ww2 Aircraft
muscogeemike
Active member
In many cases I would agree with you. Brewster’s B-239/339 (Buffalo) was suicidal when flown by US and British pilots - yet the Fin’s loved the plane; Bell’s Airacobra was not popular with the US or Brit’s - but the Russians had great success flying it.
I’m sure others more knowledgeable than I could cite many examples but when was the Boulton Paul Defiant or the Fairey Battle ever the “best” at anything -other than getting their crew killed?
84RFK
Active member
The few weeks/month it took the Luftwaffe pilots to realize that it wasn't a Hurricane they were tailing.
Imagine the feeling of realizing your own error when the supposed Hurricane you are to send down in flames suddenly turns out to have a rearward turret blazing it's guns in your face. :firedevi:
Defiantly a short carreer though...
BritinBritain
Per Ardua Ad Astra
A case in point being the Swordfish Stringbag torpedo bomber, one pilot stated during an interview "German navy anti aircraft gunners had problems shooting us down more then they did, because the aircraft was so slow, much of their fire fell short."
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muscogeemike
Active member
You are historically correct, but I submit deception or illusion did not make the airplane the “best”, it was simply a short lived gimmick.
A design that was rapidly outclassed. Many dismiss the plane as something bought to keep Brewster in business, but interestingly enough, there's a great defence of it in "The Grumman Story" about the history of Grumman. The Author presents evedence/proof that the Buffalo was superior to the Grumman Wildcat, as originally designed/engined, & the Seversky entries in the competition for a new Navy fighter.
84RFK
Active member
True, the Defiant wasn't really best at anything else than looking like something it definately wasn't, and that worked well for just a brief moment.
BritinBritain
Per Ardua Ad Astra
Many considered the idea of the de Havilland Mosquito to be a bit of a joke, instead of going forward with all metal aircraft, de Havilland were going backwards with wood, fabric and dope.
Yet she turned out to be an amazing aircraft, faster then many if not all single engined fighters of the day, so fast that the Germans were said to have awarded two victories for shooting one down.
The rest as they say is history, the Mosquito turned out to be one of the finest aircraft ever built. Sadly all too few have survived to this day.
Yet she turned out to be an amazing aircraft, faster then many if not all single engined fighters of the day, so fast that the Germans were said to have awarded two victories for shooting one down.
The rest as they say is history, the Mosquito turned out to be one of the finest aircraft ever built. Sadly all too few have survived to this day.
If I'm not mistaken , the Mosquito was build from wood because of the shortages of metal. The fact remains that it was a very fine aircraft, one of a kind.
BritinBritain
Per Ardua Ad Astra
Partly correct, de Havilland built the Mosquito from wood because they did their research and found that wood would give them a bigger aircraft for the same weight as a fighter such as the Spitfire Mk2, with twice the wing area and twice the power with two Merlins as well as the speed of a fighter. The Air Ministry basically agreed (finally) to the aircraft as they wouldn't be using metal which could be used on fighters and bombers. When a prototype was built it was found that she was actually faster then the Spitfire. Some versions were fitted with 4 cannon as well as 4 303 machine guns. Pilots complained on early versions that in low light firing the cannon would destroy night vision, modifications were made which cured the problem.
Crews loved the Mosquito, the type was flown by Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, Poles and Norwegian squadrons as well as the RAF. As far as I am aware the type was flown by the US on OSS operations.
The type served all over the world, but didn't do too well in the Far East as the glue wouldn't hold in the high humidity.
There is a lot more to the story then that, but that is basically the abridged version.
Sadly I have only seen one flying, many years ago at home in UK I heard the sound of Merlins, I ran outside and saw one fly directly over my house. It was a stunning sight
84RFK
Active member
It should be added that de Havilland had plenty experience with wood, canvas and plywood constructions in the field of aviation.
They came up with numerous sucsessfull designs ranging from two-seater "stringbag" biplanes to multi-engined passenger planes on that concept prior to the war.
The weight-strength ratio of wood/plywood vs duraluminium/steel-tubes was in their favour, and the fact that the design of the Mosquito didn't require much strategic essential materials, it was finally given a green light from the top brass.
And the design was a proven sucsess despite the "obsolete" technology it was based on.
They came up with numerous sucsessfull designs ranging from two-seater "stringbag" biplanes to multi-engined passenger planes on that concept prior to the war.
The weight-strength ratio of wood/plywood vs duraluminium/steel-tubes was in their favour, and the fact that the design of the Mosquito didn't require much strategic essential materials, it was finally given a green light from the top brass.
And the design was a proven sucsess despite the "obsolete" technology it was based on.
BritinBritain
Per Ardua Ad Astra
Very much so, It also enabled other trades not normally engaged in aircraft production to assist in boosting UK aircraft production. Over 400 sub contractors including furniture and coach builders were used to build the aircraft.
The type was also built in Canada and Australia, the specialised veneers were made by young women in the USA
Herman Goring stated, "In 1940 I could at least fly as far as Glasgow in most of my aircraft, but not now!", said Hermann Göring, commander of the Luftwaffe, in Jan 1943. "It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy."
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BritinBritain
Per Ardua Ad Astra
I've seen it. The RAF had by the time the movie was made had retired the type, the eight aircraft used were leased from civilian owners, five were airworthy, three were used static or taxing only. One of the three was destroyed in the movie. I hear that the Australians are working on a Mosquito, but I don't know if she will be airworthy or static. I hope they will get her in the air again.
BritinBritain
Per Ardua Ad Astra
Now I am jealous, I can only imagine those twin Merlin's purring.
I felt like shooting my brother in law, his company sponsored the two seater Mk9 Spitfire at Duxford for a while and was given a flight. What really got my goat he didn't and still doesn't appreciate the history behind that particular aircraft or the type. He said it smelled, noisy and uncomfortable. He always was a stuck up git. Casting pearls before swine comes to mind.
A brilliant story, one of the ground crew on the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, his dad or uncle served as a mid upper gunner on Lancs, the CO arranged a flight for him. After he landed he said on camera, "It's like I have never been away."