Hey Man, Nice Shot

[Oberon]

A while ago in a thread the topic of which I have long since forgotten we mentioned about men who fought each other in war becoming friends after it, and swapping their stories.
Well, here's a modern version. :yep:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20209770


I do have a question though, the article mentions the pilot as being one 'Dale Zelko', yet the wreckage of the aircraft has Capt. Ken 'Wiz' Dwelle on it. Borrowed aircraft? Or false ID? :hmmm:

[Stealhead]

It was and still is very common for a pilot to not fly their assigned aircraft on a mission in the military.In an aircraft with only one or two crewmen they will simply fly the next available aircraft.

With heavies it becomes more of an issue and a mission might get scraped or delayed or another plane and crew will get the mission interdependent on if the plane is at its home base or is transient and away from home. At least in my experiences with the USAF and the ACC(mainly fighters) and AMC(cargo) that is how it worked out usually.With tankers there is always a back up sometimes it will be from a different squadron or even a different wing.Someone is always flying though or ready to fly that is why many Air National Guard units have some tankers assigned to them.

Sometimes a real issue will arise such a transient aircraft needing a major repair in that case another plane form the same squadron has to bring the parts if they are small enough other wise it may take weeks.I once say a B-1B get stuck for a week in Germany(not that they crew was upset) due to a serious engine problem they had to wait for a C-17 to have the space available to carry an entire engine for the B-1B.

[GoldenRivet]

It was and still is very common for a pilot to not fly their assigned aircraft on a mission in the military.In an aircraft with only one or two crewmen they will simply fly the next available aircraft.

With heavies it becomes more of an issue and a mission might get scraped or another plane and crew will get the mission instead.At least in my experiences with the USAF and the ACC(mainly fighters) and AMC(cargo) that is how it worked out usually.With tankers there is always a back up sometimes it will be from a different squadron or even a different wing.

that...

every pilot has a plane he prefers over another of the exact same type. I must have flown 20 different SAAB 340s, number 902... she was a PIG, ran hot, odd vibrations, tight right turns and loose left turns, stiff landings.

number 323 was a queen of the sky, harmonious controls, evenly matched power levers, predictable engine perimeters, smooth running etc.

but much like I used to fly several different planes every day, an air force pilot might fly several different planes over the span of a combat tour. Just because his name was on it really didnt make it "his".

much like the crew of the memphis belle completing their 25 mission tour of duty... they really only flew most of those missions in the actual memphis belle. Other missions were flown in other B-17s

[Stealhead]

every pilot has a plane he prefers over another of the exact same type.

This is very true in many fighter wings the wing commanders assigned aircraft will have a brushed stainless steel fairing around the cannon port and on the A-10 it looks very nice being instead the entire muzzle.When I was stationed at Davis-Monthan,AZ the wing commander had two A-10s that he preferred one was his deployment/combat aircraft and that one did not normally have the fancy GAU-8 muzzle.Usually he only flew his officially assigned A-10 for official events but on exercises he would have the stainless steel GAU-8 muzzle placed on his "combat" A-10 I guess he felt that the "combat" A-10 did not look as sharp but flew better.

[Oberon]

Aaah, I did wonder and that makes practical sense as well as appealing to the feel of the aircraft. Each machine has its own personality, I think that that is something that has been recognised by people who have worked with machines from way back in the steam locomotive era. It makes sense that aircraft would be no different.
I wonder if Mr Zelko would have fared any better in a more familar bird, technically speaking I'd say no, the odds were against him, but psychologically speaking, who can say.

[Jimbuna]

Cool story Oberon :cool: