Favourite Aircraft of WWII

Hawker Tempest





Macchi C.202 Folgore

 

I had forgotten about the Israelis using the 109. What a perfect irony!

 

The Jumo 211F eigines used were supposed to be used in the HE-111. Made the airframe definatley longer .
Besides the Avias S.199s and Spitfire 16s the IAF also flew P-51Ds and 3 B-17Gs. BTW The S.199s were disassembled, crated up, then sent to Israel . When it was time to reassemble them the Israelis found out there were no manuals to show how to put them back together!! LOL.Because of this sometimes the interrupter gear on the nose guns would fail with immediate loss of the propeller!
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Avia S.199

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The Avia S.199 was a Czech version of the Messerschmitt Bf 109G-14 manufactured at previously German-controlled factories from the Messerschmitt blueprints. The standard airframe was combined with the only available engine, the Jumo 211F, and so the result differed from the original German design by having a larger engine cowling. The plane had difficult handling characteristics, especially during takeoff and landing and very unforgiving controls, reasons for which it earned the nickname “mule.”
Having the most rudimentary of air forces upon its creation, Israel was hard pressed for air power and so bought 25 examples of the type in early 1948. Pilot training commenced at the beginning of May when 12 pilots, including Ezer Weizman, current president of Israel, were dispatched to Czechoslovakia. On May 15, however, the creation of the state of Israel was declared and with it came the Arab invasion that began the War of Independence. The pilots demanded to return to Israel despite having very little flight training and no weapons training, and on May 20, 1948, a C-54 Skymaster containing the first S.199 landed at Tel-Nof AFB.
The first weeks of fighting had not gone well for the newly born Israel Defense Forces, with an Egyptian armored column progressing on Tel-Aviv and threatening to destroy the newly born state, while enemy aircraft roamed the skies unchallenged, bombing Israeli cities. And so it was that on the evening of May 29, with four assembled planes and another five in various stages of completion, that Israel's first fighter squadron first went into action. Four S.199s took off from Tel-Nof, where the fighters were based, to attack the Egyptian forces headed for Tel-Aviv. The fighters descended on the surprised Egyptians and began to bomb and strafe them but one crashed before completing his mission. Despite losing a valuable fighter, the attack had achieved its goal — although inflicting very little damage and a small number of casualties, it had a great psychological effect which halted the enemy's advance and allowed ground forces to organize and go on the offensive.
Within days, the newly arrived fighters had participated in attacks on all fronts and were instrumental in pushing back the invading Arab armies. With another S.199 lost a day after the first attack, they were more valuable in what they represented than in the actual damage they inflicted — the appearance of an Israeli fighter arm was a complete surprise to Arab commanders and also a great morale boost to the local population. It was on June 3 that the citizens of the young state learned of the existence of a local fighter force, with the first aerial victories of the Israeli Air Force.
Expecting very little resistence from the ground, two Egyptian Dakotas appeared over Tel-Aviv on the evening of June 3. After dropping their bombing loads they began making their way home when they were pounced upon by a lone S.199 piloted by Moddy Alon, Israel's first fighter squadron leader. Both bombers were shot down, signaling an end to Arab domination of the air.
The Avia S.199s continued to serve as fronting fighters with the IAF until the end of the war, first from the airfield at Herzlia and later from Hazor AFB, although attrition had taken a great toll on them — toward the end of 1948, of the 25 originally purchased, 12 had been lost, seven were in different stages of repairs and only six were fully operational.
Specification: Avia S.199
Type: single seat fighter.
Powerplant: one Junkers Jumo 211F.
Performance: max speed — 366mph at 19,685, operational range — 528 miles.
Weights: max takeoff weight — 3500kg.
Dimensions: span — 9.92m, length — 9.10m.
Armament: 2 * 20mm cannon and 2 * 13.1mm machine guns.

 

Nice choice the Folgore! Just trying to be diferent are we?
J/K
I really like that plane a lot too!


Cheers...

 

Favourite planes? How can we forget the prettiest of them all after the P-39?

The Caudron-Reranult 714


Or the Polikarpovs?


Or the Tupolev TB-3 'Zveno'


The Vultee Vengeance was pretty too.

 

You can't speak of the Polikarpovs without speaking of the Mothership!!




Now that's the prime example of "if it's stupid but works, it isn't stupid!"



Cheers...

 

Who said it worked?

 

what time frame - both Miguels ? day ops or night ops ??

 

Day ops. And they managed to work against Romania:
" Zveno-SPB saw limited but successful combat use during the Great Patriotic War. In the opening stages, the Black Sea Fleet Air Force was tasked with destroying industrial targets in Nazi Germany-allied Romania. The most important of these was the King Carol I Bridge over Danube which carried the Ploieşti-Constanţa oil pipeline. After several failed attempts to destroy the heavily protected bridge with conventional bombers, the task was given to the Zveno squadron. As a combat test, it was decided to first attack the Constanţa oil depot. On 26 July 1941, two Zveno-SPB aircraft performed a successful attack on the depot in broad daylight with no losses. The fighters disconnected 40 km (22 NM, 25 mi) from the target and returned to the home airfield under their own power.[3]"



Cheers...

 

Miguel did you know that some were even used on night bomber missions and engaged by LW night fighters ?, am sure the LW crews asked themselves "what is this ? "

E ~

 

Yeah read something about that somewhere. But against any post 39 fighter group they wouldn't stand much chance (too low ceiling and speed) but if they got a german fighter alone they would break him appart.


Cheers...

 

"The first operational mission of the composites took place on the 26th of July 1936, during which time two Zveno-SPBs released their four I-16s near the Constanza harbor. Interesting detail: the FLAK did not even attempt to shoot them down, their presence so far from their bases being so hard to believe. The operation's success therefore brought a repeated utilization of the Zveno against the pipelines, bridges, and miscellaneous terrestrial objectives.

By the end of October 1941, the arrival of the German Wehrmacht at the Evpatoria factory where the Zveno were assembled put an end to those missions. None the less, it should be noted that despite the experimental nature of the concept, the results were interesting. In 29 sorties, only three I-16s were lost (no TB-3 were ever lost) and the percentage of the target destroyed was very significant.

The Zveno were an interesting concept due to their varieties of diverse utilization starting with a Tupolev TB-3 decidedly used for many roles. Within the frame of the German "Mistel" concept, that airplane was even tested as a flying bomb loaded with 3500 kilos of explosive, and Tele-guided by another airplane flying at its side."

Composite & parasite aircraft: Zveno

"At least six SPB were built, and used (mostly) early in the Second World War on Black Sea Theater. More than thirty missions were performed during 1941. Last (known to me - A.S.) sortie was flown (according to Shavrov) on May 25, 1943 against Dunabe bridge at Chyernovod. This bridge had very strong anti-aircraft defense system, and few attacks by Il-4 failed. Then single SPB was sent. After approaching undetected from the sea, TB-3 released I-16s. Those approached bridge at high speed and altitude... and destroyed the target fifth their four FAB-250 bombs. All three aircraft returned safely."

SPB by V.S.Vakhmistrov/N.P.Polikarpov/A.N.Tupolev

 

God, its so hard to pick!

This is something few of you have ever heard probably, but i've always had a big soft spot for the Grumman Wildcat. It was outclassed but it soldiered on and held its own against the better dogfighting Zero. I'm also a big fan of the P-47 Jug.

I think the brits claim the prize for the most beautiful planes. Especially the Spit and the Mosquito. Absolutely gorgeous aircraft!

I was talking to a B17 pilot once and he said "You wouldnt think it would be possible to fall in love with a plane. But these old girls (referring to the B17) could lose half a wing and she'd get you home with one engine going." He said he always left his plane with a kiss on the nose.

 

You learn something every day in this forum, I didn't have any notion that the Thing had worked so I never bothered to look up

 

Lot of people don't I just adore Russian 30's armament. It somehow resembles a Jules Verne book



Cheers...

 

My favourite aircraft is the Westland Whirlwind; it's petite and gorgeous, just like my wife

 

Yeah, yeah, blabbing it out here to show her later so you can score points. That trick is an old one

Here's another favourite!

 

The original P.O.S. MkI

 

Whats that? a Finnish Buffalo?

 

Correct! Do a google search on it and you'll be surprised!