Aviation myths that will not die

[TheMustangRider]

And even that did not prevent it of being zapped by a thunderbolt or two

Good one meatloaf lol

 

[Marcel]

All Fokker G1's at Bergen were distroyed in the suprise attack early in the morning may 10th 1940.

 

[Thorlifter]

They have already been mentioned but the three that are the biggest to me are about the Tuskeegee Airmen never losing a bomber, the P-38 being the Fork Tailed Devil and the F4U being Whistling Death.

 

[Njaco]

Amelia Earhart is alive.

 

[GrauGeist]

To be honest, I have heard PTO vets refer to the P-38 as the fork-tail devil, but only Americans, never any Japanese.

 

[GregP]

It wasn't the Japanese that were supposed to have referred to the P-38 as the Forked Tail Devil; it was the Germans ... and I haven't heard them do it either.

But, then again, I wasn't there and they well might have done so. Unless you were there, and in the German Luftwaffe at the time and KNOW one way or the other, it doesn't much matter because you don't know for sure. Neither do I.

 

[GrauGeist]

I was given a P-38 lapel pin when I was a child (late 1960's), by a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot (later U.S. Army Air Force), Pacific Theater, who flew them and referred to it as a "Fork Taled Devil"...this is why I'm familiar with the term.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

I was given a P-38 lapel pin when I was a child (late 1960's), by a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot (later U.S. Army Air Force), Pacific Theater, who flew them and referred to it as a "Fork Taled Devil"...this is why I'm familiar with the term.

Maybe they read Martin Cadin's book - he marketed the name!

 

[GrauGeist]

lmao Joe...I think that Cadin heard the expression from our guys and used it to spice up his tales

 

[syscom3]

How about "the Norden bombsite is so accurate, our bombardiers at 30,000ft can hit a pickle barrel with it.". Sort of runs along the lines of "accurate strategic day light bombing".

 

[GrauGeist]

wasn't there also a legend that the Stuka pilots could hit a pickle barrel with a 750Kg bomb from a 90 degree dive?

 

[Airframes]

What was that relatively recent comment, concerning bombing in Afghanistan? "Strategic bombing is very effective - the bombs are guaranteed to hit the ground".

 

[GrauGeist]

LMAO Terry...now that has got to be a classic

 

[Julian_S]

Films: Fortresses sounding like Tiger Moths or Spitfires sounding like Texans etc etc, very annoying! One suspects the producers just dub any old aero engine sound onto the film....

Julian.

 

[Siegfried]

wasn't there also a legend that the Stuka pilots could hit a pickle barrel with a 750Kg bomb from a 90 degree dive?

Well there was a reasonable chance of hitting a fast moving light cruiser or ship or a stationary tank.

What's a pickle barrel anyway? Surely folks didn't store or ship 44 gallons of gherkins or dill pickles at a time?

 

[Denniss]

Films: Fortresses sounding like Tiger Moths or Spitfires sounding like Texans etc etc, very annoying! One suspects the producers just dub any old aero engine sound onto the film....

Or even worse with helicopters, may not be so much of an issue in the original but those adapted for local markets (Dubbing?). In 60's/70's movies turbine-powered helicopers sounded like old sikorsky helicopters with radial engine, later almost all sounded like a UH-1.

 

[Shortround6]

Martin Caidin may have marketed the name but it appears in a WW II training manual or pilot's notes for the P-38. Unless he helped write the manual when he was 18 he didn't "invent" the name however much he may have used it.

 

[merlin]

The Incendinary ammunition used by the RAF was designed by de Wilde. Whereas their hand-made bullets could not be replicated , it was Aubrey Dixon who came up with the right combination of ingredients - the RAF kept the de Wilde ref to put the Germans off, and placate the 'de Wilde designers!
Yet, current writers still refer to the de Wilde ammo, not 'Dixon'.

 

[Njaco]

What's a pickle barrel anyway? Surely folks didn't store or ship 44 gallons of gherkins or dill pickles at a time?

In the old days (*cough*) kosher pickles used to be shipped in wooden barrels that were usually placed near the cash register so that people would pick and buy. Became an ornament at some stores.

Airplane.

I posted that just so that no one would accuse me of going Off-Topic.

 

[egmccann]

One myth I'm surprised not to have seen mentioned:

The Hellcat was designed after the recovery of the crashed A6M in Alaska (and/or specifically to beat it. )