that is the sound of victory and freedom. courtesy of Americas ace maker the p-38 lightning.

 

missing man always gets me.......

 

sadly, i think that there are only 6 or 7 of these beauties in the world that can still fly. yet they were the only allied fighter that served in every TO and from the beginning to the end of the war.......they didn't get the glory that the mustang got though.

My wife's Grandfather flew one in WWII. He was able to be in Kentucky for the first flight of Glacier Girl after being restored. After he and his wife passed away, we were cleaning out their house, and I came across a box of letters. It turned out to be every letter he sent my wife's Grandmother during his time overseas. Some really neat stuff to read. My wife's uncle let me keep her grandfather's original pilot training handbook as well. There was a lot of history in that house.

Thanks for posting the videos CAP.

wow. that's amazing. i was trying to work out a way to take the time off to see glacier girl fly her maiden flight....but couldn't pull it off. that was an amazing restoration.

 i was looking for videos of white lightning too. beautiful aircraft.

Nose mounted guns. Improved kill ratio tremendously. The wing mounted cannons were angled inward for a convergent zero ( idk the range).

Add the redundancy of twin engines. 

 

Those were the razors edge of their time

2 hours ago, Zeke said:

Nose mounted guns. Improved kill ratio tremendously. The wing mounted cannons were angled inward for a convergent zero ( idk the range).

Add the redundancy of twin engines. 

 

Those were the razors edge of their time

most fighters of the time that had wing mounted guns generally had convergence set at 250 yards. while they could hit a lot farther, 250 was what they felt was optimal. their sights were calibrated for the distance too.....wings fill the sight, you're about that distance...shoot tha bastard.

The only WWII aircraft that gets my blood pumping more than the P-38 is the P-51D. LOVE the sound of the Merlin engine. 

I'll be in my bunk....lol

I share your interest in vintage WW II aircraft. Last summer (2016), I visited the Morristown Airport to see several restored aircraft belonging to the Collins Foundation, including a B-17 Flying Fortress; a B-24 Liberator and a TF-51 Mustang. For a small fee I was able to join some other enthusiasts and flew in the B-17 for about 30 mins. as we did a mock bombing run over Basking Ridge. It was an incredible and memorable experience in an amazing aircraft that was the workhorse bomber in WW II. Here are some of the photos I took:

 

AVB-AMG

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Here are some more photos of the B-17:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

i was at a CAP training course at trenton mercer years back. just before lunch, the instructor's talking to us.....we hear the distinctive sound of multiple radial engines. then looking out the window, we see their b24 land. we go back to paying attention....then hear it again.....b17. at this point instructor tells us take early lunch. we got out there just in time to see the mitchell land.

 i approached this short old dude carrying a bag, and looking longingly at the 17. started talking to him. then he started taking things outta the bag. he still had stuff from when he was a bombadier on a 17. map on silk, what looked like a wallet with cards stating that he was an american airman in the languages he might need to get back to safety, etc. then he broke out the photo album of some of his missions. by this time, the entire class of us was standing there listening to this guy.  he's showing us pictures of target hits...one was funny. target was town near a bridge, but you saw a sting of bombs hitting the bridge. he goes "that wasn't the target. those weren't mine. someone got in trouble for that one"

 after hearing a few stories we had to get back to the class. we lined up, and each of us shook that heroes hand.

As a photojournalist, I have had the honor of flying on a few WW2 bombers over the years.

In 2009, as a Star-Ledger staffer, I photographed Charles Steffens. He served as a B-17 tail gunner during WWII. His family sent him for a flight on a restored B-17 as a birthday present.

 

 

I once won a silent auction for a ride in a restored Texan trainer aircraft. I gifted the ride to my dad, but I was there for his jaunt. I will never forget the sound of that radial engine booming through my chest. Can't imagine what it was like to be in the back seat of that beast, and hear the engine roar as they buzzed around. Dad said it was incredible! Almost as much fun as when I took him to sea on my last submarine, and he was allowed to be on the helm when we submerged. 

 

LOVE those WWII warbirds!!

1 hour ago, Displaced Texan said:

I once won a silent auction for a ride in a restored Texan trainer aircraft. I gifted the ride to my dad, but I was there for his jaunt. I will never forget the sound of that radial engine booming through my chest. Can't imagine what it was like to be in the back seat of that beast, and hear the engine roar as they buzzed around. Dad said it was incredible! Almost as much fun as when I took him to sea on my last submarine, and he was allowed to be on the helm when we submerged. 

 

LOVE those WWII warbirds!!

from what i've been told by ww2 pilots, the texan was actually a bit harder to fly than the mustang, but that it would do pretty much everything a pony could do....but it'd just do it slower. that's part of why(according to these guys) our pilots were so good.,,,'cause when they graduated up to the real deal, it was so much easier to fly....but much faster obviously.

The loud and pulsing sound and vibration of the four Wright-Cyclone engines on the B-17 going to full throttle for take off was exhilarating.  I was sitting on the floor behind the co-pilot for take off and was mesmerized by it all...

AVB-AMG

this is the thing....we all get to ride in these for the pleasure.

 

 imagine being 19, and going on your first combat mission over germany.

ok. these guys are having too much fun.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63Cwn4Gb3qc

On 10/16/2017 at 9:14 PM, 1LtCAP said:

this is the thing....we all get to ride in these for the pleasure.

 imagine being 19, and going on your first combat mission over germany.

1LtCAP:

I agree....   It is still amazing to me to realize that many if not most of the pilots in WW II in the US Army Air Corp. were in their early 20's..., so young!  I posted this in another thread awhile back, that you may find interesting. 

My former, late father-in-law was a 21-year-old Captain of a B-24 Liberator in the 8^th Air Force, based in Libya, in the US Army Air Force in World War II.  He flew a number of bombing missions against the Ploesti oil fields in Romania in 1943.  I remember him telling his children that the allied bombers took significant losses and that he and his crew were very lucky, since they were ordered to fly in at a relatively low altitude and thus were much more vulnerable to enemy anti-aircraft guns.  He admitted that ultimately the bombing air raids were “not as effective as they had hoped….”  I am still amazed at how young he and his fellow airmen were to do what they did....

Here is a link to a YouTube video on the Ploesti Oil Fields raids.  Be aware that this was American war propaganda and that some of the numbers stated were not totally accurate and the real cost and effect was not truly determined until much later:

AVB-AMG

 

I've been up in a B 17 (CAFs Texas Raiders) 3 times. 

I've Never been in a B17 when it landed!   Safer that way.  The most dangerous part of flying is putting it back on the ground. 

Sarge 

12 hours ago, Sarge 13 said:

I've been up in a B 17 (CAFs Texas Raiders) 3 times. 

I've Never been in a B17 when it landed!   Safer that way.  The most dangerous part of flying is putting it back on the ground. 

Sarge 

that's also the most exciting and fun part.