Who Likes Aircraft ?

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[miller]

Mistal

 

[Bladecutter]

I love airplanes....recips.....not so much jets. Don't give a rustyfuck for helicopters & wont get in one.
My absolute favorite bird is the early short wing Martin B-26 Marauder(Widowmaker).
Dogfight capable bomber, highest return rate of American combat aircraft. An airplane that demanded respect & lots of lead time by its operator but extremely formidable in the right hands.
My second favorite bird & near as rare as a Marauder(airworthy) is the scintillating Howard 500 of which only 17 were built..
....not the Lockheed PV-1 Ventura conversions, those were the Howard 350 Super Venturas of which about 60 were converted.....they were speed demons too(i was lucky enough to get a ride in one on an IFR training mission in a thunderstorm), but the 500 was a scratch built airplane capable of unbelievable speed, altitude & range.

 

[Photon440]

 

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[Bladecutter]

View attachment 811031

Razorback City!! Funny how the P-47 by comparison to P-51, P-38, F4U etc. is somewhat ungainly looking, bulky, heavier, yet it was as fast or faster than much of the lot. By no means my more favorite of warbirds but One must give credit where it's due. For instance i favor the looks of a
P-39/P-63 over the "JUG" & love the mid engine layout of those birds, but they fell way short of the performance of the P-47. A lot of that shortcoming though was due to some erroneous decisions made by the decision makers....not the designers so much. Still if i had a choice of which i would want i would bite for a P-39 Airacobra. But if i could have ANYTHING i wanted, most DEFINITELY would be all over a Martin B-26 Marauder.....'zee widomak'r,,, as my preference was previously stated a few posts ago. Just an absolute WICKED aircraft!!
Jus' my 2 pennies

 

[miller]

Yeah. But much like the A-26...a plumber's nightmare. They had more hydraulics, and all the lines, you could shake a stick at. Leak city.
Agree on the Jug. Heavy, tough, and a hard hitter.

 

[snakeyes]

 

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[snakeyes]

 

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Blohm & Voss BV 238,Blohm & Voss BV 222
The Blohm & Voss BV 238 was a German flying boat built during World War I1 . It was the heaviest aircraft ever built when it first flew in 1944, and was the largest aircraft produced by any of the Axis powers during World War II

• Guns: 8 x 13 mm (0.512 in) MG 131 machine guns with 1,800 rpg; 4 in each nose and tail turret

8 x 13 mm (0.512 in) MG 131 machine guns with 900 rpg; 4 in each wing mounted turret
4 x 13 mm (0.512 in) MG 131 machine guns with 500 rpg; 2 (as a twinned MG 131Z) in each manually aimed beam/waist position
2 x 20 mm (0.787 in) MG 151/20 autocannon with 1,400 rpg in forward dorsal turret

 

[Photon440]

Wonder what the intended purpose was, when Germany was running out of resources and material for such a large
design.

 

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supposedly going to fly to the USA and back on a 1 x tank of gas ( lots of gas )

• Bombs: 20 x 250 kg (551 lb) SC 250 bombs in wing bomb bays
• 4 x 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) SC 1000 bombs on external racks

or 4 x Henschel Hs 293 missiles on external racks, if Bv 238 fitted with FuG 203 Kehl MCLOS guidance transmitter
or 2 x 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) BV 143 glide bombs on external racks

 

[Photon440]

Hmmm, not with the 4,100 mile range it had. I thought the ME 264 was designed to hit New York. It had twice the range.