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I was gonna pick the Mossy as well. Other then that, it would without a doubt be a Lancaster. That's my all time favorite aircraft.
One is being built here in Windsor Ontario as we speak! Mossy or Lanc you ask? Well, the answer is BOTH!
Back in the late 90's I used to volenteer with the Canadian Historical Aircraft Association. Aside from the still flying Steerman we took care of (which was my second ever flight.....awesome), we maintained Lancaster FM212, which was on a pedestal at a local park here since the 60's, and badly deteriorated. A couple years ago, she was taken down and moved to the airport for a proper restoration. The sad part is, the stupid people that put her up the stick cut into the wing spars to mount it! AND....when the city picked her out at Victory Aircraft, she was the ONLY one mothballed properly, and indoors. We could have very well had three flying Lancs in the world today. We might still though if the group is successful in thier goals. FM212, is sister to FM213...one of two operational Lancs on the planet. So, you can see what we would have had had she not been cut.
For whatever reason, my work is blocking the site. But it should go to the society building, or, re-building, I should say) FM212. I miss doing that, but I just don't have the time anymore.
Anyways....here's the Mosquito they are building. That body was cast from an actual Mosquito mould that still survives in the UK. First body to be made since the war I believe.
I remember the day the Mossy stuff showed up at our hangar. Pretty much just the one prop (which was all bent to hell), engines, and the canopy frame. IIRC, it's all the wreckage of a Mossy that crashed in the NWT here in Canada.....maybe in the late 40's. This was all that was recoverable.
Here she is though.......hope this gets finished!!
Oh! I also loooooovvvvvveeee tha PBY Catalina.
The Lanc you worked on-was that the one that was up on pylons outside Goderich, Ontario in the 60s-70s? I got a chance to crawl around in it when it was on the pylons in probably about 72-74. Later at the Warbirds show in Geneseo NY I got to see it the first year it was flying after the restoration. Amazing aircraft, and amazing restoration.
Huge and heavily armoured, yet it could function as a bomber or a fighter against world class opposition. The big radial air cooled engine can soak up alot of damage and still keep me safe where as the Mustang's water cooled engine could fail very quickly if damaged.
yep, the P-47 could absorb a lot of damage. in fact one german pilot emptied his guns into a P-47, then pulled alongside that aircraft, shook his head and flew away, at least according to the P-47 pilot who was interviewed years later.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathguy
What? Nobody wants to fly a Zero during late war over the shark infested south pacific?
gee i wonder why? no armor, no self sealing fuel tanks, no real diving capability, slower than most late model fighters, is it any wonder?
yep, the P-47 could absorb a lot of damage. in fact one german pilot emptied his guns into a P-47, then pulled alongside that aircraft, shook his head and flew away, at least according to the P-47 pilot who was interviewed years later.
Robert Johnson, a native of Lawton, OK, for whom the local airport terminal is named. His P-47 once absorbed over 200 hits before the FW-190 ran out of bullets. The German then saluted and pulled away. There was a display detailing the event at the Lawton airport for a while before they recently remodeled it. I was there for a trip last month and they must've either taken it down or relocated it.
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AND....when the city picked her out at Victory Aircraft, she was the ONLY one mothballed properly, and indoors. We could have very well had three flying Lancs in the world today. We might still though if the group is successful in thier goals. FM212, is sister to FM213...one of two operational Lancs on the planet. So, you can see what we would have had had she not been cut.
