Wright Flyer. The one that started it all and showed us, "Yes, you, too, can fly like a bird." And it happened SO not that long ago. Only 3 years before my grandfather was born. And he lived to see the moon landings (when I was born) and Stealth Bombers, and the Mars Rover. ONE lifetime. It is a BIG deal that we fly. And fight in the air. With guns.
The DC-3. It is the best airplane, ever. No really. It did so much. Still flies after 80 years, and just a perfect serendipitous conglomeration of form and function. It brought the guns and the men to Normandy and many other places
The P-38 Lightning. I always loved the plane of aces McGuire and Bong (heh! bong...) with .50 Ma Dueces and you the only thing in the center pod. Shot down Yamamoto, this plane did, much to the consternation of that mentally defective reprobate in the Black Robe that happens to be a gov't worker. I'd call him a retard, but that would be an insult of people born with learning disabilities, as that Justice has a fraction of the brain capacity. A better descriptor is "He has O'Conner smarts."
The Grumman F-8F Bearcat. Grumman made some great 'Cats' but this was the best piston fighter the Navy ever had. It's only flaw was coming too late to show it's superiority, and not having a worthy foe to fight at that time even if WW2 had dragged on.
The B-36 Peacemaker. Just look at that monstrosity. I loved that Jimmy Stewart movie, Strategic Air Command, and this Monster with 8 (d'oh, SIX!) turning and 4 burning was practically a character in the flick. My dad sat in the bubble on the side a few times, doing stuff for the USAF. It brought the BIG gun.
The F-8 Crusader. The LAST true dogfighter. Sure, it had a few heat seeking missiles, but it was a GUNS machine. And it was dang sexy.
Six turning and four burning.
ReplyDeleteMy dad was stationed on Okinawa where they flew the big B-36. Somewhere in his collection of stuff are a whole bunch of 35mm color slides of aircraft that he wasn't supposed to take pictures of.