WWII War Birds - pics and video

I imagine the Brewster Buffalo had to satisfy the same shipboard space requirements.

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Not a requirement on either the Russian steppe or the forests of Finland, though. I imagine the I-16 was made short because it saved weight and allowed more manouverability in yaw and pitch.

The Brewster Buccaneer (It was "bucaneer" a decent looking aircraft) wouldn't win any beauty contests. It was overly long to the eye:

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VERY pretty pics.

Her stablemate, the Hawker Hurricane.

Prototype:

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Hurricane Mk. 5 - last of the breed. Dedicated ground attack AC, four made, none flown on ops:

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And one in a bad neighbourhood, gradually stripped for parts.

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Built with metal skinned wings by Hawker Aircraft, as part of a batch from Langley and Brooklands,[2] by late February 1941 V7670 was operating with No 261 Squadron based on Malta.

V7670 was used by Flying Officer John Payne to claim a Bf 110 damaged on 25 February, together with a Bf 110 probably destroyed and a Dornier Do 215 destroyed on 5 March. Shortly afterwards, it was captured in North Africa, and repainted with Luftwaffe insignia

Recaptured in December 1942, it was passed to No 208 Squadron.[3]
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Carrier-borne P47's:

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On 23 June, Manila Bay came under enemy air attack during refueling operations east of Saipan. Four Aichi D3A Val dive bombers attacked her from dead ahead, dropping their bombs which exploded wide to port. As a precautionary and rather unusual move which Raymond A. Spruance later characterized as "commendable initiative", Manila Bay launched four of the P-47 thunderbolts she was ferrying to fly protective CAP until radar screens were clear of contacts. The Army fighters then flew to Saipan, their intended destination.
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oldstarfire said:
Mk lX? Yup, Yup Yup!!
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Many would even argue the IIs and Vs(precannon) were the prettiest with their unbroken ellipses. Even the IX had a characteristic hump over the engine which broke the smooth line. Of all the Griffon powered marks the PRXIX above was tough to beat for looks - and thundering along with all that power. Must have felt as if you actually could "...touch the face of God."
 
A friend of mine flew the Griffon in the war. If I remember his story correctly, the propeller spun the opposite direction as in the Merlins he had flown previously. On his first take off he cranked on the rudder trim the wrong way and had a hairy take off.

He said it burned a gallon a minute and only carried 85 gallons.
 
dryfire said:
Many would even argue the IIs and Vs(precannon) were the prettiest with their unbroken ellipses. Even the IX had a characteristic hump over the engine which broke the smooth line. Of all the Griffon powered marks the PRXIX above was tough to beat for looks - and thundering along with all that power. Must have felt as if you actually could "...touch the face of God."
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I prefer the look with the canons showing. It is a warplane after all. Not that I don't like the earlier MK's I just think the IX has the best of everything. Now when it comes to the jet era I go with the SR71. No pretense fly high, fly fast, no compromise. When in doubt floor it.
 
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Thread dead yet? Let's see.

Martin Maryland. Some in US service (the A-30 Baltimore), some to the French, but mostly they went to the English.

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450 made. Last May, one (ONE - the sole survivor) was found "somewhere in North Africa". There are no others. And the RAF museum is not in a position to retrieve it, either financially or diplomatically.

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grinder08 said:
OK I am going to piss some people of but in my view the Spitfire MKIX is the most beautiful plane ever built. This particular latter model one is starting to get lumps and bumps due to changes in engine design etc. Still nice but in my mind the MkIX is the best.
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Possibly, but that photo is a Mk. XIV if I remember correctly. The bulges in the engine cowling are for the RR Griffon engine, vs. the Merlin in the IX. For pedantry's sake, the third photo is a Mk. XIVe with the wing configured for 2x20mm and 2x.50 guns.
 
nugunner said:
Possibly, but that photo is a Mk. XIV if I remember correctly. The bulges in the engine cowling are for the RR Griffon engine, vs. the Merlin in the IX. For pedantry's sake, the third photo is a Mk. XIVe with the wing configured for 2x20mm and 2x.50 guns.
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Agreed that is why I said the IX by the XIV it was getting to lumpy and bumpy.
 
Bristol Buckingham:

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Like a British built Ventura. 183 built, now extinct.

The last Training Command Buck-masters served with No. 238. OCU at Colerne into the mid-1950s, while one or two were used on experimental work at Filton. One of these, probably the last survivor, was relegated to RAF Halton where it served as an instructional air-frame until scrapped in 1958.
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I'll agree that the mid war Spits were gorgeous, no question, but there are just so many really pretty fighter planes over the last century. I just can't pick one

Spit, P51, FW190, Zero, WW2 Yaks and MiGs, F4-U, F86, F8, F15, Rafale, EuroFighter, Tornado, Warthog and so on
 
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