Aircraft Identification V

[A4K]

The Northrop/ McDonnell-Douglas YF-23. (shot on the starboard exhaust)

[Graeme]

Originally Posted by A4K

The Northrop/ McDonnell-Douglas YF-23. (shot on the starboard exhaust)

[kool kitty89]

Wildcat

[Kruska]

Originally Posted by kool kitty89

Wildcat

Hello kool kitty,

NO, the a/c is a USN Thumbs Up.

Regards
Kruska

[kool kitty89]

I don't think it's a Hellcat, it really looks like a Wildcat's canopy. The TBF/TBM is the only other thing close and that doesn't look right either...

Or was that a joke?

[Kruska]

Hello kool kitty89,

Yes, I tried to put it as a joke since I interpret Graeme’s pic as a “thumbs up” =(you got it right A4K) and not as a new identification picture.

Regards
Kruska

[kool kitty89]

Oh...

But on a related note I think the History channel's dogfights gas been using the Avenger's canopy in the cockpit shots for the Hellcat.

YouTube - Dogfights: Zero Killer : Hamilton McWhorter

[Kruska]

Hello kool kitty89,

You might be correct, but honestly I do not know much about US a/c’s used in the PTO = I am not very familiar with most types in order to identify them correctly besides an F-4U or types also used in the ETO.

Regards
Kruska

[A4K]

Yeah, it was a 'thumbs up'! But I think you're right Kitty - I'd say it's an F6F Hellcat, too.

[kool kitty89]

Um, I said a Wildcat, but as Kruska pointed out I don't think it was an identifcation pic.


That internal view of the Hellcat on dogfights is wrong though, seen in the link I posted. (it looks like an Avenger)

[wingnuts]

Saburo Sakai also had a problem distinguishing the Wildcat and the Avenger....

"I made a mistake while attacking a flight of Avengers, as I had mistaken them as being Wildcats from the rear. I closed in to less than fifty yards and was in the crossfire of eight aircraft’s defensive gunners. They tore my plane up."

[kool kitty89]

I think that happened at Guadalcanal the same day Sakai has the fight with James "Pug" Southerland. After the encounter with Southerland Sakai continued more or less a combat patroll (he'd initially been an escort) and saw what he thought was a formation of fighters in the distance, by the time he realized they were bombert he decided it was too late to turn back and the gunners had there sights on him.

He had a .30 cal round hit the windshield and go clean through his head above his right eye. Amazingly he survived, but lost sight in one eye, and actually returned to combat.

They had a show about it on PBS:

I posted this http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/avi...l-8558-11.html (Dog fights on the History channel)

But on topic I saw the PBS "Secrets of The Dead" Guadalcanal episode tonight. Very interesting.SECRETS OF THE DEAD . Dogfight Over Guadalcanal | PBS http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/avi...akai-5794.html (James "Pug" Southerland vs Saburo Sakai)
Looks like some of the same type of animation they used in Dogfights.

And they had Barrett Tillman, who also regularly apears on Dogfights.

Sakai, meanwhile, watched Pug's plane crash into the jungle, then headed off to find other American planes to attack. He soon found some, but was gravely wounded by an American tail gunner whose bullet went through the Zero's windshield and into his head. Barely conscious, Sakai somehow managed to make the harrowing, five-hour flight back to his base in Rabaul, keeping himself lucid along the way by irritating his own wounds.

The range and speed of Sakai's Zero (and a good bit of luck) allowed him to get the best of Pug Southerland in their spectacular dogfight, but had Pug's guns been working, he would likely have been able to shoot down the flimsy Zero. And shortly after Sakai shot down Pug, the limitations of his airplane were put clearly on display with devastating consequences when he was shot by a tail gunner from an American bomber. The tail gunner's .30 caliber bullet pierced the Zero's windshield and went through Sakai's eye and brain before exiting on the other side of his skull. If his Zero had been equipped with bulletproof glass, Sakai would likely have escaped unharmed.

Wounded and only semi-conscious, Sakai had little chance of surviving. But his skill -- and the extreme range of the lightweight Zero -- allowed him to fly all the way back to Rabaul with the little fuel he had remaining. Had he been flying any other contemporary fighter, he almost certainly would have perished. To this day, his flight is considered one of the most amazing feats in aviation history, and if not for his trusty Zero, none would ever have heard his account of the famous dogfight.

[pbfoot]

help with this would be nice it flew over the other day and I want to say Transall C160 but its a little out of it's neighbourhood and it just doesn't look right to me

[Kruska]

Hello pbfoot,

what makes you think that it might not be a Transall C-160. Could it be that you took these photos in May-June 2006?

The a/c color scheme on your photos indicates a French Transall C-160, and they had a couple of these during Maple Flag 2006 and 2005 at Cold Lake Air-Weapons-Range training with the 441 and 416 Tactical Fighter Squadron of 4 Wing. (I heard one of them is now called 409 Tactical Squadron?).

Attachment 62744

Attachment 62745

Regards
Kruska

[Graeme]

Originally Posted by A4K

Yeah, it was a 'thumbs up'!

Affirmative!

Originally Posted by kool kitty89

Um, I said a Wildcat, but as Kruska pointed out I don't think it was an identifcation pic.

Correct.

Originally Posted by pbfoot

help with this would be nice it flew over the other day and I want to say Transall C160 but its a little out of it's neighbourhood and it just doesn't look right to me

I'm with you and Kruska, definitely looks like a C-160.




Nice photos by the way pb. I enjoy those long-distance 'observer' identification challenges. Very popular in English magazines from the 50s, 60s and 70s.