WW II plane buffs?

[Dcdrac]

b17s were used as target drones after WW2 in the 50s and 60s weren't they?

 

[RationalVetMed]

The Poles also flew the MiG-23... of which was said... wait a bit, and you too can have one land in your garden!
One of theirs did get from Poland to Belgium after the pilot ejected... in itself a noteworthy feat, as the seat tended to kill its users, and bellying the thing in was usual.

Reminds me of the old joke from the 70's:

Q - How does a German get himself a Starfighter
A - He buys a field and waits!



Off topic, non WWII! - 'pologies

Yuri

 

[I Ratant]

b17s were used as target drones after WW2 in the 50s and 60s weren't they?

.
Air attack into the '70s also.

 

[Bikewer]

Reminds me of the old joke from the 70's:

Q - How does a German get himself a Starfighter
A - He buys a field and waits!



Off topic, non WWII! - 'pologies

Yuri

I was in Germany in the mid-60s, and even then the Germans were merrily screwing the Starfighters into the ground. They were screaming about the hard-to-handle aircraft, and the Americans were chalking it up to hotdog pilots.

 

[MRC_Hans]

I was in Germany in the mid-60s, and even then the Germans were merrily screwing the Starfighters into the ground. They were screaming about the hard-to-handle aircraft, and the Americans were chalking it up to hotdog pilots.

It should be noted that the German version of the Starfighter was equipped with various extras, among other things enabling it to carry tactical nuclear weapons, so it did have poorer handling characteristics than the standard version. As the plane is already an aerodynamic abomination, with wings the size of dinner tables, any reduction of the available flight envelope might well have turned it into a widowmaker.

It is a cruelly elegant bird, but when you look at it, you can't help wondering how it can fly at all.


Hans

 

[dasmiller]

- So, what's Wrong?

- Write is Wrong.

- Then what is Right?

- That´s Wright.

- ...etc....

...... Sorry, couldn't resist.

Hans

“They had to use whatever they could find to get her flying again. Strange as it may seem, they rebuilt her with four different engines.”

“Different engines?”

“Yep, each nacelle had a different engine. There was a Wright on the first nacelle, Lyc on the second, Sikh on the third—“

“That’s what I want to know, tell me the engines they had on that airplane”

“I’m telling you. Wright’s on first, Lyc’s on second, Sikh’s on third—“

“You know the engines?”

“Yes”

“Well, some engine has to be on the first nacelle, right?

“Yes.”

"Well, then what’s the right engine?"

“Yes”

“I mean the engine on the first nacelle.”

“Wright”

(etc, etc)

 

[Foster Zygote]

Yes. Nato designation "Mule".

There is a story of one example belonging to a Polish (?) vintage flying club. On a solo flight the pilot had a heart attack and died. The plane flew on till it ran out of gas, then landed itself. Due to soft ground it overturned, but was no more damaged than it was later restored to flying condition.

Hans

I wonder if it was this one?

 

[I Ratant]

“They had to use whatever they could find to get her flying again. Strange as it may seem, they rebuilt her with four different engines.”

“Different engines?”

“Yep, each nacelle had a different engine. There was a Wright on the first nacelle, Lyc on the second, Sikh on the third—“

“That’s what I want to know, tell me the engines they had on that airplane”

“I’m telling you. Wright’s on first, Lyc’s on second, Sikh’s on third—“

“You know the engines?”

“Yes”

“Well, some engine has to be on the first nacelle, right?

“Yes.”

"Well, then what’s the right engine?"

“Yes”

“I mean the engine on the first nacelle.”

“Wright”

(etc, etc)

.
One of the B-17s I've seen had Studebaker Wrights on it!

 

[Akhenaten]

Fiat G-59​

This aircraft belonged to Guido Zuccoli, a resident of my home town of Toowoomba, Queensland and I was fortunate enough to have seen it fly on a number of occasions.

 

[TjW]

.
Air attack into the '70s also.

Ah, I see the telltale signs of Phos-Chek.

 

[I Ratant]

Which works very well.
Note the plane laying down the Phos-Chek, and the area that -didn't- burn.
.
And an emergency dump when a P3 had an engine failure on takeoff at Fox Field.
The pilot waited until he'd cleared the runway before dumping his load, so as to not foul the runway.

 

[Beanbag]

I was in Germany in the mid-60s, and even then the Germans were merrily screwing the Starfighters into the ground. They were screaming about the hard-to-handle aircraft, and the Americans were chalking it up to hotdog pilots.

The Spanish air force flew 104's as well, and didn't lose a single one.

The F104 just wasn't a forgiving aircraft. It was literally about a decade or two ahead of its time, a case of Kelly Johnson giving the pilots exactly what they asked for. They have one at the Cavenaugh flight museum, and it amazes me just how tiny it is, compared to most jet aircraft of that and the present era.

A quote I've heard attributed to the F104 by a supposed F104 pilot is, that if you make a single mistake in an F104, it will be the last mistake you make in that plane. If you're lucky, you might get to make another mistake in another plane later.

Beanbag

 

[RationalVetMed]

The F104 just wasn't a forgiving aircraft. It was literally about a decade or two ahead of its time

It amazes me, when looking at pictures of them how they were able to stay airborne without fly by wire computer technology. Brave pilots.

Yuri

 

[I Ratant]

Noise.
The noise kept the F-104 in the air.
When the noise stopped, it plummeted.
If that occurred as the plane was passing through 20,000 feet over the end of the runway, it could make the runway in the plummet.
Otherwise, eject, eject, eject.
Belly landing the thing with the ventral fin would be fatal.
The Luftwaffe was flying it outside the envelope the other nations were, which contributed to the appalling loss rate they experienced.
Like the MiG-21, it was an airfield perimeter defense airplane, nothing more.
One of my friends flying F-8s for the Marines said they'd fly over an F-104 base taunting the flyboys... knowing the -104s couldn't get to and land safely after.

 

[Humanzee]

Visited the Tillamook OR Air Museum Sunday.
Very cool to get up close to some of these warbirds.
BF-109 and TBM Avenger. Sorry for the poor quality.

 

[Humanzee]

A few others. Many looked like they were flight ready.
KI-43 Oscar and F4U Corsair

 

[Humanzee]

My favorite the P38 Lightning


and a P51 Mustang


A recommended visit if you are in the area.

 

[Humanzee]

And speaking of the B-29...the Mini Guppy.

 

[Noztradamus]

I think on the names of the original B-29 engines, you should try to get it Wright.

That wasn't the only egg that Foster Zygote laid

Originally Posted by Foster Zygote
An interesting story about the Tu-4:

Even the Boeing logos on the control yolks were duplicated in order to avoid the torturous bureaucratic process required to make the slightest alteration

 

[BaaBaa]

Visited the Tillamook OR Air Museum Sunday.
Very cool to get up close to some of these warbirds.
BF-109 and TBM Avenger. Sorry for the poor quality.

That 109 is a Spanish Buchon, I think