I had coffee today with a 100 year old

[Kurt]

WWII vet. Likely the last surviving combat B-17 pilot.

He flew his last combat mission over 75 years ago but today was the 75th anniversary of his last flight as a US Army Air Force pilot.

Today he told me that the B-24 went from paper to fully operational in 3 months time. This included building the factory that made them, test crashing, test flying and all that.

Pretty cool.
And he says Trump is a fascist and to make sure he is not elected.

[sparrow]

^He would know. This has happened before. And he was there.

[Kurt]

^He would know. This has happened before. And he was there.

When he was in his late 90s he went into more detail but the threat had not coalesced around Trump yet.

The guy also does not need to wear glasses

[Kurt]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=69543&p=604591&hilit=Hamburg#p604591

Here it is.

He did not believe Trump was a fascist then but he has proved we are never to old to learn.

[Devlin]

This country could not get anything done in three months these days.

[Kurt]

This country could not get anything done in three months these days.

We talked about that. A big problem is the demand for multiple vendors rather than single vendor (and then watching costs like a hawk)
His take was that during war a test pilot or factory construction member was considered a risk. So 3 test pilots dying and ten construction workers getting killed for the 3 month deadline could save 100 pilots, 2000 soldier and end the war faster.
So his fast era and our slow era both take appropriate risks into account.
But i think meetings kill more time than is accounted for.

[Darcy]

WWII vet. Likely the last surviving combat B-17 pilot.

He flew his last combat mission over 75 years ago but today was the 75th anniversary of his last flight as a US Army Air Force pilot.

Today he told me that the B-24 went from paper to fully operational in 3 months time. This included building the factory that made them, test crashing, test flying and all that.

Pretty cool.
And he says Trump is a fascist and to make sure he is not elected.

Very, very cool. Oldest pilot I knew was this racist old fart that flew for the Luftwaffe in WWII. Went by the moniker "Steady Eddie" with a 6 pack of Molson Export under his helo seat at all times. The company sent him out one season with a Middle Eastern fellow and it was entertaining to say the least. Not sure how old he was when he kicked the bucket, I only knew him in his mid-70s.