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Louis, guys,
Those are great pictures, and I'm glad I'm not the onlyone who appreciates those old 'planes.
Here's on for you. After the war ended, the Soviets started getting really aggressive. They had interned some b-29s that landed on their soils after raids over Japan, and copied them bown to the last bolt as the Tu-4. Tu-4's started showing up in Alaska airspace, looking for a way in.
The new jets of the day, mainly the F-80, didn't have the range or endurance to deal with the threat. We used the p-61 black Widow as a long-range interceptor even though most of them were about worn out. There was a new 'plane, though, the P-82 that was designed for the invasion of Japan, then canceled. We had a few and the AF ordered about 350 right away.
They weren't fast as a jet, but they were faster than the Tu-4 and had long range and loitering capability. They were called the "twin mustang" 'cause they looked like 2 mustangs joined. They did the job in 1946,47,48 until the US built some better jets.
After the Chinese drove us out of Korea, the jets didn't have the range to carry out missions from Japanese bases. That job fell to the F-51s and F-82s. They were there mainly for ground attack and tactical missions, contributing greatly to the fighting after Inchon. Once the UN forces had secured some territory, the jets were brought back into the fight.
Our jets (but not our pilots, thank God) were outclassed by the MiGs until the F-86 started arriving. The Sabre was the first U.S. jet IMHO that could be placed in the same company with the great 'planes of WWII.
Once our pilots got the F-86, they would literally fly up to MiG alley looking for a fight, usually find one, and usually win. I was just a little kid then, but I still remember listening to the radio and hearing each day another story about the Sabres fighting the MiGs.
jn
As I examined it closely, it called to mind my visit to a scrap aluminum smelter in Brooklyn, watching as pieces of aluminum siding and parts of old aluminum lawn chairs passed by on the conveyor.
Yet these planes rendered invaluable service; our forces refined their application, to spot, target and call in precise artillery barrages on the Wehrmacht. They scared the crap out of the German soldiers who saw them because they knew what was coming next.
The large wing surfaces made it very stable, therefore less punishing on the pilot and crew during the long hours it spent in the air over the Pacific.
The English used these, calling them the Tomahawk. We used them in the Pacific as well as North Africa and Italy.
Graceful, but they had a reputation of being a demanding SOB to fly. Pilots said that they required constant handling of the controls at every moment. As a result, they were extremely tiring during the long reconnaisance flights over the Pacific.
Hee, Hee. :lol: You must have been really diasapointed when you found out that those great looking girls in Playboy magazine were a a quasi-facsimile product of air brushing and other techniques. :(
Louis one day I sitting out on Lake Erie doing some walleye fishing when I heard a heavy drone in the air. Several minutes later I had a beautiful B-17 fly several 1oo feet over my head. About 20 minutes later she returned and headed back to Cleveland where she was giving rides. About 3 years later I was standing on the 5th fairway of my local course and lo and behold another of those birds flew over my head. They were giving rides out of the Ottawa Co. Regional Airport. Which is the same strip where the last of the Ford Tri-motors reside.Quote:
Originally Posted by Louis of PA