Which WWII aircraft would you choose?

[TheMadPenguin]

Boeing 314
Hobnob with the rich, fly to Geneva and park on the lake.
Island hopping across the Pacific and Caribbean...
If modifications are allowed, I'd put (retractable) wheels on the sponsons and a rudder/tailwheel to allow appearances at air shows.
Prolly gotta re-engine with turboprops for the bloody FAA mafia.

 

[Vic Nighthorse]

Do-26: Looks, range, utility. I imagine you could go pretty much anywhere in that plane and very importantly it has a toilet and you can rack out. A plane without a toilet... hell, I don't even know what to call that

 

[swampyankee]

Boeing 314
Hobnob with the rich, fly to Geneva and park on the lake.
Island hopping across the Pacific and Caribbean...
If modifications are allowed, I'd put (retractable) wheels on the sponsons and a rudder/tailwheel to allow appearances at air shows.
Prolly gotta re-engine with turboprops for the bloody FAA mafia.

The FAA is unlikely to (officially) care, as long as the required maintenance is done by qualified personnel, although the availability of parts for the Twin Cyclone engine and aviation gas may tend encourage one to get an STC for turboprops. Depending on when you got this aircraft, the Pan Am pilots that were proficient in the aircraft and with the right endorsements to give instruction for the type endorsement needed could still be active, so that may not be a problem.

Adding landing gear may not be so much an "if allowed" as an "if structurally possible"; the aircraft's structure won't have things like the locally-reinforced structure for landing gear or a physical place to put it.

 

[TheMadPenguin]

Adding landing gear may not be so much an "if allowed" as an "if structurally possible"; the aircraft's structure won't have things like the locally-reinforced structure for landing gear or a physical place to put it.

I'm thinking a new set of sponsons mating with the keel amidships as well as each hull side might do it, but I don't have a skeletal view of the beast showing where the load would be bearable.

 

[Ascent]

Coming to this a little late but I'd go for the Beaufighter. I've always thought it a little strange looking but it would draw the looks and enough room for a couple of bodies.

 

[Vic Nighthorse]

Coming to this a little late but I'd go for the Beaufighter. I've always thought it a little strange looking but it would draw the looks and enough room for a couple of bodies.

Ah an armed corpse hauler. Good idea!

 

[SaparotRob]

Ah an armed corpse hauler. Good idea!

I would have never thought of that.

 

[Akuma]

Henschel Hs-123, very reliable and from all the reports a delight to fly.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'll take an original. Saburo's last Zero, Hartman's Bf-109, Bongs last P-38, Tex Hills AVG P-40, Johnnie Johnson's Spit, the list could go on.

Yup. If I won the lottery, I'd throw money at a bog-standard Strat played by Hendrix, just 'cause. Sometimes knowing who did what with it, you might hope some mojo is still there.

The XF-12 would be one hell of a private flier, too. What a beautiful airplane!

 

[Maty12]

XF-12 would be amazing indeed, and that visibility would be truly something at high altitudes. I've always found the HS 123 to be one of the best looking biplanes out there, reminds me a bit of a YMF-5 with that cowling.

I'd like to revise my answer, given that money is no obstacle. In the vein of those new Carbon Fiber Spitfires, I'd like to see what happens when you build something like a B-26 out of that, or fit it with turboprops. Maybe even just add a turbo or replace the R-2800s with turbocharged R-3350s. As originally designed it was a 400 MPH airframe, but got stuck with 300 MPH engines due resources and time constraints. Would love to see how far it can be pushed.

Or perhaps another of the best medium (by WW2 standards) twins, North American's XB-28. Pressurized cabin, tricycle gear, nosewheel steering, counter-rotating props, seems like it would be a dream to fly. According to Air Classics it was fast enough to outrun a P-38 above 24,000 ft, not bad for a medium bomber.

 

[Schweik]

Since we are firmly grounded in the domain of fantasy here, I would pick either the Republic XF-12 Rainbow or the XB-42 Mixmaster. Both really fast for their time, and room inside for my politically incorrect haremView attachment 592787View attachment 592787.

Wow that hasn't to be the prettiest four engined plane till the concorde... looks fast!

 

[HayateFan]

Mitsubishi Ki-83. One of the slickest fighters ever built, powerful, and well armed. Definitely a plane that should have been preserved because it was was a very rare combination of being a pleasing design to look at, and being a highly capable machine as tested by its intended foes. If enough info on it existed to recreate it, I'd loved to see a replica made.

 

[SaparotRob]

It's regrettable that so many warbirds were trashed. I can understand the practical reasons but still it would be nice to have more of these machines in museums or even in private hands. Especially the "one-offs".

 

[special ed]

HayateFan
One of the saddest is the destruction of the Ki-78, pics found in this forum.

Ed

 

[bdefen]

My choice could change in a few minutes, but at this moment, A Fieseler Storch. Rough, noisy, and slow, but what a useful tool!

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Mitsubishi Ki-83. One of the slickest fighters ever built, powerful, and well armed. Definitely a plane that should have been preserved because it was was a very rare combination of being a pleasing design to look at, and being a highly capable machine as tested by its intended foes. If enough info on it existed to recreate it, I'd loved to see a replica made.

I had to look at the Wiki on it, never heard of it before. That thing looks slick as hell, and Wiki's quoted speed of 473 mph is accurate, a marvel, indeed. Thanks!

 

[VA5124]

take a corsair trubocharge the r 2800 double wasp to about 3000 hp and change the arment to 6x20mm cannon

 

[SaparotRob]

You might have to reduce the nose armor.

 

[VA5124]

You might have to reduce the nose armor.

yeah that may be a problem