What is your favorite WWII Airplane?

[EarlJam]

Mine is the Douglas Dauntless dive bomber pictured in my avatar.

It kicked butt at Midway in 1942 and quite frankly, I want one.

I think it's a pretty airplane. I like airplanes.

-EarlJam

[DukeUsul]

P-38 Lightning. I've thought that thing was just bad-looking since I was a kid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:L...htning_-_1.jpg

[EarlJam]

P-38 Lightning. I've thought that thing was just bad-looking since I was a kid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:L...htning_-_1.jpg

Oh snap. That's one of my favorites too! The Japanese pilots named it "The Forked Devil" or something like that because of it's twin fuselage and high kill rate.

-EJ

[2535Miles]

Mine is the PBY Catalina.



My Grandpa (the bane of Lenny Wirtz's existence) flew this plane. I'm trying to find a great shot of Grandpa in front of his plane on a runway in Gibraltar. Until then, just imagine this dapper gentlemen perched in front of his plane. What a man!

[colchar]

Mine are the Supermarine Spitfire which played such a huge role for the British (but, contrary to popular belief, it was the Hurricane that played the biggest role in the Battle of Britain) and the Avro Lancaster which enabled the British to strike back at the Germans much more effectively than any previous bomber had.

[Shammrog]

At the risk of sounding cliche, I have to go with the P-51 Mustang. Far ahead of its time, it was probably the first "air superiority fighter," which, apart from its own legend, also helped define the archetype for successive generations of fighter aircraft.

(I also like the B-17. Mainly because I think it was a cool and beautiful aircraft. I built a model of one as a kid. Also - it seems to me to be the classic "warplane" - like you would draw it in a cartoon of Coyote bombing Road Runner.)

[Lavabe]

In terms of its impact on technology, the ME-262 jet is worthy of consideration.

In terms of style, the P-38, followed by the P-51.

[wilson]

World War II? That was Spartans against Trojans, right?

You people are old.

[Lavabe]

World War II? That was Spartans against Trojans, right?

You people are old.

Thanks for reminding me.

[killerleft]

The B-17. My dad was a tailgunner on one of those bombers. His plane, the "How Soon?", once returned from a mission over Germany on one engine. By the time they got back to England, they had jettisoned everything that could be torn off the plane that wasn't needed to fly. Machine guns, the ball turret, seats, everything! I was awed by this story, which was written up in the local Bedford paper and put in a kind of "yearbook" type deal my dad brought home.

[Olympic Fan]

It was actually the Germans who nicknamed the P-38 as the "fork-tailed devil"

Funny, because in the European theater, the Lightning was largely used as a ground-support weapon and not (as it was designed) as a long-range interceptor.

On the other hand, the P-51 Mustang, the most advanced fighter of the war (except for the German jets and rocket-planes) was designed as a ground support weapon, but became a great long-range interceptor when they replaced the American Allison engine with a British Merlin engine.

The P-38 did have a lot of aerial success in the Pacific. The two top American aces in the war flew Lightnings in the SW Pacific -- Bong (40 kills) and McGuire (38). Lightnings also made the long-range intercept of Yamamoto's plane (although there's still debate as to whether Thomas Lamphier or Rex Barber actually got the guy who planned Pearl Harbor).

Surprised no votes for the Corsair (with its gull wings). Cool plane. I also kind of like the British Mosquito, the fastest prop-driven plane of the war -- built almost entirely of playwood!

But I think I'll cast my vote for two workhorse planes that never get their due -- the P-47 Thunderbolt ("Jugs" was the largest single-engine fighter of the war and a really effective plane as an interceptor and as a fighter-bomber) and the F6F Hellcat, which had the highest kill ratio of any fighter from any country in the war.

(And, yes, I'm old!)

[DukieInKansas]

I have to go with the B-17 as I've met the people working on restoring one in Urbana, OH. (Also, I know very little about the planes of WW II.) It was interesting to see the work they are doing and hear about some of the vets that have visited and shared their stories. You can see the work they are doing here: http://www.b17project.com/

[Fish80]

P-51, P-38, B-17.

May dad was a navigator on B-17s. I've always thought the P-51 and P-38 were very cool and built models of each as a kid. Later on, I liked the Cessna 337 Skymaster because of it's twin tail configuation.

[bdh21]

I always liked the "George." Although am I allowed to pick a plane from the other side?

[captmojo]

Hellcats were hard to beat, but the B-17 won the war in Europe.

My dad was an 8th Army Air Corps B-17 ground support crewman in England. Hearing loss kept him out of the skies and relegated him to the ground.

[captmojo]

I have to go with the B-17 as I've met the people working on restoring one in Urbana, OH. (Also, I know very little about the planes of WW II.) It was interesting to see the work they are doing and hear about some of the vets that have visited and shared their stories. You can see the work they are doing here: http://www.b17project.com/

I also have a friend living in Urbana. He was an engineer for International Harvester. I should ask what he may know about this. He might be insightful to the group as far as interpretation of blueprints and such.

Wait. I don't know these folks but I do know him...Maybe this might not be such a great idea. I'm not sure I'd want to do this to innocent people.

[Olympic Fan]

Hellcats were hard to beat, but the B-17 won the war in Europe.

I think that statement is wa-a-a-a-y over the top. In fact, strategic bombing played only a very minor role in the ultimate victory over Germany. German production actually rose consistently throughout the combined bomber offensive (the round-the-clock bombing by the British at night and the Americans during daylight) until the early months of 1945. And, as the British found out during the Battle of Britain, strategic bombing did not break the will of the people -- it, in fact, made it stronger.

The greatest impact that the Allied strategic bombing campaign actually had was in forcing the Germans to withdraw a large portion of their air defense assets from forward positions in France back to Germany in 1944. That allowed the Allies almost total tactical control of the air over the invasion beaches in Normandy and the battlefields in France. But those were largely P-47s and British Typhoons that provided the ground support that gave our ground forces -- the grunts who REALLY won the war in Europe -- their edge.

As for the B-17, I know it's an iconic plane, but the Avro Lancaster dropped far more tonnage of bombs and suffered lighter losses, possibily because it was designed as a night bomber. Despite its nickname, the B-17 didn't work as a day bomber unless heavily escorted. And most aviation experts I've read suggested the Consolidated B-24 Liberator was a more effective long-range bomber than the B-17.

[DukieInKansas]

I also have a friend living in Urbana. He was an engineer for International Harvester. I should ask what he may know about this. He might be insightful to the group as far as interpretation of blueprints and such.

Wait. I don't know these folks but I do know him...Maybe this might not be such a great idea. I'm not sure I'd want to do this to innocent people.

He might enjoy going out to see the work they are doing. I believe they are getting ready to build a new hangar so that the wings can be added. The website gives their hours and the webcam shows the activity going on at the time.

[EarlJam]

Mine is the PBY Catalina.



My Grandpa (the bane of Lenny Wirtz's existence) flew this plane. I'm trying to find a great shot of Grandpa in front of his plane on a runway in Gibraltar. Until then, just imagine this dapper gentlemen perched in front of his plane. What a man!

Little did I know when I posted this I'd get so many great responses (and better stories). This is SO cool. I too love the PBY and recently built a model of it. I used to build model airplanes as a kid and at one time had over 200 of them. I recently rediscovered it as nearly a form of therapy. When I was a kid, I'd build any model in a day. Now it takes weeks. I take my time and get lost in it.

Anyway, love the PBY. My other favorites are ones that have been listed here (B-17, P-47, P-51). The Hellcat was a great plane. My ex-grandfather-in-law (is that a term?) flew them in the war.

When I was at Elon, I worked for a small community paper and for a Memorial Day edition, I interviewed a handful of WWII vets. I could talk to them for hours. What lives they led.

Did your grandfather go on to fly commercially? That is one of many ways WWII changed history. Many of the pilots (it still blows my mind that these were 20-year-old or younger kids flying these missions) went on to be commercial pilots.

Keep the stories coming!

-EarlJam

[EarlJam]

The B-17. My dad was a tailgunner on one of those bombers. His plane, the "How Soon?", once returned from a mission over Germany on one engine. By the time they got back to England, they had jettisoned everything that could be torn off the plane that wasn't needed to fly. Machine guns, the ball turret, seats, everything! I was awed by this story, which was written up in the local Bedford paper and put in a kind of "yearbook" type deal my dad brought home.

Is your dad still living? Do you still have access to that "yearbook?" I would love to read it if you can put elements of it on line.

A tailgunner on a B-17. Awesome.

Though sensationalized, did you like the movie Memphis Belle? I love it.

-EJ