Greatest aviation myth this site “de-bunked”.

[fubar57]

@tomo pauk Spitfire V Versus P-40E

 

[SaparotRob]

...and another tip of the braided hat fubar57!

 

[tomo pauk]

@tomo pauk Spitfire V Versus P-40E

Cheers, Geo

 

[SaparotRob]

The Doolittle Raid used B-25's to strike Tokyo.
According to a YouTube video; Battle of Midway (1942): A turning point during the Pacific War. The Pacific War Channel, the Doolittle Raid consisted of sixteen B-52's.

 

[GrauGeist]

Wow...sixteen B-52s?

There would have been little left of Tokyo if that were the case: each Buff can carry about 70,000 pounds of bombs x 16 = (roughly) 1,120,000 pounds of bombs raining down in one pass...

 

[SaparotRob]

Wow...sixteen B-52s?

There would have been little left of Tokyo if that were the case: each Buff can carry about 70,000 pounds of bombs x 16 = (roughly) 1,120,000 pounds of bombs raining down in one pass...

Heck, they might not even need a carrier. It also took 2 weeks to repair U.S.S Yorktown at Pearl after the Coral Sea action. I'm thinking of a new thread:
CanYou Find All The Mistakes?! (Hint, there's a lot!)

 

[tomo pauk]

Oh, boy:
The Ha-25 engine was upgraded with the 2-stage supercharger, thus becoming the more powerful Nakajima Ha-115 engine

 

[TheMadPenguin]

Wow...sixteen B-52s?
There would have been little left of Tokyo if that were the case: each Buff can carry about 70,000 pounds of bombs x 16 = (roughly) 1,120,000 pounds of bombs raining down in one pass...

Not to worry: that much weight would sink the carrier!

 

[GrauGeist]

Not to worry: that much weight would sink the carrier!

*if* B-52 could fit on a carrier

 

[buffnut453]

*if* B-52 could fit on a carrier

I thought the B-52 would just pick up the carrier and drop it on the target!

 

[GrauGeist]

 

[SaparotRob]

The video does have a picture of either the Akagi or Kaga on fire which I have never seen before.

 

[Maachi]

Not sure if it is the greatest myth busted but one of my favorites...

The Germans called the P-38 the Fork Tailed Devil.

In the late 80s I was living in West Germany. A German I knew repeated some war stories from his father. One such was that the German soldiers called the P-38 "Mann Jäger" (man hunter), because P-38 pilots were willing to strafe solitary soldiers caught out in the open. I assumed this was due to the P-38's nose guns not needing a convergence point.

 

[GrauGeist]

In the late 80s I was living in West Germany. A German I knew repeated some war stories from his father. One such was that the German soldiers called the P-38 "Mann Jäger" (man hunter), because P-38 pilots were willing to strafe solitary soldiers caught out in the open. I assumed this was due to the P-38's nose guns not needing a convergence point.

A former co-worker (from many years ago) used the same term for the P-51, too.

 

[ODonovan]

I haven't been here in a few days and come back to find you guys have let me down. I saw the discussion about RR vs Packard and couldn't wait to find the TRUTH about the two versions of the Merlin.

1) The US version used imperial measurements while the Brit version used metric.
2) The RR had all the bolts reverse threaded compared to the Packards, so they had to be turned the "wrong way" to be installed.
3) Because all the bolts were backward, the propeller shaft spun the other way, so planes with the RR engines had to have their propellers put on backward.
4) Planes with the RR Merlins had to drive on the wrong side of the runway.

(Sorry, that's all I could think of on such short notice. I'm sure some of you guys will help me out with the rest.)



-Irish

 

[fastmongrel]

Planes with the RR Merlins had to drive on the wrong side of the runway.

No no planes with Merlin's drove on the right side of the runway, which is of course the left. Packard's drive on the wrong side which is the right side. See it's simple.

 

[SaparotRob]

No no planes with Merlin's drove on the right side of the runway, which is of course the left. Packard's drive on the wrong side which is the right side. See it's simple.

This is why I enjoy this forum. Simple explanations that even I can understand.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I haven't been here in a few days and come back to find you guys have let me down. I saw the discussion about RR vs Packard and couldn't wait to find the TRUTH about the two versions of the Merlin.

1) The US version used imperial measurements while the Brit version used metric.
2) The RR had all the bolts reverse threaded compared to the Packards, so they had to be turned the "wrong way" to be installed.
3) Because all the bolts were backward, the propeller shaft spun the other way, so planes with the RR engines had to have their propellers put on backward.
4) Planes with the RR Merlins had to drive on the wrong side of the runway.

(Sorry, that's all I could think of on such short notice. I'm sure some of you guys will help me out with the rest.)



-Irish

No chance pre-decimal Britain used metric measurements on their engines, IMO. They would have likely used incompatible Whitworth tooling.

 

[gruad]

On another topic: one of the myths I think was busted in this forum was that the B24 was much inferior to the B17.

For some reason the Liberator is considered the wildebeest of the skies, whereas the Fort is the indomitable knight of the skies, able to return after any level of punishment. The fact that the 24 is an ungainly box slab and the 17 a glittering silver beauty does not help.

Actually the machines were comparable with the 24 faster, longer ranged and with a higher ceiling [No it did not see later correction B17 better ceiling] as it was a later design. The B17 was tougher and less prone to fire.

Ironically the myth works in reverse for the Uk bombers where the Halifax III is considered on a par with the Lancaster when it was actually markedly inferior.

 

[SaparotRob]

A pseudo myth I'd like to know the truth of is, was the P-47 called the Juggernaut.
The story I've heard is that the Americans called the P-47 the "Jug" because it looks like a jug. The British THOUGHT it was short for Juggernaut.