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netudki said:Spiti, of course. It was used from 1939 to 1945, in almost all of roles (interceptor,fighter-bomber, carrier fighter, reconnaissance, trainer, escort fighter, seaplane fighter, long-range escort fighter), in all of the theater of II WW. The Spiti shot down last german, the Seafire shot down the last japanese aircraft. 8)
The pinnacle of the Grasshopper's career as a warplane came on April 12, 1945, when pilot Duane Francies and observer William Martin, flying an L-4 named Miss Me downed a low-flying German Fieseler Storch observation aircraft with their .45-caliber pistols. Author Cornelius Ryan describes the action:
By radio Martin reported that they had spotted a German plane and announced calmly "we are about to give combat." On the ground, astounded 5th Armored tankers, hearing Martin's call, craned their necks skyward searching out the impending dogfight.
Martin got the side doors open as Francies dived. Swinging the Cub into a tight circle over the German plane, both men blasted away with their .45's. … Violently sideslipping, the Storch began circling wildly. Above it, Francies and Martin, like frontier stagecoach guards, were leaning out of their own plane emptying their automatics as fast as they could pull the triggers. ... They were so close that Francies saw the pilot "staring at us, his eyeballs as big as eggs." Then suddenly the German maneuvered wildly and spun in. ... Francies set the Miss Me down in the next field and ran across to the downed plane. The German pilot and his observer were already out. … As Martin covered the pilot with his gun, Francies examined the [superficially] wounded observer.
Later that day, Francies and Martin posed happily beside their captured prize. They had fought what was probably the last World War II dogfight in the European theater and they were undoubtedly the only airmen in this war to bring down a German plane with a pistol. For Francies "it was a day of pure joy."
--Cornelius Ryan, The Last Battle, 310-12
grumman-cats said:I have to agree with you c-47 guys. the airplane is really adaptable to just about any mission, wheather that's carring troops, towing gliders, flying the hump to deliver crucial supplies or being turned into a gunship later in its career. It's an amazing, tough, and versatile aircraft. You would think that it was designed by grumman aerospace.
netudki said:OK its true so the good old C-47 won the war. But I can imagine a new Spiti, with a box for 10 soldiers and the beer.....
I don't think you were ever in the military to understand the value of a transport aircraft let alone the C-47. Yes ,the Spits and Hurricanes fought off the Luftwaffe, that was one major battle. To invade Europe and WIN THE WAR things had to be moved logistically - the C-47 accomplished that role magnificently as well as moving troops and gliders - Without the movement of troops and supplies the war would of been over!!!!SpitTrop said:This is really simple; without the Spitfire, Hurricane and radar combo in 1940, there would have been no role for the C-47! The war in the west would have been lost!
The UK would have been under German rule (seems to be now with the number of BMW's and Mercs about!) so where would the allies have liberated Europe from - New York? No, so why do you need the C-47?
Before you can start using transport planes you have to clear the sky of the enemy first!
A transport plane is just a luxury you can use when you are winning via air supremacy, ask the Germans about using transport planes to supply Stalingrad........
I guess if the germans had the Dak or C47 maybe they wouldn't have lost Stalingrad the Berlin Airlift kept the whole city of Berlin supplied and used a whole whack of C47s the Germans had nothing even close to the C47 and if you can't get that spare part right away your combat a/c is now just a ground targetSpitTrop said:A transport plane is just a luxury you can use when you are winning via air supremacy, ask the Germans about using transport planes to supply Stalingrad........
J. W. MILLER said:How about the Japanese Arny Air Force Nakajima Ki84, with a 1860 hp power plant. The "Hayate" for best in a dog fight!
It Compared very favorably with the P-51H and P-47N according to AAF tests after WWII.