12 Sexiest Warbirds...

I agree with you on this one, Jim. Too good but too late.

 

Yes, I Have been to all three museums at Paine Field because I live 5 miles south of them. All of those WWII vets with whom I was friends are all gone now. Hard to count how many. I seem to be the Lone Ranger. I am the only one left of my fairly large family and I have a lot of good memories and good health, thanks to the doctors. I am working on a story about Blumer and his fight and I discovered that this particular incident was the largest fighter to fighter dog fight in WWII with 75 fighters involved. It was interesting to hear him talk about it because his account was strictly from one fighter pilot's view. It was no different than the other combatants that I knew, the view was what they saw through the gunsight or the bombsight. Re the German castings. I chatted with a NACA mechanic when I was stationed at Langley Field in 1944 and he said that they thought that the DB601 looked like a piece of coal on the outside but when they got to the inside , it was like a fine gem. The Germans applied whatever worked in a particular situation and nothing more. But where it counted, they did beautiful stuff.

 

I imagine that the early-war Japanese aircraft were fine but that they got rougher later in the war as the trials and tribulations or war started affecting them. I know that they had endless troubles with the more powerful engines they were developing late in the war.

And if Soviet tanks are any indication, I have to believe that their aircraft were pretty rough as well.

 

You're lucky, Bob. Paine Field has become the "Chino of the Northwest"!

 

I had the opportunity to have a good look at an IL2 Schturmovik (spelling?) when I was in Ukraine...that was truelly a roughly built but strong aircraft. I explored all kinds of Soviet aircraft. I went with my dad to a meeting he had scheduled with an insulation manufacturer, interesting thing here is that it was right outside the Antonov factory. You would never know it was a factory, it was all low rise buildings designed to look like a large school campus. I witnessed workers in that factory manufacturing mineral based insulation while wearing street shoes and not wearing any protective gear...not even respirators.

 

See? Now that view is SEXY!

 

I am not sure how much this effected their aviation production but German small arms during the war took a big hit. WWI stuff and that produced between the wars their small arms were beautifully made. It was the epitome of German craftsmanship. But, unlike us they sent their skilled craftsmen to war. Wartime production of small arms was to a great extent performed by the young and unskilled but largely also slave labor. Quality was a very big problem with their war time manufacturing. Ever see Schindlers List? It was true and a very real problem for the German war machine. Look at a numbers matching Lugar with a production date of 1929 and one with a 1944 date. Then ask what they both are worth. The 1944 gun looks like it was made with a hammer and a file and probably doesn't function very well and the 1929 gun is built like a watch. I bet the planes sent to Spain were of a much higher standard the the ones they sent to Omaha Beach. They never intended for the war to go on so long and their inability to produce replacement equipment killed them just as sure as the Eastern Front onslaught.

 

For sure Brian, slave labour and lack of quality metals and high octane fuel takes a toll on quality. I was a little coo-coo about this stuff when I was young...couldn't read enough and based travel on formula 1 and museums. I have a couple of weapons from 1943, nice quality and apparently built by POWs. BMW radial engines certainly had a short life expectancy and the DB series engines had terrible connecting rod and piston failures between 44 and 45. Something I found amazing was the innards of a DB mechanical fuel injection system...looks like the inside of a watch. Anybody that has read about this stuff knows about the metallurgical nightmares suffered by the Germans, especially with the Jumo jet engines. If memory serves me, chromium, molybdenum etc was given to the U boat arm...I could be wrong. I do know that uboats were bringing small quantitys from the Japanese.

 

Yes, Jim. I have thought about the rise in aviation history here. We have John Session's Historical Flight Center, Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection, Bob Hammer's ME262 Restoration Center, and the Boeing Restoration Center plus the Boeing Future of Flight Tour Center. All are well worth the price and the time. I have been able to witness the flights of the ORIGINAL Paul Allen's FW-190 and ME-109. Then the Sturmovic and Zero. Lots of P-51's, F4U's, Hurricanes, Spitfires, and Jugs. I just found out that Sessions traded his F7F for 5 other aircraft including an F-86 and Stearman. His stable has the QED replica built by the late Jim Moss that I knew in the 60's at Thun Field, south of here. We've got a lot of things sitting around up here like B-52's, B-25's, ( howz that for a switch) 767's, 747's, 727's, 777's, and 787's. Summer fly days are pretty nice. I forgot to mention the upcoming Mosquito that will fly soon this summer.

 

Back to German planes from WWII-I always thought the He-111 was a graceful design
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Yup, those inverted DB engines look cool...ME 410 was a sexy plane also. Funny how the Spanish version of the HE111 doesn't look right with Merlins. I still remember pointing that out as a kid watching the Battle of Britain movie....my friends ripped on me about that.

 

Aber das ist nicht richtig, Bob! A "Geschwader" is much bigger than a squadron.
"Geschwader" would mean a "Wing" to you Americans, a "Group" to the Brits (and an "Escadre" to me as a French).
A "Geschwader" is commanded by a "Geschwaderkommodore", usually a lieutenant-colonel, but sometimes a full colonel.
The "Geschwader" is then divided in three "Gruppe", usually; it could be more.
Then each Gruppe is divided in three or four Staffel.
Your american "Squadron" would be a "Staffel" to a German; so, your "fighter squadron" is a "Jagdstaffel" in German.

For those of you having interest in the first World War, the word "Jasta" by which the german fighter squadrons were designated during the first World War is simply the contraction of "JAgd STAffel": fighter squadron.

Rgds

 

Thank you. Jasta never made sense before. Meine Deutsche ist schiesse.

 

SPA = flight ? (Flight of four) ?
escadre de chasse = Fighter Squadron ?


Escuadron de Caza - Fighter Squadron (espanol).

I 'believe' Gruppo = Squadron for the Italians ?


In Israel, - Tayesett Krav = Fighter Squadron.

Merci
Ralph

 

Ralph,
The answer to your question is, langage-wise, weird, to say the least. It actually comes from "SPAD", which meant "Société des Avions Deperdussin", originally; "SPA" was coined from this in an acronym meaning "speed" in what was at the time one of the first attempts in an universal langage, the Volapück. Everyone is still there? And no, I'm not smoking anything special...
It was attributed to what you would call a "flight", but of six aeroplanes, in french: une escadrille.
The "Armée de l'Air" did its best along the years to maintain the traditions of most, if not all, the first world war SPAs, which implies that, with much less units along the years, some of todays fighter squadrons are standing usually for two SPAs, one différent flag each side of the tail.
Interesting, isn't it?
Rgds

 

I recall some other contractions like STUKA, Sturzkamphflugsueg (Spl), FLAK, fluggerabwherekannonen. Again, I don't know much German so my spelling isn't correct, probably.

 

In Italy, it comes out as:
Stormo (plural: Stormi) a wing: example: 4th, 51st, etc...
Into which you have Gruppi (Singular: Gruppo)
Into each Gruppo you have "Squadriglia"...(more or less "Squadrons"; same word, actually...)
Rgds

 

German is a langage which works by aggregation of words, and That can give you akwardly long expressions, for which abbreviations are useful: for instance: "LastKraftFahrzeug" or "LKF" means litterally: Powerful vehicle to handle heavy loads. In English, a lorry. In American English, a Truck...
Russian is often the same: TsaGi means: Tsentralnii Gydrodynamitskii Aviatsii Institute.
Central Aviation Institute for Aero and Hydrodynamics...

Rgds

 

Stuka is SturzKampfFlugzeug, which means "Aeroplane combatting in Dive"
Flak is FlugAbwehrKanone, Cannon, or gun, to repel things that fly.
Rgds

 

My high school German teacher was a translator for Army Intelligence in WW2. He often commented on their stringing words together to make a new word for a weapon. Instead of creating an all new word, existing words are strung together to actually describe the item.

A small example is the German for generator was "Lichtmachine" or light machine. I was told of an early German word for hub cap which translated out to "shiny disc that covers the wheel" but all one word.

Many years ago I worked in a shop where most of our manuals were in German. Even with my rudimentary German reading skills I was able to get a good deal from them.

 

I would have included the Curtiss P40. Beautiful, as well as versatile. Including launching from aircraft carriers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIRTIeYko04

 

P-40's from carriers? I've not heard that before.

Edit: did a search, didn't find anything about P-40 deployment from carriers.

Where/when?

(My father-in-law -deceased- flew P-40s for Chennault in China - Flying Tigers)

 

The carrier launched P-40Fs were transported somewhere in the Med for duity in Italy or some place near there. They were powered by Packard 1650-1 Merlins that only had a single stage impeller/blower. An ok machine below 15k. Not much use above that altitude. Easy to spot as they had an updraft carb and smooth top cowl. Caca...I have forgotten how to download a pix. Help

 

Very probably the 58th F.G: its planes were launched from the USS Ranger (CV-4). I maybe wrong on this, but I do believe that the first actual launch of P-40s from a carrier took place from the same ship, USS Ranger, in May 1942, off the Gold Coast of Africa, to Accra. The same ship launched another 72 P-40 again off the Gold Coast and to Accra in July 1942. Most were intended to be flown then across Africa and to India-China, as reinforcments for the 23 FG (ex AVG).
Rgds

 

Dumb ass, you'd forget your head bla,bla,bla.

Is that old airplane of yours still running on 12?