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Overnight Open Thread - 05/12/2024
[Roger Ball]

Greetings, oh great Horde of incredible magnitude! I appreciate your patience as I stand in for the pros. I am happy to share my joy about the month of May. First, everything is no longer covered with yellow pollen. Second, I can get through most days without some form of allergy med. Third, this is the month in 1942 that changed the course of the Pacific War. It was not the minutely, exhaustively researched, and reproduced Battle for Midway, which was admittedly an even greater event. That’s next month. I refer to the Battle of the Coral Sea that was fought from April 29 (or May 04) to May 8, 1942.

The Battle of the Coral Sea was the first time since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that the enemy’s seemingly relentless advance into the Pacific was checked. It was also the first major U.S. Navy fleet action against Japan and the first naval engagement in history in which the participating ships never sighted or fired directly at each other.

The Japanese were suffering from “victory disease”. Most of the Japanese people still believed the propaganda spewed out by the government and press. Any speech or action that would question the “information” would invite an uncomfortable visit from the Kempeitai. The army and navy commands, with a few exceptions, believed it too, thinking themselves invincible and on a holy quest for the emperor. And I will admit, there was not much prepared nor effective opposition. However, the first week in May proved that those beliefs were a bit ambitious.

“Coup de Gras – Battle of the Coral Sea” by R.G. Smith is one of many depictions of WW2 battles featuring aircraft and ships. The painting depicts a TBD (Torpedo Bomber Douglas) dropping a Mk13 torpedo on the light Japanese carrier SHOHO. The TBD was ordered in 1934 and entered service in 1937. Although it accounted for a number of firsts for Navy carrier planes, it was underpowered and dangerously slow, especially when carrying its primary weapon, a 1900-pound Mk13 aerial torpedo. A little surprisingly, the TBDs fared relatively well in the Coral Sea battle. But as we all know, their experience at Midway was “devastating”, not in a good way.

Both sides lost a carrier (SHOHO/IJN and Lexington/USN), a destroyer and many aircraft (92 IJN and 62 USN). See a graphic here. Thus, it might be considered a draw. But the action checked the Japanese advance in the South Pacific and is generally viewed as a strategic victory for the United States. It was historic because neither surface force saw the other. All engagements were carried out by aircraft. I think, even more critically, it was the baptism by fire for our pilots and aircrews. It was the first time they had faced the battle experienced Japanese navy and had fought them to a standstill. They had been bloodied but gave as good as they got.

Here's a declassified combat narrative of the battle from the Naval History Command archives for those so inclined. There are some funny things in the narrative like how our aircraft were engaged by “ZEROs and Me109s”. Heh…gotta work on that aircraft recce, boys.

R. G. Smith was trained as an engineer and employed by Douglas Aircraft Corporation in 1937. He developed his talent for art on the side. There is a good profile of Mr. Smith at the US Naval Institute here. Predictably, Douglas aircraft were often the subject of his paintings, but he painted all manner of vehicles and scenes. His work is prominently displayed in the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida.

To whiplash us to today, one word: electric.

Electric air taxi manufacturer Joby Aviation announced completion of its pre-production flight test program and is now shifting its focus to obtaining air certification using its prototype aircraft.

I have been following Joby closer than usual as my previous employer has committed a bunch of money to the endeavor. I understand the concept and it sounds cool. “Pilotless” still makes me nervous and I am skeptical about the longevity of batteries and electric performance overall. There are other players on the field including one that wants to debut their vehicle at the Paris Olympics this summer. What the heck. Maybe it will be awesome.

Here's a 5-minute CNBC vid about eVTOLS if you are interested:

But first, ”there are a few hurdles”.

But the quest to make these electric aircraft ubiquitous across the globe instead of just playthings for the rich is far from a given…Like all great promised paradigm shifts, numerous challenges loom—technical hurdles, regulatory mazes, the crucial battle for public acceptance and perhaps physics itself.

“…perhaps the physics itself.” Priceless.

Well…this actually looks pretty cool, physics be damned: JETSON ONE!

Now, just for fun, TOMCAT TALES. This was made in 2021 and you will see Dale “SNORT” Snodgrass who died in a small aircraft accident in June of that year.. It’s pretty long so pick your way through as desired.

The video has some very good discussions about the airplane and its 30-year history with the crews that flew them in peace and combat. At the 55:00 mark, you will see Captain Mark “MUTHA” Hubbard describe a ramp strike from the LSO’s (Landing Signals Officer) perspective. Been there. The next segment is about ejecting…been there too. I didn’t like nights either. It’s a dangerous job.

For even more fun, check out the official Blue Angels documentary trailer. It premiers in IMAX this weekend (17 May) and will eventually flow to Prime streaming. I’m going to see it in IMAX. If you have the opportunity, you should too.

You can use the IMAX website to find theaters and showtimes.
This ONT humbly brought to you by the Sound of Freedom.

*****

Weekly commenter stats for week of 5-12-2024


Top 10 commenters:
1 [540 comments] 'TheJamesMadison, fighting kaiju with Ishiro Honda' [75.84 posts/day]
2 [509 comments] 'Joe Mannix (Not a cop!)'
3 [440 comments] 'andycanuck (ZdexC)'
4 [405 comments] 'Bulgaroctonus'
5 [389 comments] 'Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden'
6 [314 comments] 'Skip '
7 [303 comments] 'Ciampino - Vitreous Humour is funny glass #58'
8 [294 comments] 'Moron Robbie - Little girls dreamt of being moms, women told them not to follow their dreams'
9 [278 comments] 'Archimedes'
10 [276 comments] 'Mr Aspirin Factory, red heifer owner'

Top 10 sockpuppeteers:
1 [293 names] 'Ciampino - Vitreous Humour is funny glass #58' [41.15 unique names/day]
2 [197 names] 'Preznit Joey B.'
3 [139 names] 'Look On the Sunny Side'
4 [126 names] 'Miklos'
5 [69 names] 'Quarter Twenty '
6 [63 names] 'Count de Monet'
7 [62 names] 'Duncanthrax'
8 [55 names] 'Auntie Miklos'
9 [52 names] 'I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper'
10 [44 names] 'It's by design'