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This is an aside from the OP's question, but something that isn't often discussed about the European WWII theater is the incidence of pilots intentionally ramming enemy planes. Although it may have been rare, there were cases reported toward the end of the war of German fighter pilots attempting to take down allied bombers over Germany by ramming. During the desperate early days of the fighting on the eastern front, Russian pilots who ran out of ammunition were known to have taken down several German planes in this manner. One was a Russian woman pilot. The Russians became very skilled at this and some were reported to have lived to perform the feat two or three times.
The Russians called the intentional ramming of an enemy aircraft a "taran", and, especially in the early days of the war, they were not uncommon. In some cases, the pilots actually survived.
At the very end of the war in Europe, in April, 1945, the Luftwaffe formed a special unit tasked with ramming Allied, mainly American bombers.
What the once mighty Luftwaffe was reduced to! The action, "Operation Elbe", was a total failure.
Last edited by hornet67; 11-01-2010 at 12:32 PM..
Reason: spelling
Not do derail this thread any further but it seems that America has an unusually high percentage of "brainwashed" enemies. Seems like most of the people we were at war with in the past 100 years or so (Vietcong, the Nazis, the Japanese, let alone Al-Qaeda and the Taliban) were brainwashed.
I too used to fly in the LA area (San Val and Pioneer at VNY); I got my commercial, CFI, instrument, and multi.
Anyway I was lucky enough to get a backseat ride in an F-4 Phantom with a Navy captain. He gave me Mach 1.1 and 6 gs. I also got a ride in an F-18D with a Marine Corp captain. I am glad I didn't puke on either ride.
Pardon being a bit off topic, but the way you put that makes me think you don't fly anymore - outside of the expense, why would you quit? A cousin got up to multi and from that point managed to at least break even or make a little money hauling medical commodities like blood on overnight flights. Somebody has to do it and it's hours. He's now an AF tanker pilot (Boeing 707 tanker, I forget the AF designation). So he plays in the sandbox, want to or not. Don't know if I should envy him or pity him, maybe some of both.
Getting back on topic - since I can read and speak Russian I guess I would go help out Uncle Joe and fly an Illyushin. Noblesse oblige and all that rot.
Pardon being a bit off topic, but the way you put that makes me think you don't fly anymore - outside of the expense, why would you quit? A cousin got up to multi and from that point managed to at least break even or make a little money hauling medical commodities like blood on overnight flights. Somebody has to do it and it's hours. He's now an AF tanker pilot (Boeing 707 tanker, I forget the AF designation). So he plays in the sandbox, want to or not. Don't know if I should envy him or pity him, maybe some of both.
It's an understandable question. I started flying when I was about 17 in 1978. I got my CFI when I was 19. About then the aviation industry was not doing great, pilots were getting layed off, a lot of pilots too step down jobs. It wasn't that easy to get students but I got a few.
But realistically, I wasn't cut out for being a pilot. I didn't have the personality. I ended up studying engineering and getting into that.
I was a good pilot, I got my licenses, certificates, and ratings quickly and got high scores on the very difficult instrument written exam. (I did fail a multi engine check ride though - before I even started the engines; I left the fuel cover door on the left engine nacelle open - automatic failure.)
I'm glad now though. I have traveled a little on my job over the past ten years or so and I wouldn't want that lifestyle, hotels, security, bars, - it was glamorous when I was 17 but it is nice to have a predictable life.
No, I am not doing a quick bong load before practicing some chandelles and spins.
http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd316/charles_ucsb/flying_1981_02.jpg?t=1288664485 (broken link)
Oh, definitely the PBY Catalina. Relatively far away from front line duty, but still pulling in a significant war effort spotting subs and performing search & rescue supply missions. Plus the romance of it is just overpowering for me - I imagine myself puttering into a seaplane base on some sun-kissed shore, and buying one after the war for fishing trips and sightseeing.
If you were to fly such an aircraft, especially around the Aleutian Islands in early 1942, any romantic notions of sightseeing would have been gone in seconds. A lumbering recon plane, it offered no defensive armament early in the war and could never hope to outfly a Zero. Cloud cover was this aircrafts best friend. Adding to the danger was the fact that many Zero's would return to the crew and machinegun them in their life rafts.
This plane, however, remains ageless, and unlike most of the aircraft of its era, it never got obsolete, and still remains in use today.
This is an aside from the OP's question, but something that isn't often discussed about the European WWII theater is the incidence of pilots intentionally ramming enemy planes. Although it may have been rare, there were cases reported toward the end of the war of German fighter pilots attempting to take down allied bombers over Germany by ramming. During the desperate early days of the fighting on the eastern front, Russian pilots who ran out of ammunition were known to have taken down several German planes in this manner. One was a Russian woman pilot. The Russians became very skilled at this and some were reported to have lived to perform the feat two or three times.
The Germans had a special squad for ramming Allied bombers in WW2, they were called the "Rammkommando Elbe"
I'd fly a B-17 or B-24 with some kick-ass nose art
Sorry, I know this is a bit OT, but I thought you'd all find it interesting. I was surprised at how thin the metal was on these planes. These are pics of a historical reconstruction of the nose & gun turret of a B17.
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