Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Wishlist => Topic started by: Wildcat1 on May 02, 2010, 04:22:56 PM
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I'm talking about planes produced after WWI but were obsolete by 1940-1941 for example:
boeing P-26 peashooter (i like the name :lol)
Curtis A-12 Shrike
Gloster Gladiator
Fiat CR.32
Foker D.XXI
Hawker Fury
there are many others i can think of, but im too lazy to post them, and too lazy to post the specs for these planes, but they're pretty easy finds
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Gloster Gladiator
Foker D.XXI
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Fokker_D.XXI.jpg)
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/F19-014.jpg)
:D
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I think there are plenty of early war types that could be added first, including some on your list.
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The Gloster Gladiator actually saw service in WW2. In their legendary last ditch defence of Malta (that's a small island smack in the middle of the old trade routes of the Med, vital strategic outpost for those not familiar with the area) the RAF were down to their last 3 fighters - nicknamed Faith, Hope and Charity - they were all that stood between the island and the might of the Luftwaffe and the substantial (and capable) Italian air force. They were, of course, Gloster Gladiators. The battle rarely gets a mention these days, but back then it was big news. The RAF eventually got some Spits in from a carrier (a whole other story) and after two years of constant pounding from the air, the entire island was awarded the George Cross. All this from memory so check if you like and feel free to correct any errors. The thing is, the Gloster Gladiator would not be out of place at all in the WW2 arena; try it against the ME109 and see what the RAF lads were up against.
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The Gloster Gladiator actually saw service in WW2. In their legendary last ditch defence of Malta (that's a small island smack in the middle of the old trade routes of the Med, vital strategic outpost for those not familiar with the area) the RAF were down to their last 3 fighters - nicknamed Faith, Hope and Charity - they were all that stood between the island and the might of the Luftwaffe and the substantial (and capable) Italian air force. They were, of course, Gloster Gladiators.
It's a common myth that there were only Faith, Hope and Charity there. There were more than three Gladiators.
Of course not a nice situation to be in anyway.
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Well I did say feel free to correct any errors, but I think the main premise is valid; so I thought it would be worth following up, as I would like to know the truth of it. Here's what I found so far:
Extract from Wikipedia: "Legend has it that there were just three aircraft, nicknamed 'Faith', 'Hope' and 'Charity' but, in reality, at least six Gladiators were deployed."
Extract from website of the UK Maltese Cultural Movement: "Talking to people in Malta who remembered those dark days of 1941 when the Church of St Publius received a direct hit that destroyed a large part of the building, and how they remembered the valiant efforts of the three aircraft and their pilots in trying to defend the island."
Extract from the Oxford Companion to World War Two: "Faith, Hope, and Charity were the nicknames of three British Gloster Gladiators, obsolescent biplane fighters. At the start of the siege of Malta in June 1940 they were the only air cover the island had. Originally there were four, found in crates aboard the carrier Glorious, but one was destroyed almost immediately."
Extract from Amazon.com description of the book 'Faith, Hope and Charity' : "Faith, Hope and Charity is a story of three Gladiator biplanes flown by six volunteers from their base on Malta and fighting alone against the Italian ‘Regia Aeronautica’ between June and October 1940."
And I just found this movie (1 hour) named - you guessed it - 'Faith, Hope and Charity'
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=205252973949369270# (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=205252973949369270#)
It's a slightly amaturish animated tribute (but after viewing 15 minutes or so I'd recommend it) which claims that they had more Gladiators but were never able to field more than three at any one time. Whatever the truth, I don't think it diminishes the legend even a little bit.
Thanks for pointing out the discrepancy WM, seems like there might be more to uncover there. I'm going to finish watching the movie. Salute.
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+100% for inter-war fighters, just so long as they actually saw combat - which eliminates the Curtiss Shrike and should deny the P-26 Peashooter to all but a handful of Filipino pilots who took on the Japanese in the first few days of the Pacific war. And, sadly, the beautiful Hawker Fury, which saw only very limited combat in Spain (three had been bought by the Republican Government just before Franco's poo hit the fan) and some service with the South Africans as an advanced trainer.
:cool:
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In the UK a lot of pre-war planes were used as transports, trainers, target tugs and early coastal patrols/defence. We don't have much call for these in the current setup.