If You Could Own Any Aircraft....

hobbit · Post by **hobbit** » June 25th, 2007, 3:56 pm

What Would It Be?

Here are my two favorite aircraft of all time:

The DC3. Second photo shows DC3 interior of a luxury restoration.

The DeHavilland Beaver:

I scored rides on both these aircraft models while in the army. In spite of them both being designed in the 1930's, each was still in US military inventory in the early 1970's. I also scored a hop from DC to Florida on an air force Lear Jet. That ride was way too aseptic -50 thousand feet so you couldn't see jit, absolutely quiet, and an air force colonel wondering what in hell this pissant army private was doing on his ride.

BTW If any of you global travelers ever happen across a DeHavilland Beaver that is restorable, there are two companies in British Columbia that restore these birds who will pay a several thousand dollar finder's fee. They've become such an icon of bush lore in northern Canada and Alaska, that restored versions sell for over $1 million.

GSXRanger · Post by **GSXRanger** » June 25th, 2007, 4:11 pm

I would LOVE to own one of these... and afford to fly it. My favorite warbird of all time.

hobbit · Post by **hobbit** » June 25th, 2007, 4:15 pm

GSXRanger wrote:I would LOVE to own one of these... and afford to fly it. My favorite warbird of all time.

Sweet. There's one at the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California. My former father-in-law and I went to an air show there once and watched that bad boy do its stuff. They won't fly it anymore. It's too valuable and nobody will insure it.

GSXRanger · Post by **GSXRanger** » June 25th, 2007, 4:19 pm

I posted this twice... such an idiot I am.

GSXRanger · Post by **GSXRanger** » June 25th, 2007, 4:19 pm

I have loved the P-38 since I could even comprehend what an airplane was. I have built models of it in every conceivable fashion as a kid growing up... sat in one once, but have yet to see one fly.

I don't know what it is about the lightning that stirs my soul, but I love that airplane.

The Corsair is my next favorite... I used to LOVE to watch Baa Baa Black Sheep as a kid...

Next on my list would be the venerable Spitfire...

But, in the end... money no object, I would own a P-38. Funny you mention the DC-3. I jumped a C-47 down in Honduras one year... that was a trip!!! Honduran JM's, cigar in his mouth and all... what a cool jump that was.

hobbit · Post by **hobbit** » June 25th, 2007, 4:27 pm

The last version of the Corsair manufactured during the war was the fastest propeller-driven fighter of WWII. It had 6 20mm cannons, incredible armament for the time. The British navy flew that version off their aircraft carriers in the Pacific in 1945. The last Canadian killed in the war was a Corsair pilot who died just a week or two before Japan surrendered, while single-handedly sinking a Japanese destroyer. He was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.

BTW The South Vietnamese air force was using Corsairs for napalm runs and strafing into the 70's.

GSXRanger · Post by **GSXRanger** » June 25th, 2007, 4:33 pm

hobbit wrote:The last version of the Corsair manufactured during the war was the fastest propeller-driven fighter of WWII. It had 6 20mm cannons, incredible armament for the time. The British navy flew that version off their aircraft carriers in the Pacific in 1945. The last Canadian killed in the war was a Corsair pilot who died just a week or two before Japan surrendered, while single-handedly sinking a Japanese destroyer. He was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.

Yes Sir... very familiar with the Corsair and it's legacy. I have seen one fly and let me tell you, that rotary engine sounds SOOOOO SWEET!!! If only I could get my GSXR to sound that way...

I am a HUGE WW2 airplane buff. I have even tried to squeeze my big ass into an ME-109. Talk about comical... those German pilots had to be like 5'4 or smaller. The closest thing to my dream ride, was in a TP-40N trainer. I got a chance to go on one of those "fantasy flights" for my birthday one year. I was in heaven...

hobbit · Post by **hobbit** » June 25th, 2007, 4:49 pm

Here's a great Japanese site of probably the finest aircraft drawings I've ever seen. Just ignore the language install promt unless you want to install it. Most of the planes come up with English titles.

http://www.nags-gallery.com/

CatFish Driver · Post by **CatFish Driver** » June 25th, 2007, 7:30 pm

I am an aviation junkie, and have been my whole life. My paternal grandfather was a radio operator/navigator on the DC-3/C-47 in the Burma/India theater during WWII and I learned everything about old aircraft from him. Hell I used to read Jane's encyclopedias of aviation for fun. It is hard for me to pick 1 aircraft from certain timeframes, so I narrowed it down the best I could.

WWII - US - P-51 Mustang. British - DeHavilland Mosquito. German - Focke-Wulf FW190 D-9 (the one that used a liquid-cooled Ju-88 Bomber engine instead of the usual radial engine).

Korea - F-86 Sabrejet.

Vietnam - OH-6 Cayuse for helicopter and F-105 Thunderchief.

Modern day - A-10 Thunderbolt II.

The Holmchicken · Post by **The Holmchicken** » June 25th, 2007, 7:37 pm

There isn't enough space, but I'll name the F4U Corsair and the P47D Thunderbolt. I was at Chino in 1991 for the Pearl Harbor fly-by and they cranked every bird in the museum. But when they cranked the "Jug" heads turned and nothing could be heard but 2,535 horses of pure American Hell Fire coming at your ass. Bitchin' fucking bird.

CatFish Driver · Post by **CatFish Driver** » June 25th, 2007, 7:39 pm

I went to an airshow when I was in high school and they had some legacy flights and the P-47 was one of the birds flown. You are right, that thing was loud as fuck. I also heard that it could dive like a brick.

GoldCoast · Post by **GoldCoast** » June 25th, 2007, 7:51 pm

It's all I want for Christmas!

hobbit · Post by **hobbit** » June 25th, 2007, 9:13 pm

Ever heard of Hans-Joachim Marseille? He was probably the greatest fighter pilot who ever lived. At age 22 he wrote papers on fighter tactics and the difficult art of deflection shooting that are taught to this day at the US Air Force Academy and elsewhere. He did most of his flying in the North Africa Theater. He was constantly in hot water in this most Nazified of German military branches because he loved black American jazz performers and played their music endlessly. He was killed bailing out of his Messerschmitt bf109 in 1942, but not before downing 158 allied aircraft, the vast majority British fighters. His amazing feat of shooting down 17 allied fighters in one day would only be bettered by another German pilot, Emil Lang, on the Eastern Front in 1943. Even more incredibly, he used less than 20 rounds per fighter and three of the 17 he shot down were piloted by aces. He was shot down 5 times himself and went down several other times due to mechanical failure. There's a granite pyramid in Egypt at the spot where he was killed that reads, "Hans-Joachim Marseille, Undefeated". One of his favorite American jazz records played in the background during his funeral ceremony.

http://www.2worldwar2.com/marseille.htm

Marseille refused to fly any plane other than the Messerschmitt bf109. He often commented that in the proper hands, it was the greatest fighter ever made. Maybe he was right.

Marseille's final Messerschmitt bf109 fighter with 151 victory flashes on tail (his last 7 had yet to be added):

hobbit · Post by **hobbit** » June 26th, 2007, 1:18 am

Redundant correction. Sorry.

RANGER513 · Post by **RANGER513** » June 26th, 2007, 3:01 am

A-10 Warthog. Awesome bird of prey.

Second wish would be a fully loaded AC-130 Spectre Gun Ship ........

Give me a week and I would rid ALL the scum bags from Washington State !