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?
