Stupid hypothetical question

[flight17]

Me?  Heck no!  I like my face with five*, not five-hundred holes.

-Penguin

*Five: Mouth, 2 nostrils, 2 ear holes

your ears are one your face?!?!?!?!


I Would think that i would, but i cant really say for sure.

[shotgunneeley]

I would serve in some capacity on a B-17. Strategic high altitude bombing, combat boxes and defensive aerial gunnery have always fascinated me.

[nrshida]

I wonder if the Aces High time travelling pilots would do better than the average new pilot recruits from the era?

[Melvin]

I wonder if the Aces High time travelling pilots would do better than the average new pilot recruits from the era?

Doubtful. Way too much bravado.

Most wouldn't make it past the first N.C.O.

<S> Melvin

[BrownBaron]

Why are people so eager to join up in a FG? I've heard this a thousand times, and I'm sure all you have too. "Fighter pilots make movies, bomber crews make histroy.". I feel that German fighter pilots could have held off many times their own numbers in allied fighter pilots, but with the huge allied bombing campaigns, their capacity to resist was slowly ground in to a fine powder. I would join up to serve in a high-altitude heavy bomber, as I'd be helping the war effort much more by destroying a warehouse containing 150 Bf 109 engines than shooting down maybe 1 or 2. MAYBE.

[Tyrannis]

  If you were transported back to 1939 knowing what you know now, and given the opportunity. Would you volunteer to fly?  If so what and for whom. Personally I would say yes to any Allied F/G with out hesitation or even considering the odds. I'm not the "hero" type, and my motivation wouldn't come from any patriotic sentiments either, although they do exist in me. I would say yes purely because of my own self interests and the fact the WW2 fighter pilot had the most awesome job in history.
  I would fly bombers too, but only if I couldn't fly fighters. I would fly transports too, but only if I couldn't fly bombers. The only WW2 piloting job I would refuse would be that of torpedo bomber, those guys were crazy!
     

if i was transported back to 1939, i'd walk up to the president and be like "hey d00d, sup? guess what? we're gonna be at war in 2 years. but dont worry! i know everything thats gonna happen, and everything we need to win! ok? good. but ya know,  if you want my help you gotta make ME president"   

[Serenity]

Why are people so eager to join up in a FG? I've heard this a thousand times, and I'm sure all you have too. "Fighter pilots make movies, bomber crews make histroy.". I feel that German fighter pilots could have held off many times their own numbers in allied fighter pilots, but with the huge allied bombing campaigns, their capacity to resist was slowly ground in to a fine powder. I would join up to serve in a high-altitude heavy bomber, as I'd be helping the war effort much more by destroying a warehouse containing 150 Bf 109 engines than shooting down maybe 1 or 2. MAYBE.

My first instinct was to go into bombers, and I wouldn't be particularly adverse to it. But I think a big part of it is the ability to be in control of your own destiny. In a bomber, your biggest enemy is the flak. Once you're lined up on the IP there isn't a lot you can do. You stay in formation, keep your speed and position constant, and just hope the fighters don't pick you, and the flak doesn't end up in the same point in space you occupy. In a fighter, you were in control. When the enemy came in, you could maneuver, you had the ability to take action and affect weather you live or die. And should you buy the farm in a fighter, at least you could say you gave it your all and went out kicking, whereas the last seconds of a BUFF crew were probably spent sitting still.

Don't get me wrong, I have even more respect for the bomber crews for having the bravery to go in that way. It takes a strong man to put his life on the line. It takes a rock to go in without being able to 'fight back'.

[APDrone]

if i was transported back to 1939, i'd walk up to the president and be like "hey d00d, sup? guess what? we're gonna be at war in 2 years. but dont worry! i know everything thats gonna happen, and everything we need to win! ok? good. but ya know,  if you want my help you gotta make ME president"    

This is probably the closest response I've seen to the best use of one's knowledge.. tho it is horribly exaggerated.

With what I know of history ( Or what I believe to know, until they change it ) my war effort would be far better served advising the military commanders, instead of putting my knowledge base in the hands of fate, hoping a critical aircraft part doesn't fail, on its own, during a critical moment of time where controlled flight flirts with uncontrolled tumbling.

Also, and this may be the more pressing concern.. if I was transported back, who's to say a Japanese, German, or Italian nationalist didn't transport back also.. and would they be frantically working with their government to prevent the snafus they committed that allowed the war to progress as it did.

There are so many instances of pure, dumb luck that the allies enjoyed in WW2... I often wonder if this sort of event didn't ( or will? ) happen already.

Merry Christmas!

[Plawranc]

Well, I am too tall to fly so.

if I cant fly in them.



Ill jump out of them 

[Lusche]

I wonder if the Aces High time travelling pilots would do better than the average new pilot recruits from the era?

They would try to HO at the first pass, then discover they can't just reup another plane... 

[Simaril]

I would serve in some capacity on a B-17. Strategic high altitude bombing, combat boxes and defensive aerial gunnery have always fascinated me.

I think some here underestimating the importance of one critical fact:

War is about KILLING. This means participants DIE.



I suspect some of the younger ones here don't really get what that means. We're not talking about high tech 21st century precision techno war. World War 2 was an industrial war, and in many ways it worked like a meat grinder - it was an attrition machine that chewed up men and material. The longer you were around it, the less likely you were to survive.


And the air war was every bit as deadly as the ground battles. In fact, it was more deadly for officers!

After the fall of France, when Great Britain at first tried some daylight missions with essentially obsolete hardware and tactics, some missions had no survivors. Think about that when you talk about starting the war in 1939.

When the US bomber campaigns started in earnest in 1943, mortality rates were estimated at about 4% PER MISSION. This is why the initial tour was set at 25 missions, and frankly odds were bomber crews just flat wouldn't survive to that point. Some missions had 20% or higher mortality on A SINGLE MISSION.

Be thankful we get to play a game.

[JunkyII]

Some prefer the meat grinder.   Best job no matter what era.

Rangers lead the way

[Zoney]

Knowing what I do now, yes, I would volunteer to be a pilot for whatever aircraft they determined I would be best suited for.  I would not expect to qualify though.  If I did qualify I would not expect to survive the war, or be a hero, and I would be just fine with that.

The motivation is from the "knowing" part.  If those brave men had not gone to battle, and done their best, we would not now live in a free society.  I would rather die trying to get us there than live without freedom.  Period.  No gray area.

I would also use all my knowledge to win, no rules, no quarter given, including running like a girl when at a disadvantage to save myself and my aircraft to allow the opportunity to kill more of them later, with an advantage, without remorse.


Finally, with all that bravo, I am guessing I would piss my pants at the first sighting of an enemy aircraft engaging me.

[Simaril]

I'd like to think I would have been right there volunteering.

[fbWldcat]

Long as I get to fly, I'd join.