Hi All: One of the best shots of the Vought F4U #Corsair I have ever seen. I would have loved to see this monster with its 2,000 hp, 18 cylinder, Pratt and Whitney Double Wasp Radial in flight during its heyday. One of the first combat planes to break the magic 400 mph barrier in lengthy level flight, it could rip the hell out of any opposing fighter in the air at the time thanks to its superior armorment, pilot and plane protection, and raw speed and power. It was the longest production piston engined plane in U.S. military history. The Corsair deserves all of our respect. #efficient #long #distance #traveler - #CleanMPG
Hi All: The Supermarine Spitfire. Although there were more Hawked Hurricanes taking on the German Lufftwaffe during the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire was the high performance interceptor that had the performance to rack up the score, i.e. kill ratio. Although just 330 to 350 mph in early designs using a just over 1,000 hp Merlin, the design was solid enough to take up to a 2,340 hp Merlins by wars end... Without this aircraft, WW-II could have taken a much more sinister turn...
Spitfire Was the first model I actually managed to build-probably was 10-11 or so- It was HEAVY plastic-maybe blue plastic I had no idea it was a BRIT plane-not sure which Irish American uncle gave it to me-such a pretty plane guess they just couldn't resist it Remember Ba Ba Blacksheep- guess it was from the 1970's- there must have been plenty of Corsairs still around- there was actual documentary and gun camera footage It was a scary looking plane-with that long round cowling-meaning GREAT BIG air cooled radial- and those drooped wings because the powerful engine needed such a huge prop-couldn't have a long spindly landing gear(always sounded a bit urban legend-the why of the bent wing??) How would you like to be a poorly armored ZERO-much slower-having this diving on you- and you aren't the cream of the crop pilot-most of them are dead-but our pilots-are all well trained and experienced by this time
Appearance-wise, I like the Spitfire, Mustang, Lightning, Lancaster, B-17. The Corsairs and "mostly-engine" planes, less so. I also think the German front-line prop planes were sort of ugly. The Zero was ok; looked fairly clean. Effectiveness, of course, would be a whole other story. I loved watching "Black Sheep Squadron" and "12 O'Clock High." There are probably more that I cannot remember right now.
Bill Black Sheep is on now- I think H&I channel- H ?? History ?? I need to set the TV to record it Yeah the MOSTLY ENGINE planes-Corsair P-47- Hellcat HUGE air cooled radials- just didn't look Sleekly Lethal like the water cooled V-12s- Mustang Spitfire- or just different cool like the Lightning-Kelly Johnson Lightning U-2 SR71 all distinctive looking- all great planes-2 world beaters -and the other killed Yamamoto
Hi All: And than there is always this monster. If it intends to do damage anywhere near you, you are going to have a seriously bad day...
Ahhh yes, "whistling death". One hell of a fighter plane. I have always been a fan of the P51 myself......
The Consolidated PBY Catlina. Powered by 2 825 hp Pratt and Whitney Tw in Wasp Radials. Its maiden flight set a distance record of 3,443 miles in 1936. I suspect this is an RC model flying low above the water. Its claim to fame came in 1941 when flying out of Ireland, one located the German Battleship Bismark. In 1942, a PBY with the call sign Strawberry 5 spotted the Japanese Fleet just before the Battle of Midway commenced in earnest.
Was always a HUGE fan of the B-17 (watched 12 o'clock high religiously in the 60s'). Always liked it's design better than the B-29
P-38 was always my favorite. Long range, dual purpose. Counter-rotating props were a pain for maintenance but ideal for flight performance. Most opposing planes had a preference for turning one direction (counter the prop's rotation) but this one was neutral.
Andrew Kelly(Kelli?) Johnson P-38 F 104 U-2 SR71 designed the greatest plane ever SR71 and the STILL being used 60 years later world beating U-2 and the very cool Yamamoto killer P-38 looked like a mach 2 "jet fighter" should look F-104
The Corsair was originally designed to be operated as a carrier based plane. Made necessary by the large diameter prop, the bent wing was used to shorten the landing gear so it could better withstand the rigors of carrier landings. But its long nose and rearward cockpit location made forward visibility very poor during the landing approach, making it difficult to land on a carrier, so it was initially rejected by the navy and redirected to the marines for land based operations. When the U-2 was being designed, the F-104 fuselage was used as the basis for the U-2 fuselage. This is why the fuselage of these two totally different aircraft look very similar.
Hi All: Another favorite from the Cold War. The B-58 Hustler. The Convair B-58 Hustler was the first operational supersonic jet bomber capable of Mach 2 flight. It used a delta wing with four General Electric J79 engines in pods under the wing. It carried five nuclear weapons; four on pylons under the wings, and one nuclear weapon and fuel in a combination bomb/fuel pod under the fuselage, rather than in an internal bomb bay. it was originally intended to fly at high altitudes and supersonic speeds to avoid Soviet fighters. The B-58 received a great deal of notoriety due to its sonic boom, which was often heard by the public as it passed overhead in supersonic flight.
I guess I like the Catalina's look, too, and it must look terribly beautiful to any sailor awaiting rescue.
Hi All: I think most of us can agree that this is the best looking Catalina PBY in history... I cannot quite put my finger on why however?
