Recent content by RandomChance

  1. British Leyland insanity options 1968-86

    It was rather fashionable for auto manufacturers to dabble with Wankel rotary engines, especially in the 60s. How about Leyland buying a license with the intention of producing a light, high output motor for small cars? For bonus insanity, they get a production engine just in time for the oil...
  2. Malaya What If

    Pearl & Dean takes me back to a misspent youth, sneaking into the pictures as a kid….
  3. What if these 2 aircraft meet in combat ….

    Slowest dogfight ever…
  4. Military tactics ( that were never developed or employed )

    Flying boat/Sea plane jet fighters! We don’t need vulnerable runways! (I know they were tested both in the UK and US - the Convair Sea Dart springs to mind)
  5. WW II Insanity Options

    Switzerland invades Germany. This starts with a cunning plan of sending exploding cuckoo clocks to senior Nazis and officers, all set to go off on D-Day.
  6. What if these 2 aircraft meet in combat ….

    F14 with Phoenix vs Mig 25. Although we saw USN Tomcats vs Libyan Foxbats in the Gulf of Sidra, a more interesting one would be Iranian vs Soviet. So less well trained Tomcat drivers vs Soviets flying full-fat, well maintained Foxbats (not export monkey versions). Although I did find Iran vs...
  7. English Electric Lightning into space

    Not quite a Lightning, but it did get off the ground… Turning the Reliant Robin into a space shuttle.
  8. Unbuilt Britain

    The Leicester plan looks quite old. It misses St Margaret’s Way (the A6) which opened in the late ‘70s (78?) but was planned much earlier (to link the the large council estates to the north of the city and provide a better through route for the A6 out of Leicester). It also seems to build...
  9. Sir John Valentine Carden Survives. Part 2.

    I have dim recollection of school puddings - in particular, sponge (that later found use as foam packing) topped with jam and coconut (more desiccated than a pharoah’s REDACTED) swimming in custard. Good times….
  10. Sir John Valentine Carden Survives. Part 2.

    Given Thailand has been quite prominent, a nice Green Curry might be appropriate.
  11. Munich Shuffle: 1938-1942

    I wonder how far the British got with the production of Anthrax cakes for Operation Vegetarian. OTL, we had 5 million ready by spring 1944.
  12. WI During Cuban Missile Crisis Khrushchev ordered his ships to run Blockade

    Not in 1962. Soviets had c.300 strategic warheads, the US 5000 (From a total stockpile of 3600 vs 27000 respectively), driven by an inability to deliver them. Europe would likely take a hit, but the US would only be bruised at this point.
  13. WI - The F-86 Sabre was not built, or not built on time for the Korean War?

    Looked at some options beyond the US. The UK had the Supermarine Swift and Hawker Hunter in development, but they wouldn’t be available until ‘54. The Dassault Ouragon is early enough and although officially considered a fighter bomber, it did hold its own with the Israelis against Mig-15 in...
  14. Ekhronoplanes effect on operation sea lion

    Much of the discussion here has made the (not unreasonable) assumption of a cross-channel invasion. Maybe these craft could be used to attack from unexpected vectors. For example, a rapid assault from Norway into Northumberland, or from the German or Dutch coast on Norfolk. Perhaps a...
  15. HMS Warspite in Falklands war

    Regarding KGV vs Vanguard, I seem to recall that Vanguard’s design was essentially the proposed Lion, with lessons learned from the KGV’s (notably the loss of Prince of Wales). They added more sheer to the bow which apparently made her a more seaworthy ship than the KGVs too. Still doesn’t get...
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