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War Birds

Started by Walks_At_Night, September 19, 2016, 06:59:24 PM

One of the other threads wandered off topic into this area and it seemed as if there was
enough interest to warrant a thread of its own.

Figured we'd start with American planes which means I guess we start here.


Any thoughts on the Boeing P-26 Peashooter?



The P-26 did see combat in World War 2.  Supposedly Captain Jesus Villamor scored two kills in a P-26
in December 1941 during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines.  You fight with what you have on hand
but he certainly did not lack courage.  From what I have read, two Zero's and a Nell fell before P-26 guns.



norland2424

My favorite hands down has to be f4u corsair,  it was an excellent fighter/bomber that even ended up filling a cas role during the late stages of ww2



starrmtn001

I gave Serenity a heads-up about your new thread, War Birds.  I bet he'll contribute some interesting and exciting posts here. ;)

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on September 19, 2016, 07:00:35 PM
Figured we'd start with American planes which means I guess we start here.


Any thoughts on the Boeing P-26 Peashooter?


Highly unstable, but cool.

Quote from: norland2424 on September 19, 2016, 07:15:36 PM
My favorite hands down has to be f4u corsair,  it was an excellent fighter/bomber that even ended up filling a cas role during the late stages of ww2


Love that bird. It was Carrier capable too.

albrecht

Quote from: (Sandman) Logan-5 on September 19, 2016, 07:35:12 PM
Highly unstable, but cool.
Are we talking planes here or various Bellgabbers?

Quote from: (Sandman) Logan-5 on September 19, 2016, 07:35:12 PM
Highly unstable, but cool.

It was kind of cool, in kind of a clunky way and actually flew with the Guatemalan airforce until 1956.
Considering that my favorite jet bomber, the B-58 Hustler first flew in 1956, that is pretty amazing.


Uncle Duke

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on September 19, 2016, 07:12:42 PM
The P-26 did see combat in World War 2.  Supposedly Captain Jesus Villamor scored two kills in a P-26
in December 1941 during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines.  You fight with what you have on hand
but he certainly did not lack courage.  From what I have read, two Zero's and a Nell fell before P-26 guns.




P-26s, or least the export version, saw combat against the Japanese in China in the late thirties, and one flew combat in the Spanish Civil War.  Interesting, Loyalist pilots misidentified Russian I-16s (Ratas) as P-26s for most of the war, reporting having fought Republican "Boeings".



trostol

does the A-10 count..one of my all time faves



along with the P-38


Quote from: trostol on September 19, 2016, 07:56:06 PM
does the A-10 count..one of my all time faves



along with the P-38



They all count!

chefist

Quote from: trostol on September 19, 2016, 07:56:06 PM
does the A-10 count..one of my all time faves



along with the P-38



The British didn't put in the super chargers which they should have...this plane was a Kelly Johnson design...my favorite of all! Proud USAF vet and this plane is my choice as favorite!

Thanks for that post!

BTW...the few super charged units sent to Europe...the Germans called it the twin tailed Devil! That sums it up!

norland2424

Quote from: trostol on September 19, 2016, 07:56:06 PM
does the A-10 count..one of my all time faves



along with the P-38



Nothing beats hearing the 30mm brrrrt

starrmtn001

When I lived on Mt Baldy, one of the Village residents owned a Mustang P51.  Occasionally he would fly over Mt Baldy and buzz the Village.  Pissed some folks off but I always loved it.  There is something so visceral about that sound.  Makes my heart race and my body tingle.  The Mustang P51 is my favorite War Bird. :-*

P-51D Mustang Awesome Sound !!!

https://youtu.be/a3eBD6tLVOQ

Quote from: starrmtn001 on September 19, 2016, 08:10:01 PM
When I lived on Mt Baldy, one of the Village residents owned a Mustang P51.  Occasionally he would fly over Mt Baldy a buzz the Village.  Pissed some folks off but I always loved it.  There is something so visceral about that sound.  Makes my heart race and my body tingle.  The Mustang P51 is my favorite War Bird. :-*



A nice choice Starr!   We'll get to mine a little further down the line

starrmtn001

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on September 19, 2016, 08:13:06 PM
A nice choice Starr!   We'll get to mine a little further down the line
Cool!   

And, by the way, I'm not linear.  I can have more than one favorite. ;) ;D

Value Of Pi

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on September 19, 2016, 07:43:46 PM
It was kind of cool, in kind of a clunky way and actually flew with the Guatemalan airforce until 1956.
Considering that my favorite jet bomber, the B-58 Hustler first flew in 1956, that is pretty amazing.



Ah, the Hustler, what an airplane. One of my favorites, too. It never got the notoriety of the B-52, our main nuclear-capable bomber, even though it had the cool factor in spades. I believe it showed up in "Fail-Safe" as the Vindicator and there are some around in museums. None flying that I know of.

Uncle Duke

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on September 19, 2016, 07:51:59 PM

and what I believe is a replica
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9clzKTVMbi4

Pretty sure that's the P-26 replica belonging to Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  Great museum, they have a warbirds airshow there every spring that rivals any at Duxford.  Attended two years ago, rain pretty much kept everything grounded, but did get to see one of Me-262 replicas do a brief routine.




Value Of Pi

For all Mustang fans, this beauty has been on the air show circuit for awhile. It's owned (and was flown for many years) by this retired SAC flyer, who flew with my girlfriend's father during the Cold War: http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/Biographies/Display/tabid/225/Article/105320/brigadier-general-regis-fa-urschler.aspx

This guy, like the planes he flew, deserves a ton of respect and admiration. He's the pilot in the photo.

Link-back to the P-61 restoration post: http://bellgab.com/index.php/topic,10203.msg908233.html#msg908233

Here's a youtube playlist dedicated to the Night Fighters heavily featuring the P-61 "Black Widow".  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKOAe8DrvQyG6S9mhI-wEqsMEVeTy-21S

Synchronicity is a beautiful thing. ;)
Posted today: http://johnweeks.com/p61/   "P-61 â€" The Black Widow Survivors" 


Fire power: (4) 50-caliber machine guns and (4) 20mm cannons.
"  The Black Widow did not have an overwhelming number of kills in WWII. The reason is that it came along rather late in the war, and by that time, the AXIS partners had little left to throw at the Allies. If someone did dare to take to the skies under the cover of darkness, and a P-61 was nearby, they were as good as toast.

A total of 742 P-61’s were built, including XP-61 and YP-61 pre-production aircraft, then three production models, the P-61A, P-61B, and the more powerful P-61C. In addition, 36 F-15A photo recon variants were produced. Today, only 3 survive as complete airframes, one is undergoing restoration, and one is known to survive in China.  "   

  One major problem that surfaced [with the P-61] was the failure of the Plexiglas tail dome which used to break off during high speed dives. The tail cone was strengthened by replacing the welded magnesium alloy booms of the prototypes with more conventional aluminum alloy booms. This solved some problems with tail cone failures but not entirely.   ref: http://www.aviation-history.com/northrop/p61.html


       <--  Restoration progress  -->     http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbird-restorations/northrop-p-61-black-widow-winter-2015-restoration-update.html


Long article, but good - "Beware the Black Widow"  http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/beaufighters-black-widows-180959772/?no-ist



Quote from: albrecht on September 19, 2016, 07:40:04 PM
Are we talking planes here or various Bellgabbers?
Why does it have to be one or the other ?    ;)
;D



albrecht

Love the BOC. A couple of times I was in London during some anniversaries and they did AWESOME fly-overs and once a poppy drop with old planes. Spitfires, Lancaster (I think, not into knowledge of planes) and many pints so forget what dates but SO awesome. The sound and echoes of same from buildings and also the relative slowness (even compared with modern flyovers here where I think the planes approached over stadium near a stall speed, also awesome) but the sound and sight and whole solemn ceremony was spectacular. Im on my phone n cant search easily for youtubes but they probably out there. Also, during some ceremony event some WWII tanks in the street. Actually tearing up street and the noise! Awesome (I think some anniversary and Mayor election or something?) A bit foggy from allergy meds and some ballgame beers now. So, I apologize on dates and precise recollection.

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