chipieal
Airman
B-29
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With J-85s ?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.
The civilian version most likely: CJ610With J-85s ?
One blue P-39 coming up!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.
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.... 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.
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"I'd hope to be assigned to one of the attack squadrons flying A-20's in the south Pacific.
[...] an aircraft that looked like a dingy, a stepladder and a ceiling fan were having a menage-a-trois.
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.
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.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.