George Preddy Achievement

[Pand]

George Preddy - Down 6 planes in 1 sortie while flying the P-51

I downed 5, and 1 assist, in one sortie and I received this achievement.  Is this intentional on the assist?

[james]

Same thing happened to me.

[Pyro]

No, it's a bug.

[mthrockmor]

Pand, do that in a Storch and I'll be impressed. Short of that, killing 6 in one sortie is pretty pedestrian for you isn't it? You do this daily it seems. As a side note I lived on the same street as George Preddy in Greensboro, NC.

Boo

[Pand]

Pand, do that in a Storch and I'll be impressed. Short of that, killing 6 in one sortie is pretty pedestrian for you isn't it? You do this daily it seems. As a side note I lived on the same street as George Preddy in Greensboro, NC.

Boo

Thanks Boo! 

That's awesome, did you ever get to spend any time with him? 

[Pyro]

That would be hard given that he was killed by friendly fire on Christmas Day 1944.

[Slate]

That would be hard given that he was killed by friendly fire on Christmas Day 1944.

"Preddy destroyed two Messerschmitt Bf 109s, before being vectored to a lone Focke-Wulf FW 190, strafing Allied ground forces southeast of Liege, Belgium."

  "As the FW-190, Preddy and two other Mustangs passed over the Allied front line at tree-top height, a US Army anti-aircraft (AA) battery (believed to be part of the 430th AA Battalion, XIX Corps), fired at the FW-190 and missed, but hit all three P-51s. Preddy's aircraft hit the ground at high speed and a low angle, which caused it to break up into many pieces. Preddy had no chance of surviving the crash"

                              

[mthrockmor]

His house was on the street with a little plaque. Of course I did not meet him. One old man next door insisted he knew him and told a few stories. I have no idea but it was neat. 20+ years ago. I'll see if I can find a picture I have of the house and post it here.

Boo

[Chalenge]

"Preddy destroyed two Messerschmitt Bf 109s, before being vectored to a lone Focke-Wulf FW 190, strafing Allied ground forces southeast of Liege, Belgium."

  "As the FW-190, Preddy and two other Mustangs passed over the Allied front line at tree-top height, a US Army anti-aircraft (AA) battery (believed to be part of the 430th AA Battalion, XIX Corps), fired at the FW-190 and missed, but hit all three P-51s. Preddy's aircraft hit the ground at high speed and a low angle, which caused it to break up into many pieces. Preddy had no chance of surviving the crash"

According to the book on Preddy he was hit by a .50cal from a quad mount (M16) that fired for just a brief microsecond. The P-51 pancaked in a manner that was very surviveable but the pilot had been hit. The aircraft was only slightly damaged.

Noah, J., & Sox, S. L., Jr. (1991). Christmas day 1944. In George preddy top
     mustang ace (pp. 158-167). Greensboro, NC: Preddy Memorial Foundation.

[Ack-Ack]

His house was on the street with a little plaque. Of course I did not meet him. One old man next door insisted he knew him and told a few stories. I have no idea but it was neat. 20+ years ago. I'll see if I can find a picture I have of the house and post it here.

Boo

This is the plaque you're talking about.



ack-ack

[Ack-Ack]

According to the book on Preddy he was hit by a .50cal from a quad mount (M16) that fired for just a brief microsecond. The P-51 pancaked in a manner that was very surviveable but the pilot had been hit. The aircraft was only slightly damaged.

Noah, J., & Sox, S. L., Jr. (1991). Christmas day 1944. In George preddy top
     mustang ace (pp. 158-167). Greensboro, NC: Preddy Memorial Foundation.

Preddy's Mustang was completely destroyed, with witness reports stating the largest identifiable part of the plane was what was left of the engine.  Preddy was also reported by witnesses on the scene to have bailed out at approximately 200ft and his parachute did not deploy.

From their vantage point looking NE, Sgt. Charles Brown, PFC John Starzynbski and Lt Murray Grobman saw Preddy fall from the Mustang at about 200 feet, his parachute not deployed and Cripes A’Mighty now inverted disappearing behind a tree line where they heard her hit the ground.

Sgt Kennedy and Cpl Dye went to the crash site of the Mustang noting that the largest portion remaining of the Mustang was the engine.  Kennedy recalled seeing a piece of the fuselage on which swastikas had been painted.

Source
ack-ack

[Chalenge]

"This Addendum is an update to what we know happened during the final moments of Preddy’s last mission as recorded on page 160 of George Preddy, Top Mustang Ace. The purpose here is to correct inaccurate information in the book and in the one-hour video entitled, Preddy, The Mustang Ace. "

Thanks for pointing that out ack-ack!

[Noir]

I liked the Gabby Gabreski achievement, 28 kills in a P47  I doubt he did them all in one evening tho   

[mthrockmor]

Dang Ack Ack, that's it. I haven't found mine and it is an old, printed picture not a jog. At the time I was a Navy bird geek so I didn't know (or read) as much about the European theater, etc. As I said, I had that old timer tell me some stories, which I don't really remember. What I should have done is sit the guy down and grill him for everything he could remember, and do that a few times to jog his memory. Then either record it or take copious notes. I missed an opportunity.

Once as a kid growing up in Vegas I stopped at a red light and some old guy asked for a ride. Common occurrence when driving in a vehicle with no doors. He hopped in and I drove him home. Turns out he was a Pearl Harbor vet. We talked for about 15 minutes as I was running late for work. He invited me to come back to see pictures, hear more stories, etc but being a stupid 18 year old I quickly forgot to go back. I've only met two Pearl Harbor vets and didn't really take the opportunity either time. 

Boo