50s aircraft that originated during World War II

[Thumpalumpacus]

Aaaand...we're back to the Swedish Chef...

Does Swedish use enough vowels to need umlauts?

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

True that, a universal thing, I reckon...

You could have used the vastly better Motörhead to illustrate your example...

God will forgive me for saying this, but I hate Mötley Crüe more than I love Motörhead ... and that's saying a lot.

Long live Lemmy!

 

[nuuumannn]

Feast on this. Album art is noteworthy.

 

[GrauGeist]

At least no one has mentioned Björk, yet.

Oh wait...

 

[SaparotRob]

Typically, the "Alt" key is found to either side of the space bar.

I know, right? This one has "command", literally spelled out. Not CMND as tradition requires. And which I used. Got 'lotta interesting characters but not the umlaut.
I have derived enough amusement from The Grand Umlaut Search and am bored.

 

[NTGray]

No reference to the Ryan fireball the mix engine fighter we ordered bulit then never used

I have always thought the Fireball was pretty cool. And I like that some of the pilots sometimes liked to mess with other planes, and would shut down the prop and make the other guy wonder how on earth it was still flying. Even military guys have a sense of humor sometimes.

 

[special ed]

One of the Lockheed teat pilots, don't know if it was Tony LeVier or Milo Birchim, but the book "Test Pilot" told of him trying to get other manufacturer's test pilots to dogfight their new equipment although it was forbidden. He tried that with Ryan's new fighter with no result and then tried to get him to race (all with hand signals). He then shut down one engine and tried to get him to race, and then the Ryan pilot shut down his recip and kept right with him.
Another story from that book Was when testing the new secret XP-80, he got a gorilla mask from Hollywood and one day, wearing the mask, smoking a cigar and wearing a derby hat dived into a formation of USMC F4U students learning to formate with their instructor above them, flew formation and then accelerated away, buzzed the instructor and went into the clouds. It made the newspaper the next day because the dummy Marines reported that, "A strange propellerless airplane flown by a gorilla, wearing a derby hat and smoking a cigar had attacked them."

 

[MiTasol]

I know, right? This one has "command", literally spelled out. Not CMND as tradition requires. And which I used. Got 'lotta interesting characters but not the umlaut.
I have derived enough amusement from The Grand Umlaut Search and am bored.

That sounds like an Apple keyboard

 

[GrauGeist]

That sounds like an Apple keyboard

Starting to think that's what he's got.

They are a bit different.

 

[SaparotRob]

That sounds like an Apple keyboard

Yup.

 

[GrauGeist]

Yup.

Hells bells, man - I asked if you were on a Windows computer

On your keyboard, press and hold the option key and press "U" to get a ü or press and hold the option key and press the "S" to get a ß and so on.

The Option key is between the Command and Control key, to the left of the space bar.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Something I found interesting, was the love story built up around around the Italian mystery P-38.

The true story about Col. Tondi and his P-38 may not be all that interesting BUT I feel something important and more fascinating was missed because of the mythical story that spun off of the actual P-38 sightings.

At the time that there were genuine sightings of an unknown Italian P-38, including an attack on an American bomber, Savoia-Marchetti was testing their SM.91, which bore a striking resemblance to a P-38.

Ya gotta admit - ole Marty was creative!

 

[buffnut453]

Ya gotta admit - ole Marty was creative!

Like a real estate novelist.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Another story from that book Was when testing the new secret XP-80, he got a gorilla mask from Hollywood and one day, wearing the mask, smoking a cigar and wearing a derby hat dived into a formation of USMC F4U students learning to formate with their instructor above them, flew formation and then accelerated away, buzzed the instructor and went into the clouds. It made the newspaper the next day because the dummy Marines reported that, "A strange propellerless airplane flown by a gorilla, wearing a derby hat and smoking a cigar had attacked them."

When I lived in the Antelope Valley I've heard that story as well, some say it was LeVier, never could confirm authenticity

 

[GrauGeist]

Ya gotta admit - ole Marty was creative!

Indeed - he wrote some great sci-fi shorts.

So why not use that imagination and delve into the WWII realm and really get those book sales soaring with Lt. Rossi's fork-tail devil tearing apart those ugly Americans while dreaming of his beloved?

 

[NTGray]

Perhaps the coolest-looking 50s-era fighter, which grew out of a late WWII Army Air Force request for an escort fighter, was the Lockheed XP/XF-90. This should have been a great aircraft, but the AAF required that it use available engines, and rejected Lockheed's offer to fit it with a new engine of their own design. The result was a badly underpowered dog. But with decent engines it could have been great. (Just imagine a movie where this plane was going after the MiGs over Korea.)

 

[SaparotRob]

I believe the Blackhawks operated them after transitioning from F5F's.

 

[Escuadrilla Azul]

Well, the Nazis did put a base on the moon, fly a non-existent Ju 390 to New York to have it crash in Greenland/Argentina/Uruguay depending on the source and they detonated an atomic bomb in East Germany, so, wonders never cease...

The Nazis detonated an atomic bomb in East Germany?

I had always thought that they blasted the forrest in Tunguska!

In this forum one always keeps learning!

 

[GregP]

The Gorilla mask story is from YP-59A operations, not the P-80. It is covered quite well in the book, "Flame Powered."

 

[special ed]

I thought I read it in Test Pilot but maybe not. However the YP-59A didn't have the performance to dive on F4Us and climb away.