Favorite WW2 warbird?
Just curious what other fans of vintage aviation find just really neat.
I always liked the Hawker Hurricane and P-40 the best for fighters. Neither was a top performer, though the Hurricane CAN claim, far more than the Spitfire, that IT stopped the invasion of Britain. Second nods to the 190d9- very cool looking plane. I always kinda liked Italian fighters too, especially the Macchi 200, 202, and 205. Really the Mustang and P47 and such never did it for me. Great planes, don't get me wrong, just they don't speak to me the same way.
Bombers, I like the B-26 best of all. Then the classic B-17.
For sheer weirdness, the ME163 Komet comes to mind.
How about you all.
I always liked the Hawker Hurricane and P-40 the best for fighters. Neither was a top performer, though the Hurricane CAN claim, far more than the Spitfire, that IT stopped the invasion of Britain. Second nods to the 190d9- very cool looking plane. I always kinda liked Italian fighters too, especially the Macchi 200, 202, and 205. Really the Mustang and P47 and such never did it for me. Great planes, don't get me wrong, just they don't speak to me the same way.
Bombers, I like the B-26 best of all. Then the classic B-17.
For sheer weirdness, the ME163 Komet comes to mind.
How about you all.
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Give me the P-51 Mustang, followed by the P-38 Lightning...
Never cared much for the B-17's or 24's.0 -
I might add the Hellcat, we did have some Made in the USA stuff that kicked butt[:p][:0][^][:D] 0 -
P-51 mustang as well... something about it... 0 -
Hard to beat the beautifullines of the spitfire. But then, I'm partial to them having built a full scale flying replica of the Mark 1X.Even though it's powered by an Allison, it looks and sounds like the real thing. Anyone living near Roseburg Oregon can see it June 30-July 1, at the airshow there. You can bet I'll be there! It lives in Prescott Az. and he flies it to various shows as a hobby/business. 0 -
THIS is an unfair question!
WAY too many to list.
Fighters? Probably P51 (of course), P38, Spitfire, Corsair F4U, Jug, and the Me262.
Bombers? The B-17 (probably my favorite), B-26 (sports model[:D]), Lancaster, and
the He 111 ... only because we were given a guided tour through it by it's late owner
... and offered a ride in it, incidentally, but it's crash and subsequent burning
pre-empted that ride, I'm sorry to say).
I've always loved just about any military aircraft. Just spent a half hour, the other
day at the local DMV, chatting with a Gooney Bird pilot who used to fly in and out
of SD harbor, when I was a kid!0 -
P-47 One big ass bird![:p][:p][:p][:p] 0 -
I will also throw in the sleeve valved radial engined fighters made by the brits... 3000 hp of roaring precision that would do a swiss watchmaker credit. 0 -
P-38 lihgtning has always been my favorite. 
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F-6F Hellcat and the B-29 (the bringer of canned sunshine!!) 0 -
I like Blue!!! And check out the site this pic came from... Cool!!!
http://www.aviation-art.net/0 -
F4U Corsair for the fighters
I kinda like the Soviet IL-2 Sturmovik, especially after playing the computer game by the same name. The dang thing is parctically indestructible and the 23 mm cannons on the early model could rip through every early Nazi tank, the late war 37mm guns could even take out a Tiger from above and behind [:p]
my favorite axis plane is the JU-87, a slow and easy target for my fighter campaign [;)]0 -
Here at ThunderboltRanch, we favor the Republic P-47 (razorback). Also have a high opinion of the FW-190D. I also like the Razorback Mustangs, and my Dad flew a Wildcat early in the War.
Bombers ?? - the A/B-26 Invader/Havoc and the WarBird I probably like most of all is the deHavilland Mosquito.
But, I really love them all. Also big on the Bearcat, but I'm not sure it saw combat in WWII. The P-61 Black Widow Night Fighter also captures my imagination, and it did see WWII Combat.
Hooked on all of them, and the Brave Men who flew them.
Doug0 -
A Zeke is my favorite and while not the best aircraft of the war, I have always admired the lines of the Me-109.
To actually have and fly though would be a Catalina.
[:p][:p]0 -
..That's tough to call. I've always liked the sight and sound of a big honkin' radial engine. There's a soft spot though, for the P38, as an uncle flew several types of aircraft out of England, until he augered a P38 into the ground at Pensacola FL in 1944. I have his logbook and diary somewhere. He had log time in just about anything in the air at the time. (aside bombers) 0 -
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P-40 was a brute and had that nice shark like paint job. 0 -
P-38 Lightening for me.
There is a local guy that has a P-63 with the engine amidship. I think there are only three of these still airworthy or maybe even just exisitng
And on another note there is a B-17 sitting on the apron at our local airport today letting people look around and for $425 USD you can have a 45 minute flight0 -
If memory serves (it was brain cooking hot in July), doesn't Lackland have a twin Mustang on a pole? That was one weird design. 0 -
No doubt our large bombers played a big role. But as a WW 2 "ground pounder" we loved the P-47 for air support. A sure tank killer for
dug in Kraut tanks that were almost imposible for us to take out without heavy casualties/or if at all. How they got off the ground with all the ordinance they carried is a mystery to me. Saw two occasions
they saved our azzes this way. P-47 gets my vote.0 -
P-51 Mustang.
I would like to get into the time machine, get born in 1921 so that I could have been a P-51 pilot and fight in the skies over Germany. What a hell of an airplane, six fifty caliber machine guns, huge Rolls Royce turbocharged engine.0 -
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def. a mustang, just seems really powerful and cool, tuff thing, reminds me of like a muscle car or something 0 -
quote:tapwater:
If memory serves (it was brain cooking hot in July), doesn't Lackland have a twin Mustang on a pole? That was one weird design.
F-82
[:D]0 -
I also would select the P-51 and P-38.
The bomber would be the B-17 which my uncle flew out of England and Italy. Over 50 missions, in the Shack Rabbit, an airplane that was able to take a lot of punishment and still fly!0 -
There are a few I like alot. P61 Black Widdow, the first real night fighter. The F4U Corsairask any Marine from WWII. P-51D Mustang, what is not to like. This is what the Mustang car was originaly named after. P-38 Lightning, you just gotta love that air craft. The P-47 Thunderbolt, ask any piolet and they will tell you you will survive any and most all hits with this aircraft. There are soooo many. my 2 cents [8D] 0 -
Good topic. Fw 190 was an amazing plane, and the long nose versions of it--few of which saw combat--were apparently remarkable planes. Stunning high altitude performance. The Ju-88 was apparently a dream to fly and did just about everything well. The Germans sure came up with some amazing planes.
As a supremely underrated plane, I'd have to give the nod to the B24. It was outstanding in the Battle of the Atlantic and rarely gets its due.0 -
Just saw where "Glacier Girl" is flying to England this week to finally make her mission. In one of the chase planes they had one of the original crew members.
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/22/plane-freed-from-a-glacier-sets-out-for-britain-again/0 -
Here she is....
From the Dayton Airshow a few years ago.0 -
P-38 Lightening, P-40 Warhawk, P-47 Thunderbolt Razorback, B-25 Michell, B-24 Liberator, Me-109. 0 -
Me 163
30 ft. wingspan. 19ft. 2in. length. Max. speed: 596 mph. Climb rate 16,000 ft per min. Powered flight time: approx. 10 minutes. No landing wheels. Dead stick landings. Leaky fuel tanks. Fuel that ignited with air on contant. And the thing was made of PLYWOOD. Sound like something you'd be willing to fly?
When the Dayton Air Museum rolled theirs out a few years ago, they brought in a fellow who had tested them and actually flown them in combat. It was amazing to see the plane and hear him talk about his experiences.0
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