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What is your favorite WW2 plane? (WW2 discussion)
- Thread starter MassachussettsMosinNagant
- Start date
I'm a huge WW2 aviation nut. Absolutely impossible to pick one favorite...
The Spitfire elliptical wing and Corsair gull wing are so iconic, but I have to give the edge to the Corsair cause radial engine (and USA). The sound of a radial starting makes me giggle like a little girl.
Always loved the P-40, but gotta have the shark mouth paint job. Collings Foundation added a TP-40 to their flying lineup this year. Gonna be awfully difficult not throwing down the cash for a ride in that!
B-24. Ugly as sin but a true warhorse. Same for the P-47 Jug.
Grand-uncle was crew on the B-25, so I've always had a soft spot for the Mitchell. And it flew off a freaking aircraft carrier.
Been fortunate enough to fly on the B-17, 24, 25, and 29, and C-47 D-Day vet. Out of those, the B-24 was my favorite.
If the ME-109 was an Allied plane, I'd put it right up there too.
I could go on forever...
The Spitfire elliptical wing and Corsair gull wing are so iconic, but I have to give the edge to the Corsair cause radial engine (and USA). The sound of a radial starting makes me giggle like a little girl.
Always loved the P-40, but gotta have the shark mouth paint job. Collings Foundation added a TP-40 to their flying lineup this year. Gonna be awfully difficult not throwing down the cash for a ride in that!
B-24. Ugly as sin but a true warhorse. Same for the P-47 Jug.
Grand-uncle was crew on the B-25, so I've always had a soft spot for the Mitchell. And it flew off a freaking aircraft carrier.
Been fortunate enough to fly on the B-17, 24, 25, and 29, and C-47 D-Day vet. Out of those, the B-24 was my favorite.
If the ME-109 was an Allied plane, I'd put it right up there too.
I could go on forever...
I met a German pilot in 1983 who shot down seven of thrm....
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Hands down PBY Catalina........what a beauty.
rosco61
NES Member
A excellent Video. These guys are the real deal and thank God they survived.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmRfBsaUN8o
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmRfBsaUN8o
kevin9
NES Member
Too many to choose from, but here's a start
1. P-38 Lightning - twin-tailed devil
2. P-61 Black Widow - twin-tailed night fighter
3. DH.98 Mosquito - fast, all-wood construction
4. Me 163 Komet - rocket-powered interceptor
5. P-82 Twin Mustang - another twin-tailed long-range escort fighter
6. F4U Corsair - gull-winged fighter
7. Ju-87 Stuka - gull-winged dive bomber
8. B-25G Mitchel - with 75mm cannon
9. Vickers Wellington - geodesic construction
10. Fi-156 Storch - amazing STOL aircraft. Copies and variants still in use today.
11. Me-323 Gigant - largest cargo aircraft of WWII
12. PBY-5 Catalina - quintessential patrol/CSAR flying boat
13. P-40 Warhawk - distinctive aggressive air intake
14. P-47 Thunderbolt - big and bad
15. Bf/ME 109 Messer - the German knife
As you can see I gravitate towards the more unusual aircraft.
1. P-38 Lightning - twin-tailed devil
2. P-61 Black Widow - twin-tailed night fighter
3. DH.98 Mosquito - fast, all-wood construction
4. Me 163 Komet - rocket-powered interceptor
5. P-82 Twin Mustang - another twin-tailed long-range escort fighter
6. F4U Corsair - gull-winged fighter
7. Ju-87 Stuka - gull-winged dive bomber
8. B-25G Mitchel - with 75mm cannon
9. Vickers Wellington - geodesic construction
10. Fi-156 Storch - amazing STOL aircraft. Copies and variants still in use today.
11. Me-323 Gigant - largest cargo aircraft of WWII
12. PBY-5 Catalina - quintessential patrol/CSAR flying boat
13. P-40 Warhawk - distinctive aggressive air intake
14. P-47 Thunderbolt - big and bad
15. Bf/ME 109 Messer - the German knife
As you can see I gravitate towards the more unusual aircraft.
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My favorite is a tie, the British “wooden wonder” DeHavilland DH-98 Mosquito and the North American P-51 Mustang when mated to the Merlin engine.
My Dad was an American volunteer at a British Air Base, Eagle Squadron, and began on Hawker Hurricanes, then Spitfires, to P-47 Thunderbolts when switched to be an Army Air Corp base, briefly had but missed out on P-38 Lightnings (as they shipped them off to Italy), then P-47 Thunderbolts, and finally the P-51 Mustangs ... to Berlin.
My Dad was an American volunteer at a British Air Base, Eagle Squadron, and began on Hawker Hurricanes, then Spitfires, to P-47 Thunderbolts when switched to be an Army Air Corp base, briefly had but missed out on P-38 Lightnings (as they shipped them off to Italy), then P-47 Thunderbolts, and finally the P-51 Mustangs ... to Berlin.
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Thank you for sharing such amazing videos and stories and especially photos everyone 
. I am very happy to connect with so many people who's fathers and grandfathers have served and all the amazing connections we have to the past and such a important time in history. The photos and stories are amazing to see.
I would like to share a picture of my great grandfather, Ogden Lindsley who was with the 98th bomb group, 15th air force division. He was shot down in a B-24 Liberator and captured by Germans in 1944. He was captured and held as a POW. He was forced to March for miles in the horrifying winter conditions. When he escaped, he weighed 114 pounds. He wrote many memoirs of the atrocities. He described the conditions as "So icy you had to flex your shoulders to break the ice coating on your back". Post war he went on to be a pioneer in behavioral studies and psychology (which is what most people know him for) and was a very brilliant man. He studied under the iconic B.F Skinner.
Sadly he passed when I was still fairly young but I was able to meet him and go for breakfast with him once with my dad, and my grandmother (his daughter). He spoke with me over the phone moments before he passed as well. I promised him to always pursue education and to not quit school. (I was about 8 then).
Just recently his wife met with teams of expeditioners who have found the wreckage location of the Liberator that went down. I was gifted a few small chunks of it. Mostly glass and shrapnel. Having them in my possession is one of my more cherished keepsakes. It humbles me to hold them, to see it first hand.
I never got to meet my other Great Grandfather. I know him through stories my dad tells. My dad loved him very dearly from childhood. I do have his dog tags. And also a ring he had engraved when he was in Naples, Italy.
He told my dad stories about tank stacking, which was when a unit would advance using a tank (usually a Sherman) as moving cover for protection but doing so was dangerous as tanks attracted fire and sometimes would be overrun with attacking enemies, and the tanks could also be forced to back up at any time rapidly and could run over you if you weren't careful. But compared to being in open areas against machine gun fire, it was chances most soldiers would be willing to take. He loved the tanks and spoke highly of them.
Picture of soldiers "stacking".
And many other stories too. He used to buy my dad large sail boat replicas. He was a great man.
I wish I was able to meet them more, but I cherish the moments and memories I do have. I will never forget or underappreciate all they have done and their stories. It inspires me to learn more of the bravery and seflessness humans have when faced with untold horrors. It's truly humbling.
But to get back to the initial discussion of WW2 planes, here is another lesser talked about plane that I think is pretty cool. Junkers JU-88. Although I have trouble revering Kraut planes. I can still respect the design of a great purpose built machine.
. I am very happy to connect with so many people who's fathers and grandfathers have served and all the amazing connections we have to the past and such a important time in history. The photos and stories are amazing to see. I would like to share a picture of my great grandfather, Ogden Lindsley who was with the 98th bomb group, 15th air force division. He was shot down in a B-24 Liberator and captured by Germans in 1944. He was captured and held as a POW. He was forced to March for miles in the horrifying winter conditions. When he escaped, he weighed 114 pounds. He wrote many memoirs of the atrocities. He described the conditions as "So icy you had to flex your shoulders to break the ice coating on your back". Post war he went on to be a pioneer in behavioral studies and psychology (which is what most people know him for) and was a very brilliant man. He studied under the iconic B.F Skinner.
Sadly he passed when I was still fairly young but I was able to meet him and go for breakfast with him once with my dad, and my grandmother (his daughter). He spoke with me over the phone moments before he passed as well. I promised him to always pursue education and to not quit school. (I was about 8 then).
Just recently his wife met with teams of expeditioners who have found the wreckage location of the Liberator that went down. I was gifted a few small chunks of it. Mostly glass and shrapnel. Having them in my possession is one of my more cherished keepsakes. It humbles me to hold them, to see it first hand.
I never got to meet my other Great Grandfather. I know him through stories my dad tells. My dad loved him very dearly from childhood. I do have his dog tags. And also a ring he had engraved when he was in Naples, Italy.
He told my dad stories about tank stacking, which was when a unit would advance using a tank (usually a Sherman) as moving cover for protection but doing so was dangerous as tanks attracted fire and sometimes would be overrun with attacking enemies, and the tanks could also be forced to back up at any time rapidly and could run over you if you weren't careful. But compared to being in open areas against machine gun fire, it was chances most soldiers would be willing to take. He loved the tanks and spoke highly of them.
Picture of soldiers "stacking".
And many other stories too. He used to buy my dad large sail boat replicas. He was a great man.
I wish I was able to meet them more, but I cherish the moments and memories I do have. I will never forget or underappreciate all they have done and their stories. It inspires me to learn more of the bravery and seflessness humans have when faced with untold horrors. It's truly humbling.
But to get back to the initial discussion of WW2 planes, here is another lesser talked about plane that I think is pretty cool. Junkers JU-88. Although I have trouble revering Kraut planes. I can still respect the design of a great purpose built machine.
B25 Mitchell medium bombers. Dolittle used it for first attack on mainland Japan. Then the Air Apaches and Rough Raiders started out in New Zealand and bombed their way all the way to Japan in a “warpath across the Pacific”
pinefd
NES Member
Very interesting plane, as it had a central engine with a driveshaft forward to the prop. This allowed a central cannon aligned with the fuselage. However the position of the engine led to a decision to delete a turbocharger and only a single stage supercharger was fitted. poor high altitude performance limited what the plane could do as a fighter. About half of production was shipped to Russia, where they were used successfully as air-to-air fighters with considerable success.
My father enlisted in the Navy 12/1/1941 and was at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Chicago when Pearl Harbor was attacked and training became more urgent. He was trained as an Aviation Machinist’s Mate, then held over for gunnery training. They fired at towed targets over the lake.
His first assignment was as a PBY crewman flying anti submarine patrols out of Iceland. He spent the rest of 1942 and part of 1943. He was both the on board mechanic and aerial gunner during these missions, which were long and dangerous because of the terrible weather and frigid waters. The Germans didn’t have any carriers or long range attack aircraft, so weather was their primary danger. Iceland was a refueling point for bombers and even P38’s making the Atlantic crossing.
before being brought back to the US to be part of the original crew of USS Wasp, being built in Quincy.
Nice to see some love for the Catalina. Group buy?
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOjE-_cI-K8
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOjE-_cI-K8
Varmint
NES Member
I know of these from the board game Flat Top that we played as kids, recreating the Pacific carrier war.
P-38, hands down. Followed by B-17 and F4U.
The B-17 Flying Fortress, because my Father was a Navigator with the 100th Bomb Group (Heavy).
I had a lot of respect for his service, and was amazed when I saw a B-17 for the first time, and realized how small they were.
My Dad had to bail out on 3 occasions, and I still have his white scarf made from a panel of his parachute. The were required to destroy the chutes
if they landed in enemy territory, and often traded the silk to the locals for food and help getting back to England. They also would keep a piece for a scarf,
and was worn like a badge.
Dad was lucky, his first two bailouts were in France and Holland, and he made it back without being captured. And on his third bailout, we had already taken back France.
After the war, Dad hated flying, and avoided it like the plague.
I had a lot of respect for his service, and was amazed when I saw a B-17 for the first time, and realized how small they were.
My Dad had to bail out on 3 occasions, and I still have his white scarf made from a panel of his parachute. The were required to destroy the chutes
if they landed in enemy territory, and often traded the silk to the locals for food and help getting back to England. They also would keep a piece for a scarf,
and was worn like a badge.
Dad was lucky, his first two bailouts were in France and Holland, and he made it back without being captured. And on his third bailout, we had already taken back France.
After the war, Dad hated flying, and avoided it like the plague.
Collings foundation is rolling one out for wings of freedom this year...
I must've watched the Midway movie (from the '70s, I think, with Fonda as Nimitz and Charlton Heston auguring in at the end) more than fifty times as a kid. That movie taught me everything I needed to know about how awesome the PBY Catalina was for its job.
The B-17. As a kid I was enthralled with it. The Flying Fortress. My dad built a model of it when I was a little kid. Just a beautiful plane.
I read all I could about it. It amazed me that there were men that would fly these into the teeth of German fighters, often with no fighter support of their own.
The ball turret guy had to be the bravest guy in the whole war! Braver than the German submariners.
The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner - Wikipedia
I read all I could about it. It amazed me that there were men that would fly these into the teeth of German fighters, often with no fighter support of their own.
The ball turret guy had to be the bravest guy in the whole war! Braver than the German submariners.
The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner - Wikipedia
