Neither do i. I have never claimed to be his fan.

“…as reliable as Nostradamus…he was talking about the then next war with Hitler and not when GPS cruise missile technology was developed.”

So it WAS actually pretty prophetic, wasn’t it? Heheh….

“This discussion has pretty much turned pointless…”

I fully agree with that!

Once again, he was talking about the then next war with Hitler and not when GPS cruise missile technology was developed.

This discussion has pretty much turned pointless so I’ll be moving along.

GB-4 glide bombs were not much of a success either but they were the way of the future.

http://www.designation-systems.....p1/gb.html

“…in spite of (and not because of them)…but you knew that.”

Exactly. But my intention was to show that these ideas were not totally hopeless.

“As I said and I’m sure that you read, since he was writing in 1941 for a 1939-40 Baird aerial TV system I’d hardly venture to call it “his” idea.”

But i can’t be sure that he was even aware of this early system. And then there was that experimental Blitzkrieg TV…

As you see there were other things similar to what he had considered: Goliaths, Landing Vehicle Tracked and so on.

So once again, gadgets were a distraction and we won the war in spite of (and not because of them)…but you knew that.

I’m surprised that he didn’t “predict” Pykrete or the Christie Flying Tank http://www.roadabletimes.com/r.....istie.html

“But the technology was there. This goes to show that his ideas weren’t so wrong afteral.” As I said and I’m sure that you read, since he was writing in 1941 for a 1939-40 Baird aerial TV system I’d hardly venture to call it “his” idea.

But the technology was there. This goes to show that his ideas weren’t so wrong afteral.

And they even developed AND deployed electro-optical glide bomb in 1944.

http://www.earlytelevision.org/military_tv.html

“Some type of radio controlled, moving land mine…”

NDRC developed some kind of remote-controlled mineroller called Tricycle during the war. Never deployed AFAIK but still interesting device.

“I still say that the good Major still got more wrong than right.”

It would seem that similar ideas got at least some attention.

And “archaic” though they were we still manage to blunder our way to victory without television field maps.

The Baird airplane system of the 1930’s is probably what inspired his “pedictions” in 1941. This too didn’t get deployed.

I still say that the good Major still got more wrong than right.

Systems like this were actually built and tested during the war:

http://www.earlytelevision.org/blitzkrieg_tv.html

http://www.earlytelevision.org.....ystem.html

Tracked landing barge reminds me of good old LVTs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.....le_Tracked

“…the Fuehrer, who has some little reputation as a wizard of war surprises himself, is going to get the surprise of his life.”

And he certainly was surprised!

FB38… I haven’t read the article, but I think allocating limited rail resources to the “Final Solution” over the transport of munitions might have shown misplaced priorities.

Where do all of you live anyway? I’m in Oceanside, CA. Near San Diego.

Completely different contexts of course but you never know what will cause a synapse to fire!

And to your list of annoyances add “mano y mano” especially since the person saying it never mean hands!

Oh yeah, and make that gin martini, straight up, extra dry, twist of lemon.
And I’ll spot the second round

Keep in mind that article was the opinion of the officer writing it. Here is an article that blames Nazi ideology http://www.loyno.edu/~history/.....leming.htm and here is a monograph from the Army War College that blames the planning process http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA436298

The stormbirds link was fascinating, but I saw a comparison with the P-51 and not anything with Rolls-Royce engines.

http://www.stormbirds.com/squa.....hnical.htm

Good point on the cap and ball. His revolver was arguably more famous for using interchangeable parts than for somehow “standardizing” ammo.

And just for due diligence, the German Goliath was of course cable and NOT radio controlled.

I’d take issue with the Colt revolver of 1836, since it was a cap and ball affair it didn’t exactly “standardize” ammunition. The flip down trigger didn’t win a lot of fans either. Now a case could actually be made for the SAA of 1873 but that debate has raged for years.

And other than using manpower rather than some sort of artificial propulsion there was a “successful” (ok, up to the point of sinking!) submarine utilized in warfare by the Confederate Navy when the CSS Hunley sunk the Housatonic in Charleston Harbor.

Hardly modern, but it did sink a ship. And it’s still around

Put me in the camp of those who favor the theory that the US exceeded the Axis in plain old manufacturing causing the Germans to run out of anti-tank shells before we ran out of tanks.

Side by side comparisons of jet thrust are hardly to the point as well. Following that the C-5 Galaxy with 43,000 pounds of thrust per engine would be “superior” to the British Gloster Meteor and The Me262.

I will say that the British Roll’s Royce engines were used in planes that shot down V-1 buzz bombs while the Me262 actually shot down Allied planes. So a lot of it has to do with how you actually use hardware as well.

The German military depended upon horses throughout the war and it was this dependence on horses that lost them Russia.

Yes the Japanese did develop a suicide torpedo, the kaiten. There was only one ship confirmed to have been sunk by kaitens. The has been speculation that the USS Indianapolis was also sunk by kaitens though the captain of the submarine that did it denied it.

He also perpetuates one of my pet peeves; that whole “Monitor versus Merrimac” nonsense.

I loved the phrase ” America plows the earth, minding its own business, until the Redskins shoot their arrows out of the woods, and America then seizes its musket and fights exactly as hard as she works!”. Apparently he didn’t consider Indians as American.

As a former paratrooper the “bat-man suits” really cracks me up. Although they foreshadow today’s squirrel suits http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttz5oPpF1Js I can’t even imagine the chaos of even a rifle company of soldiers “flying” over a drop zone.

This is the guy who in 1922 wrote a book defending the viability of horse cavalry. For the interested it’s available online at google books http://books.google.com/books?.....p;as_brr=1

After his service he started a company that eventually became DC Comics (home of Superman and Batman) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.....-Nicholson