Your favorite WWII Aircraft

[Schroeder]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Well, if he's Subsim resident Grammar Nazi then perhaps...

Well, but that is an imperial German soldier, not one from the third Reich.

Originally Posted by MH

Does anybody know why this plane has two national emblems which are getting in the way of each other?

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Well, if he's Subsim resident Grammar Nazi then perhaps...

Yes...perfect...

And this one can be mine...

[mako88sb]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

Well, but that is an imperial German soldier, not one from the third Reich.


Does anybody know why this plane has such two national emblems which are getting in the way of each other?

That's because the speed brake is open. Here's a photo of a model that shows it better:

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

Well, but that is an imperial German soldier, not one from the third Reich.

*image removed*

Better?

[Schroeder]

Originally Posted by mako88sb

That's because the speed brake is open. Here's a photo of a model that shows it better:

http://www.fly-international.fr/Imag...2011153157.jpg

Ah, of course, should have figured that myself.
I wasn't aware the Skyraider had air brakes.
Thanks.

[Stealhead]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

Does anybody know why this plane has two national emblems which are getting in the way of each other?

The A-1 had three dive brakes one on each side of the fuselage just aft of the wings and on the bottom of the fuselage also just aft of the wings.What you are seeing is the side air brakes being deployed the national emblem happens to be painted on the side air brakes.Of course the A-1 when used in Korea and Vietnam rarely ever used the dive brakes it had been designed to be a pure dive bomber that concept faded from use after WWII for the most part.

The A-1 is iffy it was a WWII design but never flew anywhere near a combat or even a supportive situation during WWII.From a technical stand point to me at least that makes it not eligible.It missed the war by over a year as well because it did not enter service with the Navy until December 1946.The A-1 also performed all of its dirty work in Korea and Vietnam in those two wars it more than made up for what it theatricality missed.In a strange way the end of WWII actually saved the A-1 because the Navy needed something to replace its Curtis Helldivers and Avengers planes that served well but where obsolete for post war combat.

I put the A-1 in the same category as the F7F and F8F early post war aircraft even though they where designed during the war and both the F7F and F8F both became active in the last few months of the war it was too late for any of them to see combat they never got a chance to prove their worth until seeing use in other wars.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

Ah, of course, should have figured that myself.
I wasn't aware the Skyraider had air brakes.
Thanks.

Rgr that

[mako88sb]

Originally Posted by u crank

Douglas A-26 Invader.



WW2 attack bomber that also saw service in Korea and Viet Nam.

Whenever someone mentions the B-26, this image comes to mind. I never knew about the “Susie-Q”'s close encounter with the Akagi until a few years ago when I read a magazine describing the incident.

[Stealhead]

The A/B-26 Invader is one of the more interesting WWII ear aircraft it was one of the few to go through a designation change and in doing so had the same designation as another aircraft no longer in service(B-26 Marauder). The Invader saw the majority of its action in Korea though it did see some action in a last months of the in the ETO and a few months of action in the PTO as well as some use in Vietnam though the largest number saw action in Korea.

During Vietnam they took A/B26 airframes that where sitting out in the Boneyard in Arizona and called them B-26Ks at first they simply refurbished them however after several crashes both in Vietnam and in Tampa Bay,FL (the stateside home of the Vietnam era Invaders was McDill,AFB) the USAF ran an investigation and discovered that the airframes all had weak frames around the wing roots causing them to fail in a catastrophic fashion in mid flight usually killing the crew as well as of course destroying the plane.As a result a company strengthened the airframes but USAF crews never had regained full faith in the B-26Ks and they where often referred to as "Two a Day in Tampa Bay".

The B-26 Marauder also had a bad reputation because it was tricky to fly and there where many accidents so the Marauder sometimes got the nickname "Baltimore Bitch" or "Baltimore Widow Maker" because the main Martin factory was in Baltimore Maryland.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by mako88sb

Whenever someone mentions the B-26,

That's cool. Just so you know, he didn't mentiion the B-26. The Douglas A-26 Invader and Martin B-26 Marauder were completely different aircraft.

[razark]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

That's cool. Just so you know, he didn't mentiion the B-26. The Douglas A-26 Invader and Martin B-26 Marauder were completely different aircraft.

Except from 1948-1965, when the A-26 was the B-26.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_A-26_Invader

The Douglas A-26 Invader (designated B-26 between 1948–1965)...

[mako88sb]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

That's cool. Just so you know, he didn't mentiion the B-26. The Douglas A-26 Invader and Martin B-26 Marauder were completely different aircraft.

Okay, that's something I didn't know. Thanks for setting me straight. Gotta love a thread that's interesting and educational at the same time.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by razark

Except from 1948-1965, when the A-26 was the B-26.

But a redesignation doesn't change the nature of the beast. That's like saying the Huff-Daland XB-1 of 1927 and the Rockwell B-1 of 1974 are the same aircraft.

B-1



B-1

[Stealhead]

Originally Posted by razark

Except from 1948-1965, when the A-26 was the B-26.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_A-26_Invader

That is why most people choose to use A-26 or A/B-26 when referring to the Invader and B-26 when referring to the Marauder.Steve is correct the B-26 Marauder and the A-26 Invader are completely different aircraft.

The B-26 Marauder was not in service when the USAF changed its aircraft nomenclature P becoming F and A becoming B for a time calling certain truly attack aircraft bombers was actually for political reasons and argument with the US Army up until 1963 the USAF did not use the A for attack nomenclature after 1963 Congress said that all fixed wing aircraft where the realm of the USAF(excluding some very specific roles) after this point the USAF felt safe to use the A for attack nomenclature again.The USAF had concern that the US Army would stake claim to any so called attack aircraft because they support ground forces directly.

Of course the B-26K retained its the B nomenclature anyway and the USAF did not acquire any ex US Navy A-1 Skyraiders until 1964/65.You will notice also the USAF flew many aircraft titled F for fighter when truly they where bombers F-105,F-111,F-117 the first two again where for political reasons and the F-117 was to confuse the nature of the program to anyone looking for something interesting.

[August]

Originally Posted by razark

Except from 1948-1965, when the A-26 was the B-26.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_A-26_Invader

Don't read too much into the similar designations. The military recycles them all the time. After all what does a Garand rifle and an Abrams tank have in common other than they are both "M1's"?