World War II was the first major conflict that saw the use of strategic bombers. In the months immediately after the war, the US saw the need for an advanced bomber to replace the bombers which were developed during the war. Moreover, they wanted something bigger, faster, and that used newly developed jet engines. The end result of the process was the B-52 b ... Show More
Yesterday
Rainbows And How They Work
Few things in nature are as instantly recognizable as a rainbow. For thousands of years, rainbows have inspired myths, religion, art, and science. Yet behind those bands of color is an extraordinary interaction between sunlight, water, geometry, and the physics of light itself. F ... Show More
14m 15s
May 9
Project Mercury: America's First Steps Into Space
In the late 1950s, the United States found itself trailing in the Space Race as the Soviet Union achieved one milestone after another. In response, NASA launched Project Mercury, an ambitious effort to put an American into space using little more than experimental rockets, crampe ... Show More
15m 26s
May 8
The Indian Ocean Trade
For thousands of years, before Europeans crossed the Atlantic or steamships crossed the seas, the Indian Ocean connected the known world. Merchants riding the monsoon winds carried spices, silk, gold, ivory, porcelain, and ideas between Africa, Arabia, India, Southeast Asia, and ... Show More
14m 13s
Feb 2023
WW2 Bombing Raids on Germany Were Bloodbaths for the Allies Until a Futurist Fighter Plane (the P-51) Was Developed
One of the lowest points of World War 2 for the Allies was autumn 1943, when bombing runs from England to Germany were ramping up. Hundreds of B-17s flew out to strike military targets, but they flew unescorted due to being the only planes with enough range (fighters could only m ... Show More
35m 16s
Nov 2021
FPP124 - 21st Century Light Attack
<p>The F-35 Lightning II, a trillion-dollar, highly capable 5th generation fighter, has been <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2021/02/23/the-us-air-force-just-admitted-the-f-35-stealth-fighter-has-failed/?sh=70133a5f1b16" rel="nofollow">described by the U.S. Air For ... Show More
1h 43m
Jan 2020
Boeing vs Airbus - Get Your Wings | 1
<p>It’s the 1950s, the dawn of the jet age. And leading the world into this era of faster, less shaky flights is the British-made De Havilland Comet.</p><p>But when disaster strikes, a hungry American military plane maker called Boeing spots a golden opportunity to break into the ... Show More
23m 42s
Aug 2018
John M. Curatola, “Bigger Bombs for a Brighter Tomorrow: The Strategic Air Command and American War Plans at the Dawn of the Atomic Age, 1945-1950” (McFarland, 2016)
Conventional wisdom has long held the position that between 1945 and 1949, not only did the United States enjoy a monopoly on atomic weapons, but that it was prepared to use them if necessary against an increasingly hostile Soviet Union. This was not exactly the case, our guest ... Show More
51m 48s
