ex-fighter pilot, POW, Corvette driver

[Grant M.]

Re: ex-fighter pilot, POW, Corvette driver

Duke,

The F-5 could also shoot itself down in a ground attack mode. I attended an exercise back in the 80's where a friend and F-5 pilot showed me a row of centre-line fuel tanks in the infield all with "quarantine" tags on them because they had been punctured by cannon shell ricochets. I don't recall in the RCAF/CF ever had one shoot itself out of the air, though...

grant

[John H.]

Re: ex-fighter pilot, POW, Corvette driver

Obama either sold or parked his Chrysler 300 a few months after his campaign started (when the media became interested in what all the candidates drove), and bought some economy car - don't recall offhand what it was.

[Philip C.]

Re: ex-fighter pilot, POW, Corvette driver

Wow, Stupidity at it's finest (Hope you understood it Phil without the caps or bold on)

HENRY the only thing I didnt understand was your out of line comment! Phil 8063

[Henry S.]

Re: ex-fighter pilot, POW, Corvette driver

HENRY the only thing I didnt understand was your out of line comment! Phil 8063

PHIL, Maybe you can understand this. You don't post the garbage you did and get a pass. And only an IDIOT would think he could!! Comments like your little nursery rhyme only reinforcs the idea that others look at Corvette owners as a**holes!!

By the way MY comment wasn't the one out of line, YOURS was!! Henry

[Clem Z.]

Re: ex-fighter pilot, POW, Corvette driver

never heard about planes that shot themselves down but the bell airacobra,P-39, the one that had the engine behind the pilot with drive shaft passing between the pilot legs had a cannon out the nose that would cause the plane to go into a stall when the cannon was fired. i understand the USA gave them all to Russia. got this info from my uncle who was a fighter pilot during WWII when i was a mear child.

[Philip C.]

Re: ex-fighter pilot, POW, Corvette driver

PHIL, Maybe you can understand this. You don't post the garbage you did and get a pass. And only an IDIOT would think he could!! Comments like your little nursery rhyme only reinforcs the idea that others look at Corvette owners as a**holes!!

By the way MY comment wasn't the one out of line, YOURS was!! Henry

Henry I posted a Joke and people like you are the reason "others" think that! Phil

[Terry M.]

Re: ex-fighter pilot, POW, whose wife is a Corvette driver

Geoff,

It is Cindy who drives the Corvette

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/e60/news/story?id=3571491

[Stuart F.]

Re: ex-fighter pilot, POW, Corvette driver

Clem;

The P-39 was the airframe on which a lot of aerodynamic design theories were tested for the jet engined fighters that followed, i.e. engine(s) mounted behind the cockpit at or behind the center of the aircraft. It was also one of the first with tricycle landing gear. The Russians liked the "big gun" for tank busting and were not too interested in it's capabilities for air combat. The closest aircraft to it today would probably be the A10 "Warthog" which has the big nose mounted gatling type canon. Pilots report similar characteristics/effects when using the gun as regards to it slowing their air speed, but not to the point of stalling.

The Bell P-39 just need a couple of Chevy big blocks to really make it a success.

Stu Fox

[Terry R.]

Re: ex-fighter pilot, POW, Corvette driver

Terry I believe when he graduated from the United States Naval Academy he got a new '58 Corvette.

[Terry M.]

Re: ex-fighter pilot, POW, Corvette driver

I recall reading that someplace, but I couldn't find a citation for the information. Then the story I posted above came up.

[Duke W.]

Re: ex-fighter pilot, POW, Corvette driver

The P-39 nose cannon was a 37mm. It was used in the early war years by some AAF units, but the engine had poor high altitude performance.

For some reason that I've never understood, Allison never developed a good two stage supercharger system like on the Rolls Merllin, which is why the Merlin built under license by Packard was chosen for the P-51D, which became our primary high altitude interceptor to protect bomber formations from enemy fighters in 1944

The Allison did get a good two stage boost system consisting of both supercharger and turbocharger for good high altitude performance, and this version was used to good effect in the P-38. The turbo system was difficult to package in a conventional single fuselage design, but the P-38 offered plenty of room with its dual engine nacelle/fuselage boom layout.

A friend of mine's late father flew P-39s. Most were withdrawn from front line units by the end of 1942. They were used stateside for training, but most production went to the Soviet Union. A followup design, the P-59, was an improved version, but it still had a single stage supercharger Allison, which lacked high altitude performance, so most also went to the Soviets as a ground attach aircraft.

When Mustangs became available in sufficient numbers, the P-47s that were being used for bomber escort were switched to ground attack missions after D-day. With 8 .50 cal. Brownings, rockets and bombs on wing hard points, and a very rugged airframe and R-2800 engine, the P-47 found its true calling.

Duke

[Edward B.]

Re: ex-fighter pilot, POW, Corvette driver

Duke: Grumman F-11-F also "shot itself down" during testing from the Peconic River (Calverton) plant when it ran into its own projectiles.

[Bill M.]

Re: ex-fighter pilot, POW, Corvette driver

Phil

Loved your first post.Democrats can not understand anybody or anything that does not follow their rules. Its OK for them to say what they want but God help us when a republican cracks a joke.can i say God?
Missed that tanker.

Bill

[Stuart F.]

Re: ex-fighter pilot, POW, Corvette driver

Perhaps I am mistaken, but I understood the Bell P-59, or at least ir's airframe, was the first Jet powered fighter aircraft. I'll have to look that up.

Stu Fox

[Joel F.]

Re: ex-fighter pilot, POW, Corvette driver

Yes Stu, I believe the P-59 to be the first US jet powered fighter, or at least the first used operationally.