A Unknown Warrior
When America went to war in December 1941, it was right in the middle of an interesting technological period. At the time, we had been upgrading our fighting forces, coming out of the biplane era, for at least five years. In fact, the B-17 project first flew in 1935 and was put into service in 1938. There was this first wave of more modern bombers/fighters that was already in existence, but the second wave, which was to include all the fighter aircraft (P-51, P-38, etc.) with which we would win the war, had already flown and was just heading into production. The only American fighter that first flew after Pearl Harbor and actually saw combat was the F6F Hellcat. Everything else was in the pipeline.
The net result of Pearl Harbor happening midstream of these changes is that the first year or two of the war saw extremely rapid changes take place as new aircraft took the place of prewar aircraft. There were some very good, useful airplanes in that prewar batch— the P-40 and FM-2 being examples—that labored through the war. There were others, however, that did their duty and seemed to have faded from history. The Douglas A-20 Havoc, which flew in every theater under every Allied flag, was one of those. Few remember it even existed, and it is all but unknown today.
Esta historia es de la edición October 2019 de Flight Journal.
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Esta historia es de la edición October 2019 de Flight Journal.
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Scourge of the Allied Fighters
IT HAD TO BE THE MOST HELPLESS FEELING in the world: you're at 25,000 feet over Europe knowing that your primary function is to drop bombs-or flying escort for the bombers while being a slow-moving target for some of the world's finest shooters. However, you have John Browning's marvelous .50 caliber invention to give some degree of protection. Unfortunately, you're absolutely helpless against flak. Piloting and gunnery skills play no role in a game where sheer chance makes life and death decisions. For that reason, the Krupp 88 mm Flak 18/36/37 AA cannon could be considered WW II's ultimate stealth fighter. You never saw it coming.
ZERO MYTH, MYSTERY, AND FACT
A test pilot compares the A6M5 Zero to U.S. fighters
Fw 190 STURMBÖCKE
The Luftwaffe's \"Battering Rams\" against the USAAF heavy bombers
American BEAUTY
\"Forgotten Fifteenth\" top-scoring Mustang ace John J. Voll
BANSHEE WAIL!
Flying Skulls over Burma
KILLER CORSAIR
Albert Wells, Death Rattlers Ace
BACKSTREET BRAWLER
A young man, his Hurricane and the Battle of Britain
Still Flying After All These Years
One of the oldest airworthy J-3 Cubs
NOORDUYN NORSEMAN
Canada's rugged, fabric-covered workhorse
A good landing is one you can walk away from
NO, THIS IS NOT A SCENE FROM A MOVIE where the hero staggers away from a \"good landing\" on Mindoro, Philippine Islands, after being shot down by a Japanese Zero.