Favorite War Era Aircraft.

Yossarian

Forum Resistance Leader
Hey it's for the entertainment , but this topic comes up sometimes when talking to any of the aviation guys I know so I thought I'd post this question here as well.

If you had your own rented hanger at the local airfield and could place in it any restored WW I or II military aircraft, from any nation or for any military function, as long as it served for a uniformed armed service somewhere during that time period.

What would your aircraft of favor be?

(Also I do not know if this thread already exsist, if so apologies)

Yo,
 
Man, that's easy!
Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe! :avi:

But a Boeing Stearman would also be a choice close to my heart here.
Surely two different ages/aeras, but tons of charm.
 
I have gotta say, mine would be either the Mosquito or the F 4F.

The Mosquito because the low flying fast attacks it carried out so well made it into a flying upper cut, all that with a wooden frame hehe. :p

And the F 4F Wildcat for how Marine and Naval Aviators somehow kept the Japanese at bay in outclassed aircraft during the opening stages of the Pacific War.
 
Spitfire MkVIIII or Mk XVI, Hurricane tank buster, Mosquito fighter bomber version, Lancaster with Merlin engines, Wellington, P51 Mustang, Havard, Meteor, Tiger Moth.

If I were allowed later aircraft, a Hawker Hunter, English Electric Lightning Mk6 and English Electric Canberra
 
Hard choice but I would go with the Focke-Wulf 190-D9

fw190d_1.jpg


followed closely by the de Havilland Mosquito FB.VI.

de-havilland-dh-98-mosquito-fb-fighter-bomber-01.png
 
Focke-Wulf 190 is another amazing flying machine from this era,

Easily one of my favorites.
 
The FW 190 cut the Spitfire MkV to pieces. When the Spitfire Mk9 was introduced there is a story of a RAF pilot pulling up along side a FW190 in a climb, the RAF pilot waved, opened the throttle then climbed away. Apparently the FW 190 pilot was so shocked he didn't open fire
 
Hmm, while I like many single-seaters from WW2, I think I'd go for something larger...
It's a toss up between the Do 217 N series night fighters
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and the P61 Black Widow
p61_large.jpg
 
The P-51 Mustang, C model onwards.

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The sexiest lookin' piston engined fighter ever made.
 
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Was always more partial to the Hawker Sea Fury myself but the Mustang C (and on) models were definitely good looking aircraft
As good an aircraft as they may have been, I don't see the style in the sea Fury, that I see in the shape and general proportions of the P-51.

My other choice for looks, would be the Chance Vought F4U Corsair.

8f116c70.jpg


To me, both of these aircraft suggest rugged power, combined with a certain amount of well balanced style, that marks them as classical war birds.
 
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The ME-262, the Germans were innovative and they still are

If my memory is correct, the problem with the ME 262 was it's engines. They had a nasty habit of catching fire on start up, they also had a service life of 25 hours before a major overhaul when compared to 100 hours for the Whittle engine.

The 262 engines were far too ahead of their time, the materials were not available.

I have often wondered which aircraft would have come out on top in a dog fight, the 262 or the Meteor assuming pilots of similar capabilities.

What is annoying, if the Air Ministry had listened to Frank Whittle the RAF might have fought the Battle of Britain with Meteors alongside Spitfires and Hurricanes. A so called "expert" at the Ministry told Whittle that his engine would never work.
 
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If my memory is correct, the problem with the ME 262 was it's engines. They had a nasty habit of catching fire on start up, they also had a service life of 25 hours before a major overhaul when compared to 100 hours for the Whittle engine.

The 262 engines were far too ahead of their time, the materials were not available.

I have often wondered which aircraft would have come out on top in a dog fight, the 262 or the Meteor assuming pilots of similar capabilities.

What is annoying, if the Air Ministry had listened to Frank Whittle the RAF might have fought the Battle of Britain with Meteors alongside Spitfires and Hurricanes. A so called "expert" at the Ministry told Whittle that his engine would never work.

Yes, all true.
The 262s engines were crude by todays standards and even by the standards of 1945.
They ran on diesel or a coal derived substitute.
They were unable to sustain long periods of full power because they would melt due to the lack of the right metals, and as you said, they had a short life for the same reason.
They were slow to spool up and Allied pilots learnt this and used to lie in wait at their airfields to bounce them during take off or landing
To protect them the Luftwaffe formed special squadrons, of piston powered fighters, that would take off prior to takeoff or landind, to protect the 262s from Allied fighters.
Considering that by this time the Luftwaffe was so short of fuel that they were using ground crew to push fighters to take off position to save on fuel, this was stretching their resources to the max.
 
Focke-Wulf 190-D9

FW190.jpg

I definitely like the long-nose FW190s, have you seen the high altitude interceptor variant designed by Kurt Tank (designated the Ta152)? Apparently the Nazi leadership were so impressed they allowed it to be called the Focke Wulf Tank after the designer.
(The wings are a bit too long to look good in my opinion.)

Ta-152-cover.gif
 
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