If you were a pilot in WW2 you would be flying a.......?

[chipieal]

B-29

 

[GrauGeist]

For me, it would be either the Fw190A-8 or Me262A-1a

And I have mentioned before, that if I ever become stupid rich (which we all know will never happen), I would have an He280 replica built.

 

[yulzari]

Paraguayan Fiat CR32.

 

[special ed]

For me, it would be either the Fw190A-8 or Me262A-1a

And I have mentioned before, that if I ever become stupid rich (which we all know will never happen), I would have an He280 replica built.

With J-85s ?

 

[GrauGeist]

With J-85s ?

The civilian version most likely: CJ610

It is smaller than the original HeS 8 engine (which was itself smaller than a Jumo004), so should fit nicely into the nacelles.

 

[Vic Nighthorse]

I'd kinda like to be on the winning side. So.... PBY search and rescue somewhere like the south pacific. I like planes with toilets. Bunks and food would be icing on the cake. It'd be nice to have customers that were really happy to see you too.

 

[BlackSheep]

I want a blue one that can be kept airworthy with a 20 pound bronze faced hammer, a pair of tyre levers and a chisel.

One blue P-39 coming up!

Seriously though, I can make you a good deal on a barely used (relatively speaking of course) Antonov An-2…. It may or may not have been used in a movie cast full of '80's,'90s, and '00s steroid users errr Action stars….

 

[ClayO]

... I'd be riding a ladder, painting nose art.

 

[drgondog]

... I'd be riding a ladder, painting nose art.

If you were in a combat zone, that might be your day off job, the rest probably as part of the ground crew working 18 hour days with no overtime.

 

[33k in the air]

If you were in a combat zone, that might be your day off job, the rest probably as part of the ground crew working 18 hour days with no overtime.

With the bonus of watching the aircraft you worked so hard on take off for a mission . . . and then not return.

 

[Wild_Bill_Kelso]

I'm with the others that wisely suggested ASW duty in the Caribbean is the best idea. If I had to be in combat obviously it would depend on the period. I think it would be better to be in a fighter than a bomber. For the early war, I'd probably rahter a P-40 due to good survival traits and escape / disengage abilities. Later war, I'd say a P-51 for escape potential.

Being able to survive engagements and escape / disengage if things were stacked against survival seems to me the most important trait for a WW2 fighter.

 

[Wild_Bill_Kelso]

For sheer love of flying maybe a Ki-43 or a Spitfire Mk VIII or IX

 

[BlackSheep]

I'd hope to be assigned to one of the attack squadrons flying A-20's in the south Pacific.

Since we're going the swashbuckling, devil may care route, I'm sure Captain Tatelman and his B-25D "Dirty Dora II" could have used a wingman on his anti-radar patrols in the Pacific. Call sign: "Throbbin' Wood"

 

[SplitRz]

Once, full of the testosterone of youth, I would have said 'SPITFIRE!' - or 'MOSQUITO'... but the older I get, the more the horrors of front line fighter, bomber or ground attack combat operations come to life. Maybe its a mortality thing from getting longer in the tooth - or watching my own kids grow up. Whatever, I think my choice would be different now, based on a story told to me by a mate who asked his great uncle about his war service. This may be largely apocryphal, as I'm not sure pilots were given such latitude to select types or squadrons, but this is how the tale ran.

I'm not clear at what stage his uncle completed his RAF training, but I understand it was early in the war. He'd been selected for single engined types - but stunned his officer by opting not to go for 'the glamour' aircraft, but a squadron operating Supermarine Walrus. My friend asked why he made the choice between a 300+mph fighter and an aircraft that looked like a dingy, a stepladder and a ceiling fan were having a menage-a-trois.

His uncle said - "What more fun and adventurous aircraft to fly than one that can land on the water - OR on a runway?! When flying air-sea rescue, I'd be saving folk from a horrible death from drowning, be they German or our own. On top of that, I'd be keeping an eye out for subs and e-boats. She had a great, reliable engine, poodled along sedately, generally entirely ignored by larger, nasty aircraft - and I had a couple of crew-mates for company. I had a fantastic war, flying one of the last biplanes in the RAF! They were surprisingly fun little things. I even managed to loop mine once - though I was nearly blinded by all of the sand and grot that came up off the floor'...

So, there we go. Walrus for me too.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

[...] an aircraft that looked like a dingy, a stepladder and a ceiling fan were having a menage-a-trois.

I about coughed up a lung laughing at this wonderfully-apt description!

 

[Wild_Bill_Kelso]

Once, full of the testosterone of youth, I would have said 'SPITFIRE!' - or 'MOSQUITO'... but the older I get, the more the horrors of front line fighter, bomber or ground attack combat operations come to life. Maybe its a mortality thing from getting longer in the tooth - or watching my own kids grow up. Whatever, I think my choice would be different now, based on a story told to me by a mate who asked his great uncle about his war service. This may be largely apocryphal, as I'm not sure pilots were given such latitude to select types or squadrons, but this is how the tale ran.

I'm not clear at what stage his uncle completed his RAF training, but I understand it was early in the war. He'd been selected for single engined types - but stunned his officer by opting not to go for 'the glamour' aircraft, but a squadron operating Supermarine Walrus. My friend asked why he made the choice between a 300+mph fighter and an aircraft that looked like a dingy, a stepladder and a ceiling fan were having a menage-a-trois.

His uncle said - "What more fun and adventurous aircraft to fly than one that can land on the water - OR on a runway?! When flying air-sea rescue, I'd be saving folk from a horrible death from drowning, be they German or our own. On top of that, I'd be keeping an eye out for subs and e-boats. She had a great, reliable engine, poodled along sedately, generally entirely ignored by larger, nasty aircraft - and I had a couple of crew-mates for company. I had a fantastic war, flying one of the last biplanes in the RAF! They were surprisingly fun little things. I even managed to loop mine once - though I was nearly blinded by all of the sand and grot that came up off the floor'...

So, there we go. Walrus for me too.

That's gorgeous hahahahah

 

[PBPICS]

In 1994 I made a pilgrimage to Hendon as part of my homage to the participants of the D-Day invasion. That's where I fell in love with with Spitfires. As a result of this fantasy affair I'd want to fly Spitfires. Could I have been chosen for that honor? More likely I would have been assigned to copilot an invasion bound Dakota. Any participation in D-Day would have been incredible. Unfortunately in real life I never flew at the controls of any aircraft, always a passenger.

Of course if I couldn't fly Spitfires…I'd fly hurricanes. Falling that I go back home to fight on an Elco PT boat…they were made in my home town of Bayonne, NJ and my father worked next door to Elco Marine at a war plant called General Cable. An homage to home industry that was essential to the war effort.