I was just thinking about aircraft that were not entirely successful or had been replaced in their original roles but bounced back to be successful when repurposed. This could include aircraft such as the Mustang or Avro Lancaster where the original designs were given a new lease of life with different engines and other modifications, but I was thinking more of aircraft like the Sterling, Typhoon, SM79 or Me110 which were for lack of a better phrase recycled and used successfully in a different role to that originally intended.
Most successfully repurposed aircraft of World War Two.
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MacArther
Staff Sergeant
Maybe the Yak-7. Started out as an advanced trainer, but was apparently used quite well as a front line fighter.
davebender
1st Lieutenant
Best example I can think of.
Me-110 was used for long range recon and bomber escort during 1939. A year later most Me-110 units morphed into night fighter units and stayed that way to the end of the war.
Me-110 was used for long range recon and bomber escort during 1939. A year later most Me-110 units morphed into night fighter units and stayed that way to the end of the war.
parsifal
Colonel
I think Mosquito. Started life as an unarmed recon machine, then as a bomber, then as a NF then as a FB. Its adaptations are numerous. In peacetime it was used for survey work, as target dones and tow aircraft. It changed from Light Bomber to Medium Bomber, carrier aircraft, it just goes on and on.
All for an airframe that the air ministry thought was a waste of resources
All for an airframe that the air ministry thought was a waste of resources
wuzak
Captain
I would argue that since it was designed as a bomber its first adaptation was as a PR aircraft.
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Maybe a little outside the bounds, but I doubt anyone could have imagined WW II era C-47's being used as attack aircraft in Viet Nam, a la AC-47!
MacArther
Staff Sergeant
True!
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buffnut453
Captain
Same-same for the Defiant and Henley.
davebender
1st Lieutenant
Are you suggesting original version of Mosquito lacked a bomb bay?
wuzak
Captain
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Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.The Fairey Battle made a very good target tug
Well over 300 built!
Steve
MacArther
Staff Sergeant
How about the Lyslander? It went from close-support work and Army Cooperation jobs to ferrying SOE and OSS agents into and out of occupied territory!
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
How about the Ju88?
Started life as a fast bomber and ended up doing everything you could imagine. Instead of making a list of all that it did do, during the war, perhaps making a list of what it did NOT do would be much easier.
Bombing, dive-bombing, torpedo bombing, flying bomb (mistel), mine-laying, photo-recon, heavy fighter, night fighter, ground attack, glider tug and was even a test-bed for jet engines.
Started life as a fast bomber and ended up doing everything you could imagine. Instead of making a list of all that it did do, during the war, perhaps making a list of what it did NOT do would be much easier.
Bombing, dive-bombing, torpedo bombing, flying bomb (mistel), mine-laying, photo-recon, heavy fighter, night fighter, ground attack, glider tug and was even a test-bed for jet engines.
l'Omnivore Sobriquet
Airman 1st Class
Focke-Wulf Fw-200 Condor was built as an airliner, then turned into a very good LR maritime patroller and bomber. For some time...
