Bring me the head of Diego Garcia...and the Mayor of Addu Atoll too!

[sprior]

Read this in the news today, " A mother of seven, Ursula von der Leyen is Germany's labour minister..."

[sprior]

Another aircrew laid to rest

[sprior]

Time to get the Crabs off Ramree and more Airey-Fairies in me thinks.

[sprior]

If only they could speak English like Jack does.

[sprior]

Meanwhile back in Calcutta

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: sprior

Read this in the news today, " A mother of seven, Ursula von der Leyen is Germany's labour minister..."

That's a Von der ful story!

Her Italian counterpart is Alotta Fagina

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: sprior

Another aircrew laid to rest

Good work by the investigators.

Princess Anne came by and dedicated a memorial at Greenham Commons where my uncle, along with 15 others, was killed in a B-17 midair in 1944. The family lore was that it was a mission over the Bulge. It wasn't, but still ballsy flying around in bad weather with dozens of planes. He was in 2nd Lt Wilke's plane.

The first part of the memorial - The B17 Flying Fortress crash
The two B-17s, one from the 368th Bombardment Squadron and one from the 423rd Bombardment Squadron of the 306th Bombing Group, were returning from a mission in the German industrial heartland of Kassel when the accident occurred.

The aircrews of the 306th BG, known as the Reich Wreckers, were some of the most experienced in the U.S. Air Force, but fog enveloped northern Europe - the targets in Kassel were so obscured the bombs had to be dropped by radar. The weather worsened on their return to England and the two bombers, leading the formation back to their U.S. Eighth Air Force base at RAF Thurleigh, were diverted to RAF Greenham Common. At about 2,100 feet, the 368th BS B-17G, piloted by 2nd Lt. Charles Crooks, collided with the 423rd BS B-17G, piloted by 2nd Lt. Lorn Wilke.

Both planes crashed near Greenham Common, killing all but two of the 18 crewmen. Wilke remembered hearing a loud noise, followed by an explosion. His plane blew apart at the cockpit and he and his co-pilot, 1st Lt. John Murphy, were able to bail out, deploy their parachutes and escape. Crooks and the entire crew of the 368th BS plane were killed. Because of the bad weather, the collision was unobserved by other flyers in the formation.

Both Flying Fortresses ended up roughly two miles apart from each other - B-17 tail number 43-37633 (368th BS plane) near Bishops Green and B-17 tail number 43-38019 (423rd BS plane) near the Swan Roundabout, Newtown, to the west.

According to the USAAF accident report, dated January 1945: "The accident was unavoidable. The formation ran into conditions of extreme poor visibility and it is apparent that neither pilot saw the other aircraft."

http://www.usafe.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123319276

[Cap Mandrake]

I know they have the same service rating but I swear the PB4Y is harder to maintain than the B-24-D/D1.

I suspect you know who is behind it.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

I know they have the same service rating but I swear the PB4Y is harder to maintain than the B-24-D/D1.

I suspect you know who is behind it.

You mean that same union rep who fixed the Army/Navy game?

[Cap Mandrake]

We are completely out of SBD-3's. In 7 d, the SBD-5 and SB2C-1C arrive. Assuming the war isn't over by then, which should we use (we will probably need both to fill out depleted squadrons to tell you the truth)?

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

I know they have the same service rating but I swear the PB4Y is harder to maintain than the B-24-D/D1.

I suspect you know who is behind it.

You mean that same union rep who fixed the Army/Navy game?

The guy that got Stan Musial's draft number moved up..or was it the other way around?

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: sprior

Meanwhile back in Calcutta

Can you get "Bottle Fatigue" from the "Bottle of Britain"?

[sprior]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

We are completely out of SBD-3's. In 7 d, the SBD-5 and SB2C-1C arrive. Assuming the war isn't over by then, which should we use (we will probably need both to fill out depleted squadrons to tell you the truth)?

Go for the one with the biggest bombs!

Edit - Sorry, wrong joke.

[Cap Mandrake]

*******With VB-104 (PB4Y-1 equipped), Repair hangar, Naval Air Station, Ford Island, Pearl***********


Specialist 1st Class Granatelli: <grunting sounds, up on a platform working on No. 3 engine, big ratchet wrench in hands> SNAP!..Son of a bitch! Chief, these ******* bolts are reverse threaded.

CPO: Yep. I warned you guys.

Specialist 1st Class Granatelli: Why on earth are they reverse threaded?

CPO: So they fit in the parts that accept them.

Specialist 1st Class Granatelli: Yeah, but why are the parts reverse threaded?

CPO: So the bolts fit, Andy.

Specialist 1st Class Granatelli: But Chief, that's just going around in circles. It doesn't make any sense. If I put this supercharger plenum on with reverse threads then I will have to replace the plenum cover and the exhaust brackets. It's crazy.

CPO: Look, Granatelli, it's a catch, catch 22N.

Specialist 1st Class Granatelli: That's some catch.

CPO: The best.



Specialist 1st Class Granatelli: <discards packing box on ground. It reads "PB4Y-1/3&4/supercharger plenum & connectors/#1....M&M Enterprises, Aviation Division"

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

We are completely out of SBD-3's. In 7 d, the SBD-5 and SB2C-1C arrive. Assuming the war isn't over by then, which should we use (we will probably need both to fill out depleted squadrons to tell you the truth)?

Many of the USN float plane squadrons that arrive after game start can upgrade to the SBD-5, and only then to other DB types. The SBD2C-1C has a service rating of 3 and so can be a problem for sustained carriers ops. One tactic is to keep enough SBD-5 to upgrade the float planes through to SB2C-1C, but otherwise use the SDB-5 for the carrier based DB squadrons.

OTOH some people like the extra bombs the SB2C-1C carries and figure that carrier battles are one day only anyhow.

Either way if you get some of the float plane squadrons upgraded to DB then those squadrons can rotate to the carriers or stock the PI land bases.

[sprior]

Not so secret anymore. How to load a Polaris missile onto an SSBN.

[zuluhour]

I'll wait for the "Dummies" version.

[Grollub]

Dunno if the expression "Dummies" existed then.

Otherwise, given what happens now or then in this AAR, I think M&M should produce the book "Staff work for flunkies". Should be a hit.

[princep01]

Mandrake, lad, you have a marvelous sense of humor and a most wicked eye for the absurd.&nbsp; Screen writing, ever thought of it as a profession?

[Cap Mandrake]

[:D][:D] "Caution: Handle With Care" stenciled on a nuclear-armed missile. [:D][:D] It's like a scene out of Dr. Strangelove.