Polishing a WWII Flying Fortress

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Well if we're talking absolute favourites, then mine would be the Mossie

I'll see your Mossie,and raise you a Hornet. One of the all time most graceful aircraft ever.
http://www.dhhornet50.net/index.php?f=data_home&a=0

Good call, but I'd miss someone to chat too

I remember reading about 'Winkle' Brown landing one of those on one of our carriers

Not a lot of room for a aircraft with that wingspan to land on

[cliosguy]

my favorite plane of all times is the A-10(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Thunderbolt_II) i loved its feature performance on transformers

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

my favorite plane of all times is the A-10(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Thunderbolt_II) i loved its feature performance on transformers

Prefere the original tank buster ...

[cliosguy]

my favorite plane of all times is the A-10(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Thunderbolt_II) i loved its feature performance on transformers

Prefere the original tank buster ...

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

my favorite plane of all times is the A-10(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Thunderbolt_II) i loved its feature performance on transformers

Prefere the original tank buster ...

Unless you happen to be in a KV2 or T34 of course

[cliosguy]

my favorite plane of all times is the A-10(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Thunderbolt_II) i loved its feature performance on transformers

Prefere the original tank buster ...

Unless you happen to be in a KV2 or T34 of course

yeah, its a perspective thing i guess

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

 

You ought to read a Sven Hassel mate, you'll learn a whole new understanding of how much tankers hated aircraft then

[Dunc]

I wish our airforce still used planes like that.

Yes so do the Taliban 


Dunc

[BIG-TARGET]

Here's a history of my Dad's old bomber group, The 482nd Bomber Group"Pathfinders"
http://www.482nd.org/history

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Here's a history of my Dad's old bomber group, The 482nd Bomber Group"Pathfinders"
http://www.482nd.org/history

Interesting stuff

[MultiMat]

my favorite plane of all times is the A-10(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Thunderbolt_II) i loved its feature performance on transformers

Prefere the original tank buster ...

Mike were is the Stuka 'scream' as it dive bombs ? In the footage the stuka is using rockets ???The stuka's big weakness was how slow it was when pulling out of a dive wasn't , a lot of them got shot down when pulling up ?

I love both the new & old Thunderbolts ugly effective brutes  
I have a big soft spot for radial engines too.

[cgk]

my favorite plane of all times is the A-10(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Thunderbolt_II) i loved its feature performance on transformers

They used to fly some out of Truax Field in Madison, I never got tired of watching them fly by.  They now have F-16's, which I also like....but that sloooow, ugly A-10 had more charm.

[rp252]

my favorite plane of all times is the A-10(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Thunderbolt_II) i loved its feature performance on transformers

Prefere the original tank buster ...

Mike were is the Stuka 'scream' as it dive bombs ? In the footage the stuka is using rockets ???The stuka's big weakness was how slow it was when pulling out of a dive wasn't , a lot of them got shot down when pulling up ?

I love both the new & old Thunderbolts ugly effective brutes  
I have a big soft spot for radial engines too.

Rather than rockets I think those Stukas are using 37mm gun pods - like in this picture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-646-5184-26,_Russland,_Flugzeug_Junkers_Ju_87.jpg.

A10s eh?  Gotta love the A10.  Fantastic tank killer, so well designed.  Easily one of my favourite modern aircraft.

[Whoey]

I built many model planes when I was younger... the largest was a B52... that thing was massive! (considering it was half the scale of my other models, and still nearly 3x the size!)

Also built A-10, F-14, F-16, F-18, SR-71, F-117, Harrier, a few different Migs, some eurofighters.

ones with props... Spitfire, Corsair and Mustangs... always wanted a B-17.

I sometimes think about getting back into it... but where would I put them all!

playing with the full sized ones has got to be a blast... I remember sitting in the cockpit of a flight ready CF-18 once... it left a pretty big impression!

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

That is the problem

They do take up a lot of room, fortunatly there is a solution, and it involves letting small boys playing with them

[Whoey]

my mother still has a box with a bunch of them that are literally in pieces... beyond repair...

[cgk]

Some pics from today...sorry it was with my phone.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

You can keep your new fangled Hornet's, I'll take the mustang anyday

[Tinnie]

You can keep your new fangled Hornet's, I'll take the mustang anyday

+1

Jets are so overrated

[BIG-TARGET]

You can keep your new fangled Hornet's, I'll take the mustang anyday

+1

Jets are so overrated

Any C-130 crewman cann confirm that!!

[cgk]

You can keep your new fangled Hornet's, I'll take the mustang anyday

+1

Jets are so overrated

Any C-130 crewman cann confirm that!!

Yep, like those too.

[J-sews]

my favorite plane of all times is the A-10(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Thunderbolt_II) i loved its feature performance on transformers

Prefere the original tank buster ...

I read somewhere that Hans-Ulrich Rudel's book "Stuka Pilot" was mandatory reading for everyone involved in the developement of the A-10. (an excellent book by the way, highly recommended)

[MultiMat]

Bob the footage of the Stuka bombing run , they are using rockets ? I remember my dad saying the Stuka's big weakness was how slow & vulnerable it was pulling out of a dive ? Do you know if this was true ? The terrifying noise the Stuka made when diving , was that deliberate ie terrifying the ground forces with the 'scream' of the Stuka.
I grew up playing with a green metal matchbox toy Stuka.

The A-100 is the original beautiful 'BEAST' , I love that angry nose.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Bob the footage of the Stuka bombing run , they are using rockets ? I remember my dad saying the Stuka's big weakness was how slow & vulnerable it was pulling out of a dive ? Do you know if this was true ? The terrifying noise the Stuka made when diving , was that deliberate ie terrifying the ground forces with the 'scream' of the Stuka.
I grew up playing with a green metal matchbox toy Stuka.

The A-100 is the original beautiful 'BEAST' , I love that angry nose.

Nope 2x 37mm cannon, and I think they trialed a pair of 57mm, but the recoil made the aircraft come to a dead stop everytime it fired

[cb400bill]

This was the best plane in WWII.  The Dauntless SBD.  My father was the gunner in one in the South Pacific
 


All you fans of vintage planes should come to Michigan and tour the Kalamazoo Air Zoo.  They have 3 campuses of dozens of planes.  The list includes P-40, F-14, B-25, SR-71b, SBD-3, and a bunch more.  You can also tour their restoration center.

http://www.airzoo.org/

[I'm Still Bison]

Bob the footage of the Stuka bombing run , they are using rockets ? I remember my dad saying the Stuka's big weakness was how slow & vulnerable it was pulling out of a dive ? Do you know if this was true ? The terrifying noise the Stuka made when diving , was that deliberate ie terrifying the ground forces with the 'scream' of the Stuka.
I grew up playing with a green metal matchbox toy Stuka.

The A-100 is the original beautiful 'BEAST' , I love that angry nose.

Actually the Stuka had several areas of vulnerability.It had a water cooled engine with all the plumbing,a well placed piece of flak or shrapnel could put a hurting on the engine. Radial engines could sustain much more damage and stay on mission.Then the method of attack didn't help either,once committed to a bomb run,it couldn't deviate from the run and deliver the goods;and to effectively bomb meant coming in low,where every infantryman and his brother could have at whack at you.

And to you cb400bill  to the Dauntless.What they did at Midway was nothing less than miraculous.Their replacements the SB2C could never match the SBD in the affections of the men that flew and serviced them,and certainly could never compare in reliability.

[BIG-TARGET]

You can keep your new fangled Hornet's, I'll take the mustang anyday

+1

Jets are so overrated

Any C-130 crewman cann confirm that!!

Yep, like those too.

The C-130"Herky-bird" is the coolest plane on earth!!!!

[BIG-TARGET]

BTW, to all the SAK lovers in our group(note: I'm one of you)
Here's a picture of a Swiss Air Force B-17.


During WW2 if US/allied fighter and Bomber aircraft suffered "mechanical problems" or too much battle damage to make to make it home to England. Then they were ordered to fly to the nearest neutral country(i.e.Switzerlan or Sweden). The US/allied plane lands in Switzerland and were hence interred until the wars end and aircraft were impounded.

Infact, so many aircraft were impounded the SAF replace their aging Messerschmitt fleet with impounded P-51 Mustangs,And created their own Bomber Group with impounded B-17s

[MultiMat]

Bob the footage of the Stuka bombing run , they are using rockets ? I remember my dad saying the Stuka's big weakness was how slow & vulnerable it was pulling out of a dive ? Do you know if this was true ? The terrifying noise the Stuka made when diving , was that deliberate ie terrifying the ground forces with the 'scream' of the Stuka.
I grew up playing with a green metal matchbox toy Stuka.

The A-100 is the original beautiful 'BEAST' , I love that angry nose.

Nope 2x 37mm cannon, and I think they trialed a pair of 57mm, but the recoil made the aircraft come to a dead stop everytime it fired

Thanks Mike.

Bob the footage of the Stuka bombing run , they are using rockets ? I remember my dad saying the Stuka's big weakness was how slow & vulnerable it was pulling out of a dive ? Do you know if this was true ? The terrifying noise the Stuka made when diving , was that deliberate ie terrifying the ground forces with the 'scream' of the Stuka.
I grew up playing with a green metal matchbox toy Stuka.

The A-100 is the original beautiful 'BEAST' , I love that angry nose.

Actually the Stuka had several areas of vulnerability.It had a water cooled engine with all the plumbing,a well placed piece of flak or shrapnel could put a hurting on the engine. Radial engines could sustain much more damage and stay on mission.Then the method of attack didn't help either,once committed to a bomb run,it couldn't deviate from the run and deliver the goods;and to effectively bomb meant coming in low,where every infantryman and his brother could have at whack at you.

And to you cb400bill  to the Dauntless.What they did at Midway was nothing less than miraculous.Their replacements the SB2C could never match the SBD in the affections of the men that flew and serviced them,and certainly could never compare in reliability.

Thanks for answering for the other Bob , Bob 

[I'm Still Bison]

Mat---stealing other people's thunder is one thing I excel at Under development at war's end was the culmination of experience gained in combat,and it looked just like this.....AD Skyraider.Capable of a warload exceeding a B-17,it could strafe,close ground support,torpedo bomb,dive bomb;you name it,it could do it.