Skip to main content
Help Center Community Shop

Favorite WW2 warbird?

jonk
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.
0

Comments

38 comments

Date Votes
  • Glock23Expert
    quote:Originally posted by drsck
    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.


    Is that similar to the RAF Mosquito? I think it was made of wood, also.
    0
  • Mk 19
    My Grandfather was a aeronautical engineer for Lockheed and was one of the designers on the P-38, he did the cockpit and instrument layout. My grandmother was a Rosie-The-Riveter and built P-38's during the war. That was where my grandparents met and the rest is just history.

    So I would have to say the P-38 is my favorite.
    0
  • tobefree
    Holy cow here is an awesome related site tons of videos of these old planes....
    http://www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com/main.html
    0
  • William81
    Man I really like all of them. In my office I have a collection of Dicast planes ranging from WWI to modern fighter and bombers.

    If I had to pick one, I'd go with the Mustang followed closely by the P-47 and P-38
    0
  • KSUmarksman
    quote:Originally posted by Glock23Expert
    quote:Originally posted by drsck
    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.


    Is that similar to the RAF Mosquito? I think it was made of wood, also.


    no, the Me-163 was a rocket plane designed to interpect allied bombers.
    I think it used methanol and hydrazine hydrate for fuel (C-stoff) and 80% hydrogen peroxide oxidizer (T-stoff).
    80% H2O2 is extremely corrosive and fuelers wore special protective suits. If the tank sprung a leak when the pilot was in it he could kiss him butt goodbye. Also the two components ignited spontaneously when combined, so if both tanks caught a bullet the poor aviator bought the farm.

    The up side was that they could get up to altitude faster than the piston-powered planes (for more effective bomber intercept) and had two powerful Mk-108 30mm cannon.
    0
  • zipperzap
    quote:drsck:

    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.

    The Me 163 has always stirred my imagination, too. I once read about 1/3 of the pilots were dissolved alive because of fuel leaks - the protective suits they used were not protective enough.

    FYI - there's another one up in the Canadian War Museum, at Ottawa, Ont.

    Good Me 163 links - I've visited her a couple of times.

    http://www.xs4all.nl/~robdebie/me163/canada.htm
    http://www.xs4all.nl/~robdebie/me163.htm
    [8D]
    0
  • BHAVIN
    With out a doubt the F4U Corsair. Sweetest prop fighter ever made. The P51 is pretty high on the list though.
    0
  • bobski
    a flaming meatball..........[}:)]
    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Recent Activity