WWII War Birds - pics and video

Sqr said:
This is a cool picture.
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I just googled up this info about Rote Sieben / Red Seven
https://www.flyinglegends.com/aircraft/bf-109-g-4-red-seven-d-fwme.html
 
I hope the Finns did better against the Russkies with the Buffalo than the Yanks did with it against the Nipponese.

Nothing looks prettier than that RAF camo! I remember the Hawker Hunters they used for photo-recce when I was parachuting with the RAPA at Sennelager, Germany. One of our volunteer pilots flew them and when he was up for de-mob he made a meet with us at 12,000 to take pics of "Ringo", our DeHavilland Rapide jump aircraft.

On his slowest pass with flaps and gear down, he went by us like we were standing still! Showing us the pics later, he said that all his "falling out of the sky" bells, gongs and whistles wee going off.
 
During the Continuation War, Lentolaivue 24 (Fighter Squadron 24) was equipped with the B-239s until May 1944, when the Buffalos were transferred to Hävittäjälentolaivue 26 (Fighter Squadron 26). Most of the pilots of Lentolaivue 24 were Winter War combat veterans. This squadron claimed a total of 459 Soviet aircraft kills with B-239s, while losing 15 Buffalos in combat.[11]

The Brewsters had their baptism by fire in Finland on 25 June 1941 when a pair of Buffalos from 2/LLv24 intercepted 27 Soviet Tupolev SBs from 201st SBAP [N 6] over Turku. Five SBs were claimed as downed. Subsequent attacks were repelled by LLv24 pilots who by dusk had flown 77 missions.[31]

Many Finnish pilots racked up enormous scores by using basic tactics against Soviet aircraft. The default tactic was the four-plane "parvi" (swarm) with a pair flying lower as bait, and a higher pair to dive on enemy interceptors. The Soviet Air Force was never able to counteract this tactic. The top-scoring B-239 pilot was Hans Wind, with 39 kills in B-239s.[32] Lt Hans Wind with six other Buffalos of LeLv 24 intercepted some 60 Soviet aircraft near Kronstad. Two Russian Pe-2 bombers, one Soviet Hawker Hurricane fighter, and 12 I-16s were claimed for the loss of just one B-239 (BW-378).[33] After evaluation of claims against actual Soviet losses, aircraft BW-364 was found to have been used to achieve 42½ kills in total by all pilots operating it, possibly making it the highest-scoring fighter airframe in the history of air warfare.[citation needed] The top scoring Finnish ace, Ilmari Juutilainen, scored 34 of his 94½ kills in B-239s, including 28 in BW-364.[34]


B-239 is the name of the Buffalo in Finnish service.
 
So it was poor airmanship and/or tactics that caused the Buffalo to be such a flying disaster in the hands of RAF and USAAF pilots against the Nipponese?
 
I think that most of the answer is in post #426 above. The Buffalo was a wallowing cow compared to the nimble Jap Zeros which danced rings around it. It did OK when it was going after unescorted bombers, but couldn't hack it in the performance dept when it came to air-to-air combat.
 
I read once that the Zero owed a lot to a Hughes aircraft which was famous for it's rate of climb. I was light, nimble and ignored by the USAAC who were committed to the heavy "Pursuit" aircraft and the diving attack methodology.
 
Great thread! I would also suggest If you are ever around Portland, Oregon go to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, they have all kinds of warbirds and even a few modern aircraft.

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http://3.bp.########.com/-7910TybPUi0/UofvgjIom8I/AAAAAAAAEF4/9vg-g4ungBo/s1600/PB090061.JPG

They also have some tanks and apc's, a ton of helicopters and support aircraft, The SPRUCE GOOSE!!!

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Not to mention several weapon displays, a huge space section and next door there is a waterpark with a 747 on the roof and waterslides that come right out of the damn thing! It is an amazing place and is a must see if you are anywhere near it!

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Website -> http://evergreenmuseum.org/
 
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scott585 said:
have a search for the wasp major made by pratt & whitney, its got 4 rows

after 2 rows its too hard to get cold air to the rear cylinders so most are watercooled
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Pretty much.
Many common large radials are double row.
R1830 in dc-3, r2000 in dc-4, r2800 in dc-6, c-46, etc.
Had to find a way to pump out the HP before those noisy turbines came along
 
what blows me away on the radials is how may fins they were able cram onto a cylinder for cooling purposes, when i look at what motorcycle companies claim for cooling and then look at the Zero above or Sea Fury engine from 70+ years ago, amazing
 
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