|
Slavvy posted:Also the intake tract on a late-war 109 went something like supercharger -> intercooler -> 2nd supercharger -> methanol injection. Which is just The P-47 is just as ridiculous: quote:The cowling admitted cooling air for the engine, left and right oil coolers, and the turbosupercharger intercooler system. The engine exhaust gases were routed into a pair of wastegate-equipped pipes that ran along each side of the cockpit to drive the turbosupercharger turbine at the bottom of the fuselage about halfway between cockpit and tail. At full power, the pipes glowed red at their forward ends and the turbine spun at 21,300 rpm.
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2014 04:48
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 21:11 |
|
|
Stalin was seriously paranoid about capitalists in England and even thought the war with Germany might be cover for a surprise attack by England. There was a case of rank incompetence by the British government when they let a known Italian spy's brother keep working in the embassy in the thirties, and the brother passed on more information to the spy. The KGB reported this up the ranks and Stalin took it as incontrovertible proof that the fascists and capitalists were working together. Even the day before the invasion, KGB intelligence officers were being sentenced to hard labour for reporting that a German invasion was imminent.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2014 05:21
|
|
|
It would be pretty hard for a KGB officer to get sentenced for a crime in 1941. Or, you know, exist. But yeah, a ton of solid intelligence, including from Soviet sympathizers among the highest German ranks ended up sitting in a box because Stalin made it abundantly clear that he did believe that Germany would attack, and anyone with information to the contrary would have a bad time.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2014 05:35
|
|
|
Ensign Expendable posted:It would be pretty hard for a KGB officer to get sentenced for a crime in 1941. Or, you know, exist.  NKGB.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2014 05:42
|
|
|
NKVD?
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2014 06:46
|
|
|
Saint Celestine posted:NKVD? Not necessarily, but I didn't know which s/he meant.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2014 06:47
|
|
|
I believe it was the NKGB but I could easily be wrong, I'll have to get my copy of The Mitrokhin Archive to check and post more details. P.S. I go by "he".
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2014 06:50
|
|
|
The Entire Universe posted:The P-47 is just as ridiculous: For the most ridiculous plane you need look no further than the XP-72, the final iteration of the P-47. Imagine a Thunderbolt - now imagine wrapping it around a 3600 horsepower R-4360 Wasp Major. Now give it x4 37mm cannons because at this point, why not. They had factories ready to go when the order was cancelled by the USAAF - as I understand these production lines were later employed making the engine nacelles of the XF-12, which were XP-72's sans cockpit and rear control surfaces. I'm still doing research but there may be an XP-72 floating around somewhere, which would be exciting. On a different note, I suppose this is as a good a place as any: The World at War, "We're on our Way." It has a version of "Strike up the Band" for the montage of all the tanks and guns being produced, but I've never been able to find who did that version or if there is a recording of it available somewhere. As far as military/war songs it is a personal favorite. "We're in a bigger, better war for your patriotic pastime. We don't know what we're fighting for, but we didn't know the last time."
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2014 08:57
|
|
|
The Entire Universe posted:The P-47 is just as ridiculous: Supercharger and turbocharger engines were common for aircraft in that time,in fact they are common for any kind of combustion engine since they are good and reliable way to increase power in an engine,but they are critical in airplanes because they help increase performance at high altitudes where there is less density of nitrous oxide. hump day bitches! fucked around with this message at 12:14 on Feb 1, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2014 12:12
|
|
|
High altitude caused quite a few different problems that needed to be sorted out. A favorite story of mine is of an engineer at Grumman during the testing of the F6F Hellcat, the engine would keep cutting out at 28,500ft and the test pilot would have to tip the nose down to keep from stalling. At about 25,000ft, it would start firing on all cylinders like nothing happened. They pulled the engine apart more than a few times trying to track down the problem and couldn't ever find anything wrong. The enginneer knew Republic was taking the new P-47 to about 40,000ft with the same Pratt & Whitney R2800 engine, so he called a friend that worked on the engineering team there and explained the problem. His friend asked if they had a pressurized ignition system installed, because air, believe it or not, acts as an insulator and at high altitude the high voltage running through the wires will ground out to the block and the engine won't fire. Since all the pressurized systems were slated to go to Republic, Grumman couldn't get their hands on one for testing anytime soon, so the two friends with some help of the security people left one unit in transit at a predesignated place that the Grumman people could aquire for a short time and put back when testing was done. With the ignition installed, the test F6F went to nearly 40,000ft with no problem as the engineers though it would.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2014 15:51
|
|
|
Engineering in those times had the biggest  to science ratio.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2014 16:59
|
|
|
Episode 2 of the hardcore History series about ww1 is out
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2014 17:59
|
|
|
Re: WW1, any opinions on Barbara Tuchman? I just got started on a borrowed copy of The Proud Tower (which isn't exactly military history but is still sorta related; I got August 1914 too but I want to finish the pre-war book first) and while I'm only on chapter 2 so far, the first chapter was definitely interesting.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2014 05:22
|
|
|
The Entire Universe posted:The P-47 is just as ridiculous: 
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2014 05:23
|
|
|
The R-2800 is a hell of an engine regardless; the turbosupercharger just makes it ridiculous. poo poo, look at the ducting they used on the P-61, which is simple by comparison: The P-61's R-2800s are nearly as powerful as the P-47 ("only" put out 2,250hp vice 2,535hp), but the P-47's insane turbocharger gave it another 10,000' of ceiling- 43,000' is just insane for a piston driven aircraft. grover fucked around with this message at 13:54 on Feb 2, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2014 13:49
|
|
|
The big engine cut-aways are a big reason why I like going to the USAF Museum, there's always a "ahh, that's how they did that" moment. That and their mix of old school and high tech, pushrods, carbs and a half mile of duct work connected to squirrel cage turbos. Makes me giddy.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2014 19:10
|
|
|
AATREK CURES KIDS posted:I believe it was the NKGB but I could easily be wrong, I'll have to get my copy of The Mitrokhin Archive to check and post more details. NKGB? Now that's cute. Does that stand for Neo-KGB?  (Sorry, it's the NKVD.)
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2014 22:07
|
|
|
Libluini posted:NKGB? Now that's cute. Does that stand for Neo-KGB? Narodniy Kommisssariat Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (People's Commissariat of State Security). It predates the KGB.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2014 22:20
|
|
|
Ensign Expendable posted:Narodniy Kommisssariat Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (People's Commissariat of State Security). It predates the KGB. Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del, NKVD. It was the umbrella organization which included, for example, the Main Directorate of State Security. (Glavnoe Upravlenie Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnost, or GUGB) The GUGB was the predecessor of the KGB. Libluini fucked around with this message at 22:35 on Feb 2, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2014 22:29
|
|
|
edit: ^^^welpLibluini posted:Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del, NKVD. It was the umbrella organization which included, for example, the Main Directorate of State Security. (Glavnoe Upravlenie Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnost, or GUGB) The GUGB was the predecessor of the KGB. Dude it's on the same fuckin' page.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2014 22:36
|
|
|
Libluini posted:Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del, NKVD. It was the umbrella organization which included, for example, the Main Directorate of State Security. (Glavnoe Upravlenie Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnost, or GUGB) The GUGB was the predecessor of the KGB. HEY GUNS fucked around with this message at 23:58 on Feb 2, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2014 23:40
|
|
|
a travelling HEGEL posted:Dude, I linked to that a page ago--and you were sniping at our Russianist for accuracy about his period? I think I technically linked a different page, but oh well. The more I read about Russian intelligence agencies, the more I get confused. And honestly, I never heard the term "NKGB" before today, in my school books it was always the NKVD!
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 00:01
|
|
|
Because those were two separate agencies with theoretically separate tasks and goals. One of them flourished, the other took the wrong side of some faction war and faded into obscurity. Also I always wonder why the VCheKa, NKVD and KGB are commonly known everywhere, but the no less significant GPU and OGPU are completely off the radar of most history amateurs.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 00:14
|
|
|
You never hear much about the role of the GRU in the Cold War either in mainstream media. Also all Soviet/Russian special forces are apparently 'spetsnaz' be they MVD, or Border Troops, CA, whatever.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 00:47
|
|
|
Probably because the World Wars are popular in general and the russian accents flow into the general knowledge via osmosis; to know about GPU and OGPU you pretty much need a particular interest in Soviet Union history. And KGB became the default Cold War Evil Russian organisation.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 00:48
|
|
|
Libluini posted:The more I read about Russian intelligence agencies, the more I get confused. And that's just the way we like it. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 00:49
|
|
|
Koesj posted:You never hear much about the role of the GRU in the Cold War either in mainstream media. Also all Soviet/Russian special forces are apparently 'spetsnaz' be they MVD, or Border Troops, CA, whatever. Much like every US soldier is / was a marine.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 00:57
|
|
|
Nah Jack Ryan is an ex-marine but at least Clancy (PBUH) knew about the GRU
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 01:02
|
|
|
Back as a wee lad I made the stupid decision to take AP United States History instead of AP World History, or even AP European History. Today this leaves me quite curious about what was going on in other parts of Earth while America was hurr durr Wild West hurr durr Civil War--like China! Opium Wars, the Self-Strengthening Movement in between, Sino-French War, and finally the First Sino-Japanese War. Bluntly, how much gut-punching did it take for China to accept the fetal position? How much of a technology gap was there in the meetings between the East and the West? What were the numbers involved in how much (or rather, how little) the Qing armies and navies compared with their counterparts? Really, I'm a little overwhelmed at where to start reading in order to understand the situations and mindsets at play with China in the late Age of Imperialism.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 03:14
|
|
|
Sidesaddle Cavalry posted:Back as a wee lad I made the stupid decision to take AP United States History instead of AP World History, or even AP European History. Today this leaves me quite curious about what was going on in other parts of Earth while America was hurr durr Wild West hurr durr Civil War--like China!
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 03:18
|
|
|
Meanwhile, the Prussians and Austrians had their own thing going on with the German and Italian states. Oh, The 2nd French Empire tried to install a puppet Emperor and government in Mexico too. Oh, and South American was pretty much embroiled in the War Of The Triple Alliance. EDIT 3: And there was the Boshin War in Japan, which was like a much more milder more polite national civil war sort of crisis. SeanBeansShako fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Feb 3, 2014 |
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 03:40
|
|
|
I see. Holy poo poo.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 04:03
|
|
|
Not-America is a fascinating place, I agree.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 04:13
|
|
|
Libluini posted:NKGB? Now that's cute. Does that stand for Neo-KGB? I checked my book, the time period was a mess. Apparently the security and intelligence portion of the NKVD was briefly known as the NKGB in February-July 1941, then renamed the NKVD, then became the NKGB again before becoming the MGB and later KGB. The page I was thinking of described four NKVD officers overseeing NKGB operations who were ordered to be "ground into labour camp dust" for making "false" intelligence reports of an imminent Nazi invasion. The day before Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, Beria wrote this letter to Stalin: Lavrentiy Beria posted:I again insist on recalling and punishing our ambassador to Berlin, Dekanozov, who keeps bombarding me with "reports" on Hitler's alleged preparations to attack the USR. He has reported that this attack will start tomorrow... But I and my people, Iosif Vissarionovich, have firmly embedded in our memory your wise conclusion: Hitler is not going to attack us in 1941.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 04:42
|
|
|
The Great Purge of the Red Army to what extent did it cripple the Red Army's readiness for 1941 and to what extent could it have 'helped'? Was there any evidence at all that any subset of the Red Army or any of its surviving Tsarist era officers were plotting against Stalin? The cons as I understand them: 1. A Chilling Effect that probably suppressed initiative and military innovation to some degree; i.e soldiers unwilling to 'interpret' or improvise on their orders to take advantage of the tactical situation? 2. The early theoretical development of what I think the West calls "Deep Battle/Deep Operations" was iirc crippled until the Germans invaded and took until 1943/44 (Bagration) to reach maturity. 3. Loss of expertise or experienced officers in military matters at all levels, meaning the organizational ability to efficiently "respond" to German actions even if the orders made strategic sense couldn't succeed. The only counter argument I've read is that purging so many officers allowed for a newer younger generation of officers to rise up but I honestly can't find a single high ranking officer whose career was helped in particular as a result. Rokossovsky, Malinovski, Zhukov, Konev and Timoshenko who I arguably judge as the best Soviet commanders none of them had an easier time, gently caress Rokossovsky was beaten and imprisoned during the Purges; his performance might've been better if he didn't have some bones broken during the ordeal. As an interesting 'alt-hist' argument, how much more effective would have the Soviet war effort had been, without the Purges, or suppose they ended abruptly early? Also, look at this awesome photograph wikipedia has now for Zhukov and Rokossovsky circa 1945.  Holy cow, that's beautiful and real looking.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 04:50
|
|
|
The only way a purge would have helped is if it cut out old farts like Budyonniy and Voroshilov and let progressive thinking commanders like Tukhachevskiy rise to power. But Tukhachevskiy was already powerful, so it wouldn't have helped all that much. The young officers that rose up to replace the purged ones were lacking experience, and lacking the initiative for improvisation, choosing to stick to manuals (which obviously couldn't cover everything). What really killed the Red Army's ability to be prepared for a modern war is treating anyone that was conducting a training exercise that led to an accident as a saboteur, meaning no combined arms training, no winter training, no diver training (although most of that was done by civilian organizations anyway), and a drastic reduction in all other kinds of training. After the fiasco in the Winter War, the army was allowed more leeway, but Barbarossa came too soon for it to fully recover. Raenir Salazar posted:
Odd how the guy behind the Marshals doesn't have any medals. I mean, from his shoulderboards, you can see that he's at least a Major (maybe even a Colonel, I don't see his stars). An officer of that rank would have at least something to show off, even a tedious "For Courage", and most likely one of the lower Orders. Ensign Expendable fucked around with this message at 05:05 on Feb 3, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 05:01
|
|
|
Ensign Expendable posted:Odd how the guy behind the Marshals doesn't have any medals. I mean, from his shoulderboards, you can see that he's at least a Major (maybe even a Colonel, I don't see his stars). An officer of that rank would have at least something to show off, even a tedious "For Courage", and most likely one of the lower Orders.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 05:08
|
|
|
The only pro I can think of for the great purge is that in Hearts of Iron it'll kill off most of your useless 'old guard' generals but even then its not worth it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 05:08
|
|
|
a travelling HEGEL posted:Is he wearing a less formal uniform? It's duller in tone. A field uniform would have khaki coloured shoulderboards, and you'd still wear your medals on it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 05:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 21:11 |
|
|
Ensign Expendable posted:A field uniform would have khaki coloured shoulderboards, and you'd still wear your medals on it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2014 05:23
|
|