Where would you have flown?

[pembquist]

LilMak are you familiar with "A Fighter Pilots Story", its a documentary that came out in 1993 and seems impossible to find but is a must see if you are interested in ETO p-47. It is one man's diary, unburnished.

[PanosGR]

You'll have an explosive time.

Why you say that. Me 163s and Me 262 are extremely safe in AH and reliable, no overheats or engine failures plus you can eject at any speed and any height. 

[kilo2]

I think with JG-5 in the north. Or Laggs with the Russians.

[TheCrazyOrange]

I think with JG-5 in the north. Or Laggs with the Russians.

Couldn't get me to fly anything for the Russians pre 1944 with anything in the world. Could offer me money and the genuine love of any woman in the world. Early loss rates for anything with a red star on it were simply appalling.

[Nefarious]

JG 3 Pitomnik Defender.

(Yes, I am a Luftwaffle at heart)

[Slate]

   C-47 Pilot shuttling nurses from base to base.     

  or a 109 pilot until my 190-d was ready. 

[mbailey]

   C-47 Pilot shuttling nurses from base to base.      

Winner 

[earl1937]

If you were given the choice to fly in any theatre of war, in any plane, at any point in the war, where/when would it be? Would it be facing Lancasters at night in a Bf-110, with the Flying Tigers in China, or maybe flying Spitfires over Malta? Or maybe you would want to help bring down the Rising Sun from the cockpit of a Dauntless Dive Bomber? It's all up to you to decide. There are numerous factors to take into account, for example I would have a hard time surviving in a tropical environment such as that endured by the members of the Cactus Air Force at Henderson Field. Would you prefer to fly from a base close to the front and see combat everyday, like the Luftwaffe on the Eastern Front, or would you want to have a base relatively far away and isolated from the action, as those pilots of the 8th AF were able to return to after a mission. Or, in the case you were shot down, where would you want to plop down?

My initial choice would be with Mustangs in the 8th AF escorting buffs over Germany. Fighting the Luftwaffe of 1944 with a numerical advantage, and often altitude advantage from the comfort of a Mustang cockpit might be my ideal situation, but 8 hour missions are no joke. If I were shot down and able to bail out, being able to speak French at a conversational level might help me escape back to safety, or it would get me shot if I screwed up.    Je suis americain!!

Option B involves my childhood favorite airplane, the Hellcat. Flying some of the first F6F's from the deck of a carrier in early 1943 and tangling with the unsuspecting Zeroes would be my other choice. I would love the feeling of flying in something that could take a hit and keep on trucking, as well as the idea of flying off a carrier. I've always been partial to Navy fighters in my heart as well. Then again, floating in the water if I were shot down, or falling into the hands of the Japanese would probably make me lean back towards my first choice.

Either way, the guys who did this stuff for real had no choice for the most part where or in what they would partake in the air war of World War II, but if you were given the chance to choose, where would you be? 

While there are many interesting theaters of war during 42 to 44, to me, one the most interesting would be a pre-dawn launch in a F4F, from the 38th Task force, going looking for the Japanese task force coming down the famous slot in the Philippine sea! Nothing much to help you locate them except your wing mates, I would guess 3 others on the heading you were given. Other fighters would be on different headings to locate the Japs! Wonder what would be going through your 22 year old mind, how many fighters would I encounter, how many ships would you see? The only thing helping you are your two eyes and the fact that the sun would be behind you, if you encountered some Zero's. If you encountered some, how far have I flown, how much ACM time do I have on station and will I be able to return to "home Plate"? I really think I was born to late to serve in the greatest war ever fought!

[Brooke]

I really think I was born to late to serve in the greatest war ever fought!

I'd bet a lot of AH'ers have had that thought at some point.

You got to fly B-29's, though! 

[TheCrazyOrange]

I'd bet a lot of AH'ers have had that thought at some point.

You got to fly B-29's, though! 

I'm waiting for WWIII.

[Bomberdriver]

First August 1940, RAF, Hurricane, one of 'The Few'

2nd like my father, August 1943, USAAF, B-17F the early raids till Black Thursday.  His flight logs of this era are real interesting reading.  Learning how to do it, and from what we talked about all those years ago, not like the movies.  He would watch the opening of 12 o'clock High, as Maj. Stoval bicycled up to the abandoned airfield, Dad would have tears in his eyes, and as the scene shifts to the sounds of engines and the returning bombers, he would turn it off and walk outside.

24 missions as pilot, ditched in channel #24, hurt back bad, returned to states where he worked on the B-29 pilot training/instructor.  Only one faded picture of his plane "Laid Back" in the album, rest just pictures of friends and friends lost.  I can not imagine doing this for real, and I have paid for a 45min ride in a B-17G, and just tried to imagine.

[earl1937]

First August 1940, RAF, Hurricane, one of 'The Few'

2nd like my father, August 1943, USAAF, B-17F the early raids till Black Thursday.  His flight logs of this era are real interesting reading.  Learning how to do it, and from what we talked about all those years ago, not like the movies.  He would watch the opening of 12 o'clock High, as Maj. Stoval bicycled up to the abandoned airfield, Dad would have tears in his eyes, and as the scene shifts to the sounds of engines and the returning bombers, he would turn it off and walk outside.

24 missions as pilot, ditched in channel #24, hurt back bad, returned to states where he worked on the B-29 pilot training/instructor.  Only one faded picture of his plane "Laid Back" in the album, rest just pictures of friends and friends lost.  I can not imagine doing this for real, and I have paid for a 45min ride in a B-17G, and just tried to imagine.

<S> to Dad!

[Brooke]

I'm waiting for WWIII.

No humans will fly anything in that.  It will be Skynet and the terminators. 

[TheCrazyOrange]

No humans will fly anything in that.  It will be Skynet and the terminators. 

Don't be so sure; countries like NK are getting nukes. If it happens in the next 50-60 years, we'll still see manned aircraft.

[Oldman731]

2nd like my father, August 1943, USAAF, B-17F the early raids till Black Thursday. 

What group?

- oldman