Quote:
Originally Posted by fireftr18
Never knew the P-47 had a bubble top. I thought only the P-51 and P-38 had the bubble top.
I like this thread. I have seen pictures of aircraft I never knew existed. Seen different variations of aircraft I thought I knew well.
And it is inspiring me to get back to model kits.
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If I may allow me to show you some Russian aircraft seeing as they are over looked by many.They had some very interesting designs.They also had the first true ground attack/close support aircraft that was designed solely for that role that was a huge success.
The IL-2 this plane had some serious armor protection and also really packed a wallop many had two 23mm cannon and two 7.62mm machine guns (used more for "walking" rockets on target) some had two 37mm cannon in place of the two 23mm cannons other had 4 23mm cannons.Soviet aircraft had a lot of variation in armament even with in the same model depending on where they where made.IL-2s also had a small bomb bay in each wing root and rocket racks on the wings.
Another fairly good fighter especially in later models was the Yak-1/9/3 this plane was very light but also very agile it had a 20 or 23mm cannon firing though the propeller hub like the BF-109 and P-39 and most models had one of two .50 cal MGs(Soviet 12.7x109mm not the M2 12.7x99mm) mounted on the engine cowling.The Yak-3 was one of the most dangerous fighters in a dog fight so much so that Luftwaffe pilots preferred to avoid a dogfight with a Yak-3.
I already mentioned the La5/7 in a previous post it was arguably the best Soviet designed fighter of the war edging out the Yak.Of course many Soviet pilots flew the P-39 and they had a lot of success with it.Most Soviet aces flew either P-39s or La5s all of the top scoring Soviet aces flew one of these types or both.
If want a challenge when you model I recommend modeling WWII Japanese aircraft the Japanese often allowed the paint work on their aircraft to go by the wayside and they wound looking heavily weathered as a result which makes for a cool looking model.
IL-2
Yak3
