Russia, Europe, war?

[Sauron]

Well, I don't know why Hitler attacked Russia, maybe Russia was planning on attacking him, he wanted in there first, God only knows. Stalin was quite capable of backstabbing. I think what it was, that hitler wanted Russias resources. They needed them. And his generals screwed it up because they were using 1917 tatics. Britian of course should have been bombed a few more times, they nearly destroyed their air force...

[Computer Hobbyist]

Hitler attacked Russia to expand the size of the german homeland. At least that is what he said in his book.

The original analysis in this thread is interesting but badly flawed. As someone said the Chinese and Russians don't like each other. The Chinese are far more likely to invade Russia than Russia is to invade the Europe. The Russians know that and I suspect that drives their foreign policy more than anyone will admit.

[dragonxx4]

Thank you Xayd, gla dyou realise that the civilian people arent going to roll over and die, or quiver in their boots if someone tries to attack us. Also a point no one brought up is the Guard and Reserves of our military. Guard and Reserve are sent first then active duty. so the 500,000+ are sitting here doing the routine things as backup. As for the nuke statements made earlier, dont talk about things you dont know about. This world would end when the US decided it to, if we so wished, and its not a joking matter.

[Computer Hobbyist]

It also overlooks that invading the US from Asia or Europe would require more ships and transport planes than exist on the planet.

[jimmyrules712]

the US is the only country capable of deploying it's whole military on a large scale on a different continent in any kind of timely fashion. China or russia would never be able to get the forces to north america, even if they had the ships or planes, the US' would bring em down with the worlds largest and most powerful air and naval forces. All china or russia could do is defend themselves or attack nehboring countries.

[CaptTuna]

Originally posted by ToyotaSupra you have to think about the USA's allies and our NUKES!

After the way we went about going into Iraq our allies are few and far between now.
Now more than ever we seem to be the bully on the block, especially to the undeveloped nations. The sad part is that the more we give in foreign aid the more everyone wants.

[crjdriver]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Sauron
Towards the end of the war, was the only time that America actually came out with a good plane, and its engine was built by Rolls Royce.


A little lesson in aviation history.

The F4U Corsair had a P&W [Pratt Whitney R2800] The P-38 Lightning [which the leading ace of the war Major Bong flew] had an Allison engine. The P-47 Thunderbolt had the same P&W R2800. The F6F Hellcat used the R2800. All U.S. heavy and medium bombers used either Wright or P&W engines. I am assuming from your statement that you are referring to the North American P-51; well that plane did have a RR Designed engine from the D model on, however the engine was manufactured in the U.S. The P-51 was not the aircraft flown by the leading ace of the war. The P-38 was the aircraft used by Major Bong.

[Computer Hobbyist]

crjdriver.

I got to agree that Sauron missed that one. The great advantage of the P51 was its ability to fly all the way to Berlin. Great range combined with good performance allowed the bombers to get through. The F4U was faster and stayed in service longer. The P47 was a wonderful ground attack fighter. The F6F had wonderful performance. The P38 was called the fork tailed devil by the Germans who greatly feared it. We did produce some clunkers such as the P-39, P-40 (of flying tiger fame), and the Buffaloo. The F4F was inadequate when fighting the Zero. Our bombers were generally superior to anything on the otherside.

[crjdriver]

No doubt that the P-51 from the D model on was the best all round fighter [excepting the limited roll of the ME-262 at the end of the war]. The reason that the leading U.S. aces flew the P-38 is a simple one. Pilot experience mattered more than the slight advantage one aircraft had over the other. The P-38 had the extra engine to bring you home [resulting in a more experienced aviator]. One magic BB [lucky hit] in the radiator would bring down a liquid cooled aircraft. While the P&W R2800 was legendary for its ability to sustain battle damage and keep running.

[Computer Hobbyist]

The jug was a great airplane. Its pilots swore by it. Good in a dog fight, but great on ground attack.

Other countries had great planes too. Germany's FW 190 was an outstanding plane.

[Blakhart]

Offut Airshow a few weeks ago....
Mitsubishi A6M, F4U, P51F, P51D, B25, B17, MiG29, etc. Got to touch all of them save for the MiG, F117, B52.
Best part was I got to sit in the 51D. I did not want to get out. The guy says cockpit picture for $5. I was like I will give you $20 just to let me get in it! Funny, you'd think these things to be huge, really all there was space for is the guns, gas, guys, and bombs. They barely had room to get through the 17 or the 25. On the 51 I noticed before getting in it said crew weight 200 pounds. They weren't kidding, there was barely enough room to get in as I am about 6'2", 215. I bet a lot of guys got cramps flying in the 51s for hours at a stretch. The stick didn't have a lot of range of motion, your knees were right up on it almost, musta been fun to fly. I couldn't believe they would let common humans get into these things. Too bad the F4U wasn't open, it was perfect.
Oh to be rich and own some of these...

[crjdriver]

You are right there is not a lot of room in those aircraft. My dad took me in a few B-17s [he flew them during the war] when I was young. It is amazing how small the crawlway from aft to the forward navigator / bombardier’s station. Remember those guys were moving around with multiple layers of clothes, an electrically heated flying suit, and a heavy leather flying jacket. Since there was no pressurization [until the B-29] it got very cold at altitude. You needed to be small to fit in there.
The KC135s I flew in the AF and the aircraft I fly today at least have room to move around in when you want.