Hello all,
I went to open cockpit day at the New England AIr Museam.
http://www.neam.org/ Met a few of the pilots and jumped in all the fighters I could. Learned a lot.
I jumped in the P-47D and talked with the guy that flew in them. He said a lot of good things about it. All of the vets did. He even showed me how to use WEP. I asked if the bubble canopy gave a better view behind so he could see anyone closing in... He said that you wear this big parachute thing that came up high, and you had these goggles and cap on, and that with all of that you really could only see what was going on in front of you. So it really made no difference. I was surprised at this but it made sense, in sims, you can move the views , and it doesnt take into effect goggles and parachutes and things and even being strapped in with all of this on.... He also said one of the good things about the 47 was that is was roomy... And it was. Very nice aircraft... Funny thing is, I heard so many times from questions that the 47 was a very manuverable aircraft, and a great flier. Very stable. They all thought it was a great plane.
Then I jumped into the F4u-4. My fav aircraft. It was an XF4U-4 so only like 5 of them made. But its so cool. Its huge. Nose is very long. I can see how the stories about it being tough to opperate are now. When I kicked out the rudder it moved very far, much farther than the 47. Rearward visability was also not good. They said it was a little better with the canopy closed... but not much. So that was fun, then I jump out and talk with the corsair pilot. He said that the Cors was a very very fast plane, and a great fighter, but very hard to manage. He said that he was very concerned on the ground because most of the time where you were, was just guess work. He told me about the special approach that you would make and set up a landing, but after that, you would pretty much hope that the runway was under you, because you couldn't tell at all.
Then on to the F6F Hellcat. 2 pilots who fought in WWII. Couldnt get in the F6F though... The pilots were great. Lots of interesting stories. He showed me a map of targets he spotted out on patrol. Runways and targets in China. And where his group attacked. Serious stuff. He said that he was never afraid.... Only concerned sometimes. I was a little scared from the things he was talking about. Amaizing. Anyways, they both said that the Helllcat was a very stable fighter, that you could trim it up and then take your hands off and it would stay that way. Not as fast as the Corsair, but much more stable...
You know I asked them and the corsair pilot about manuverability. And I never got a good answer. They seemed like being manuverable was a non issue becasue they would never try to follow a zero beyond a certain point anyway. In sims.. Being able to turn has a big priority. They didnt even think about it. One said that the Hellcat was supposedly made to defeat the zero, but he shrugged and said that it was a good fighter, but you cannot really turn with a zero, and never follow one into a loop, but it was much better than the Wildcat. Not as fast as the corsair either, but that seemed not to make a difference. They seemed non concerened about that too. They really liked there Hellcats.
In these sims I think... How fast can I go, how hard can I turn if I max everything out with flaps. These guys had different priorities completely
Then onto the F-86. Lots of cool stories. Couldn't get in that either.. baah.. Anyways, he said that when they switched to the 4 20mm cannons on the Sabers, they had a lot less bullets bouncing off. Huh? He said that sometimes your 50's would simply bounce off the Mig's skin. And cannons would go right on through. Talked about the tactics of the Saber pilots too. And how they fought. Evidently, they would all get up and out, and look for a fight. They would make the Migs fight they way they wanted to fight. And if that wouldn't happen, they would pack it up and try the next day. Same with shooting your guns. You would only shoot if you knew you would hit. You only had 12 seconds of guns with 50 cal, and 8 of 20mm. And you would let out a 1/2 second burst to take out a mig. And no more. Thats how they got things done over there. Very precise on all levels.
A funny story, he said that he just got out of Mustangs and into the F-86. He said that when you throttle back in a prop aircraft, that big blade spinning around becomes this huge speed brake, slowing you very quickly. Its a little different with jets. He said that we was forming up with his leader on his first mission and he couldnt slow down fast enough to join them and went shooting out far beyond his Flight lead with "Throttle off, speed brake out, and skidding all over the place with my rudder and I still missed them"
Does anyone else think the AH2 aircraft glide amazingly well throttled back? Maybe it does auto pitch on the props.....
Anyways, what I realised is that sims are good. But things are very different in the real deal. There are factors that you might never even know about. Even like wearing goggles. That willl change things. That will influence your tactics. And the rearward views are much much better in sims. Every pilot I talked to would point to the mirrors for looking behind you. I mean, Put on a big fluffy coat, a big parachute pack, a big puffy cap, goggles, an oxigen mask, and then strap yourself on a big metal plate... I mean I can see that you cannot even turn around to start with. I had on a t-shirt and I saw that it was a tough thing to do. Even with the bubble canopy, you just dont have the room to look behind you. Also
Bullets can bounce off an enemy. And the 47 is a very manuverable aircraft, but the F6F pilots were unconcerened with it entirely. Who knew...
Also I saw that these pilots are all very sharp still and very smart and very polite. Some of these guys have over 100 missions, and they are the nicest people you will ever meet. Very interesting. They were impressed at my knowledge of the aircraft, and told me about things that other people didn't hear. It was fun.
Ok thats was my AAR. I am still pretty hyped about my visit. Going to the next one too to ask more stuff. I missed some rides too. Cool.
Laters
Light
