Recent content by fer-de-lance

  1. F

    National Cryptologic Museum

    My daughter went there as part of a Johns Hopkins cryptology summer program and was "impressed". (She is not easily impressed ... but there was plenty of cool crypto gear on display - Enigma and one time pads etc.) She said something about a couple of big airplanes parked outside ...
  2. F

    Today's greatest Ace?

    Old's WSO in his MiG-killing missions were: 1st Lt. Charles Clifton (Jan. 2nd, 1967, MiG-21 "Operation Bolo") 1st. Lt. William D. Lafever(May 2nd, 1967, MiG-21) 1st LT Stephen Croker (May 20th, 1967, 2 MiG-17) Capt. Jeffrey Feinstein was the only WSO other than DeBellevue who was...
  3. F

    SBD vs. JU-87 vs. Aichi D3A

    Aren't we forgeting that the D3A "Kanbaku" achieved the highest hit rate of any divebomber in WWII - vide sinking of HMS Hermes, Dorsetshire and Cornwall.
  4. F

    Hardest plane to take down in WW2?

    For survivability, twin engine has to beat out single engine. The P-47 was tough but the Beaufighter with two radial engines was very tough too, often coming home with pretty spectacular damage (bit missing or bits, like tree limbs, added on). Ground attack: Hs-129 - two radial engines vs...
  5. F

    BEST "TRANSITIONAL" FIGHTER

    Sorry guys, the very detailed records of the JNAF Kisarazu Kokutai records do not support this verison of events - 4 G3M went down and 6 were damaged. The Boeing 281's had their share (probably shared in 2 kills) but their armament of two rifle caliber machine guns was marginal against bomber...
  6. F

    Ar 234 Blitz

    Interview of Capt. Robert Barnhart also who shot down an Ar 234 late afternoon on March 14, 1945: Robert Eugene Barnhart The description of the attack comes almost at the end of the inetrview. Gun camera footage of the action can be found at Google video: WWII- Combat in the Sky...
  7. F

    Hawker Hurricane Mk. IIB vs. Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat

    Yes, any Canso driver who can keep the Hiryu's CAP at bay for seven minutes so that the radioman can get out a contact report deserves his One Boiled Egg ... Well, out of the 300 JNAF aircraft, there would be about a third in a raid with 30-odd Zero-sen escorting. All the rest are Vals and...
  8. F

    Best Aviation movie

    Who said anything about Cagney in Blue Max? He was in "Captain of the Clouds" (1942). Looked it up, Billy Bishop was in the film playing himself. The title of the movie was apparently a phrase he used.
  9. F

    Hawker Hurricane Mk. IIB vs. Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat

    Problem with the Ceylon accounting is that IJN records admit to a much smaller number of losses. Less than half of the forty claimed by the British were actually lost. On April 5th JNAF losses were only one Zero-sen and 6 Type 99 Kanbaku (Vals), not the 18 or 21 claimed. During the...
  10. F

    Best Aviation movie

    "Blue Max" with Tiger Moths masquerading as Albatros and other types? WWI link to that one too ... Billy Bishop made a cameo appearance in that one if memory serves.
  11. F

    Best Aviation movie

    Speaking of WWI movies ... How about Dawn Patrol (Erol Flynn) and Darling Lili (Rock Hudson Julie Andrews)?
  12. F

    The 95th Rifles at Waterloo

    After the Napoleonic Wars, Baker rifles were supplied to Mexico, particularly the early models that accepted the same sized ball as the 0.69 "Brown Bess" smooth-bore muskets. Some of the Mexican Cazadores light infantry were equipped with these rifles as well as second-hand kit from the British...
  13. F

    Best World War II Aircraft?

    Definitely "All-time Champ" ... plus few can beat this one: the "DC-2-and-a-half" ... (C-29.5? = [C-33 + C-47] / 2) May 20, 1941 Chinese National Aviation Corporation DC-3 No. 46 on a scheduled flight from Hong Kong to Chungking and Chengtu had to divert to a small airfield Suifu...
  14. F

    Today's greatest Ace?

    Hard to argue against the Israeli aces - especially the ones who scored up close with DEFA cannons. If the Fleet Air Arm pilots in the Falklands gets an "honorable mention", then recon and ELINT pilots who turn the tables on interceptors and score "double kills" should get one too. The...
  15. F

    MIG vs SABRE

    The result of the "Taehwa-do Massacre" was that there were no further attempts by the Communist forces to use bombers during the Korean War. The debâcle may have had even more far-reaching consequences for the later Taiwan Strait Conflict. The PLAAF realized how vulnerable their bombers...
Back