Anybody Seen Murphy Out There?

It's been that kind of week ...
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It's the end of January, nearly the beginning of February, so ...

At first the weather report said multiple inches of snow in the Annapolis area (I don't remember the exact amount, might have been six inches) and about the same up in Little Rhody. Perhaps more. Also high winds, 20 sustained with gusts up to fifty or sixty mph.

The Missus Herself overheard Tuttle and Your Humble Scribe discussing the weather possibilities ...

"We shall leave on Friday!"

"But honey ..."

"I have spoken."

I waited a while, then pointed out that upon arrival in Little Rhody on Friday it was forecast to be below zero. A chance of heavy snow and high winds on Sunday.

"We don't have a generator. dear."

"I know that."

"Chez Tuttle et Nuke has a generator."

"And ..."

"If we lose power ..."

"We lost power before, three days."

"The outside temperature was in the low 30s. It's going to be subzero during this storm, possibly. The indoor temperature dropped to the low 40s during that storm. Tolerable with a coat or a blanket. This time it's going to be colder if we lose power. Much colder."

"Hhmm, maybe we can stay until later then."

"Yes, like maybe Monday."

I got a dirty look, but it was followed by a thoughtful one.

Friday dawns and the weather says no snow in Annapolis, no snow to maybe an inch in our area of Little Rhody. Supposed to be a bit windy on Sunday, that's it. In other words, a normal winter day on the coast.

So yeah, we're leaving Sunday, as originally planned.

If the weather changes?

I don't care, we'll go where we need to go.

As for the knee? Still sore as hell but getting better. It doesn't ache constantly, which it did yesterday, even with Advil onboard. So things are looking up.

As my old sergeant used to say, "I wonder what will go wrong next?"

Murphy, he's out there.

No, Really, I'm Fine ...

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It's sore, but there's no swelling. A single Advil and I'm good to go.

Really looking forward to sitting behind the wheel for seven to eight hours today.

But The Missus Herself has spoken and I must bend the knee.

Ah, Hell no.

(I can bend it, would just rather not.)

See you on the flip side.

Update:

Return to base has been postponed due to possibility of a nor'easter on Sunday. Nothing predicted for Maryland, but Little Rhody might see snow and high winds. I'd rather be south with a generator than north without one.

Departure day depends on the forecast, after all, it ain't like I have to go to work, right?

Well, That Hurts ...

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Whilst out and about¹ to inspect the driveway I was told that one part was okay, the rest was like an ice rink.

Me, Mr. Vermonter and supposedly knowing better, decided to check the slippery bit. Long story short, body went one way, lower left leg went t'other.

While hitting the ground, no damage there, I fall gracefully, I felt a stretch in the inner ligament running beside my left knee. Stretched the hell out of it. Hurt like hell, felt nauseous for a moment.

Couldn't get up, it was that slippery. Had Tuttle drag me to the walkable part of the drive where I was able to regain my feet. Decided that "fun time outside" was now officially over and I withdrew to the house to ice that knee.

Yes, it hurts sometimes to get old.

Hurts worse when you realize that your motor skills ain't what they used to be.

I'll be offline for a few days.

The Muse saw me fall and said, "Eff that, I'm outta here."

Stay frosty my friends.

¹ Oot and aboot in Canadian parlance.

As Cold as Ice (Because it is ice!)

That's an impressive icicle!
OAFS Photo

Tuesday was spent hanging out with the grandkids and digging Blue¹ out of the ice. The weather guessers are postulating yet another big snow storm this coming weekend. The weekend we had planned on heading north. The Missus Herself has decided that we will travel on Friday. In order to "miss" the snow. Maybe an inch here, maybe a foot up there.

Who knows?

I sure don't, but she has spoken and I can but obey.

I tried pointing out that we have a generator here, we don't there ...

I fought the law and the law won.

Remember the book, Almost a Lifetime, ya know, the one I keep promising to get published, some day?

Yeah, that one. Still in the plan. However, as I like writing more than I do researching "how to publish a book," I wrote a prequel to Almost a Lifetime. Which goes by the working title of The Prequel. Yes, I will eventually change the name.

I'm editing that one now, because I want to write more. And I will. I'm looking at a trilogy, maybe more. Depends on my mood, mostly.

You can read both books in their raw form here on the blog. One you can find here, the other you cannot, doing all those links takes time dontcha know, and back then I had a regular job, and not much time to do all those links.

Bottom line, you'll have to hunt for it, start here, that's the first chapter of the prequel. I'd help more, but I'm incredibly lazy, more so since I retired. C'est la vie!

Things are nice and quiet here at Chez Tuttle et Nuke for the most part. The boys get a little rowdy at times (no school yet to help them burn off energy) but hey, that's what I get paid for. (What's that? I don't get paid? This is volunteer work? Okay, they're good boys, I can live with that.)

The bruises will heal and perhaps teach this old man not to try and keep up with a five year old and a three year old. I'll know when I'm really old, that's when the boys beat me in a fair fight! (No, I don't play fair now, they've got me outnumbered!)

And now the driveway is clear!
OAFS Photo

Ciao!

¹ Blue is my 2020 Honda Pilot, a fine vehicle she is. She is blue in color, hence the name. Clever lad ain't I?

Survived the Latest "Snowmageddon," Such as it Was

Sunday
OAFS Photo

It's hard to tell from the official weather guesser websites but all told it looks like the Annapolis area received anywhere from 7 to 10 inches of snow on Sunday. Using the MK I Mod 0 eyeball, my estimate is 9 inches at my location, before the sleet and freezing rain began. Fortunately that latter event started later than predicted and also ended earlier than predicted.

So we had that going for us.

As you can see, both above and below, the street across the way did NOT get plowed, Sunday OR Monday. The main street through the neighborhood probably had at least five plows and/or sand/salt trucks go up and down on Sunday. That street is pretty clear, the side streets?

Not so much.

Monday
OAFS Photo

Another key thing is that we didn't lose power during the storm. However, we did lose it for an hour or so BEFORE the storm.

The Nuke was preparing Tuttle's birthday supper when everything shut down. Took a while to get the generator up and running, the CO detector kept shutting it down. Apparently that enclosure needs a bit more work. But we did stay powered up, as the stove takes a lot of power, we opted to order pizza.

Apparently the pizza place was running low on tomato sauce so they skimped on that rather than tell anyone. As a result, the pizzas semi-sucked. First world problem, neh?

As to the loss of power, seems a squirrel had crossed two wires or something, toasting itself and blowing the power. Bummer, I've seen that happen.

We stayed warm and cozy on Sunday, watched a lot of football, and woke up to a sunny cold day on Monday. Everyone worked from home (except Your Humble Scribe of course) and the kids had no school.

So Monday was also calm and cozy.

We're just waiting for the sun to melt the ice on top of the remaining snow in the driveway to clear that up.

I'm not sure how Little Rhody fared, they got a lot more snow than Maryland though, of that I'm certain.

The long range forecast is looking at more snow, next weekend.

Sigh, we might be here longer than planned.

Ah well, someone has to spoil the kids.

How to get High...Fast! Redux

 

Given the weather forecast for this past weekend, Electrical Power was kinda "iffy".  No power, no posting. So...You get a repeat from a few years ago.  

 No, Beans, this post has nothing to do with crack pipes. The idea came to me while reading a link I found on Instapundit a while back.  The post was fairly interesting as it discussed a proposal to modify F-15E's to carry a 45' long missile and launch it at altitude and speed.  Currently, most of a missile's fuel is used getting it off the ground and up to an altitude.  Launching it from altitude and speed would alleviate that problem.  

What caught my eye were a couple of things.  First, this.

The F-15D, at the top, ~35 years ago had my name painted on the canopy rail.  Glad to see she's still around and kicking.

The second thing that caught my eye was the launch profile they proposed to use.

I recognized it immediately.  It's called the Rutowski Climb profile.  For those of you who are engineering oriented, here's a detailed description. For those of you German Engineers, try this one out. And for those of you with a Naval background, here's one for you.

Basically, the objective is to get as much altitude and speed as possible in the least amount of time.  It was theorized and developed in the 70's as a means to defend against the MiG-25 Foxbat, a very fast, high flying fighter.  (That was proven to be somewhat overrated when Viktor Belenko defected in one in '76).  

In any case, the F-15 was used to test the theory and did so by busting several time to climb records in the Streak Eagle program.  Most of those records still stand.

I recognized it, because while stationed at Kadena, we practiced it because the Russian's had the MiG 25 in the area and it was rumored that the North Koreans had some also.

So, we would practice the maneuver pretty regularly.  We referred to them as the "High Fast Profile".  Our target referred to that portion of their mission as the "Low, Slow Profile".

Our Target
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We would intercept them as they returned to Kadena from "parts unknown".  We'd orbit in the mid 30's saving gas and GCI would commit us to the intercept at about 200 miles. Suffice it to say, they were WELL above us.

We'd turn hot, light the burners and begin the climb profile.  We'd push over to 0 g.  (Basically, Beans, my 200 Lb (then...now +) body would be weightless.) The engines were at max and we'd continue that descent until we were well above the Mach.  

Then we'd pull it into a climb to gain as much altitude as possible when we reached weapons range.  Timing of this maneuver was absolutely crucial.  Closure rates of 2000NM/hour were regular. To put that in layman's terms, that's 33.3 Nautical miles/minute or ~1 mile every 2 seconds.  So the intercept is either made or missed in less than 400 seconds.  

So, yeah, we practiced the Rutowski Climb profile....a lot.  In fact the highest I've ever been was the result of one.  GCI turned me hot at about 190NM.  (They needed training also, newish guy on the scope, didn't realize that 10 NM is critical.) Typically, the climb angle was about 45^o and the target indicator would be steady in the HUD.  That was not the case on this intercept, it was moving towards the top of the HUD.  

So, me being me, I kept pulling, making my climb angle steeper and steeper.  I pass through 50k' as he passes above me (Well Above) and I'm nearly vertical.  About this time, I learn an important lesson. Jet engines need air to run.  In addition, the flight controls need air to function.  There is very little air above 50K'.  

In short I'm riding a bullet with nothing to do until gravity takes pity on me and begins pulling me back to Earth.  That happened at 78,123' on my altimeter.  The sky was very dark and the SR-71 was a reddish-white.

The GCI guy and I reviewed my video tape in private.  No sense in causing consternation in our higher ups.

And THAT is why I recognized the Rutowski Climb Profile immediately.

Obsess About Weather? Moi?

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Little Rhody is probably going to get a metric butt ton of snow. Here in Annapolis, less than originally forecast but we might have the extraordinary pain-in-the-ass ice storm, as in freezing rain. Much more to be feared as trees collapse, power lines come down, and cats and dogs start living together! (Shades of the apocalypse!)

The weather guessers are, of course, freaking out, at least trying to get us to freak out.

Back in the day it was about giving us information, these days? Who knows what their game is.

Hates them we does.

Just report the data you a-holes.

Well, enough of that.

Eyes are tired from the drive on Friday, with my eyes I need to keep them lubricated. The drops for my glaucoma dry them up something fierce. And guess what I forgot to do on Friday?

Yup. Forgot to douse the Mk I Mod 0 Eyeball system with Refresh Tears when stopping for fuel/pee/food/stretch-our-legs breaks during the drive. So I'm paying the price on Saturday. Perhaps I need a version of "Bitching Betty" for my car which will periodically announce, "Eyeballs, eyeballs, eyeballs."

Yeah, I need that now. Perhaps Google could add it to their map software. Yeah, that would be great.

I've been awfully lax in the blogging arena lately. Bear with me, inspiration is bound to return at some point. I think the Muse decided to flee the country until this winter storm passes.

That's my story ...

And I'm sticking to it.

Der Adler ist Gelandet¹

OAFS Photo

We arrived safe and sound at our destination, fast by the shore of the South River in Annapolis.

Traffic wasn't bad, just the normal collection of yahoos weaving in and out of traffic, making you feel like a bomber pilot when the Luftwaffe is up in full strength, people who have no clue about merging or yielding to traffic on the interstate.

Ya know, driving in the US of A.

But we're here, there's a fire in the fireplace, the grandkids are happy, and life is good.

Now to sleep, perchance to dream ...

¹ The Eagle Has Landed - With apologies to Jack Higgins (who wrote the book) and the cast and crew of the 1976 film of that name.

On the Road, No, Jack Kerouac Wasn't Involved ...

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Yup, on the road again.

Heading down to might be more snow than here, but hey, what are ya gonna do? 

Birthdays to celebrate, grandkids to spoil, being a grandparent is a tough job, am I right?

Nah, it's a great job with awesome benefits.

Read those folks on the sidebar, I'll be back Saturday ...

Maybe¹.

¹ If Roberto and Finnegan don't beat the crap out of me. Hey, it's how we play!

Potential Snow Days

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Over the past cuppla days it's been a wee bit chilly out of doors here in Little Rhody. It was down to 12° last night and not much warmer the night before. Highs during the day top out in the high 20s, if we're lucky. If the wind's not blowing and the sun is shining it's tolerable.

As long as ye ain't in the shade!

The snow we had last weekend is still around, haven't noticed much in the way of melting except up on the roof where I've heard it sliding off the solar panels. So yes, it's a might bit nippy out there.

We're off to Maryland this weekend for Finnigan's 3rd birthday party. (And Tuttle's 50th, but I didn't tell you that, okay?)

Good thing too, here's the forecast for my wee town this coming weekend, note the bit in the red box ...

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Looks like a grand total of close to a foot over Sunday through Monday. Grand, innit? And I won't be seeing that.

Or will I?

Here's the forecast for Annapolis, again note the bit in the red box ...

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Well hell, looks like we might see over a foot in Annapolis over the same time period. With what might be an icy glaze on top of all that if the snow turns to rain late on Sunday, which it's forecast to do.

I'm keeping an eye on that weather forecast as we're driving on Friday, so far everything seems to be slipping to the right and predicted snowfall totals have decreased for Annapolis and increased for Bristol. So we've got that going for us.

This winter has, so far, proven to be somewhat exceptional. The average high for our area is around 37°, the low around 24°. (Here is where I got that data.) So we're running a bit colder than normal and have been for over a month. But we've been down in the snowfall category.

Looks like this weekend might catch us up.

Not that I'm looking forward to that, but the grandsons are gonna love it. They might even get a day off from school on Monday. I remember those when I was a kid.

Good times.

Note: One thing nice about Chez Nuke et Tuttle is that they have a generator. And a fireplace. Neither of which do we have up here in Little Rhody. So that's a good excuse to head down there, even if there weren't two birthdays to celebrate!

Culloden

An Incident in the Rebellion of 1745
David Morier
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Let it be known: Now I may have some of what follows wrong. The story of that time period being very complex to say the least. I mean whole books have been written about it. I'm simply giving you some background before presenting the video I mentioned yesterday.

In human history, the family is led by the father, the tribe by its chief, the nation by its king. Whenever humans have gathered, there seems to be the necessity to have someone in charge. That person is backed by violence, more usually the threat thereof.

The strongest get to be in charge and they will always gather to them those who wish to be near the seat of power. That's how armies began.

Europe in the early 18th Century was a web of kingdoms, principalities, bishoprics, dukedoms, and the like. France was a very big deal, the English were just starting to get their act together as a nation. Spain grew weaker by the decade, Austria stumbled along with its polyglot empire, Prussia was stirring (and would become a very large problem in the century to come), and all the little lands in between just wanted to keep their heads above water and their local rulers in power.

What about Russia, you might ask. Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great sat upon the throne. Peter had dragged the Russians into the modern era and they were a power to be feared in the east, but they were still far away in most European minds.

In the Scottish Highlands, the clan system ruled. Powerful chieftains ruled the land at the king's pleasure, Robert the Bruce had set it up that way. But in 1603 the nations of Scotland and England were joined under one king, James VI of Scotland. He ascended to the throne upon the death of Elizabeth I, becoming James I.

He was succeeded by Charles I (who if you remember died under the headsman's axe as England fell to Cromwell and his ilk). Long story short, Charles II was "restored" to the throne after Cromwell's death and his kid brother, James (James II in England, James VII in Scotland) succeeded him upon Charles II's death.

Now James had been much exposed to the Catholic church while in exile in France during Cromwell's time. He was a Catholic ruling over a Protestant nation. Things came to a head when he was overthrown by a group of Protestant nobles who invited William of Orange (a Dutchman) to take the throne with his wife Mary, daughter of Charles I of England.

Now James and his second wife (Mary of Modena, both the King and Queen were now Catholic) had had a son, James Francis Edward Stuart. James had also decided to ease up on the persecution of Catholics and non-Church of England Protestants within his realm.

The specter of that son restoring Catholic power in England did not sit well with the Church of England nor a number of powerful nobles in the realm. So James was "sent off" and William brought in. When William died he was succeeded by Anne, a daughter of James II and ... ad infinitum it seems.

Dear Lord but the lines of the English monarchy are confused and intertwined.

Anyhoo, Anne was succeeded by George I, who wasn't even English but a German! Who was succeeded by George II, his son.

Now James Francis Edward Stuart was kicking his heels in Italy as Dad was no longer king. Someone had the bright idea to bring him back to Scotland and from there overthrow the British monarchy and restore Catholicism to Great Britain! (And get that German off the throne as well!)

Which led to the Rising of '45 and the defeat of the Highlanders at Culloden in 1746. As I mentioned yesterday, I grew up believing a certain set of "facts" which were really a collection of facts, myths, and family stories. Believe me, the 1745 Rising was not taught in school. (As was a lot of history being glossed over or completely ignored in school!)

All that being said, here's the video, it's over an hour long, made in the '60s, made by the BBC, but for all that, it rings true to me, given all the other things I know. (Or at least think I know.) It also has the benefit, in my mind, of being very good and entertaining, though as always YMMV.

All that being said, I still say ...

Scotland Forever!

It's in the blood dontcha know?

January, Just a Giant Monday?

Mid-January, Little Rhody
- and yes, that was taken Monday morning, this week -
OAFS Photo

A friend of mine over at the Book of Faces posted a January = Giant Monday meme over the weekend. My first reaction, which I left in the comments was, "Not if you're retired." Which is true, to a certain extent.

Then it started snowing.

Now I've been through much larger snowstorms, what we had Sunday would be scoffed at in Buffalo. (A place I drove through in December of '75. There was probably a foot of fresh powder on the ground. When we stopped for fuel, the attendant admitted to having received "a dusting" in the night.) But Sunday's snow fall was heavy and wet. Nasty to be out in, nastier still to have to shovel. (I thank the Lord for my next door neighbors every day, they cleared the driveway for us and cut a path for the oilman.)

Anyhoo.

Another friend pointed out that for her, January is very much a giant Monday. She is also retired. Looking outside, I realized, it's the weather that makes January such a bloody Monday.

January in the northern tier is cold, snowy, unforgiving, and generally unpleasant as to its weather. So yes, I informed her, I now understood what she meant. Thanks, Helen!

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In my post regarding the games I had received at Christmas, one of which covered the Battle of Blenheim, comrade-in-blogging Toirdhealbheach Beucail (THB as I call him) mentioned the book depicted above. Which I, on something of a whim, decided then and there to order from Amazon.

Having had a number of books recommended to me by a number of readers concerning subjects which lie within my "sphere of interest," so to speak, and having yet to be disappointed, my decision wasn't that hard. (I should also note that the author is brother to the late Princess Diana, a lady I much admired.)

Well, long story short, I started reading it Monday, I'm through the first chapter and am captured, enthralled if you will. The book is superbly written, history told, as it should be, as a fascinating story populated by real people.

Well done, THB! Thank you for the tip.

Now THB's blog is called The Forty-Five, and by his moniker and the graphic depicting the blogger, is Scots-centric, after a fashion. The lad is also an incipient samurai. So there's two things I like, the Scots-ness of him and his love of things Japanese, something I share.

(Uh, Sarge, where you going with this?)

Ah yes, the '45, not the blog but the uprising which took place in 1745 in Scotland. An uprising which wanted to put the Catholic "Bonnie Prince Charlie" on the combined throne of England and Scotland.

Now as a lad I grew up being all in favor of the Prince. Being "all growed up" now, I realize that the '45 was sold to me as a glorious and wondrous thing when it reality it wasn't.

Now I recalled having seen a documentary done by the BBC back in the '60s about Culloden, the battle which really ended the '45. So I went looking for it, and found it.

Now it's longish (over an hour) but very well done. I liken it to being on the field with a reputable news crew (i.e. not any modern network) covering the fight as it happens. And it's aftermath.

I'm thinking of posting it tomorrow, what say you?

We shall see.

That's it for now, enjoy the week. I need to rest up from an overdose of football over the weekend!

Ciao!

It must be another Monday!

Good morning, Campers.  Hope you northerners are staying warm.  Given that the low Sunday morning down here was below freezing (26 degrees, but at least the wind is blowing), it must be cooler in the Great White North.  There is a bit of something I believe is called "Rain" in this week's forecast. Hope it's not Freezing Rain, NOBODY knows how to drive in that!

We shall see what will be!

I did get some good news this past week.  Rather than spit it out, I'll see if y'all can figure it out.

Yep, the Brain and Spine Neurologist gave me the go ahead to wean myself off the neck brace over the next 3 weeks.  Need to wear it to bed and if I am going to be physically active.  But...it is progress.

No, Beans, he was unable to find my brain during the exam.

Feels wonderful to take the brace off. I was getting a bit "cranky" so Mrs J is now happier also.

This past week we also had our first episode of "Why did you move to College Station?".

 

Mrs J and I had our first time alone with the Grand Kids.  MBD and "The Rev" had "Saving the World" requirements at work.  So, they asked.  We said Yes!  It was pretty fun, although we were glad when the 'Rents got home.

Yes, Beans, we slept well that night!

As regular readers know, we own two mare paint horses.  Just to refresh y'all, their names are "Cabernet" and "Merlot".  While Mrs J and I do love wine, their names were given them before we adopted them.  They moved to CStat a couple of weeks before us.  Our rental house is a bit small for them, so they are being boarded at a place called "Stall and Oats" 

No, Beans, I'm not kidding!

They seem to be doing ok.  The stabling agreement includes a requirement that we have to muck the stalls at least 3 days a week.  

Don't ask, Beans!

 

 That's them on the right side of the fence.  Merlot is on the left, Cabernet on the right. They seem to be somewhat enamored by the MALE Paint horse on the other side of the fence.  They didn't want to have anything to do with us while they were flirting, so mucking was a bit easier than usual.

Thank you, Lord!

We also had a bit of progress this week on the house we're  going to build.  We set up a meeting and met on the property with the Builder and his Wife.  She happens to be a Realtor, so she also had a lot of good suggestions.  

This is the back of the house which will be demolished.  That's how close the "jungle" is. The trees that are to the right of the house will be cut down. 

 The builder walked the perimeter of the property which is no easy task.  The intent was to check the integrity of the fence.  The fence will require repair/replacement.  Given my neck condition, I elected to not go with him, too easy to slip and fall.  A fall might not be a good thing medically and getting out of the brush might not be feasible either. Additionally, we found lots (lots and lots) of underbrush that will need to be taken out.  There were a few Live Oak trees that weren't in too good shape and were a bit closer to the house than we'd like, so they'll be taken down also.  But the majority of the Live Oaks will stay.  Shade in Texas is a sought after blessing. 

 Yes, Beans, another advantage of taking down some of the trees is....Firewood.

On the good news side, he said that adding a couple of acres of fenced in area was feasible and should be enough for horse grazing.  Additionally, a fenced in yard for the dogs and a "front yard" for the Grandkids to play in also were feasible. 

The driveway is gravel and might need a bit of work, but all in all, completely doable.  Additionally, the electrical hook up (whatever it's called) is in a very convenient location for all five buildings that will be built.  

Beans, those would be our house, my Brother's cabin, the horse barn, my workshop and Mrs J's "She Shed", (her sewing cabin) 

So, it's off to the bank this week for a construction loan.  We've already got verbal approval for that so, hopefully, no problema.

All told, a pretty darn good week!  Hope yours was also and continues to be in this week.

Peace out, y'all! 

  

Interesting New Time "Waster"

Screen capture from the video

I recently stumbled across a new channel on YouTube, Sector White. Their focus seems to be on Finnish participation in World War II and, I hope, Finland's own war with the Soviet Union. The video I've posted below isn't bad. Much better than a lot of the crappy AI I've seen elsewhere lately.

I guess if you really work at it, you can make some pretty amazing stuff with AI.

Either that or this channel has somehow managed to time travel back to Finland during WWII!

Enjoy!

Yes, I am still being lazy ...

Hey, I'm retired, and loving it!

Why Not Just Make a Copy?

MG-42 machine gun
Batey ha-Osef museum, Tel Aviv, Israel.
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It's a topic which might only interest me although no doubt others (perhaps even some of you readers out there) have thought of this as well. That topic is, as the photo might suggest, the MG 42 machine gun used by the German military in WWII. It was so effective, and freaked out our guys a lot, so why didn't we copy it?

As I found a good video of the whys and wherefores of why the United States didn't simply copy the MG 42, and as I have been extraordinarily lazy as of late, I decided to post the following video as to why we didn't copy it.

Before getting into all that, I have to say that the MG 42 was a very effective weapon. It formed the basis of the German infantry squad, three men operated and supported the weapon, a noncommissioned officer decided what to do with it, and the other six men in the squad protected it. (More complex than that but you get my drift, the gun was the heart of the German squad.)

Allied soldiers related how a German squad, even after taking a number of casualties, remained highly effective because of the MG 42. Lose the gun, and the squad loses most of its firepower.

The video covers most of the above and much more, including why we didn't just copy it. My sense of the matter is two-fold: the "not invented here" syndrome and bean counters. Why bean counters you might ask?

The beast could fire around 1200 rounds per minute, so it could go through a lot of ammo really quickly. And bullets, dontcha know, cost money.

The Spencer rifle in the Civil War met much the same opposition from the government. As it could fire around 14 to 20 rounds a minute, the Ordnance Department was worried that the soldiers would waste a lot of ammunition. (Source)

Anyhoo, I have had one experience with the MG 42 back during my reenacting days. I was detailed to hump ammunition for our squad's MG 42. As it was blank ammo, it wasn't quite as heavy as the real thing. But two cans of belted blanks and my rifle made for a rather unwieldy load. But I managed.

We got into position, loaded up, then waited in ambush for our victims.

When they emerged into the forest clearing, my gunner squeezed the trigger.

"Bang!"

A single round fired, the belt would not feed.

Huh?

Okay, when firing blank ammunition out of a semi-automatic¹ or automatic² weapon, you need what's called a blank adapter. As no bullet issues from the barrel there is less force to drive back the bolt of the weapon. Extracting the just fired round and loading the next. So the blank adapter "seals" the barrel of the weapon, causing enough pressure to blow the bolt back. (There is a mechanism to allow some of the gas to escape. This article has a fairly good explanation, and pictures, of what I'm on about.)

My gunner had forgotten to attach his blank adapter. So to fire the weapon he'd have to cock the bolt and pull the trigger each time. We were overrun rather quickly before we got off a second round.

Anyhoo, let's watch the video, shall we?

We made a copy during the war, which sucked, but eventually did kinda sorta copy the MG 42 after the war. The M60 of Vietnam fame was the result of that.

Cool, huh? (YMMV)

See you next time, ciao!

¹ Semi-automatic = Cock the weapon and pull the trigger, the weapon will reload itself after each round but you have to keep pulling the trigger, once per round.

² Automatic = Cock the weapon and pull the trigger and the weapon will continue to fire until you're out of ammunition. (Or the weapon jams. 😒)