Dan Carlin from Hard Core History talks to Elon Musk and Bill Riley from SpaceX on World War II aviation engineering. I expect most of y'all will enjoy this. Their approach to engineering as a game of rock-paper-scissors is interesting, and they apply that to each of these aircraft (as well as some others, like the Spitfire and FW-190).
Strengths and weaknesses of each plane are discussed, along with what could have been done to improve them (in particular the P-38). Also, the nearly fatal flaw of the P-51 which I hadn't heard anywhere, plus why the F6f was the most brilliant American fighter design of the war. I'd never heard that.
MP3 download here.
Youtube link here.
Interesting interview, and it's amazing how much difference the advances in technology make in the discussions!
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the length of the thing I almost stopped. Glad I didn't. Listened to the whole thing in two sessions. Probably the most interesting discussion I have heard lately.
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