Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2011 14:30:23 GMT
Sam clenched and unclenched his fists in an attempt to keep the blood flowing and stop his hands from shaking. He was on the verge of jumping from foot to foot with nerves, and he was trying hard not to sweat, constantly wiping his forehead with a handkerchief just to make sure there where no beads of sweat visible. He looked around as if searching for an escape rout, he really didn’t want to be here, he didn’t do well talking to large numbers of people, talking to five or six was ok, but he was meant to be giving a quick talk on the B-25 Mitchell Bomber to the press. He had picked cause he was the most knowledgeable person on the aircraft on base at the time.
So here he was, standing just out of side of the reporters, waiting for whoever was up there to finish talking about the ups and downs of the Sherman Firefly the British where using. Sam listened in for a bit to try and distract himself.
“…The Firefly is a tank killer that is suited for all fronts of war, it can take out anything it aims at…” Sam shook his head, what was that guy on about? Suited for all fronts of war? The Firefly has so many drawbacks its borderline useless for anything except taking out heavy armour. Sam’s mind was racing when a thought popped into his mind; he’d heard a report about a Firefly involved in the taking of Anzio, and it had performed better then expected. Perhaps Sam would have to go back over his notes, on the tank… Tanks weren’t really his area anyway; his home sweet home was in aircraft. He could guess what the other speaker was doing; most people didn’t like to hear the drawbacks on something they thought was going to be a war winner, and it made sense not to tell the full truth about the bad qualities to the people back home, all they have to know is we have the best equipment and that’s what’s going to win us the war, its all about secrets and lies, with a little bit of truth sprinkled over the top for credibility.
Sam was snapped out of his thoughts by his name being called and stepped forward into view of the reporters; the tank specialist stepped down and gave Sam a nod as he walked past and whispered “Keep it short Sam.” Sam stepped up to the reporters and sighed with relief, there was only seven of them. He immediately felt more relaxed, for some reason in his mind had him believing he was going to be standing on a podium in front of a sea of people all shouting at him for answers. Instead he was just standing in front of seven people who where sitting quietly with notepads out and ready to scribble down notes on what he said. Sam cleared his throat.
“I’m here to talk to you today about the North American 40 B25 Mitchell medium precision bomber.”
Sam shifted his weight onto his other foot and reminded himself to keep it short and sweet; he has a bad habit of rambling on about aircraft.
“The B25 is the next step up from the XB21, the aircraft has been rebuilt with several new additions. One of the most important additions is the twin Wright R-2600 radial engines, these give the aircraft a great advantage over the German bombers by increasing both the speed and range of the aircraft.”
One of the reporters raised his pen, “Can you explane what a radial engine is please?”
Sam nodded. “Radial means the pistons are connected to the crankshaft with a master-and-articulating-rod assembly.” He paused before realising he would have to explane further.
“Basically, one of the pistons is attached to the master rod that is attached to the crankshaft, the other pistons are connected to the master, as they fire off they rotate the crankshaft…” The reporter nodded and scribbled something down. Sam continued with the rest of his talk.
“The armament of the B25 includes Six thousand pounds of High Explosives, Eight High Velocity Aircraft Rockets, two 50. cal machineguns and a 75mm M4 cannon in the nose. It also has a turret armed with 50. cals for defence against light fighter attacks.” Sam looked around at the reporters, some had questions, others where busy scribbling in their notebooks.
So here he was, standing just out of side of the reporters, waiting for whoever was up there to finish talking about the ups and downs of the Sherman Firefly the British where using. Sam listened in for a bit to try and distract himself.
“…The Firefly is a tank killer that is suited for all fronts of war, it can take out anything it aims at…” Sam shook his head, what was that guy on about? Suited for all fronts of war? The Firefly has so many drawbacks its borderline useless for anything except taking out heavy armour. Sam’s mind was racing when a thought popped into his mind; he’d heard a report about a Firefly involved in the taking of Anzio, and it had performed better then expected. Perhaps Sam would have to go back over his notes, on the tank… Tanks weren’t really his area anyway; his home sweet home was in aircraft. He could guess what the other speaker was doing; most people didn’t like to hear the drawbacks on something they thought was going to be a war winner, and it made sense not to tell the full truth about the bad qualities to the people back home, all they have to know is we have the best equipment and that’s what’s going to win us the war, its all about secrets and lies, with a little bit of truth sprinkled over the top for credibility.
Sam was snapped out of his thoughts by his name being called and stepped forward into view of the reporters; the tank specialist stepped down and gave Sam a nod as he walked past and whispered “Keep it short Sam.” Sam stepped up to the reporters and sighed with relief, there was only seven of them. He immediately felt more relaxed, for some reason in his mind had him believing he was going to be standing on a podium in front of a sea of people all shouting at him for answers. Instead he was just standing in front of seven people who where sitting quietly with notepads out and ready to scribble down notes on what he said. Sam cleared his throat.
“I’m here to talk to you today about the North American 40 B25 Mitchell medium precision bomber.”
Sam shifted his weight onto his other foot and reminded himself to keep it short and sweet; he has a bad habit of rambling on about aircraft.
“The B25 is the next step up from the XB21, the aircraft has been rebuilt with several new additions. One of the most important additions is the twin Wright R-2600 radial engines, these give the aircraft a great advantage over the German bombers by increasing both the speed and range of the aircraft.”
One of the reporters raised his pen, “Can you explane what a radial engine is please?”
Sam nodded. “Radial means the pistons are connected to the crankshaft with a master-and-articulating-rod assembly.” He paused before realising he would have to explane further.
“Basically, one of the pistons is attached to the master rod that is attached to the crankshaft, the other pistons are connected to the master, as they fire off they rotate the crankshaft…” The reporter nodded and scribbled something down. Sam continued with the rest of his talk.
“The armament of the B25 includes Six thousand pounds of High Explosives, Eight High Velocity Aircraft Rockets, two 50. cal machineguns and a 75mm M4 cannon in the nose. It also has a turret armed with 50. cals for defence against light fighter attacks.” Sam looked around at the reporters, some had questions, others where busy scribbling in their notebooks.
