WWII warbirds.

If you could have only one, which one of these marvels you choose?

  • Mustang

    Votes: 26 66.7%

  • Spitfire

    Votes: 8 20.5%

  • Bf-109

    Votes: 2 5.1%

  • Zero

    Votes: 3 7.7%

  • Yak-9

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    39
A

Ashara Keliyn

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Ashara
Undeniably these are engineering masterpieces.
 
Mustang probably easiest to get parts and maintain, the 109 and Zero the hardest.
 
It’s small and cozy. Just about everything in it is manual, gear, hook, wing fold. Light and spritely. No intentions of surviving a gunfight…. By all accounts it seems like the A-4 Skyhawk of WWII planes.

Should I get the chance to fly both of them however, I reserve the right to change my mind!!
 
GoFly said:
Corsair
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Preferred airplane of Santa’s reindeer…
so up to the house-top the Corsairs they flew,
with the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
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Of course, Santa himself is a P-51 man…
Twas the night before Christmas all over the place,
When we were confronted by an old flying ace.
There was icing reported and turbulent air,
He said "File me a flight plan, I gotta get there."

Outside sat his aircraft all ready to run,
And the old man walked out to that P-51.
"bad weather's no problem," he silently mumbled,
The prop came to life. . . that big Allison rumbled.

He eased in the throttle, the roar shook the ground,
He taxied on out and he turned it around.
He went through the run-up and seemed satisfied,
Then he said to himself, "I'm in for a ride."

So he lined it up straight as he poured on the coal,
The tailwheel came up as he started to roll.
Up off the runway, he sucked up the gear,
And that mighty V-12 was all you could hear.

He screamed overhead with a deafening crack,
The blue flames were flying from each shiny stack.
He pulled up the nose and started to climb,
No ice on that airframe, it didn't have time.

On top of the weather with the levers all set,
He looked up above him and saw a Lear jet.
With jet fuel and turbines there just ain't no class,
Gimmee pistons, and props and lots of avgas!

Now he was approaching where he wanted to go,
But weather had covered the runway with snow.
How will he land it? We just have to guess,
Because the only way in was a full I-L-S.

Then over the marker, he started his run,
The ceiling was zero, visibility. . . none.
Still going three hundred and he felt the need,
For an overhead break to diminish his speed.

Over the numbers he zoomed, along like a flash,
Pulled into his break, we just knew he would crash.
Oh, why do they do it on these kindof nights??
Then over the threshold, we saw landing lights.

"I'm on a short final with three in the green,
And I see enough runway to land this machine."
Then he tied down that Mustang, and they all hear him say. . .
"Next year, I'm stickin' with my reindeer and sleigh."
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Already own two warbirds, and none of the ones on the list excite me...​
 
Tools said:
It’s small and cozy. Just about everything in it is manual, gear, hook, wing fold. Light and spritely. No intentions of surviving a gunfight…. By all accounts it seems like the A-4 Skyhawk of WWII planes.
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Same reason I'd be interested in an early (MKV or earlier) Spitfire or a A6M2 Zero.
 
FW 190 or TA 152H

(why such a short list? You don't even have the P-40)
 
Multi crew, we would have to vote…
 
Not one of those dinosaurs for me. T-7 Red Hawk is what I want.

first-usaf-t-7a-red-hawk-advanced-trainer-jet-rolls-out-of-the-production-facility_6.jpg


Can't argue with 33,000 fpm initial climb rate.
 
asicer said:
Being Boeing, you aren't worried about stuff falling off?
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Nah, we just round tripped to Iceland on a 737 Max 8, if that didn't do us in, I'm safe now. Besides, it's a joint venture with Saab, hopefully the Swedes will banish the bean counters back to somewhere far away from the engineers.
 
Of the choices, voted Mustang.

But above that would be:

Thunderbolt
Mosquito
Hellcat
Bearcat
Corsair
Skyraider (almost WWII)
 
Pinecone said:
Of the choices, voted Mustang.

But above that would be:

Thunderbolt
Mosquito
Hellcat
Bearcat
Corsair
Skyraider (almost WWII)
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Didn't think the Bearcat was in WW2. Thought was a little too late.
 
Ashara Keliyn said:
Just the most well known ones.
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Most well known... but you omitted the P-40, famously the plane of the flying tigers. You omitted the Corsair, possibly the most iconic-looking WW2 plane. And no mention of the Wildcat? Which won Midway. Or the B-17 or Lancaster?
 
Corsair, or P-40.
 
Well, now you guys have gone and done it… dragged this out long enough I’m changing my mind…

Kingfisher.

Edit: I was wrong, Curtis Seagull. Way cooler…
 
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T-6 Texan. I’m fine with not standing out too much while never getting beyond a trainer…and I can take a friend.
 
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Sat down with Dick Vangrunven for a bit a couple weeks about while at a Soaring Competition. One of the comments he made was one of the selling points for the RV airplanes is they fly like people think a WWII fighter should fly like (light/responsive controls). In reality what he is told from pilots that do fly these airplanes they are actually a lot of work to fly ( heavy controls, lots of systems to work with and monitor), not to mention a lot of maintenance.

Brian
 
brcase said:
Sat down with Dick Vangrunven for a bit a couple weeks about while at a Soaring Competition. One of the comments he made was one of the selling points for the RV airplanes is they fly like people think a WWII fighter should fly like (light/responsive controls). In reality what he is told from pilots that do fly these airplanes they are actually a lot of work to fly ( heavy controls, lots of systems to work with and monitor), not to mention a lot of maintenance.

Brian
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Heck, my RV's seem like a lot of maintenance to me. I probably need a few 18 year old draftees to help...
 
We're talking "dubeya dubeya eye eye right? Well my two favorites are not on this list...

F8F-2-bearcat-rmdb.jpg


And

P-47D-40_Thunderbolt_44-95471_side.jpg
 
I still like an A-26. And while we're at it, let's make that during the 80's, so I can get an off the books job for the CIA flying "medicine", and then invest that in some Intel stock.
 

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I as well would pick a Mosquito…my Uncle I never met was lost in the Balkans near Banja Luka in 1945 supporting a Russian offensive…my Gran had a picture of him in the cockpit and it was my first connection with military aviation as a child…if this was not the case I always thought a P-47 Thunderbolt was it!
 
Of the choices listed, I’d take the Mustang. I get goosebumps every time I hear a Merlin.

But if I win the Powerball, it’ll be a Stearman or something similar for a couple hundred, then a T-6 and culminate in an F6F. Friends who’ve flown different warbirds say the Grummans are comparatively easier or better to fly than some other fighters, and with the folding wings it’ll fit in our hangar easily, and won’t run out of pavement on our runway.
 
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