"Nobody Ever WINS a War..."

mrrsm

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During World War II, England was at the forefront of creating Heavy Bomber Aircraft that spun up rapidly in their production and use after the German Luftwaffe dropped bombs on the Non-Miltary target of London. Prime Minister Winston Churchill was so incensed that within very short order...he authorized the Head of British Military Bomber Command, “Bomber” Harris... to attack the German City of Berlin and indiscriminately drop their bombs wherever they could as “Pay Back to Adolph Hitler” and Luftwaffe Head and WW I Flying Ace, Air Field Marshall Herman Goering.

Hitler’s angry reaction was to order Goering to shift his attacks away from the England’s Airfields and Radar Stations that were being pounded at that time, almost to extinction... onto the punishment of Great Britain’s civilians and this resulted in their suffering horrendous civilian casualties. Later ... in like gestures of revenge and to break the will of the German people, the cities of Cologne and Hamburg and many others would experience the loss of almost 700,000 people... half of which were civilians killed as a result of Incendiary Bombs that basically burned these places to the ground in Hurricane like Fire-Storms. By the end of World War II... 60,000,000 Human Beings would perish... as the final proof that “Nobody ever WINS a War...”

The two Major Bomber Aircraft involved on the British side of these events were the Lancaster “LANK” powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlin Engines (the same engine famously used in the British Spitfire and the American P-51 Mustang Fighter Planes) as well as the equally famous Wellington Bomber. But what is not commonly known here... is that the Wellington Bomber was designed by the same Scientist and Engineer (Dr. Barnes Wallace) who dreamed up the notion of using “Bouncing Bombs” to destroy the Hydro-Electric producing Dams in the Rhine and Ruhr valleys supporting Germany’s industrial might. These actions are available to see in the British Movie “The Dam Busters”and shows the Lancaster Bombers at work.

One of the features that was very unusual about the Wellington was its brilliant use of a ‘repeating geodesic form’ making up most of the All Aluminum Fuselage and other super-structures. This design allowed these light weight planes to be rapidly mass-produced and maintain consistency and reliability with the added aspect of having a simple assembly. The first Video called “A Worker’s Weekend” shows a Team of English civilians volunteers trying to beat the record set at an American Factory of Building a Bomber "From Scratch" in under 48 Hours... to being put through its paces in a Test Flight, The Brits wanted to do the same task in under 30 hours and would succeed to do so after less than 25 Hours to completion. This is the Best Example of Mechanical Modularity using Human Labour that I have ever seen!


This video shows the Story of the Wellington Bomber with the people who built the planes and the ageing pilots who flew them in combat to Victory:


These videos are about Dr. Barnes Wallace’ and his “Dam Busters”, "Bouncing Bombs" (thanks to liquid water being incompressible), British Aircraft Crews and their Special Tactics:

 
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Redbeard

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This reminds me of the "Willow Run Story".
This 10 minute video should be a "must see" for all history students.

Uploaded on Mar 16, 2011
The Willow Run manufacturing plant (owned/operated by Ford Motor Company until 1946) began life in 1939 as a farm providing vocational training for young men under the name Camp Willow Run. Sensing the need for war production plans were already in motion to build an aircraft production plant. Farming was effectively removed in 1941 when construction on the plant ensued. The plant, as a whole, concentrated on the production of Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engines, gliders, superchargers, and various avionics among other products. The main facility was completed on December 4, 1941, just days before the attack at Pearl Harbor. In addition, a full airstrip was constructed to facilitate testing of the finished bombers.

Willow Run reached peak output in 1944 which saw a complete B-24 Liberator leaving the assembly line every fifty five minutes. These completed aircraft were tested by on site air crews after final assembly. 8,685 complete B-24 Liberators were reportedly manufactured at the Willow Run plant accounting for roughly forty eight percent of the estimated 18,000 aircraft of this type produced during World War II.

Ford Motor Company sold the plant to Kaiser-Frazer in 1946 after which Kaiser produced various automobiles including the Henry J. Kaiser then sold the plant to General Motors in 1953. GM produced automobiles and transmission at the plant until late 2010 when operations were ceased.

Redbeard

Ronald Reagan said Nov. 5, 1984: “I noted the news coverage about the death of my friend, John Wayne. One headline read ‘The Last American Hero.’ … No one would be angrier than Duke Wayne at the suggestion that he was America’s last hero. Just before he died, John Wayne said in his unforgettable way, ‘Just give the American people a good cause, and there’s nothing they can’t lick.’”

John Wayne stated in a 1971 interview: “Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday.”

In his album, “America – Why I Love Her,” 1977, John Wayne stated:
“Face the Flag, son, and face reality.

Our strengths and our freedoms are based in unity.

The flag is but a symbol, son, of the world’s greatest nation,

And as long as it keeps flying, there’s cause for celebration.

So do what you’ve got to do, but always keep in mind,

A lot of people believe in peace … but there are the other kind.

If we want to keep these freedoms, we may have to fight again.

God forbid, but if we do, let’s always fight to win,

For the fate of a loser is futile and it’s bare:

No love, no peace … just misery and despair.

Face the Flag, son … and thank God it’s still there.”
 
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mrrsm

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Wow.... I'm going to REALLY date myself here... As a Third Class Aviation Machinists Mate in the USCG... to qualify for working on the Sikorsky H-52 and later ...the HH-3F Helicopters.... I had to first master the Pratt & Whitney R-1820 Engine Tear-down, Rebuild and Repair of that huge Radial Engine and Flight Check as an Air Crewman on the old United States Coast Fixed Wing SU-16 Grumman "Albatross".

But the truth of it was that I wanted to fly in and repair the Sikorsky Helicopters so damned much... that I really paid little attention to the Radial Bone-Shaker until much later. It was a formidable Propeller Engine that was used in so many different planes, too. That engine had a Very High Tension Shielded Magneto Ignition system and a superb High Altitude Super-Charger as well.

The closest thing I can think of for any record setting work on the helicopters was that while at Coast Guard Air Station St. Petersburg, the OOD came to me when I was off duty and said, "Bobby ...meet me at the HQ front desk in 10 minutes..." When I got there, the place was packed with the Day Crew and the Evening Crew and he announced," We have a serious situation right now, Men... We have two Birds down and one is way out on an active SAR Mission... and so we have a very great need to get one of the two down Helicopters airworthy as fast as possible." Then he looked right at me and asked, "Bobby... How long would it take you to change out the GE-T58 Engine on the 147X Helo...?"

I smiled broadly and said, "Well Sir... Can I use ANY personnel on base that I want?" The place broke up with laughter... until the Commander answered, "Damn Skippy Bobby...You can have anybody you want..." I told him... "If the Bad Engine is on the Port Side... I'll get this Bird Flight Worthy in Under an Hour..." Well, Jesus Palomino...you could hear a Pin Drop after I said that... because nobody would believe that it was possible. Then I told him... "I one extra enlisted Mechanic and ALL of the Night Crew Cooks from the Galley to muster at the 147X Helo on the Hanger Deck NOW!" Well it was like they were all shot out of a cannon.

What I had in mind to do was use people who would NOT challenge my orders and use the new experience to become part of the solution and The Mission. I stationed three Men with one on the Upper Gantry with me...One on the Port Helo-Sponson as a Tool Relay and Chain Hoist Handler and One near the Tool Shed to Grab-N- Go with any Speciality Tools I needed off the Wall in the Helo Shop. And so we had a "Relay System" going that allowed me to change out the entire engine and have it ready for a Run-Up just outside the Big Hanger ...in 57 minutes FLAT... Wow... Now THAT was one, Cool Day .. Because that very USCG Helicopter and Crew were able to perform a Rescue Mission that afternoon in time to save the lives of men on sinking Shrimp- Boat ...way The Hell Out in the Gulf of Mexico....

"Time of Your Life...Eh Kid?" -- Guido, The Killer Pimp to Joel Goodsen in 'Risky Business'
 
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