Hey Man, Nice Shot

[GoldenRivet]

Originally Posted by 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 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