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Hi All,
Boy, JFM and GMU raise some very interesting points. Thanks.
I haven't watched the "Man, Moments, Machines" segment on MvR for awhile. However, I do recall that this fellow named Gordon Bowman Jones wasn't too well-informed (he is an "airshow announcer", or something like that? Maybe his British accent made him sound like an expert). I was approached by the producers to be a commentator/talking head for this program, but demurred because I couldn't make it to California for the taping. Most of the other 'experts' on this particular program, IMHO, were pretty good - I recommended Jon Guttman and Jack Herris. Basically, the producers go with 'experts' who are available, close to the taping location, and will work for cheap!
Anyway, just FYI. Stephan's Point 4. For what it's worth, in that short, superficial interview in The Aces Talk, von Schoenebeck said: "I think the S.E.5 was the best R.F.C. scout of the war. The British scouts could often turn sharply. I wouldn't say, as many claim, that the English were over our lines more. They were, of course, very sporting and we were more military..."
That's it. There are plenty of Anglophiles (there, I said it!) on this forum that would strongly argue that the RFC/RAF WAS operating much more over (and behind) the German lines than vice-versa. There is certainly evidence that German fighters sometimes pursued prey over Allied lines, especially when balloon-busting (of course) and it's obvious that German recon aircraft operated over Allied lines almost daily. You could argue about this forever...
Greg
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Greg VanWyngarden
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