If You Are A P-51 Mustang Fan...

[Stomper]

I love the Mustang but my favorite WWII Aircraft and favorite Aircraft of all time is the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

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Awesome airplane, but thing about the P-38 was unless you were at near stall speed while inverted you could forget about bailing out if you ever had to.... that tail section would kill you.

 

[Tony617]

Is that an electric or fuel powered motor you have running in the HALLWAY?!

It is an electric R/C of a P-47D Razorback. I started the motor up but not have spinning fast enough to move the R/C.

E-flite P-47D Razorback BNF Basic Electric Airplane (1200mm) [EFL8450] | Airplanes

 

[Tony617]

The Bearcat is one of my favorites. Underrated, but its's still no P51

No more beer for me. On my 3rd edit - that is the Mig-1.

The Bearcat came out late in WW2. I also have a F6F Hellcat which a lot of pilots flew and became aces.

 

[Mike_M57]

Partial to the P-38 myself.

Now I want to read The Last Dogfight by Martin Caidin again. Haven't read Fork-Tailed Devil, though. Yet.
Whip was another great book about modified B-25 Mitchells.

Yeah, I'm a Caidin fan.

 

[Tony617]

Awesome airplane, but thing about the P-38 was unless you were at near stall speed while inverted you could forget about bailing out if you ever had to.... that tail section would kill you.

 

[RicInOR]

+1 on the P-38

https://www.amazon.com/Fork-Tailed-...743479629/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

 

[mrblond]

Love the P-51D as well as the Jug, but my fave American plane of WWII was the F4u. that thing is Puuuuuurdy..

now I used to fly alot of WWII flight sims and my all time fave to fly was the Focke-Wulf 190.. D9 I believe..
Also the Horten 229.. now that would have been a war changer.

 

[GOG]

In the mid nineties my wife gave me a flight in a T-6 with an outfit called American Warbirds.
They had two planes and would book flights at regional airports around the country. You buy a flight of varying duration and stick time, show up at the appointed place and time and fly off into the wild blue yonder or nausea depending on your proclivities.

My flight was out of Marysville/Yuba City airport in Norcal.
I had an hour flight, some basic maneuvering stick time including loops & rolls and then the real pilot flew some aerobatics and did some Immelman's at my request until my tummy said it was straight & level time. Good times.
It was a blast and I have a great memory.

And I love all those planes. I date back to when many of those planes were still in the air one way or another.

 

[DirectDrive]

I know the P-51 well and that is spelled the end of Nazis. With drop fuel tanks the fighter planes did not have turn back when the B-17 flew bombing missions over Europe. With that said I like the P-47 Thunderbolt better. Eight .50 caliber machines guns, unguided rockets, and can carry bombs made it made formidable fighter/bomber. Also it had armor to protect the pilot and the cockpit was roomy compared to the P-51 cockpit too.

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And from reports, the P47 was more resistant to ground fire which made it superior in the ground attack role.
A P51, it was said could be brought down by a single rifle bullet due to its liquid cooling system.

Goering confided that it was over when he saw P-51's over Berlin.

Pick your favorites, but one thing is certain...
In that era, we developed a lot of superior hardware in a very short period of time.

 

[DirectDrive]

The ol' man was Air Corps (B17 gunner) and he liked P38's.
One of the stories that he heard was that the Japanese did not want to engage this Fork-tailed Devil voluntarily.
So the Lightning drivers would fly over the enemy airfields at high altitude in a bomber formation to get them to engage.

 

[mrblond]

The ol' man was Air Corps (B17 gunner) and he liked P38's.
One of the stories that he heard was that the Japanese did not want to engage this Fork-tailed Devil voluntarily.
So the Lightning drivers would fly over the enemy airfields at high altitude in a bomber formation to get them to engage.

Yeah, the lightning was not the greatest when going against the German planes, but it tore up the Zeros.

 

[ferret427]

In the mid nineties I knew a guy who was building a 3/4 scale P51 in a small hangar at Camarillo Airport. I can't remember the name of the company that sells them, but you can buy one as a kit plane.

 

[Jim Horn]

All fantastic birds!

I have to confess a fondness for the DeHavilland Mosquito, though...

 

[clearconscience]

I've always been a huge fan of this era of planes.
I was in KY at the airport when a P51 Mustang and a B17 Bomber were there for a historical plane tour.

I was lucky enough to be there right up to the fence when they both took off. I'm fairly young (at the time about 30) and I could feel the history in my bones. It was an amazing feeling. And the sound from those old aircraft is unlike anything you will ever hear.

It was a great experience

 

[FlounceHunter]

Gents, one of my favorite Mustang stories was when a pilot's wingman was shot down somewhere over... either occupied France or Germany, it's been a while since I read the story.

The pilot followed his (wingman's) parachute to the ground, which was a field in the countryside. He landed, got the guy's parachute off, threw off his own parachute (to make room in the cockpit) got the guy in, and sat on his lap. Took off again, and they shared the one oxygen mask all the way back to England.

I bet that wingman didn't let the other pilot buy his own drinks in the O club ever again, gents!

 

[HotRodGuy]

I love WWII birds especially the P51 (I need to win a few $M). However, my overall favorite is the A10. Had cover a few times and got to watch one turn meat grinder on some guys in a pickup.

 

[User 1234]

My great uncle told me about a dogfight between a Spitfire and an FW-190 in Germany. The Spitfire outmanuevered the 190 and the 190 crashed into a mountain.

 

[titsonritz]

Naw, the Greatest of ALL american fighters of WWII was this bad boy!
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2 planes, one pilot! OR............Fork tailed devil

I love the Mustang but my favorite WWII Aircraft and favorite Aircraft of all time is the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

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I always liked the P-38...ride the lightning.

 

[Steel Head]

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End thread!

 

[Ura-Ki]

A lot of Folks like to bash on the Ol' P-40 as being inferior to all it's contempories, this is completely false! The P-40 was the only Fighter we had through out the early years that could go toe to toe against the Dreaded ZERO on equal terms, made more remarkable when one realizes that the ZERO was at it's most formidable in those early years! Some of Americas first ACES flew the P-40 while a part of the Flying Tigers and did amazingly well against the Japanese. Later in Africa and Europe, the P-40 showed it's one weakness, it's Allison engine, and specifically it's lack of Turbo or Supercharger, so while it could still mix it up against the very best at low altitudes, it was out matched higher up! One thing the P-40 was always exceptionally good at was Power Diving, that sucker could out dive all other fighters from all sides, even out diving the P-38, and especially the radial engine powered airplanes ( That you DO NOT EVER POWER DIVE) so while a P-40 couldn't perform up high, you sure as hell didn't let one dive if you were planning on fighting one, a lesson the Italians and Germans found the hard way repeatedly!

No one has yet guessed at the Last plane I posted earlier, SAD, but not unexpected! That is the Glorious MiG-3 and it was the Russian savior for the hardest years when the Germans launched their attacks on the Soviet Union. The MiG was Extraordinarily, it was half wood, half alloy, and all engine! That Big Am-35 could climb and had unbeatable high altitude performance, something that made it extremely dangerous for the Germans to fight, it was also pretty small which made it hard to see and even harder to hit, and it was the only successful fighter of WWII to have Maneuvering Slats on it's wings which allowed it to turn tighter and at a much higher speed! it could literally fly circles around the German Fighters and do it's deadly work with almost mythic impunity. It's only weakness was it's Machine gun armament of only 2 12.3 MM guns and one 23mm cannon! While they were powerful, the ammo load out was small and the guns had a slow rate of fire!
There were More Russian ACES who flew the MiG-3 then any other fighter, including the newer and some what better fighters! Ask any Russian and they will tell you, the two best fighters they had were the MiG-3 and the American supplied P-39!