Quote:
Originally Posted by Stealhead
I guess you guys are not gear heads like I am I was hoping to hear a little bit about your love for the technical bits you know like guys talking about their hot rods.
for example on the P-38 above did you know that the counter balance on the tail actually did not have any effect? It was thought to help with the loss of control during high speed dives.Kelly Johnson(I hope you know who that is) felt that it was a waste of time and that the issue was caused by vortexing something that was only theory at the time(he was correct) How about the fact that the Allison engines made for the P-38 where specific port and starboard?
Treat it like a question on a job interview for a job where you are the host of a TV show about WWII aircraft. short answers wont get you hired.
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Well then allow me to elaborate.
P51-D Mustang was one of the greatest comeback designs of the war, with the assistance of Rolls-Royce Merlin being the final piece of the puzzle that made the P51 come out in flying colors. Just because it's the most cliched aircraft of the war doesn't make it any less fantastic. It had a superb climb rate, and armed with drop tanks the fuel efficient design helped carry these agile and heavily armed fighters right into Germany. It also doubled as an effective CAS fighter-bomber. Not to mention it is simply beautiful.
The B-29 was a very sturdy piece of engineering, and it was a fantastic advancement in aerospace technology, with remote controlled turrets, advanced bomb sights, pressurized cabins (with heating), and a massive payload and range. it's range of 3250 miles was previously unmatched, as was it's bomb capacity of 20000 pounds of bombs.
The SBD Dauntless dive-bombers were the planes that turned the tide in the pacific (whilst not discrediting whatsoever the role of the avengers). It's reliability, ruggedness, great payload, great handling, defensive armament, and success allowed it to still be the dive bomber of choice for pilots after the SBD-2 helldiver was comissioned (the pilots referred to the SBD-2 as the Son-of-a-*redacted* second class because it was a comparably piss poor flyer). Its role in Midway, along with TBF avengers, were incalculable to the success of the U.S military in the pacific.
the F6F Hellcat was not as fast as the F4U, and not quite as manuverable, but it was a monster and a VERY capable aircraft. It was faster than the zero, had a fantastic rugged quality to it, and claimed 56% of all U.S Navy/Marine air victories of the war, attesting to it's qualities as a fighter and a flyer.
Adding on, there's definitely a noteworthy mention of the
Nakajima Ki-84 'Frank", the best fighter to see large scale operations for the Japanese during the war. Captured planes showed it to be faster than the P-51 and P-47, and it was comparable to some of the other top allied fighters, and also was able to reach B-29s at their maximum altitude. It was formidable, with 20mm (room for up to 30) cannons and multiple 50 cal machine guns, and design improvements over the oscar, made it a great design and a great aircraft.
The ME-262 was revolutionary in it's jet propulsion technology, and was all around a good fighter with unmatched speed and fantastic armament, though it's impact on the war was too late and it's use was limited by Hitler's vision of it being a bomber rather than a fighter.
the F4U Corsair was pretty much the best fighter aircraft used in WW2. Although i consider it a tie with the P51, it is an outstanding aircraft with a gull-wing design, the ability to be a great fighter-bomber, and it's outstanding qualities as a fighter, very fast, very agile, rugged, dependable, and powerful, it really was one of the best
And of course, i've already explained why the C-47 is important to me, but it's ruggedness, dependability, range, and role in providing the allies with a great transport aircraft make it the best transport of the war. Dropping troops into the enemy's backyard night and day, delivering supplies, commandos, and filling the ever expanding role of paratroopers, while also being the aircraft which my grandfather served in as a flight engineer, i can't help but put it on the list.
And some worthy notations to the 8-ton P-47 thunderbolt, the P-61 black widow, the Vought V-173 flying pancake, the spitfire, and the P-40 Warhawk.