Dolittle raid question

He came up for our Memorial Day picnic on sunday. He said this year he is helping out with a B-25. Looks like I will be missing out on a great weekend since I now have to host family who are coming in, and throw a picnic that weekend. Murphy's Law!

 

1. Dolittle was involved for his engineering expertise. He had been deeply involved in Army aviation engineering in the 1920s & early 1930s, & on returning to active service continued at this with the new aircraft the Army AF was accquiring. They could have appointed some other officer to lead the raid itself. There were many other candidates with experience at long range flight & navigation. LtCol Maitland was one of many qualified. Probablly others with the necessary engineering experience.

2. The raid as executed was so far out of the planned mission paremeters as to be unpredictable. The new Japanese picket boat line a extra 300 miles from the coast may have been the largest variable. (Why that was there is a interesting story & line of research.) The navigation beacons not broadcasting, and the weather did their part.

3. Dolittle suggests they were near maximum fuel capacity of the B25. The assumptions for weather and flight time left a healthy reserve, so its was thought reducing the crew would increase the risk in other directions.

Wonder what answers Zrish will have?

 

One thought I've had - most of the aircraft attacked Tokyo or nearby Yokohama or Yokusaka. One reason for the raid was to bring home to the Japanese people that they were not invulnerable; in terms of impact on Japan that was probably as significant as the physical damage. Might it have been better to attack more cities, to "get the message" to as many Japanese as possible? Any target from Tokyo south would involve about the same total flying time/distance.

 

I think the target was more the leadership. There was also the thought that they might be able to set enough fires in Tokyo that they'd overwhelm the fire department. Spread them out more and you aren't going to do that. Tokyo was also a bigger symbol both at home and abroad.

 

Sorry it took so long,

OpanaPointer,
Again, sorry, but I forgot your first question.

Question #2, concerning incendiaries: Mr. Cole replied yes, incendiaries were better for some targets and confirmed that his plane(Doolittle's) carried four incendiaries.

Question #3, concerning less crew, more fuel: Mr. Cole replied no, those 5 crewmen were needed to fly the B-25B. Any less crew would have given the remaining crew members too much to do and they could not safely fly the B-25B.

Some attached photos from Sat. & Sun. They have been resized to save space.
The P-61 is really coming along, I can't wait to see her finally fly!

 

Hahahah!.. Wasn't ready for that one. First laugh I've had here.

 

Stick around for awhile pal. It gets good sometimes, eh?

 

Yes , it caught me off guard. I will be more vigilant. Was that a common saying or did he make that up? 'Cause Leno needs writers.

 

It was a combination of an old round-eye joke ("you know what they say about eating Chinese food, 30 minutes later you are ready to eat again") a little wit, not so much wisdom, and a bit of sloped bias of a Chinamanfobish slant, like a "chink in the armor"....get it?