debunking the myth of the Spitfire

[PJ_Godzilla]

I think RJH57 once blew all his money on a second-hand Triumph Spitfire and was so butt-hurt over the Lucas electrical system that it drove him to Luftwhinery and the need to participate in dubious cosplay photos for his avatar.

Still, if the hat isn't a replica, it has genuine value.

The rest, alas, RJH, demands an answer. The photo is dubious... The part he didn't state was where the doubt accrues. I can only speak for myself, but I'm suspecting that alcohol might've been involved, for that is the most charitable source of bad judgment I can ascribe. Of course, my own avatar looks like a squashed cat, but it's the old family crest, long out of use in my neck of the woods. 

I'll give you this, though: FDR appears to be downright sympathetic to Stalin's politics, given how he sold Eastern Europe down the river. No wonder most of those nations participated in the Eastern funzone. Of course, post-war, they were all of a different mind, but, by my count, some 20-odd nations participated in the war on Russia - and they had cause.

[DaveBB]

No wet wings on either of those aircraft. Wing tanks yes, but no wet wings.

By all means you are correct.  I would just like to state the term "wet wing" relative to WWII aircraft is quite often misused.  A simple google search of "P-51 wet wing" or "P-47 wet wing" brought up a myriad of books and articles using that term to refer to onboard wing tanks.

[Karnak]

By all means you are correct.  I would just like to state the term "wet wing" relative to WWII aircraft is quite often misused.  A simple google search of "P-51 wet wing" or "P-47 wet wing" brought up a myriad of books and articles using that term to refer to onboard wing tanks.

Only WWII combat aircraft that I am aware of having a wet wing is the G4M 'Betty'.  Consequences were, as Mitsubishi told the IJN, predictable.

[RJH57]

...  dubious cosplay photos for his avatar.

The rest, alas, RJH, demands an answer. The photo is dubious...

I may be ubiquitous and loquacious - at times even magnanimous -  but dubious ? NEVER! 

[FLOOB]

Various sized tanks were carried under fuselage.

(Image removed from quote.)

And everybody knows that.

[FLOOB]

No, it's like saying car A won because car B ran out of fuel because the race was held next to where Car A was parked.

Which clearly makes car A better.

[MiloMorai]

Only WWII combat aircraft that I am aware of having a wet wing is the G4M 'Betty'.  Consequences were, as Mitsubishi told the IJN, predictable.

You sure about that?

[Karnak]

You sure about that?

I am sure the Betty had a wet wing and that Mitsubishi told the IJN that they could not make an effective warplane with the demanded range on only two engines, that they needed four to have the weight allowance for protection.  The IJN didn't have many pilots trained for four engines and told Mitsubishi to proceed with two engines.  Mitsubishi had to use the wet wing in order to save weight and carry more fuel to meet the range requirements.

I am not certain that the Betty was the only WWII combat aircraft with a wet wing.  I do know that the A6M, also famously flammable, did not use a wet wing.

[RJH57]

I'll give you this, though: FDR appears to be downright sympathetic to Stalin's politics, given how he sold Eastern Europe down the river.

not just FDR but Churchill as well - sold Poland, Czechoslovakia, etc...  down the river. Recent documents have revealed that British PM Maggie Thatcher was also quite willing for the Soviets to stay in Eastern Europe in order to prevent German re-unification. 

[MiloMorai]

I am sure the Betty had a wet wing and that Mitsubishi told the IJN that they could not make an effective warplane with the demanded range on only two engines, that they needed four to have the weight allowance for protection.  The IJN didn't have many pilots trained for four engines and told Mitsubishi to proceed with two engines.  Mitsubishi had to use the wet wing in order to save weight and carry more fuel to meet the range requirements.

I am not certain that the Betty was the only WWII combat aircraft with a wet wing.  I do know that the A6M, also famously flammable, did not use a wet wing.

The wings became wet when the non self-sealing fuel tanks were punctured.

[PJ_Godzilla]

not just FDR but Churchill as well - sold Poland, Czechoslovakia, etc...  down the river. Recent documents have revealed that British PM Maggie Thatcher was also quite willing for the Soviets to stay in Eastern Europe in order to prevent German re-unification.

The Venona decrypts outed several US diplomats - most notably, to my mind, Dean Acheson - as being in Soviet service. The British motivation is both more understandable and more shortsighted, imj.

[Squire]

Its so easy to sit in an armchair 60 years later and complain that the last generation did not enter into a Third World War in 1945 right after they just ended the Second World War to appease their political ideologies.

[FBKampfer]

Which clearly makes car A better.

Sure, if you want to apply that to an 87 honda civic drag racing a GT 500, and still say that the civic is the better car, sure. It's circumstance.

The 109E and Spitfire were comparable aircraft, it's just the 109 was made to do a job it wasn't designed for.

[MiloMorai]

The 109E and Spitfire were comparable aircraft, it's just the 109 was made to do a job it wasn't designed for.

That job would be ........

[FLOOB]

Sure, if you want to apply that to an 87 honda civic drag racing a GT 500, and still say that the civic is the better car, sure. It's circumstance.

The 109E and Spitfire were comparable aircraft, it's just the 109 was made to do a job it wasn't designed for.

Don't try to muddy the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.