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Battle of Palmdale [Chat]

ThomamelasThomamelas Only one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered User regular
So on the morning of August 16th, 1956 the US Navy launched a F6F-5K. Which was a Hellcat fighter converted to drone use. It's final flight was to be a missile test, after take off turning west to fly over the Pacific Ocean. Except it had other plans. After take off, during the transition from ground based control to airship based control something went wrong. And the Hellcat started going southeast from Point Mugu Naval Air Station. Which put the Hellcat on a path toward LA.

As you can imagine this set off a bit of a panic. An aircraft landing in LA could lead to deaths and lots of property damage. But the Navy didn't have anything that could catch it. So the Air Force was contacted and a pair of F-89D Scorpion were launched. The Scorpion is an interceptor. It was designed to attack waves of Soviet bombers. And when you're trying to break up Soviet bombers, you want to do it as far out as you can. So interceptors generally made trade offs for the goal of speed. And part of those trade offs are their weapons mix. They had rocket pods but no internal guns. Lacking the fuel for a protracted dogfight, it was felt that removing the guns would provide more speed.

So the Air Force found itself facing an unarmed drone had started circling in the desert area north west of LA and south west of Palmdale. With a weapons mix that was designed to hit waves of slow moving bombers flying in formation. But they had 208 rockets between them and they felt confident they could take down the aircraft. The D model Scorpions even had the shiny new E-6 fire control systems. All they needed to do was point the front of the aircraft at the drone, select if they were firing at the tails or from the side and the system would launch for them. Good in theory, less good in practice since the system wouldn't actually launch the rockets. Leaving the pilots to fire them manually.

Which wouldn't have been a challenge except that with the shiny new fire control system it was decided that clearly they don't need manual gunsights for the rocket. Still confident, the pilots set their rockets to fire in three groups and started to make runs on the aircraft. A few rockets managed glancing hits but none that set off the Mk 4 rockets. Now some people might be horrified at the idea of firing off rockets over sparsely but still populated areas. The pilots took care to try to avoid firing them at densely populated areas and had confidence that the safety in the Mk 4s would work. When the rocket found itself decelerating it was supposed to disarm. Of the 208 rockets, 197 were accounted for. 15 were found disarmed.

The rockets started numerous wildfires. The big one being around 350 acres and coming close to an explosives plant. Shrapnel and debris from the rockets landed in several homes, thankfully causing no injuries. Two cars were damaged. One took pieces from the rocket to the radiator and front tire. The other was a utility truck. The crew using it had decided to stop and eat lunch under a shady tree. Their lunch was interrupted when the rocket struck the utility truck and went off. Neither member of the crew was injured.

The two Scorpions returned to their base. And the Hellcat continued to circle for a bit. Eventually it crashed in the desert, harming no one. It wouldn't be found for another 41 years. And thus ended the Battle of Palmdale.

Posts

  • Apothe0sisApothe0sis Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality? Registered User regular
    In a similar vein my iPad didn't charge properly last night. Today is going to be unbearable.

  • RMS OceanicRMS Oceanic Registered User regular
    Actual Sunlight is a brief game about a man suffering from acute depression and it doesn't end well. I actually recommend avoiding it if your mental health isn't stable.

  • 21stCentury21stCentury Call me Pixel, or Pix for short! [They/Them]Registered User regular
    Yo, new yawkers.

    Yer city was great, I'll ah come back, see?

  • RonaldoTheGypsyRonaldoTheGypsy Yes, yes Registered User regular
    My mental health is strong. My body is flabby.

  • 21stCentury21stCentury Call me Pixel, or Pix for short! [They/Them]Registered User regular
    edited October 2016
    Actual Sunlight is a brief game about a man suffering from acute depression and it doesn't end well. I actually recommend avoiding it if your mental health isn't stable.

    Yeah. That's a game I was interested in then noped the fuck out of buying.

    21stCentury on
  • cB557cB557 voOOP Registered User regular
    edited October 2016
    I like this OP better

    cB557 on
  • LudiousLudious I just wanted a sandwich A temporally dislocated QuiznosRegistered User regular
    Thom I wanted to ask you since you're a military buff. The shit Donald trump has been saying re: the president etc "giving away" the plans for Mosul being dumb and that Patton etc would be rolling in their graves etc.

    Basically how do I explain to a person that he's an idiot that doesn't know what he's talking about? It's one thing to know someone is an idiot, it's another to be able to explain why.

  • DasUberEdwardDasUberEdward Registered User regular
  • nexuscrawlernexuscrawler Registered User regular
    21th does he most hilarious ny impersonation

  • nexuscrawlernexuscrawler Registered User regular
    Ludious wrote: »
    Thom I wanted to ask you since you're a military buff. The shit Donald trump has been saying re: the president etc "giving away" the plans for Mosul being dumb and that Patton etc would be rolling in their graves etc.

    Basically how do I explain to a person that he's an idiot that doesn't know what he's talking about? It's one thing to know someone is an idiot, it's another to be able to explain why.

    They've been announcing big attacks ahead of time to give civilians time to get out or find shelter

  • RMS OceanicRMS Oceanic Registered User regular

    *Looks at his Hadrian succession OP*

  • NecoNeco Worthless Garbage Registered User regular
    chat op politics

    technically Thom was a minute early, but DUE was a minute late

    tough call, tough call

  • DasUberEdwardDasUberEdward Registered User regular
    edited October 2016
    Neco wrote: »
    chat op politics

    technically Thom was a minute early, but DUE was a minute late

    tough call, tough call

    Yeah but I have pics.

    and my [chat] is seasonally appropriate.

    Let's move forward having known we did the right thing.

    DasUberEdward on
    steam_sig.png
  • NecoNeco Worthless Garbage Registered User regular
    vivace has caffe nico and i want a caffe nico

  • kedinikkedinik Captain of Industry Registered User regular
    Neco wrote: »
    chat op politics

    technically Thom was a minute early, but DUE was a minute late

    tough call, tough call

    Yeah but I have pics.

    and my [chat] is seasonally appropriate.

    Let's move forward having known we did the right thing.

    I pledge allegiance to each thread

    I made a game! Hotline Maui. Requires mouse and keyboard.
  • TraceTrace GNU Terry Pratchett; GNU Gus; GNU Carrie Fisher; GNU Adam We Registered User regular
    This [chat] has been approved by your AI Overlords

  • Donkey KongDonkey Kong Putting Nintendo out of business with AI nips Registered User regular
    so wait should I make a chat thread too?

    Thousands of hot, local singles are waiting to play at bubbulon.com.
  • ThomamelasThomamelas Only one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered User regular
    Ludious wrote: »
    Thom I wanted to ask you since you're a military buff. The shit Donald trump has been saying re: the president etc "giving away" the plans for Mosul being dumb and that Patton etc would be rolling in their graves etc.

    Basically how do I explain to a person that he's an idiot that doesn't know what he's talking about? It's one thing to know someone is an idiot, it's another to be able to explain why.

    @Ludious

    I'd point out a couple of things. Their aren't a lot of points for the Iraqi Army to hit for ISIS strongholds in Iraq. Mosul is the last big stronghold for them in Iraq. And it doesn't take a lot to predict where the Iraqi Army would go. They have also done a rather slow build up in the area. Partly because there are a lot of moving parts to this beyond just the Iraqi Army. You have various militas and Peshmerga forces to integrate. So it's been pretty clear for months that Mosul's days are numbered.

    Then you have the hope of trying to clear out as many civilians as possible, and hopefully convincing ISIS that the level of force they are facing is so overwhelming that they withdraw. The fight for Mosul itself is going to be nasty. City fighting is. City fighting with a civilian population in the city means massive death tolls. So the hope was to encourage people to flee. You also have some humanitarian stuff like setting up refugee camps in advance.

    So the goal here isn't really a surprise attack. The goal with Mosul is to create a situation where the enemy withdraws because they can't win, and if it does come to a fight, trying to be as humane as possible in a situation that will be horrifying. Speed in this case would be fucking terrible. It would mean a lot more lives lost for the Iraqi forces and more civilian deaths.

    As for Trump's love of Patton and MacArthur. Patton was a fine tactical general but he was a huge advocate of going from WWII right into WWIII. He was a guy you could tell to accomplish an objective and he would. He wasn't great at defining what the objectives should be. And Patton was a calvary commander. His response to everything was attack and attack now. But that conflicts with the political goals with the capture of Mosul. MacArthur was just a fucking idiot. Generally the nicest thing said about him is that he didn't bungle the post war governing of Japan. But his actions in WWII and Korea showed horrifying lapses of judgement. Honestly he would have been ideal as a general you send to Congress as long as you make sure you have enough blackmail material on him to keep Congress from appointing him to the Joint Chiefs. He really had no business leading units in the field.

    Short answer is: We're trying to avoid killing hundreds of thousands of poor people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  • NecoNeco Worthless Garbage Registered User regular
    so wait should I make a chat thread too?

    go for it

    I feel like a DK op could be good.

    I will wait.

  • knitdanknitdan In ur base Killin ur guysRegistered User regular
    Great answer

    Only thing I would add is sometimes you want to let the "good guys" know that yes, we are coming so just hold on a bit more and help is on the way.

    “I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
    -Indiana Solo, runner of blades
  • NecoNeco Worthless Garbage Registered User regular
    knitdan wrote: »
    Great answer

    Only thing I would add is sometimes you want to let the "good guys" know that yes, we are coming so just hold on a bit more and help is on the way.

    yes it is true

    DK just hold on to hope and we willo arrive for your glorious chat op. help is on the way.

  • AiouaAioua Ora Occidens Ora OptimaRegistered User regular
    edited October 2016
    Full hipster
    9kOGOwzl.jpg

    Aioua on
    life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
    fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
    that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
    bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
  • MazzyxMazzyx Comedy Gold Registered User regular
    Vowels that is huge.

    u7stthr17eud.png
  • DoodmannDoodmann Registered User regular
    I've been away all day and came back to this:
    Neco wrote: »
    vjjIfJp.jpg

    Excuse me while I have a small cry and tell my wife I love her.

    Whippy wrote: »
    nope nope nope nope abort abort talk about anime
    Sometimes I sell my stuff on Ebay
  • AiouaAioua Ora Occidens Ora OptimaRegistered User regular
    The upload thing really should resize photos.

    life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
    fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
    that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
    bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
  • Apothe0sisApothe0sis Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality? Registered User regular
    Mazzyx wrote: »
    Vowels that is huge.

    His head isn't THAT large

  • NecoNeco Worthless Garbage Registered User regular
    Doodmann wrote: »
    I've been away all day and came back to this:
    Neco wrote: »
    vjjIfJp.jpg

    Excuse me while I have a small cry and tell my wife I love her.

    :(

    that was not my most popular post

    I just thought it was funny, I'm sorry if anyone got sad about it

  • DoodmannDoodmann Registered User regular
    Neco wrote: »
    Doodmann wrote: »
    I've been away all day and came back to this:
    Neco wrote: »
    vjjIfJp.jpg

    Excuse me while I have a small cry and tell my wife I love her.

    :(

    that was not my most popular post

    I just thought it was funny, I'm sorry if anyone got sad about it

    I mean, ya it's funny in a existential dread kind of way...

    Whippy wrote: »
    nope nope nope nope abort abort talk about anime
    Sometimes I sell my stuff on Ebay
  • NecoNeco Worthless Garbage Registered User regular
    ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED, MY CHATLINGS?!

  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    Neco wrote: »
    ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED, MY CHATLINGS?!

    Yes.

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