] Delayed Obituary ] Pierre Sprey, Pentagon analyst who battled brass to produce A-10 warplane, dies at 83

The Washington Times ^ | August 20, 2021 | Matt Schudel

[Jewbacca]

He was a coach, not a player.

Difference skill set. Just as important.

[pepsi_junkie]

I think Orient is very similar to the old German Fingerspitzengefuhlen. It’s something you can do or you can’t do. I saw a lot of military people who were completely lost when they needed that skill. I’m not sure it can even be taught.

Boyd called Orient the Schwepunkt, the focal point, of the whole loop. And I don't think it can be taught conventionally. Here's how he originally drew the loop, how do you teach that middle part? That's what happens between the ears, including the subconscious mind.

[pepsi_junkie]

Typo in last post, should be schwerpunkt.

[Seruzawa]

I briefly worked at Hill AFB near where the 30mm Gatlings are refurbished. It makes an impressive sound when they fire 100 rounds while testing. I still have a couple of cases laying around.

[pepsi_junkie]

I'll add this, I don't think it can be taught but it can be learned, if that makes sense. Experience is part of it, and that feeds and improves the analysis / synthesis part while training is additional information that can further improve synthesis.

But culture and genetics though are about values. And this, I think, is why some cultures can butcher others without second thought while western cultures recoil and will not do that (and if they do they are deemed pariahs for all time ... looking at you, Nazi Germany).

And that culture part is why I think AI can be useful to figure out hidden information in a scene (and get better at it) but should never be trusted with anything that requires judgement and a moral compass.

[blueunicorn6]

Schwerpunkt is the critical point.

Fingerspitzengefuhlen is closer to intuition.

Orient is probably both.

[Jotmo]

When flying without a full load of 30mm ammo, we had to add weights in the nose wheel gear bay. Up to four weights depending on the ammo load.

Also, the A-10 is the only fighter aircraft that does not eject it’s spent brass, but keeps it all in the drum. The is to retain enough weight in the aircraft to keep the nose wheel on the ground when landing if most of the ammo was used.

Also, the nose wheel is offset to the right side, and the gun barrel is off set so the barrel at he 9:00 position (the firing barrel) is lined up exactly on the aircraft centerline. Were it to the side like many guns on fighters, is would cause the aircraft to yaw dramatically, and make in impossible to stay on target.

Just a few interesting thing I learned in my time in the USAF.

A-10 Crew Chief 85-88
81st TFW, 511 TFS
RAF Bentwarers, UK

[Widget Jr]

Interesting.

Looking up Morris Rosenthal on google, other than his obituary there is nothing about his life online. Zip. Nada. Nothing at all. For a person who rubbed elbows with Albert Einstein, Adm. Rickover, and George H.W. Bush that seems pretty conspicuous.

Do you know of any books or old magazines that might have anything about him?

[minnesota_bound]

#5 Interesting fella.
https://jweekly.com/2021/12/28/rocket-science-pioneer-morris-rosenthal-dies-at-97-in-santa-rosa/

Rosenthal helped send explorers into space. Among his friends were astronauts such as Neil Armstrong, John Glenn and Alan Shepard. He was a confidant of the first Jewish admiral, Hyman Rickover, father of the nuclear submarine, and the two men shared an outlook: Bureaucracy and stupidity are synonymous.

[jjotto]

I went looking and you are.right. Morris Rosenthal the rocket scientist is invisible except for obits. I’m guessing he must be mentioned in some of the many books about better known scientists, but doesn’t look like many are on the net. Probably too old.

[Widget Jr]

I found this on Rosenthal, My grandpa's thrilling life as a clandestine rocket scientist. At some point I should try to contact the authors of these articles. A biography of Rosenthal would make a interesting read or movie.