Current state of NY Penn->LA Union rail in this country is a total of 3,224 miles in 67 hours, assuming no delays and with a half-day layover at Union Station, Chicago. Which pretty much will be eaten up by 48's trip westbound from Albany. Usually.
Yorktown’s crew, and her own build design, led to an absolutely heroic “last stand” against crippling damage. But for a very skilled IJN sub screw, she might have lived to fight yet again. Why the USN needs to add Yorktown to its list of ships names to always be in service.
4 lesser carriers were distributed in the Combined fleet. Ryūjō and Jun'yō were up north in the Aleutians, with 15 TB, 18 DB, and 30 Fighters (less losses). 30 hours away.
Zuihō, with 24 aircraft (mostly fighters), was screening the invasion force.
Hōshō, 9 aircraft, was scouting for the Main Body.
Shōkaku was being repaired from three 1000 bomb hits received at Coral Sea, whereas Zuikaku had lost so many aircraft at Coral Sea she could not participate in Midway.
Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway, by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully, is the go-to source on the battle
It’s morning, June 5, 1942. You are Admiral Yamamoto. Your carriers are gone, but your battleships are a day from Midway. The Americans lost half their planes.
You know the Americans will out build you.
Why do you not press the issue? Use your battleships to close the gap?
Because he was a man who did not deviate from his plans. Midway was time-limited and part of a two-prong push to both give the US Navy another setback and delay, and to then hammer the Army in the Aleutians. His surface fleet was due to support the initial moves at Attu and Kiska immediately after, leaving a holding/blocking force in place at Midway, but losing his fleet carriers derailed that. So everything left had to be sent North in the expectation of a rapid victorious invasion after bombing Dutch Harbor.
Then Guadalcanal happened, and phase II got just as wrecked as phase I.
Since we're not getting a new Stargate unless Jeff changes his mind, who's going to make a good new sci-fi show? I haven't enjoyed anything since The Expanse ended, and I've tried all of them.
@11975MHz The Soviet military machine was so inundated with American support equipment that the only thing Russian about their push to Berlin was the pile of corpses they left along the way.
Since a bunch of people are suddenly finding out about ace combat here is your reminder that Bamco put out a timeline of strangereal that goes from AC 3 to dig dug
The Life & Times of a Florida Man
Episode 1: The Bootlicker
I was knee deep in the chaos of Ybor City on a sticky Saturday night, a decade back. MIDI Fight Club was throwing one of those glorious electronic warfare raves at Level 3, and like every proper Florida ratfuck, we were short-staffed. So before I stepped behind the decks to drop Industrial and EBM, I LARPed as a bouncer at the door.
Tickets or cash at the door, in and out. The usual parade of degenerate scum, drunks, and scene chasers. A few line jumpers got the polite heave. A couple cute girls tried the "but I'm cute" routine. All standard operating procedure in Tampa's vampire district.
Then the Bootlicker arrived.
He didn't swagger up like the rest. He materialized like a glitch in the Matrix. He had a nondescript face, the kind of plain that makes you forget him three-to-five seconds after you met him. Ratty clothes that blended with the 7th Avenue riff-raff. But he gave off pervert vibes that would make a ratty candy distributor driving an Econoline van jealous.
I was wearing my prized steampunk boots that night. Brass buckles, leather that looked like it crawled out of a Jules Verne fever dream. In my head, at least, they were majestic. The Bootlicker clearly agreed.
Before my brain could fully process the approaching weirdo, he dropped to his knees like a pilgrim at Mecca and went to work. Full tongue and enthusiastic, slobbering worship on my boot like it was dripping with the purest honey mead of the gods. Zero hesitation. This wasn't a joke, this was his calling.
I stood there for a stunned second, staring down at this urban legend in the flesh. The Bootlicker of Ybor has long been whispered about in the dingy clubs and tattoo parlors of 7th Avenue. The man who hunts the coolest footwear like a heat-seeking pervert missile.
Then the Florida came out.
My boot connected with his face in a wet crack. He didn't scream. Didn't curse. Didn't even look mad. Just took the kick to his pervert dome like a seasoned professional, like this was Tuesday for him.
Because for the Bootlicker, it probably was.
He scrambled up, wiped the blood and slobber from his mouth with the back of his hand, gave me a little nod of respect. Gratitude maybe? Who the fuck knows. Then he vanished into the crowd like a Florida ninja. One second he was there, the next second he had been swallowed by the swamp of Ybor degenerates. I looked down. My beautiful boot was glistening with spit and a thin trail of blood.
The legend was real.
I only saw him once more, months later. I was walking toward The Castle, the beautiful cathedral of a goth club where the boots are shinier, taller, and more aggressively fetishized than any place on Earth. Truly a Mecca for him. He emerged from the shadows, locked eyes with me for half a second, and then poof, he was gone again. Either he remembered the kick to his addled skull, or my current footwear didn't meet his refined pervert standards. Or both.
Either way, the Bootlicker remains. A ghost and a curse of the city; a slobbering specter doomed to wander Ybor City after midnight, forever seeking that next perfect boot to worship, forever risking the righteous kick to the face that comes with the territory.
So if you're out in Ybor late at night, dressed to the nines with some serious footwear on, beware.
The Bootlicker is still out there. Lurking. Drooling. Ready to drop.
For the price of WT’s new F-14D, I could:
- Pre-order Ace Combat 8
- Fly the F-14D until my fingers fall off
- Fly the bonus F-14A with my toes, somehow
- Play Ace Combat Zero
- …and have $10 left over
This is insane
McDonnell Douglas was 30 years ahead of the curve and eventually became Boeing Phantom Works
My mentor was was a McDonnell Douglas/ Phantom Works engineer
Smart wouldn’t even begin to describe it
Osea has Trigger and Blaze
Ustio has Cipher
ISAF has Mobius 1
Aurelia has Gryphus 1 and Falco 1
Emmeria has the REPUBLIC OF EMMERIA AIR FORCE
RAAAAHHHH 🦅🦅🦅🦅
Visiting the air force museum made me realize how much I want a Korean/Vietnam era acelike game.
Like not only are the planes cool but you can lean into it with the soundtrack
In Ace Combat 7, LRSSG is dogwater trash; the DLC Missions, the LRSSG were effective, however their kills never counted to our score
In Ace Combat 5 and Zero, wingmen could kill enemies for you; 5 was eh, Zero was on par
In Ace Combat 6, the Republic of Emmeria is with you