Liberator b-24
- Thread starter krakus57
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michaelmaltby
Colonel
Read Stephen Ambrose's book - The Wild Blue - it's about B-24 pilots in Europe and specifically George McGovern.
MM
MM
syscom3
Pacific Historian
Excellent book!
Negative Creep
Staff Sergeant
Great book that. If I remember rightly didn't they have a tendency to swerve on take off and were a real pig to handle at low speeds?
FLYBOYJ
"THE GREAT GAZOO"
From what I heard the nose gear would shimmy if you kept pressure on it at high taxi speeds. The idea was to keep the yoke back at all times.
I also read that the MLG was weak and was subjected to collapse. My wife's grandfather was a co-pilot on one that experienced a MLG failure during a training mission right after the war. I think the aircraft only had about 1,400 hours on it which is really "young" for a multi engine aircraft aircraft.
I also read that the MLG was weak and was subjected to collapse. My wife's grandfather was a co-pilot on one that experienced a MLG failure during a training mission right after the war. I think the aircraft only had about 1,400 hours on it which is really "young" for a multi engine aircraft aircraft.
Not long ago Syscom3 recommended I read "Shattered Sword", as he read on the forum that I was interested in the battle of Midway. Well his recommendation was spot on. That book was fantastic and I never properly thanked him other then to suggest he read another book on Midway that I also thoroughly enjoyed. (The title escapes me at this time however.) So it is with that in mind that I here and now, in front of this illustrious forum, respectfully offer my heartfelt thanks for recommending that excellent book, but in the same breath humbly disagree with his (and others) opinion of the late Stephen Ambrose book "Wild Blue".
(Rant below)
For starters, I felt this was a vanity piece written for George McGovern. If you are a McGovern fan by all means read it, but I highly suspect that there are other more worthy biographies that would fit the bill better. Second, there was next to no drama in the book other then having his and his wife's luggage stolen stateside and a flight instructor telling him he will fail him if he doesn't successfully complete a night navigation problem. In a word: Boring. Real life perhaps, but if you are looking for exciting tales of B-24 bomber pilots and crews give this one a wide berth. He flew in the 15th air force (I believe) in Italy towards the end of the war when fighter opposition was lightest and I honestly can't remember him or his crew being in an instance of impending mortal doom. If I was a pilot in WWII I would have liked to have had his flying career because I would have had a good chance of making it back alive. Make no bones about it, I could never hold a candle to any member of the "greatest generation" and this doesn't take anything away from him or any other vet, but surely any number of lesser known pilots had combat careers more deserving of being written about. In fact this book was one of only two books that I ever returned and the only one after reading in its entirety. (I know that was a bit cheap, but I felt that strongly about it.) All of this was done BEFORE allegation of plagiarism came to light. This was a sad way for such a great narrative historian to end his career.
(Rant below)
For starters, I felt this was a vanity piece written for George McGovern. If you are a McGovern fan by all means read it, but I highly suspect that there are other more worthy biographies that would fit the bill better. Second, there was next to no drama in the book other then having his and his wife's luggage stolen stateside and a flight instructor telling him he will fail him if he doesn't successfully complete a night navigation problem. In a word: Boring. Real life perhaps, but if you are looking for exciting tales of B-24 bomber pilots and crews give this one a wide berth. He flew in the 15th air force (I believe) in Italy towards the end of the war when fighter opposition was lightest and I honestly can't remember him or his crew being in an instance of impending mortal doom. If I was a pilot in WWII I would have liked to have had his flying career because I would have had a good chance of making it back alive. Make no bones about it, I could never hold a candle to any member of the "greatest generation" and this doesn't take anything away from him or any other vet, but surely any number of lesser known pilots had combat careers more deserving of being written about. In fact this book was one of only two books that I ever returned and the only one after reading in its entirety. (I know that was a bit cheap, but I felt that strongly about it.) All of this was done BEFORE allegation of plagiarism came to light. This was a sad way for such a great narrative historian to end his career.
