- Thread starter
- #41
michael rauls
Tech Sergeant
- 1,679
- Jul 15, 2016
Yes i know its a subtle distinction but my thinking was an underrated aircraft would be one that gets attention but not as positive as it should be given its impact. An ignored aircraft would be one that had at least a fairly substantial impact but gets almost no attention at all. I picked the SBD because I think the average guy on the street that may have a passing interest in ww2 aviation is barley awear of its existence and even in what I would call the more educated community it doesn't seem to get talked about to much inspite of its monumental accomplishments. ( just my impression). To be honest I suppose as for the other reason I picked it I must confess some personal bias as my Grandfather worked at Douglas and had a bit to do with its design and manufacture.One question I have is how does one differentiate between "most ignored" and "most underrated?"
The second question is how did you decide on the SBD, which is pretty much universally credited with destroying the IJN's carriers at Midway?
For US aircraft, I would vote for the Catalina, especially the "Black Cat"squadrons. For the Germans, probably the Hs123. For the Commonwealth, most likely the Albacore. The Soviet air forces, in general, have been ignored in the Western popular press.
As an aside, my definition of popular press is likely different from yours, in that my definition would include just about all non-academic publications.