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Alecras234

Alecras234

Senior Airman
346
2
Sep 6, 2018
Hi my name's Ash, I'm 40 from North Wales. I'm interested in ww2 aircraft but I don't know much about them. My mate knows a lot about ww2 aircraft aswel as tanks, I was amazed with his knowledge. I an reading an e book called RJ school days to spitfire, innm up to schneider contest 1923, it's a good book and I'm trying to remember certain bits of information. What's the best way to learn about ww2 aircraft?
 
Just by asking .. and reading . Also you may use the forum option "Search Forums" at the top bar for finding threads you may be interested in.

BTW here is a link to the forum section about books

WWII Books
 
First of all I have to say you need to decide what kind of info you want to get. If it can be the historical one about the WW2 aviation you need a little bit different kind of books than the technical one requires.. The Osprey series of books by John Weal are these for the historical knowledge mostly. As memo serves there happen mistakes like in the most of Osprey and other publications but these can be for the beginning. I have a couple of them and these are quite useful.
 
Welcome to the forums!

In regards to learning more about WWII aircraft, perhaps start with compilations that cover a range of aircraft, like "Aircraft of World War II" by Chris Chant, "Aircraft of World WarII" by Bill Gunston. In these editions, it provides illustrations and overviews of the more common aircraft of the war amd if one (or more) peak your interest, you can get a more specific book that focuses on that particular type.

I might also suggest this link to Wikipedia, as it offers an extensive list of all aircraft that were involved in the war, from the most common types down to the limited and little-known types.
List of aircraft of World War II - Wikipedia

And never hesitate to ask questions here as there is a wealth of knowledge available from the members!
 
GrauGeist said:
Welcome to the forums!

In regards to learning more about WWII aircraft, perhaps start with compilations that cover a range of aircraft, like "Aircraft of World War II" by Chris Chant, "Aircraft of World WarII" by Bill Gunston. In these editions, it provides illustrations and overviews of the more common aircraft of the war amd if one (or more) peak your interest, you can get a more specific book that focuses on that particular type.

I might also suggest this link to Wikipedia, as it offers an extensive list of all aircraft that were involved in the war, from the most common types down to the limited and little-known types.
List of aircraft of World War II - Wikipedia

And never hesitate to ask questions here as there is a wealth of knowledge available from the members!
Click to expand...
 
My mate has knowledge of ww2 european theatre, what is european theatre. How do i go about learning it?
 
Alecras234 said:
My mate has knowledge of ww2 european theatre, what is european theatre. How do i go about learning it?
Click to expand...
World War 2 was actually a global conflict and had many areas where battles were fought.

The main areas (or theaters) were:
The European Theater (ETO) and this involved nearly all of Europe, including Scandanavian nations and the Soviet Union (eastern front) down through the Balkans.
The Mediterranean Theater (MTO) which encompassed North Africa from Morrocco to Egypt and included many of the islands like Crete and can include Italy in some references.
The Pacific Theater (PTO) which was for the entire Pacific Ocean from Alaska to the coast of China amd down to Australia.
The Chinese, Burma and India Theater (CBI) which was the area from China eastward to India.

The European war officially started in September 1939 with Germany (and the Soviet Union) invading Poland and ended with the surrender of Germany in May 1945. Prior to the Polish invasion, Germany had been annexing countries like Austria and Czechslovakia uncontested. There was also the ongoing war between the Soviet Union and Finland before the European war got underway, too.

So you can start by searching online with such keywords as "World War 2 Europe" or simply "World War 2" and review the results. There's a large amount of information there to start with, so be ready to spend a great deal of time reading!
 
The Allied powers ( also known as the Allies ) were all countries that fought against The Nazi Germany, Italy, Japan and a couple of smaller countries like Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria for instance. that joined the Nazi Germany. The alliance of The Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan was also called the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis or just the Axis. So the Axis is opposite to the Allies. In the same way the Axis powers are opposite to the Allied powers because tthey mean the two opposed fighting sides. However both the sides consisted of a couple of countries that were allied together. Therefore the description on the site you posted the link can be misleading a little bit.
 
which website do you suggest i learn from? i'm finding hard to learn, i don't know which website is best.
 
IMHO there is no the best site that can provide the most accurate info. Just mistakes happen everywhere. You may use the Wikipedia site to start with. Or you may start your own thread on the forum ( in a relevant section of course ) where you may ask your questions. I'm sure you will get a lot of answers for all topics you are interested in. Also I must warn you that it is not possible to get the entire knowledge in one day or night. It is a process lasting for a very long time. Step by step you may find out of everything you need but just don't rush. For instance you can create a thread with a question on the war beginning. If you are more interested in aviation than in Navy for example, you may include a request for pics or info on aircraft used at the beginnig of the war. Just my suggestion.
 
Welcome aboard! First let me say that this THE best site for the subject. You will never be called out for asking "stupid" questions, there's no such thing here. Only people all over the globe who share the same passion willing to share what they know.
As for learning your best source is always the veterans who actually served and lived the experiences. But be sure to ask as soon as you can because we are losing our heroes at an alarming rate unfortunately. An excellent chance would be to talk to Bill Runnels here on the forum. He was a B-17 bombardier during ww2 and has some great stories!
 
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As for the books absolutely read everything you can get your mitts on but always remember that not everything you read is true or is biased. The first example I can think of is the "Porsche" turret King Tiger tank (ask your friend!). A myth that has be perpetuated for years like the "Hetzer" name...
A more personal experience is when I got to spend an entire afternoon with Rudolph Opitz a while back when he graciously agreed to sign a bunch of my artists proof lithos. So like any good Luftwaffe nerd I came up a fairly substantial pile of index cards loaded with questions. The first one on the pile was in reference to the entry in William Green's book "The Warplanes of the Third Reich" (which I always considered a staple book) which states..."After completing static tests and taxying trials at Augsberg-Haunstetten, the first prototype, the Bf 110V1,made its initial flight on May 12,1936 with Rudolph Opitz at the controls." Great start I thought in my eager, little mind!
Me: "So what was your first impression of the a/c when you first flew the prototype?"
RO : (paused a moment ) "That wasn't me. We had a few in the squadron (as hacks) but that was it."
The gentleman still had all his faculties and was razor sharp in his recollections at this time. This merely drove home the fact that historians from earlier years just copied what a previous author had erroneously written down before without checking the facts. Don't misinterpret this as all the books are wrong just that some are written "from a certain point of view" , to quote Obi-Wan...
The vets are still your best source. Talk to any and all you can while you can. The experiences I have working the airshows with these guys are my most treasured memories because words in a book will NEVER replace the feeling of having someone standing in front of you telling what they went through,good and bad. You get to share in all funny stories on/off base and feel their loss when they tell you how they had to watch a plane loaded with pals go down and being helpless to do anything about it.
Hope this helps!
 
Alecras234 said:
Hi my name's Ash, I'm 40 from North Wales. I'm interested in ww2 aircraft but I don't know much about them. My mate knows a lot about ww2 aircraft aswel as tanks, I was amazed with his knowledge. I an reading an e book called RJ school days to spitfire, innm up to schneider contest 1923, it's a good book and I'm trying to remember certain bits of information. What's the best way to learn about ww2 aircraft?
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Hi Ash,
One way would be to ask questions on this Forum. There is a wealth of knowledge here.
 
Tieleader said:
As for the books absolutely read everything you can get your mitts on but always remember that not everything you read is true or is biased...in reference to the entry in William Green's book "The Warplanes of the Third Reich"...
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Good point and in regards to Green, he's perpetuated a Myth that the Ju390 flew to the east coast of the U.S. - the first that this story ever was mentioned, was in 1955 in an article published in an aviation magazine and the editor was...you guessed it: Green.
 
GrauGeist said:
Good point and in regards to Green, he's perpetuated a Myth that the Ju390 flew to the east coast of the U.S. - the first that this story ever was mentioned, was in 1955 in an article published in an aviation magazine and the editor was...you guessed it: Green.
Click to expand...
"The Ju-390 V2 carried sufficient fuel for an endurance of 32 hours,and after a few short-distance flights, the aircraft flew from Mont de Marsan to a point some 12 miles from the US coast, north of New York, returning successfully to its base." Pg 519 , William Green " The Warplanes Of the Third Reich"
Its good to be the king... I mean editor.:rolleyes:
 
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