February 2020 Articles

• The Battle of the Bulge was the final German offensive campaign on the Western Front in World War II. Hitler’s orders were to split the Allied Forces and halt Allied use of the Belgian port of Antwerp, and so the action was slated for the densely forested Ardennes region of Belgium.

  

  Night Fighters in the Battle of the Bulge

  The Battle of the Bulge was the final German offensive campaign on the Western Front in World War II. Hitler’s orders were to split the Allied Forces and halt Allied use of the Belgian port of Antwerp, and so the action was slated for the densely forested Ardennes region of Belgium.

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• In November of 1942, Koga’s Zero had been extensively repaired. A Hamilton Standard propeller exactly like the Zero’s was fitted because the Zero prop was a copy of a Hamilton Standard. Koga’s Zero 21 had the Sakae 12 engine of 940hp. Then, flight-comparison tests were flown between the Zero and the current American fighters. The […]

  

  One on One: U.S. Fighters vs. Zero

  In November of 1942, Koga’s Zero had been extensively repaired. A Hamilton Standard propeller exactly like the Zero’s was fitted because the Zero prop was a copy of a Hamilton Standard. Koga’s Zero 21 had the Sakae 12 engine of 940hp. Then, flight-comparison tests were flown between the Zero and the current American fighters. The […]
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• The summer of 2025 will mark 85 years since the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe fought the world’s first great air campaign. The brown-green fighters swept down from altitude, pushing 300mph to attack the serried ranks of gray-green bombers. Within 1,000 feet of the enemy formation, the fighters opened fire, each with eight machine guns. Properly aimed, the effect could be devastating. Throughout the day, the Germans took a beating: 32 bombers destroyed and 18 damaged, plus nearly 30 fighters downed. But behind the numbers lay blood, fear and suffering. Radio operator Horst Zander’s Dornier 17 […]

  

  Their Finest Hour

  The summer of 2025 will mark 85 years since the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe fought the world’s first great air campaign. The brown-green fighters swept down from altitude, pushing 300mph to attack the serried ranks of gray-green bombers. Within 1,000 feet of the enemy formation, the fighters opened fire, each with eight machine guns. Properly aimed, the effect could be devastating. Throughout the day, the Germans took a beating: 32 bombers destroyed and 18 damaged, plus nearly 30 fighters downed. But behind the numbers lay blood, fear and suffering. Radio operator Horst Zander’s Dornier 17 […]
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• A P-47D Thunderbolt pilot had many ways to die: flak; German fighters; engine failure at low altitude; premature detonation of his own bombs; hitting trees or power lines while strafing; and terrible weather—weather that led to midair collisions, takeoff and landing accidents on icy airfields, pilot disorientation and fatal spins, and collisions with hillsides disguised […]

  

  Point Blank – Jugs Over the Battle of the Bulge

  A P-47D Thunderbolt pilot had many ways to die: flak; German fighters; engine failure at low altitude; premature detonation of his own bombs; hitting trees or power lines while strafing; and terrible weather—weather that led to midair collisions, takeoff and landing accidents on icy airfields, pilot disorientation and fatal spins, and collisions with hillsides disguised […]
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• Squadron Leader Ralph Sorley is widely unappreciated for his contribution to the Spitfire’s armament. The original specification listed four .303-caliber guns, which, considering the nature of combat, would have been woefully inadequate. But Sorley, who had flown with the Royal Navy in WW I, was the right man in the right place at the right […]

  

  Spitfire Guns

  Squadron Leader Ralph Sorley is widely unappreciated for his contribution to the Spitfire’s armament. The original specification listed four .303-caliber guns, which, considering the nature of combat, would have been woefully inadequate. But Sorley, who had flown with the Royal Navy in WW I, was the right man in the right place at the right […]
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• Anyone who grew up in the 1920s and 1930s learned very quickly that “Made in Japan” meant cheap price and poor quality. Almost everything bought in the five-and-dime stores had that tag. It seemed impossible to purchase anything imported from Japan that would not wear out or break after a very short useful life. That […]

  

  Zero: Myth, Mystery, and Fact

  Anyone who grew up in the 1920s and 1930s learned very quickly that “Made in Japan” meant cheap price and poor quality. Almost everything bought in the five-and-dime stores had that tag. It seemed impossible to purchase anything imported from Japan that would not wear out or break after a very short useful life. That […]
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