Ha!, The next favorite I was going to bring up. Definitely one of the best ground support aircraft of the war. It was a flying tank destroyer.
Even though it saw almost no service with US forces the Soviets made it the highest scoring air to air fighter of the war in total number of enemy air combat kills.
I did not know that the Soviets got their hands on this plane. Strange bed fellows we made back in that time.
The only thing that kept the Soviets in the war during the German invasion was US aid.
The supply chains we built were one of the most amazing aspects of the war. Take a look sometime at the railroads built into Russia from Iran during the war. It was one of the greatest logistical projects in history.
We kept them supplied with literally everything they needed to combat the Nazis till Stalin had time to move enough of their heavy industry far beyond Hitlerās reach in the eastern parts of Russia.
Without that aid Hitler likely would have defeated the Russians by 44. He still might have gotten it done if the Japanese had not attacked at PH drawing the US fully into the war and into the greatest expansion of Industry the world has ever seen in order to win the war.
1 Like
1 Like
Sadly, the P-38 will never get the credit by most that it deserves.
Not only did it account for more kills than any other single platform , it was the best and longest range LR fighter of the war, and an absolutely awesome ground attack aircraft and medium bomber with up to 3,800lbs bomb load.
1 Like
From what I understand there are only 4 in the world left.
Iām reminded of a Movie about the B-17ās that had the cartoonist crew member.
At the last second before landing with the stuck belly turret which would have killed the gunner, he draws a cartoon version of the plane with massive over sized balloon tires and it landed safely.
Canāt remember the name of the movieā¦ .
In flying condition thatās probably right but I think there are still a bunch mothballed in the deserts of CA, NV, and AZ.
An absolute crying shame. If I had unlimited money itās one of several Iād own and fly.
They have a lot of power when flying. I was surprised by how graceful they are at full speed.
That is true. If I remember right they had the best climbing rate of any aircraft fielded during the war with the exception of the rocket and jet planes which made it by far the best interceptor of the war.
With the high climb rate and ceiling it could climb well above incoming bombers and wreak havoc on them from above in diving attacks or it could do the same on the rise and then hit them again on the return. No other prop plane had that capability.
A lot of these were ferried to Russia through Alaska. Army air corps often used women pilots to get them to Alaska. Is a beautiful craft.
1 Like
According to the retired Col who was our guide at the Mighty 8th museum, the most devastation the Germans came up with against our bombers was the fact that near the end of the war they equipped a few of their fighters with 40mm cannon. They would attack from below and their kill rate increased dramatically. The 17s were extremely durable and could take lots of damage from 50 cal.s but the 40mm destroyed them with one hit. Fortunately, they came up with that idea too late to change the course of the war.
1 Like
I always loved this plane. Brutally powerful; and it could take unbelievable beatings. Sometimes heading home with cylinders blown off the Wasp Radial; and still flying. The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a World War II era fighter aircraft produced by the United States from 1941 through 1945. Its primary armament was eight .50-caliber machine guns and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack role it could carry five-inch rockets or a bomb load of 2,500 pounds (1,103 kg). Sep 1 2019
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt - Wikipedia
1 Like
Indeed. The WAAC pilots also actually ferried a hell of a lot of planes delivering them right to combat airfields in theater as well.
The Russians were the first modern force to use a large number of women combat pilots as well. The Russians had the first and as far as I know only female fighter aces up to this day.
Thatās how you know youāre in a desperate situation fighting for your very existence as a people or nation.
That was an utterly incredible aircraft. There is some doubt as to whether or not it actually had engines strong enough to do much more than barely get it off of the water but they did demonstrate it once.
Here is another oddball that Iād love to own and fly, the 0-2 Skymaster. One of the best short field search and rescue and fire support aircraft ever flown.
The forward air controllers depended quite heavily on the O-2 in vietnam.
1 Like
I love the āJugā. Nothing beautiful about it and it was a HUGE single engine fighter but it was a flying tank that could slug it out with any fighter flown at the time.
Some of them flew well into the 70ās serving all over the world in foreign air forces and they had a couple of versions flying close support missions even in Vietnam.