Your favorite WWII Aircraft

[Stealhead]

Originally Posted by August

But truth be told they just don't come any cockier than fighter pilots. Good thing egos don't have physical weight or they'd never get their birds off the ground!

You can say that again and Navy fighter pilots are the most cocky of all.

Truth be told cockiness is also a sign of aggressiveness and if you are going to be a paratrooper or a fighter pilot you had better have some.Of course not to the point that it hinders your ability to work as a cohesive unit.It has to be cockiness that is backed by fact.


@mako88sb that B-25 nose is a B-25G configuration it is a 75mm cannon they used it to punch holes into sides of enemy ships. The cannon was found not to be very useful in its intended role so they stopped mounting them. There where several different configurations of .50 cals in the nose some where factory others where Jerry rigged in the field.

The G model was the first to have factory designed nose kits they could be installed in the factory and had no option for a plexiglass nose.The H and J models filled up the nose space that the 75mm cannon took up with more .50.cals and allowed the plane to be configured with a plexiglass nose or the gun nose this could be configured in the feild.B-25G have a more stubby nose H and J models have a longer nose.The middle two photos are J or H models the RAF one is missing the top turret though and the blue one is a navy or Marnie Corps PBJ-1 they used the same model letters (G,H,J) though.

[mako88sb]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

You can say that again and Navy fighter pilots are the most cocky of all.

@mako88sb that B-25 nose is a B-25G configuration it is a 75mm cannon they used it to punch holes into sides of enemy ships. The cannon was found not to be very useful in its intended role so they stopped mounting them. There where several different configurations of .50 cals in the nose some where factory others where Jerry rigged in the field.

The G model was the first to have factory designed nose kits they could be installed in the factory and had no option for a plexiglass nose.The H and J models filled up the nose space that the 75mm cannon took up with more .50.cals and allowed the plane to be configured with a plexiglass nose or the gun nose this could be configured in the feild.B-25G have a more stubby nose H and J models have a longer nose.The middle two photos are J or H models the RAF one is missing the top turret though and the blue one is a navy or Marnie Corps PBJ-1 they used the same model letters (G,H,J) though.

Thanks for the info. The photo caption says it's an "H" but I know they can be wrong sometimes and I certainly can't say for sure which one it is. Either way, it looks like a formidable aircraft.

Originally Posted by Stealhead

Truth be told cockiness is also a sign of aggressiveness and if you are going to be a paratrooper or a fighter pilot you had better have some.

Well. I've been told I'm pretty confident in nearly anything I do or attempt to do. But I've never been called cocky.

I've been called alot worse though.


Yes. I'm a ParaTrooper. I'm no longer in the Armed Forces but as We say.
"Once a ParaTrooper? Always a ParaTrooper!"

All The Way And Then Some!

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by privateer

Well. I've been told I'm pretty confident in nearly anything I do or attempt to do. But I've never been called cocky.

I've been called alot worse though.


Yes. I'm a ParaTrooper. I'm no longer in the Armed Forces but as We say.
"Once a ParaTrooper? Always a ParaTrooper!"

All The Way And Then Some!

Paratroopers may go "All The Way And Then Some!" but just remember....

"Rangers Lead The Way"

[Stealhead]

Originally Posted by privateer

Well. I've been told I'm pretty confident in nearly anything I do or attempt to do. But I've never been called cocky.

I've been called alot worse though.


Yes. I'm a ParaTrooper. I'm no longer in the Armed Forces but as We say.
"Once a ParaTrooper? Always a ParaTrooper!"

All The Way And Then Some!

My father was a Ranger LRRP in Vietnam he did have some jump training but he never did any jumps in Vietnam and he left the Army after Vietnam.I think the 173rd did one airdrop in Vietnam but he was not assigned to the 173rd.I would say that his mentality spread to his children.

I have two brothers one is a Major in the Marine Infantry some people in a place called Fallujah learned not to mess with him and his fellow Marines.My other brother just retired form the US Army as a SFC he was regular infantry.I was always more into mechanical things so I joined the Air Force because I wanted to help maintain the most deadly pencil sharpeners in the world. No seriously I wanted to maintain aircraft so that was my choice.Even my kid sister who was never in the military has my dads determination she is a tiny thing and teaches in one of the tougher high schools in Louisiana yet the kids respect her.Of course you can never judge a person by size my sister could easily bring down a 250 pound man and not with a gun in her hands either.i piity the man that would make the mistake of trying to mug her.

@mako88sb It is an H I mixed things up in that post.The G had the same 75mm cannon as the H but had the turret set up of the A,B,C,D Mitchel's the H was the first to have the dorsal turret moved forwards and to have a true tail turret.On the earlier models the dorsal turret was more aft to also try and cover a portion of the rear quarter.

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

Heres another somewhat forgotten plane of WW2
The North American T-6 Texan advanced trainer. I got to see this one at the Stuart Airshow here in Florida in 2011. This plane was one of the most popular trainers of the war, has seen service since the first prototype flew on April 1, 1935 up until as late as 1995 when it was retired by the SAAF. It has been and in some still used by over 50 nations, and has been used in movies like Tora,Tora,Tora as Japanese Zeros, in A Bridge Too Far in the guise of P-47 Thunderbolts, and even in the Dutch film Soldaat van Oranje dressed up to look like Fokker D.XXI fighters.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Kptlt. Hellmut Neuerburg

Heres another somewhat forgotten plane of WW2
The North American T-6 Texan advanced trainer. I got to see this one at the Stuart Airshow here in Florida in 2011. This plane was one of the most popular trainers of the war, has seen service since the first prototype flew on April 1, 1935 up until as late as 1995 when it was retired by the SAAF. It has been and in some still used by over 50 nations, and has been used in movies like Tora,Tora,Tora as Japanese Zeros, in A Bridge Too Far in the guise of P-47 Thunderbolts, and even in the Dutch film Soldaat van Oranje dressed up to look like Fokker D.XXI fighters.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

You can say that again and Navy fighter pilots are the most cocky of all.

By the ring around his eyeball
You can tell a bombardier;
You can tell a bomber pilot
By the spread around his rear,
You can tell a navigator
By his sextants, maps and such
You can tell a fighter jockey
BUT YOU CAN'T TELL HIM MUCH!
http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=8009

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Platapus

By the ring around his eyeball
You can tell a bombardier;
You can tell a bomber pilot
By the spread around his rear,
You can tell a navigator
By his sextants, maps and such
You can tell a fighter jockey
BUT YOU CAN'T TELL HIM MUCH!
http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=8009

Not bad at all.

I've heard some good ones in my time...that is on the list.

[eddie]

My favorites- from the ETO it would be the Beaufighter



And the JU 88 G6 Night Fighter



From the PTO- I always liked the looks of the "Birdcage" Corsair


and the F6F Hellcat

[fireftr18]

Originally Posted by eddie

From the PTO- I always liked the looks of the "Birdcage" Corsair

Why is called the "birdcage" Corsair? It looks to me that the cockpit is further back. Why is that?

[eddie]

It was the first version of the Corsair to become operational. From what I gather, the framework around the canopy gave them the impression of being inside a birdcage.

Later versions of the Corsair would have the clear canopy we are used to seeing.

[Stealhead]

Originally Posted by fireftr18

Why is called the "birdcage" Corsair? It looks to me that the cockpit is further back. Why is that?

The more common term for a framed canopy at the time was "greenhouse" either term describes the framing.As the war progressed blown and bubble plexiglass became more common.Most Corsairs kept the fuselage shape and received a blown canopy that was either a solid unit or had minimal framing. Some aircraft like the P-27 and P-51 that eventually where equipped with a full 360 view bubble canopy to fit these canopies part of the rear fuselage was cut down for this reason earlier models where known as "razorbacks" because they had a raised rear upper fuselage that sloped downwards from a high point much like a male boar aka razorback.The birdcage nickname was unique to the F4u-1 with the original canopy design.

The P-47 had the most Razorback like stance though P-51B and C models where also called razorbacks when compared to D and K models.It was not uncommon for a unit to fly differing models of the aircraft while they converted to a newer model.Usually the newer model was more popular but that was not always the case the P-51D was actually better than the P-51K the K was designed to lighter one way they made it lighter was by giving it a propeller that had hollow blades these props vibrated badly so they removed them and replaced them with the same prop that the D used.P-47s on the other hand by late 1944 most units flying them where using them mainly for ground attack so many of the older razorback Ds lasted a long time and would fly along side newer bubble top Ds.

P-47D "razorback"


P-47D bubble canopy