in a rapidly modernizing society/demographic. There's an obvious reference to the standing joke that Germany actually "won" WWII, it just took another 50...