most decorated fighter?

[whistlingdeath77]

What authentic fighter from world war 2 that is still around has the most combat missions or kills? To me this question i have no clue what it would be. Whatever happened to Bong's p-38? Did he crash the one with the most kills? Boyington used a few corsairs but there gone. Maybe a P-47 or P-51 is in a musuem that's the winner?

[Dan K]

The Luftwaffe guys will have to chime in, as I'm pretty sure some Me-109 flown by Experten have survived.

The museum at Monino claims that their La-7 "White 27" on display was Ivan Kozhedub's personal mount. I'm not an authority on the man, but I believe his score in this aircraft began in September of 1944 until the end of the war (acknowledged victories #47-#64). The aircraft was also flown on some missions by another pilot named Kramarenko while Kozhedub was on an extended leave in Moscow. I'd say at least 18 victories (including an Me-262) or so puts this near the top of survivors.




Rumor #1: Kozhedub may have downed a pair of P-51's in self-defense; I'll let others debate.

Rumor #2: The actual White 27 might have been accidentally destroyed in the early 1960's. If so, nobody's talking officially!

[oscardeuce]

My O2-A has about 3500 hours combat on her. Not a "fighter" but she did her part. On at least one mission almost did not come back.

[whistlingdeath77]

very interesting so far. Anything from the US from ww2?

[whistlingdeath77]

My O2-A has about 3500 hours combat on her. Not a "fighter" but she did her part. On at least one mission almost did not come back.

Most definantly your plane is a combat veteran. That's fantastic that you were able to get a piece of history like that. Keep her flying! Do you ever make it to New England area around Ma?

[corsair166b]

I've always had a kind of reverence for the MK 9 Spitifre based at Duxford, as she is a combat vet with known kills in WWII, her number is MH434...it was a great day 10 years ago when I finally got to meet her.

Mark

[Steve Nelson]

Brewster B-239 "BW-372" has nine confirmed kills to its (or more acurately its pilot's) credit. The original kill marks are still painted on the tail.



SN

[whistlingdeath77]

Brewster B-239 "BW-372" has nine confirmed kills to its (or more acurately its pilot's) credit. The original kill marks are still painted on the tail.



SN

i can just make them out still. I'm guessing they want to kep the plane in it's original state? But why the german symbols? Did we sell they to Germany years before the war?

[Sopwith]

Brewster B-239 "BW-372" has nine confirmed kills to its (or more acurately its pilot's) credit. The original kill marks are still painted on the tail.



SN

i can just make them out still. I'm guessing they want to kep the plane in it's original state? But why the german symbols? Did we sell they to Germany years before the war?

I could be wrong but I think those are Finnish markings which are a reverse of the swastika.

[airnutz]

i can just make them out still. I'm guessing they want to kep the plane in it's original state? But why the german symbols? Did we sell they to Germany years before the war?

Ooooh pleeeeze, shoot me now...your kidding, right???

The "NEW" WIX is starting to get on my nerves....

[Fouga23]

The swastika is NOT a NAZI symbol. it has been around for thousands of years. The Finnish AF used a blue swastika.

[Dan K]

Ooooh pleeeeze, shoot me now...your kidding, right???

The "NEW" WIX is starting to get on my nerves....

And let's not forget the American neo-nazi volunteers from WWI, the Lafayette Escadrille...





And if Hollywood made a movie glorifying the LE, that means the film industry must be infiltrated with Nazis...





Which is why, fellow Americans, this 4th of July we need to offer thanks for real heroes like Brad Pitt.






Nutz, what's not to like about the "New" WIX?

[Randy Haskin]

C'mon, be fair guys.

Not all of us popped out of our mothers knowing details like that...

Let's not forget that WIX is an "exchange" of information...which implies that some people won't know things, and other people who do will give them that information.

[Dan K]

Since the Luftwaffe guys haven't chimed in yet, here's a bit to get you started.

Scroll through the Messerschmitt Bf 109 section at the preserved axis aircraft site...

http://www.preservedaxisaircraft.com/

...and one discovers that some significant airframes have survived, flown by such notable Experten as Horst Carganico (15 kills), Albert Brunner (53 kills), and even Heinrich Ehler (208 kills). Exactly how many victories were actually achieved in said aircraft would require further research.

[SaxMan]

Among American types, I'm thinking one of the Mig-Killer Phantoms still extant is likely the "most decorated" fighter. If you are talking more than just kills, IIRC, isn't the Skyraider at USAFM the one that earned the pilot a Congressional MOH?

I'm defintiely scratching my head on World War II fighter types. While bomber examples such as Memphis Belle, Flak Bait, etc, were preserved/restored, it just doesn't seem the fighters were preserved in the same fashion. It also seems that fighters were considered more "disposable" than the bomber types when it came to preservation versus scrapping. You were also less likely to have a fighter interned in a neutral country as you would with a plane like Shoo Shoo Baby.