If you were a pilot in WW2 you would be flying a.......? (1 Viewer)

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NevadaK

Senior Airman
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Oct 10, 2019
I did a search to see if this question has been asked before, but not finding it here you go. Reflecting on how the USAAC determined a pilots "qualities" for the type of pilot they would be such as bomber vs fighter, I thought I would ask the forum what assignment do you think you would have, if you were a pilot in WW2?

Personally, I'm pretty sure I would have been assigned to anti-submarine patrol in the Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean, flying something like a Douglas B-18 for the Coast Guard.
 
ASW duty on Key West. Catalina or Grumman Goose, it don't matter!

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In my younger days, probably a multi-engined bomber, maybe flying, maybe navigating, probably not engineering. I think I'm a little too risk averse for fighters, but when I was younger I was probably too dumb to see the risk in being bomber crew.

When I enlisted, I wanted to go into crypto. I'm good with coding and puzzles and stuff, so out of the five job slots on my dream sheet the first three I selected were all related to coding and decoding messages/intercepts, or programming computers to do either/or. My fourth job choice was B-52 tail-gunner, 'cause Grampa in a B-17 etc. My fifth, firefighter, I only chose because there was not another job in the USAF I wanted to do, but blank spaces and "n/a" aren't permissible on USAF paperwork, at least as a recruit. So I stuck in on 571xx, and I'll be goddamned if the AF didn't dig down to the bottom of my dream sheet and made me like it.

Looking back, I wish they'd made me a tail-gunner, and so to answer the OP that's probably what my dumb ass would have volunteered for in 42 or 43.
 
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Sorry, but We already discussed this in an identical thread, and FLYBOYJ FLYBOYJ and myself already claimed the Caribbean anti-submarine patrol gig while flying a PBY.

You need to go and find a different body of water to call your home. :D
Fine. You can have the Gulf and your Keys. I'll take the Lesser Antilles, where I actually worked for a time and President Bird of Antigua told me that I "Look like a B-52 Pilot, all that is great about America".
 
Fine. You can have the Gulf and your Keys. I'll take the Lesser Antilles, where I actually worked for a time and President Bird of Antigua told me that I "Look like a B-52 Pilot, all that is great about America".

Nope, we claimed the entire Caribbean years ago, and we never left. Joe just added the Keys.

You are more than welcome to take the Great Lakes or Hudson Bay, though. :D
 
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.
 

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On a trip to Polk City to see Kermit's collection, there was a room with five F4U cockpit sections setup as flight simulators. My wife insisted I try the sim but I wanted to see the other exhibits before dark. An employee/volunteer on hand in the room also insisted, so I sat in the seat. Since it was obvious I wasn't being serious about flying the sim, the man insisted that I use the seatbelt and the controls properly. Although I still was thinking about the rest of the displays, I actually tried to fly the Corsair and found a pair of A6Ms about my 11o'clock low and dove on them. There was at least one other A6M out of sight and I was shot down after only 55 seconds.
 

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