KenH
Well-Known Member
What is your favorite World War II airplane?
Mine is the Grumman F6F Hellcat -
www.compass.dircon.co.uk/F6F.htm
Mine is the Grumman F6F Hellcat -
www.compass.dircon.co.uk/F6F.htm
-
Welcome to Baptist Board, a friendly forum to discuss the Baptist Faith in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to all the features that our community has to offer.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!
World War II Warbirds
- Thread starter KenH
- Start date
KenH
Well-Known Member
Here's a World War II training film on the F6F Hellcat - www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com/F6F.html .
There are some on other planes on other pages of that website.
There are some on other planes on other pages of that website.
Overlooking this thread. Sorry, Ken.
Mine is the P-51 Mustang, esp those used in the Southeast Asian theater of operations. Think a John Wayne movie I saw as a youth influenced me!
Can remember one of the shark-faced painted beauties landing at Wold Chamberlain field (now Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport) and getting a chance to sit in the cockpit.
But hard to beat the quality weaponry of the German planes. Wow. They could blow holes in our boys while it looked like we had BB guns going against them.
Mine is the P-51 Mustang, esp those used in the Southeast Asian theater of operations. Think a John Wayne movie I saw as a youth influenced me!
Can remember one of the shark-faced painted beauties landing at Wold Chamberlain field (now Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport) and getting a chance to sit in the cockpit.
But hard to beat the quality weaponry of the German planes. Wow. They could blow holes in our boys while it looked like we had BB guns going against them.
The P-40 was the plane used by the Flying Tigers. It was an early and vulnerable plane but was put to good use.
The P-51 was the highest-performance non-jet fighter ever produced and was used in the European theater; its prime role was to escort bombers over Germany and beyond. It could fly circles around anything it found — until it encountered the MS-262, a jet aircraft that might have been a real threat would not have Hitler insisted on diverting resources from the program. Then again, the 262 required able pilots, which were in short supply by that time.
The P-51 is a magnificent plane, but I really like the Corsair used in the Pacific, which was a capable plane and had a totally cool profile with its gull wings.
The P-51 was the highest-performance non-jet fighter ever produced and was used in the European theater; its prime role was to escort bombers over Germany and beyond. It could fly circles around anything it found — until it encountered the MS-262, a jet aircraft that might have been a real threat would not have Hitler insisted on diverting resources from the program. Then again, the 262 required able pilots, which were in short supply by that time.
The P-51 is a magnificent plane, but I really like the Corsair used in the Pacific, which was a capable plane and had a totally cool profile with its gull wings.
KenH
Well-Known Member
German engineers had some great ideas and inventions for planes. But they had a hard time bringing them to fruition because of the constant bombing by the Allies. Both the German and the Japanese air forces started well but once they lost their best pilots they had no capable replacements for them in the same league as they were.
WW2 war birds is an interesting topic - one that I can hardly tire of. The P-51 was a real gem. My dad worked on F6Fs during the war. He has a maintanance manual, that he brought home after the war. It is all about the guns - removal, installation, and repair.
It amazes me, the number of celebrities who flew during the war. Tennessee Ernie was a bombadier instructor, in the Air Corps. Jimmy Stewart and Glen Ford were B-17 pilots. Rod Serling was a paratrooper (jumped out of airplanes).
At a church where I once attended, one of the deacons was a former B-17 pilot. He said that before the war, the Air Corps had turned him down for pilot training, so he went to Canada where the RAF took him. He said that he had just finished his training when the U.S. declared war. Our government then bargained with the Canadiens to get the U.S. citizen pilots released to the Army Air Corps, because of our sudden need for trained pilots. He flew 37 combat missions. He met his wife during the war, who was an Army nurse. I enjoyed talking to him.
Fascinating topic, Ken.
Roy
It amazes me, the number of celebrities who flew during the war. Tennessee Ernie was a bombadier instructor, in the Air Corps. Jimmy Stewart and Glen Ford were B-17 pilots. Rod Serling was a paratrooper (jumped out of airplanes).
At a church where I once attended, one of the deacons was a former B-17 pilot. He said that before the war, the Air Corps had turned him down for pilot training, so he went to Canada where the RAF took him. He said that he had just finished his training when the U.S. declared war. Our government then bargained with the Canadiens to get the U.S. citizen pilots released to the Army Air Corps, because of our sudden need for trained pilots. He flew 37 combat missions. He met his wife during the war, who was an Army nurse. I enjoyed talking to him.
Fascinating topic, Ken.
Roy
The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany 1944-45 by Stephen Ambrose. Good Book - I highly recommend it. It's about George McGovern's 35 Missions at the yoke of a B-24.
Wow. With 37 missions I imagine he had some very interesting stories to tell...and close calls. </font>[/QUOTE]On second thought, I think it was 32, and not 37 missions, and in a B-24, not a B-17. It has been a few years since he told me that. He said that 25 missions was the standard, but due to a pilot shortage, his tour was extended. Beats me why there was a pilot shortage.
I never probed him for war stories, because some vets are really sensitive about that.
Roy
P-51
P-38 "Twin-tail Devil" as per Germans!
Corsair
Grumman Hellcat
B-17
B-29
B-36 (almost)
P-38 "Twin-tail Devil" as per Germans!
Corsair
Grumman Hellcat
B-17
B-29
B-36 (almost)
Dont know much about aeroplanes but I have nursed quite a number of vets who were WWII vets flying in British Planes in the European theatre.
One, they were reeelly noisy and the crews were deafened by flying in them.
Two, tail gun charlies usually were hosed out of their cockpit, what a hideous concept, very few survived their missions.
Three, one fella fell out of his bomber which was not a Lancashire but something similar but I forget, and landed alive although his parachute was on fire and the plane in crash mode. He was in hospital for months in Germany with serious head injuries and another prisoner said later he had the foulest mouth he had ever heard. This is from a man who did not swear as a rule. This guy survived his fall, his internment as a POW as is alive and well today. He does have a trick arm which is hunched in the shoulder and pretty useless, but he reckons God was looking after one little Aussie Bleeder that night over Cologne.
One, they were reeelly noisy and the crews were deafened by flying in them.
Two, tail gun charlies usually were hosed out of their cockpit, what a hideous concept, very few survived their missions.
Three, one fella fell out of his bomber which was not a Lancashire but something similar but I forget, and landed alive although his parachute was on fire and the plane in crash mode. He was in hospital for months in Germany with serious head injuries and another prisoner said later he had the foulest mouth he had ever heard. This is from a man who did not swear as a rule. This guy survived his fall, his internment as a POW as is alive and well today. He does have a trick arm which is hunched in the shoulder and pretty useless, but he reckons God was looking after one little Aussie Bleeder that night over Cologne.
Clay Knick
New Member
P-38
P-51
B-17
P-51
B-17