And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
I have nothing against the Swordfish. They were clearly effective against the Bismarck. But if I was flying into battle in WW2, I would have other preferences in aircraft type.
Fabric over steel. Two .303 Browning MG's Three Men and a 90MPH max forward air speed. Stripped and with leading edge "slats" it had a stall speed so low that it was one of only a handful of fixed wing aircraft in history that could fly BACKWARDS in a strong headwind. ---Ray
Bart, if you cook closely, they're loading off a transport dolly and pushing backwards to get it into position to connect it to the release mechanism.
The RN had a problem in that the Fleet Air Arm was absorbed into the RAF post WW1 and only returned to FULL RN control in May 1939. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleet_Air_Arm
So all the big bucks went towards land based fighters, bombers and transport/utility aircraft, with carriaer aviation sucking hind teat.
So that the Fleet Air Arm went to war with obsolete Bi-plane fighters, and torpedo/bombers.
I have nothing against the Swordfish. They were clearly effective against the Bismarck. But if I was flying into battle in WW2, I would have other preferences in aircraft type.
ReplyDeleteFabric over steel. Two .303 Browning MG's Three Men and a 90MPH max forward air speed. Stripped and with leading edge "slats" it had a stall speed so low that it was one of only a handful of fixed wing aircraft in history that could fly BACKWARDS in a strong headwind. ---Ray
ReplyDeleteI hope that torpedo actually mounts a bit farther toward the tail than it appears in the photo on the ground.............
ReplyDeleteThem WAS the old days. I linked this on Facebook and my blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you, sir!
DeleteBart, if you cook closely, they're loading off a transport dolly and pushing backwards to get it into position to connect it to the release mechanism.
ReplyDeleteThe RN had a problem in that the Fleet Air Arm was absorbed into the RAF post WW1 and only returned to FULL RN control in May 1939. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleet_Air_Arm
So all the big bucks went towards land based fighters, bombers and transport/utility aircraft, with carriaer aviation sucking hind teat.
So that the Fleet Air Arm went to war with obsolete Bi-plane fighters, and torpedo/bombers.
RHB
"cook"? Bad Fingers! Meant to say "look". Fingers will be punished.
ReplyDelete