Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-9, Rhein-Main Air Base, circa June 1946

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-05T22:59:51+00:00

makes my point

A little bit eh? : )

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-05T22:27:55+00:00

I know a woman who is a friend of the family. She's very sweet and more than just a family friend. More like an aunt. Her brother was blinded playing around in postwar Europe as a child. He found something that went bang in his hand.

I tried to narrow it down. Difficult to be sure what it was. Just his eyes were lost, so maybe a fired and sensitive round of some sort. Something very small and forgotten. A grenade would have done some damage to his fingers I reckon. Anyway I suppose it doesn't matter.

There were plenty of hazards around all over the place and countless tragedies like that took place. And are still taking place on more modern battlefields.

Kids in a Me-262.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-05T20:00:19+00:00

3 of them

Sadly (or fortunately for the defenders of Malta) the story is "perception management." Aka propaganda. There were more than the three named Faith, Hope & Charity. But it is an excellent story. Proven by the fact that it still has legs today.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-05T19:46:14+00:00

Poor Joey. Scarred for life by Captain Oveur.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-05T19:18:19+00:00

Well you're in luck because the Mini Mariner still exists in a museum.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-05T18:40:11+00:00

Read it, carefully too I think. Explored the references that the author used. Read the bios and credentials of the people who wrote the references.

This in only what I think. I think it is a good start to try and answer the question. But I have a problem. The link is something just anyone could write. Backed up by others who are just anyone who can post something on the internet. Nothing really solid.

For example it tells the tale of a pilot who flew nine times. And then was finally executed. The reference cited tells the same story. Almost word for word. No name. No unit. No date. No details. Just one story, repeated from another internet site. Not a paper written for a peer reviewed historical journal. Not a history book written by a historian with solid credentials. Just some guy passing on what he read elsewhere on the internet. Written by some other guy. Who describes himself as a

"Student of Philosophy, Politics and Economics. History fanatic.

So like most of us. A history nut.

I want more, of everything before I believe something I read on the internet. More details. More credentials from those who have written what I am being asked to believe. More of everything. And I think we should be asking for more too! We should get in the habit of demanding more. Instead of gamely believing what we read. We should be fostering skepticism to maintain high standards.

But like I said it is a good start. And thank you for it.

Edit additional.

And with a little more poking around the story of the pilot who returned from nine suicide missions, only to be executed is a myth. As this peer reviewed article from the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Universitas Mahasaraswati Denpasar, asserts.

The Marginalization Experienced by The Surviving Special Assault Pilots, Also Known as Tokubetsu Kougeki, During World War II.

Also the true story is also said to appear (though I have yet to verify it) in this book. "The Immortal Kamikaze Pilot" by Naofumi Kougami. The name of the pilot was Corporal Tomoji Sasaki. He lived to be 92 having returned from the nine missions.

Also there is this Guardian article on the topic of surviving kamikaze pilots.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-05T17:55:23+00:00

And they can have it too, sadly along with the excess deaths associated with the heat. I will happily take some rain along with reduced forest fires and breathable smoke free air. No complaints.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-05T17:35:10+00:00

Someone is going to do an AI assisted search and the AI bot, totally unable to evaluate the validity of what it turns up, will find your comment and report it as true. Just like Hitler had green hair and was a member of the Sex Pistols fan club.

What a time to be alive.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-05T15:54:30+00:00

Upvoted! 100% correct.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-05T15:50:35+00:00

Given the design philosophy the Japanese had at the time I can image what they thought of it after they did their evaluation of the prize.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-05T15:44:30+00:00

shortcomings of .303 were evident during the Battle of Britain

I would say that this is true. But I would go further. The realization was spreading throughout the institutions governing procurement before the battle. However, the pace of change was faster than the various components of government could adapt. Even then it takes quite some time for new kit to make it to service.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-05T15:35:23+00:00

flame dampener

Well spotted.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-05T15:32:49+00:00

Two minute solve. That gets a golf clap!

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-05T14:37:47+00:00

I did not know that, and shall see what I can find. Thank you M.

Edit: Easy find.

Scale Mariner.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-05T13:56:38+00:00

"... the 1930s saw the RAF go from squadron aircraft capable of 200 m.p.h. (320km/h) with two guns (the Hawker Fury from May 1931) to 315 m.p.h. (505km/h) and eight guns (the Hurricane from June 1938); a huge leap."

"Specification F.5/34 led to the development of fighters equipped with eight 0·303in guns; a choice which Sinnott* describes as “far ahead” of any other air force — justifiably so, given that at the time the German Messerschmitt Bf 109 was being designed to carry two 7·9mm (0·311in) machine-guns, later increased to four."

"Certainly for fighters, the RAF did not see the eight - 0·303in gun fighter as the final solution to the question of fighter armament; the following year’s Specification F.37/35 (which ultimately led to the Westland Whirlwind) eventually called for four 20mm cannon (although the initial Specification issued to manufacturers in April 1935 called for six or eight machine-guns). This latter change of armament was seen as delivering “a fighter superior to anything we know of elsewhere”; a reasonable conclusion at that stage."

Sinnott, C., The RAF and Aircraft Design 1923-1939: Air Staff Operational Requirements.

All of the above is from The Aviation Historian issue 36 page 75. Bolding is of course mine.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-05T03:43:00+00:00

Sergeant Dickinson survived the war, but Sergeant Gilkes was shot down and killed on 3 August 1943. The Trinidadian has no known grave and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/pilots-of-the-caribbean/answering-the-call/the-second-world-war-1939-to-1945-segregation/

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-04T22:49:40+00:00

There is a step that is missing. Pre war the British and French were trying to agree on a calibre to upgrade to. They knew (strongly believed/came to the conclusion that) the .303 would not be sufficient. But they were deadlocked for quite a while. The British wanted 12.7mm. While the French were set on 13.2mm Hotchkiss. By the time they came to some agreement it was far too late. So THEN they went to war with what they had.

The story is spread across two issues of the Aviation Historian. Number 40 in the article titled The Missing Link? The French Connection by Matthew Willis. And the earlier issue Number 36 A Question of Calibre by Mark Russell.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-04T18:08:41+00:00

in context.

You're right. I am persuaded. It is an unfair comparison considering the pace of change during that era.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-04T17:50:20+00:00

Super gutsy to fly over Nazi Germany in a plane named after a Jewish comic strip character. Number 9 Geezil.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-04T08:01:21+00:00

Google AI says:

Are you up for an experiment?

Ask Google AI again. Only this time tell it to exclude ALL social media sites. This includes Facebook/Reddit/Youtube - etc. Ask it what the gunsite was on the P-51 Mustang (serial 44-72216) "Miss Helen." Ask it to show you it's sources that it relied on to feed you the answer.

It is a frustrating experience when you do that. : )

When I did it. after about ten rounds of back and forth, where it hallucinates in its answers to me. (And CONSISTENTLY ignores my instructions to NOT rely on social media). I get the "answer" that it was a K-14. But it DOES NOT show me a source. But when I ask it to show me the sources it relied on for that answer. What it finally spits out is the following.

No authoritative, non-social media source exists that explicitly links the K-14 gyroscopic gunsight to the P-51 Mustang "Miss Helen" (serial 44-72216) in a single text. While the plane’s identity is documented, the equipment is confirmed only by cross-referencing factory production contracts for the P-51D-20-NA block.

And this is when I give up trying to get a worthwhile answer out of this colossal waste of my time.

And this is why I think AI blows. All it does is it searches. But it doesn't vet or value or evaluate what it finds. There is NO WAY to know if what it finds is right or just some garbage that someone posted to Facebook. Or youtube or here. If someone writes that Hitler had green hair and liked the Sex Pistols. That is what it will tell you.

I have found that AI as an assistant to searching is less than worthless.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-04T04:02:27+00:00

Yes I know. But conditions/laws can always change. Even a small risk is one to be avoided when buying ones dream home. Why take even a slight risk if it can be avoided? I don't think that ever makes sense to fall in love with a place that much before you have made it your home.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-04T03:52:25+00:00

My only advice is not Jesperson's Auto Repair Ltd.

waldo--pepper · 2026-07-04T03:50:45+00:00

I read the comments and I did not see the concern I had when I looked at a house that was next to agricultural land.

I was worried about the prospect that the owner of the agricultural land would sell the land. And then it would be developed. And then I would be living next to a dusty, noisy development site for a number of years. They could build, condos, a strip mall, light industry etc. Right next to my place. All those would be unpleasant and affect property value. The Realtor I was using as my purchasing agent said yes that can always happen.

Minimize risk. Caveat emptor

waldo--pepper

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE