Easiest Warbird to Fly?

GregP · Oct 20, 2019

The AT-6 was also designed to "bite" harder than a basic trainerr. It does not have a benign stall and will usually drop one wing or the other and wind up in a spin if you don't handle it correctly with proper use of rudder and elevator. It was designed that way so that pilots who mastered the AT-6 could make easier transition into fighters. Basic trainers (the "BT" series) flew very well. The "AT" series were almost all designed to make you ready for combat aircraft, and were purposely not "easy" to fly by comparison with the BT aircraft.

That doesn't mean thay didn't fly well. It means you needed to practice good rudder control and they likely did not have good stall characteristics when compared with basic trainers. They weren't bad-flying aircraft ... they typically just demanded good pilot technique to fly well.

Robert98948 · Oct 20, 2019

The De Havilland Mosquito is very easy to fly and only 7 per 1000 were lost during sorties in ww2. 2 engine, 2400hp. You can fly it with 2 fingers on the stick. It's really that easy. It's very light, wood body and wings. Thanks, robert p.s. watch The DH Mosquito in WW11 on youtube

Robert98948 · Oct 20, 2019

Also the United States used the dh 98 because it was so easy to fly. It was used in about 20 countries during the war.

Airframes · Oct 20, 2019

And ........ wait for it !

Robert98948 · Oct 20, 2019

Robert98948 said:
Also the United States used the dh 98 because it was so easy to fly. It was used in about 20 countries during the war.

It cruises at 270mph and a top speed of over 400mph unloaded. Won't stall till 98mph. It flew 28,000 missions and lost 193 aircraft. That's a lose of .07 percent

Robert98948 · Oct 20, 2019

Robert98948 said:
It cruises at 270mph and a top speed of over 400mph unloaded. Won't stall till 98mph. It flew 28,000 missions and lost 193 aircraft. That's a lose of .07 percent

I think that's. 007 percent.

pbehn · Oct 20, 2019

Robert98948 said:
Also the United States used the dh 98 because it was so easy to fly. It was used in about 20 countries during the war.

The Mosquito as the dh 98 was not used by the USA because it was easy to fly, it was used because it had qualities as a PR aircraft that were hard to beat.

Robert98948 · Oct 20, 2019

Robert98948 said:
I think that's. 007 percent.

My grandfather was a bomb loader and had to patch up all aircraft. The inside was not pretty. But the mosquito had a crew of 2. It was a fighter/bomber. A mark 6 mosquito flew 213 missions and holds the record for most missions. It also survived the war. Any pilot could fly a dh 98 mosquito. It's a dream to fly. It's even a great glider. Even climb with 1 engine.

FLYBOYJ · Oct 20, 2019

Robert98948 said:
My grandfather was a bomb loader and had to patch up all aircraft. The inside was not pretty. But the mosquito had a crew of 2. It was a fighter/bomber. A mark 6 mosquito flew 213 missions and holds the record for most missions. It also survived the war. Any pilot could fly a dh 98 mosquito. It's a dream to fly. It's even a great glider. Even climb with 1 engine.

Any pilot? even one that never flew a twin engine aircraft???

Robert98948 · Oct 20, 2019

I'm sorry I ment knts. Not mph. 110 knts. Fully loaded and 95/98 knts. With the gear down on the dh 98 mosquito.

pbehn · Oct 20, 2019

Robert98948 said:
My grandfather was a bomb loader and had to patch up all aircraft. The inside was not pretty. But the mosquito had a crew of 2. It was a fighter/bomber. A mark 6 mosquito flew 213 missions and holds the record for most missions. It also survived the war. Any pilot could fly a dh 98 mosquito. It's a dream to fly. It's even a great glider. Even climb with 1 engine.

Much as I admire the Mosquito to pretend that it had a loss rate of 0.007% or 0.07% as a fighter bomber is ludicrous. It was a long range heavy fighter and/or a bomber and/or a PR aircraft you cant pick and choose which you want to suit or case then present the statistic you like.

Robert98948 · Oct 20, 2019

You should check out the Amiens raid. They used the mark 6 mosquito because it was easy to fly. 250 mph 50 ft. above the water with 4 500 lb. bombs. It could take a lot of damage and make it home. The pilots I have talked to that flew the mosquito loved the plane.

FLYBOYJ · Oct 20, 2019

Robert98948 said:
You should check out the Amiens raid. They used the mark 6 mosquito because it was easy to fly. 250 mph 50 ft. above the water with 4 500 lb. bombs. It could take a lot of damage and make it home. The pilots I have talked to that flew the mosquito loved the plane.

Robert - you're posting some very elementary comments on here. Some of our members have been studying this subject matter for dozens of years, there are others who actually worked on these airframes to include the Mosquito, there are some on here who have actually flown warbirds and have several thousand flight hours. You're repeating a previous posted opinion (with little substance to back up your point) so please refrain from the repetitive narrative.

Airframes · Oct 20, 2019

The Amiens raid (somewhat controversial, according to recent research) was but one low-level operation carried out by 140 wing of 2 TAF, with raids on Gestapo Headquarters at Oslo, Aarhus and Copenhagen being just as notable, when FB.VI Mosquitos carried two 500lb bombs, at low level all the way, actually flying down the streets in Copenhagen at one point. They also carried out many other 'specialised' operations and, according to those crews who took part, some of whom I had the pleasure, and honour, to call friends, the use of the Mosquito had absolutely nothing to do with it's being easy to fly !
As I've mentioned elsewhere, although a truly superb aircraft, like most high-performance types (or even a Cessna), it could turn and bite the unwary pilot, sometimes fatally, as others on this forum, very experienced in the world of military aviation ( and world war two aircraft history and performance etc) will no doubt confirm.

pbehn · Oct 21, 2019

Robert98948 said:
You should check out the Amiens raid. They used the mark 6 mosquito because it was easy to fly. 250 mph 50 ft. above the water with 4 500 lb. bombs. It could take a lot of damage and make it home. The pilots I have talked to that flew the mosquito loved the plane.

In the Amiens raid 2 Mosquitos were lost from 19 aircraft, 4 of which were instructed not to attack.
In the Copenhagen raid 4 were lost from 20 aircraft
In the Aarhus raid 1 aircraft from 24 was lost.
In the Oslo raid 1 aircraft from 4 was lost.
In the two raids of three aircraft to shut down Goerings radio broadcast 1 aircraft was lost.

These high profile and successful raids were extremely high risk, all of them had loss rates that were considered unsustainable which was generally above about 4%. Losing one plane from three or four or four from twenty is an almost a suicidal rate of losses, no pilot would finish a tour of missions. To suggest loss rates of 0.07% or even 0.007% for the mosquito does those men a great disservice.

Joe Broady · Oct 22, 2019

According to Steve Hinton Jr., "'A Mustang is a very easy airplane to fly. On landing, they track straight, they don't land slow like some other airplanes, and there's no bad characteristics to them.' To keep him sharp, he prefers something that requires more stick-and-rudder skills, such as a 65hp Luscombe. 'I like to go out at dawn or dusk, and you can go out and do 40 touch-and-goes in under an hour.' For formation flying or aerobatics, a T-6 or Mustang is more suitable. 'If I had to fly one airplane for the rest of my life, I would take the Stearman, with the open cockpit and the constant challenge of perfecting flying the airplane.'"

"Reno Air Race Champion Steve Hinton Jr And His Airplane Voodoo" By Maria Morrison
Reno Air Race Champion Steve Hinton Jr And His Airplane Voodoo | Aero-News Network
Reno Air Race Champion Steve Hinton Jr And His Airplane Voodoo | Aero-News Network

Elmas · Oct 23, 2019

I perfectly imagine that for a Pilot like Steve Hinton Jr., "A Mustang is a very easy airplane to fly…."

I would have been surprised of a contrary statement…

Of course Top Brass of Air Force were firstly concerned to have an airplane of a superior performance (speed, climb rate, range) than that of the enemy, but were also concerned for not having too many young and inexperienced Pilots killed."You employ two hours to make an airplane, but you employ twenty years to make a Pilot…"

Italian Pilots I personally interviewed in the past, that initially flew T-6s, then flew G-59s and finally P-51s

Memorie di un pilota: le immagini e i ricordi del Tenente Alberto Scano - Aviation Report

and from memories of others

main index

were unanimous saying that while G-59 was a "Padre di famiglia"* Mustang, as it was known in Italy, well deserved his name.
If we see just the different wing profiles between the two we can understand why.

*Father of a (huge) family, Italian aeronautical language, of an aeroplane capable of understand and save, if not in all, but at least in some occasion, a young and inexperienced Pilot's neck…

spicmart · Oct 23, 2019

The Ki-100 had a relatively high-aspect-ratio wing with quite a long wingspan (12.00 m) for a fighter of its size.
So a lot of wing to support the plane. It had a reputation of being able to be flown by even the youngest of rookie pilots and giving them a fighting chance.

michael rauls · Oct 23, 2019

spicmart said:
The Ki-100 had a relatively high-aspect-ratio wing with quite a long wingspan (12.00 m) for a fighter of its size.
So a lot of wing to support the plane. It had a reputation of being able to be flown by even the youngest of rookie pilots and giving them a fighting
chance.

View attachment 557834

As a side note I think the ki100 is one of the realy under appreciated planes pf the war.

Dan Fahey · Oct 23, 2019

Nobody discussed the Zero and Hayabusa......
Put together Japan did not build much more than 17000 of these planes.
Both had gentle landing and take off characteristics..
I suspect they had less training casualties as a result.

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