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  • Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.

    Post 16 Update

    Post 17 Warning

OT: What is your favorite WW2 aircraft and why does it appeal to you?

For me theres only one real contender... The DeHavilland Type 98, more commonly known as the Mosquito.... thing was fast, elegant, could absorb huge amounts of damage and keep going and it packed a mean punch... i love it for the noise it makes, it's graceful elegant lines and the speed, at low altitude it was darn near untouchable. unfortunately i witnessed the UK's last Flying Mosquito Crash at Barton, but i'm hoping we get one back soon...

mosquito_FB_VI_test_fire.jpg


Second Place goes to a real beauty, it has slightly cranked wings, a napier Sabre as powerplant, was a stable gun platform at 400mph, could dive at 525mph, yup it's none other than the Hawker Typhoon...

Typhoon_rearming.jpg


Pilot Quotes:
Flight Lieutenant Ken Trott flew Typhoons with 197 Squadron and recalled:
Rather a large aircraft shall we say, for a single-engine fighter. Terrific power. Quite something to control. I liked it from the point of view of speed and being a very stable gun platform. You could come in on a target at 400 mph and the thing was as steady as a rock.

In early March 1943 at Tangmere the then new Squadron Leader of 486(NZ) Squadron, Des Scott, flew a Typhoon for the first time:
She roared, screamed, groaned and whined, but apart from being rather heavy on the controls at high speeds she came through her tests with flying colours...Applying a few degrees of flap we swung on down into the airfield approach, levelled out above the runway and softly eased down on to her two wheels, leaving her tail up until she dropped it of her own accord.
We were soon back in her bay by the dispersal hut, where I turned off the petrol supply cock. After a few moments she ran herself out and with a spit, *** and weary sigh, her great three-bladed propeller came to a stop. So that was it: I was drenched in perspiration and tired out...
 
P-38. First it was the unique look. Then the book by Martin Caidin, Fork Tailed Devil, which is still a great read, and it explained the many ways in which the Lightning was unique and interesting. Then I saw Lefty Gardner fly White Lightling at the Madera CA “Gathering of War Birds” Air Show 1980-something. That was it. Game over. Even by that time I had seen many war birds fly, and while they all sound wonderfully different, the P-38 was truly in a league of her own when it came to sound. All the other war birds started more or less the same way: prop goes through several turns, cough, cough, sputter, bang, smoke, then it's running. Not White Lightning. One turn then a mighty vroooOOOM, and the plane rocked forward slightly on her nose strut. Oh dear... Then as she taxied out, each time the power came up the engines let out a throaty “whooooooop”, reminiscent of an S-3 Viking, if you've ever heard one of those taxi... Utterly unique. Then the take off. The sound of that plane reminded me of a heavy turbo-prop. Deep loud base component. There's nothing like it. Now, since that time I have been lead to believe that the very unique sound of White Lightning was due to engine modifications similar to Reno Racers, and that the war time Lightnings didn't sound quite so interesting. I don't care!

See:

[YOUTUBE]_PQfAWFHHFA[/YOUTUBE]
 
Me-109 or FW-190. The CH shrikes are some of my favorite models so far, and I'm looking forward very eagerly to the FR 109K.
 
This is a really hard question to answer. My main hobby is military aviation and every time I see something different I end up researching it and buying more books!

There are lots of iconic aircraft and some great ones for FSX nowadays.

However, I will try to answer the question by just mentioning the four that I use most in FSX. In no particular order -

The Realair Spitfire MkIX. All versions of the Spitfire are of great interest to me and I have seen many flying in real life. However, I think that Realair raised the bar when they released their version.

The Just Flight /AH Hurricane Mk1 prototype. The Hurricane was the mainstay of the BoB for the RAF, but the prototype also reminds me of the earlier Hawker biplanes which were so colourful in the interwar years.

The Flight 1 / Flight Replica's Me 109G. Although I really like the FW190, some years ago Dave and I updated Paul Rebuffat's CFS2 109 for FS2004. I flew it all of the time. More recently, I bought the Flight Replica release for FSX.

The Bristol Beaufighter by Dave Garwood. I enjoy flying this one and have fond memories of a Beaufighter being restored over a number of years at my local base. It also makes a change to fly a twin.
 
CodyValkyrie said:
P-51 Mustang.


Planes+-+P-51+Mustang-2404x1502.jpg
Click to expand...

Flame suit on-->Without the British Merlin and the help of the Brit's the P-51 would have been hmmm nothing.

But I agree that it is stunning beautiful

If I then have 3 others too

Constellation if this still qualify's as WW 2-->for me the No-1 beacuse of its lines

Mosquito

The other FW190-->TA-152

Roland
 
paulb said:
The Just Flight /AH Hurricane Mk1 prototype. The Hurricane was the mainstay of the BoB for the RAF, but the prototype also reminds me of the earlier Hawker biplanes which were so colourful in the interwar years.
Click to expand...

well remember the Hurri was originally designed as a Biplane Fighter, and was the true hero of the Battle of Britain :salute:

it's good to see how diverse we all are here, wonder if i'll be the only one to admit to liking the Typhoon :icon_lol:

AND lets not forget the initial series mustangs, no i'm not talking the US ones, i'm talking the RAF Mustang I's and A-36 Apaches
 
CodyValkyrie said:
I mentioned this mate. Hence my comment about how American it is to have an immigrant background lol.
Click to expand...

True wasn't ment in an offensive way-I am an aerodynmaic engineer(past) and a P-51 H is closest to perfect (aerodynamical) shape.(as the Mosquito-->the speed doesnt come free of charge)

Roland
 
Reply...

My two favorites are in this picture...

The Fiat G-55 "Centauro" and the Lockheed P-38 "Lightning."

The Centauro in particular is an under-appreciated aircraft that was sadly not built in sufficient numbers. It had beautiful handling, was extremely competitive in performance with any other Allied fighter of its time, and had two 12.7mm machine guns and three 20mm cannons. It also had a wide-track landing gear, and many German test pilots preferred it to the Messerschmitt Bf-109.

As far as the P-38 Lightning, I fell in love with its appearance (especially the "J" model) when I saw a picture of it as a kid. It's an aircraft, those miscast as an air-superiority fighter, (it was really an interceptor) which at least held its own in every theatre it was in, and was truly stellar in both the Med and the Pacific.
 
Ya know, I'm not sure you can truly call yourself an enthusiast if your favorites list for any part of aviation has less than 100 entries. On the other hand, maybe that is the legal limit for being committed, I can't remember which.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:eek:ffice:eek:ffice" /><o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Anyway,<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
I will definitely second the Typhoon in the British category. I like big aircraft, with big guns, and for a "fighter" it does not get much bigger or badder than the Typhoon.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Overall, my "all categories" favorite is the PBY Catalina. My grandfather crewed them, and it was one of the first aircraft to have a specific panel and crew position for what would later become a Flight Engineer, a crewmember near and dear to my heart. I love the utilitarian nature of 'Catie, almost the four wheel drive all-purpose Jeep of aviation.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
--Dan <o:p></o:p>
 
I must say that if I had to choose one plane off my list of many it would be the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. It was cutting edge at the time, and Kelly Johnson really thought out of the box with it. Definately a sharp looking craft even if she did not have the same impact on the war as say the P-51, or Spitfire.
 
Good responses guys, keep 'em coming... I've noticed the stang, P-38 trend. I like both of those aircraft, and they did their jobs extremely well. I especially like the P-51B/C. I also forgot to mention one that was somewhat borderline. While developed for use in WWII, the Hawker Sea Fury never saw action in the war. I think it's one of the nicest looking British piston aircraft. Like others developed late war, it served well in korea. It's also a great racing aircraft.
 
Hmm, to me this changes all the time. I really like all the naval US aircraft by Grumman and Douglas for their toughness and brutish looks, and also the PBY Catalina has one of my top ratings.

I also like the german aircraft, expecially the Do-335 Pfeil for its outstanding technical design and performance. Expecially for my grandfather, who flew it, the Ju-88 has a special place in my heart. Ahh, and the Fw190, of course, this is a dream machine. The more I think about the subject the more come to my mind :)

Cheers,
Mark
 
Baa Baa Baaa

I would have to pick the F4U Corsair. I fell in love with Whistling Death when I originally watched Baa Baa Black Sheep on TV back in the day, with Robert Conrad. Great Flight scenes.


Shamus
 
shamus said:
I would have to pick the F4U Corsair. I fell in love with Whistling Death when I originally watched Baa Baa Black Sheep on TV back in the day, with Robert Conrad. Great Flight scenes.

Shamus
Click to expand...


Geeez, I forgot Chance-Vought and the F4Ux :jump:
Thanks for the video, great stuff!

Cheers,
Mark
 
Doolittle Raid on Japan, 18 April 1942 --
Raiding Force B-25s on board USS Hornet


It was then and still till today,the very versatile Mitchell North American B-25 is my favorite all time WW2 plane...That Act by That man and crew,Billy Mitchell,and the B-25 was a turning point in those very dark days.It lifted America from the nightmare of Pearl Harbor and gave hope for Victory!!!.Men ,Machine, Carrier,Mission...in perfect harmoney....Thanx for the memory!..
 
The C-47 holds a special place for me because it was my Grandpappy's bird. And the fact that it is still in active service is a tribute to its design. It is still a very hard aircraft to beat for its cargo and shortfield abilities. This picture sums it up:salute:

http://www.airliners.net/photo/AVIAC---Aereo/Douglas-C-47-Skytrain/1697422/L/

For fighters
for pure looks IMO the Spitfire IX is one of the most beautiful aircraft created. The RealAir IX was what made me come to the darkside and leave my beloved FS9. It has provided me with many hours of very enjoyable flying and will continue to until the A2A IX is available :)

The TA-152H, P-51D, A6M5 also on my favorite list :jump:

bombers
the B-17, what can I say it is just such a beauty to fly. also the B-32 Dominator was quite interesting, I thought it was actually a little more beautiful than the B-29. Tho the B-50 was after ww-2 I think it is ultimately my favorite piston Bomber.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_B-32_Dominator

The PBY is also a favorite, it is like owning a big cruiser sailboat, go tour the world. :)

Cheers
TJ
 
padburgess said:
Mathias

Please, have some sympathy. Showing me those blanks. I am 56 this year, by FS203x I will be, well lets just say "past it". No offence to those 70+ members out there.
Regard it as an act of kindness or whatever but please please start work on the Do24 as soon as you have released the Bf108, Bf110, Fw189 etc.

Oh yeah and thank you for the brilliant work on the Fw190 series. They are truly awesome.

Best Regards
Paul
Click to expand...

Mathias,

Do you think you really could make a Do.24 for FSX, after your Bf110? :jump: :wavey:
 
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