Category Archives: Blown Slick Series

Attack and Strike Fighter Evolution and Analysis

1942 – The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 6 – Midway Trilogy (2 of 3)

 Blown Slick Series #13 Part 6 Into the Shredder The Battle of Coral Sea had provided the first hints that the Japanese high-water mark had been reached, but it was the Battle of Midway that put up the sign for … Continue reading

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1942 – The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 5 – Midway Trilogy (1 of 3)

Blown Slick Series #13 Part 5  The Battle of Midway  Paradox and Redemption:  4 to 7 June 1942      Among the many gems is a reminder to all who study mankind’s self-inflicted cataclysm: “Yet the overwhelming reality during the war…is … Continue reading

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1942 – The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 4 – The Battle of the Coral Sea

Blown Slick Series #13 Part 4 “Scratch One Flattop!” The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought from 4 to 8 May 1942 is historically significant as the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other, as well as the first in which … Continue reading

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1942 – The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 3 – The Four Battles

Blown Slick Series #13 Part 3 The Clash of the Carriers During the course of the first months after the Pear Harbor attack, U.S. carriers had been conducting multiple raids on the periphery of Japanese occupied ocean areas. The raids were … Continue reading

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1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 2 – The Doolittle Raid

Blown Slick Series #13 Part 2 War, Remembrance, Honor  – The Doolittle Raiders  18 April, 1942 Spotted by a Japanese ship two days before they intended to launch 400-450 miles off the coast of Japan, Admiral Halsey, Hornet commanding officer … Continue reading

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1942 – The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 1- Background

Blown Slick Series #13  Seventy-five years ago -1943 – Nimitz, King, and particularly the air navy admirals worked a seemingly endless slate of problems to leverage the advantages the navy had hard earned in the last year. The F-4 Wildcat … Continue reading

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A Second Look – Aviation Week Debate on the F-35

Blown Slick Series #12 Last summer Aviation Week conducted a podcast debate between the first commanding officer of a USMC F-35B squadron, retired  LtCol. David Berke,  and former “fighter mafia” participant during the Light Weight Fighter competition (YF-16/17) Pierre Sprey. … Continue reading

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Thinking Multi-Role “Strike Fighter”

Blown Slick Series #11 Air to air is what you do going into and coming off of the target. Ed Rasimus, Air Force Vietnam War F-105 and F-4 fighter pilot   In the previous post, I suggested as a thought experiment that … Continue reading

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Airpower Analysis Phase II: F-35 – Flying Circus Center Ring

Blown Slick Series #10 For some time now, center ring for the airpower flying circus has been the F-35 Lightning II. But since the F-35 was similarly noted as the elephant in the room in #8 in this series some … Continue reading

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Thinking Airpower in Context: American War in Seven Charts

Blown Slick Series #9  Seven Charts That Help Explain American War How Many Years In Its History Has America Been at War? Where Has America Fought? Why Has America Fought? How Does America Fight ? Who Are America’s Formal Defense Partners? … Continue reading

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