I'm thinking a P47 woulda been the plane to fly in WWII

[sdennison]

My Pop opted for the Jug over the Lightning with about 55 sorties in each. Flew ground support to help establish B-29 bases in China and Burma for the invasion of Japan. DFC and multiple Air Medals. I follow his vote.

[Obergrafeter]

Seems like most everyone here votes for the Jug, but what is most important is what men like sdennisons' Pop and my Uncle say..............The Jug and they were there and flew all the types.

[greatgonzo]

There always has been a matter of econmy with P-51 beeing so much cheaper in production and service. But what can I say, I love those big squaws and surely would have chosen one for a biggest survive possibility.

[whistlingdeath77]

well, just because its my fav. i'd go with a corsair. same engine and faster. water-injection to get that extra horse power to pull away. P-47 is awesome too and yes i would choose that in combat to survive. But i think i would actually go with a p-38. Having 2 engines really makes me feel a little better if one got shot out. Solid fire power and speed to boot

[Obergrafeter]

Twice the radiators and plumbing to be shot out. Problem is the Air Force didn't have any Navy planes to issue.

[aeroeng]

The pencil art picture above is excellent. I'm glad how this thread has moved along without any turbulence and bickering. Great job by all.

aeroeng

[Mudge]

The pencil art picture above is excellent. I'm glad how this thread has moved along without any turbulence and bickering. Great job by all.

aeroeng

I agree about the picture. As far as turbulence and bickering goes, the day's not over yet.

Mudge the suspicious

[Mudge]

In case anyone was wondering about my choice. Yeah right...



This is a painting by Wm. S. Phillips that's hanging on my wall. Just FYI, that's "Happy Jack's Go Buggy".

Mudge the P-38 fan

Last edited by Mudge on Thu Jun 16, 2011 12:11 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[Obergrafeter]

Who woulda thunk it Mudge? You woulda looked funny riding on the outside of the 38, or have Lockheed build em bigger. I know I can't get in one either.

[Originalboxcar]

I met an older gentleman looking over a p-51 at an airshow in Muskegon about 9 years ago. I heard him explaining to a younger lady that he used to fly these. I inquired and found out he was a retired BG in the MIANG and was the youngest major in the ETO at the time and commanded a fighter sq. He said he grew up on a farm and went thru the RCAF when he was 19 just prior to the U.S. declaring war. He transferred to a p-47 sq. and flew them until transitioning to p-51's. He stated that he preferred the p-47 to the 51 because it could sustain more battle damage. Turns out that he was shot down by a flak gun hidden on a train he was strafing and it opened up on him. He spent the last 2 months of the war as a POW.

t~

[greatgonzo]

I have drawn another one:


It looks strange to me to compare fighters designed for different tasks. I do not belive anybody would choose any Navy fighter to fight high level war in Europe just as it would be a strange choice to operate P-47 out of the deck.

Last edited by greatgonzo on Thu Jun 16, 2011 12:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[ChinoBum]

Excuse me if this is thread drift, but was no effort made to protect the P-51 radiator and coolant lines with armor plating?

Thank in advance.

[whistlingdeath77]

funny how we used p-51's in korea,( and they took a beating,) instead of using p-47's from reserve squadrons. Using the corsair even that was tough on that plane. Ground and pound with all aa.

[bluehawk15]

Some of you on here may know, or heard of, Sandy Sansing. Sandy was a brave man, having taught me to fly! He flew P-47's and P-51's out of England during WWII. He was shot down over France, found by the underground, and made it back to his unit after quite a while.

Sandy said if he had been flying the Jug, he never would have been shot down. Like the post above, Sandy was straffing a train. I commented that the gunners must have been good shots. He said "No, after about eight passes the bas---ds got lucky!"

He also told about one mission where his plane was down, so he flew the commander's P-47. Low level straffing down a street with a tree line at the end. About the time he was going to pull up over the trees, the AA started up on the other side. He knife-edged the Jug between two trees, and low-leveled back to safety. When he landed at the base and walked around the plane, thinking his backside was going to be eaten by the CO, there was just a little dent in one leading edge and cowl.

Side note: Even though Sandy made a career out of the Air Force, retiring in '73 (if I recall) as an O-6, he said the best plane he EVER flew was the F8F Bearcat! He was at a Navy base, and they were trying cat launches off carriers with the P-51. They asked if he'd like to fly the F8F! He said he's never flown anything as wonderful since.

[whistlingdeath77]

it's funny how each pilot prefers different aircraft even though regular people like me THINK that a plane is better than another plane. I guess until we all fly those planes in wartime conditions we may never know what we actually would like.