Reply to: Just weird from a German

[stek]

my dad used to tell me about a Jap plane that impressed the heck out of him. (he was on a carrier in the Pacific)
It was called a betty. It was a twin engined bomber that had a truly massive range, and it carried a long lance torpedo.

At the time, the allied torpedoes were unreliable , but the the japs was a 'one hit sinker'.

merchant ships were crucial to win the war in the pacific and these bettys were deadly. Problem was, the japs didnt like knocking off unarmed ships, they wanted a samurai fight, so they didnt go all-out (unlike the u boats).
(He said that the jap subs would often let cargo ships off the hook, so they could save the torpedoes for a warship)

Had a massive range cos it had no defences whatsoever!

[EternalOptimist]

my dad used to tell me about a Jap plane that impressed the heck out of him. (he was on a carrier in the Pacific)
It was called a betty. It was a twin engined bomber that had a truly massive range, and it carried a long lance torpedo.

At the time, the allied torpedoes were unreliable , but the the japs was a 'one hit sinker'.

merchant ships were crucial to win the war in the pacific and these bettys were deadly. Problem was, the japs didnt like knocking off unarmed ships, they wanted a samurai fight, so they didnt go all-out (unlike the u boats).
(He said that the jap subs would often let cargo ships off the hook, so they could save the torpedoes for a warship)

[doodab]

Never used for sticking wooden aircraft together though.

Chiefly because it doesn't work very well. It soaks into the wood and doesn't stick.

[socialworker]

reminds me of the old squadron leader giving a talk at our school in the sixties.
The old duffer was telling us about a dog fight over Kent

'Of course, I was on me own. seperated from the boys. Checked the bally sun, and there they were , two fokkers screaming down at me. So I dived into the clouds, did a reverse immelman, pulled the stick over, and when we came out of the clouds, I was heading back for Manston and those two fokkers were heading for Berlin. Jolly good show.What. what'

'does anyone have any questions for the squadron leader ?'

'Sir sir. were the Fokker 190 or 190A ?'

'No. no. those two fokkers were Messerschmitts'

That old boy must have got around quite a bit.

[socialworker]

The first use of superglue as I understand it. Then again I may be wrong.

I thought superglue was developed by the Americans in the 60s and used in Vietnam to stick wounds together. Or I may be wrong.

[SueEllen]

I was told Germans didn't have a sense of humour yet all Germans I've met have been funny.

[cojak]

The scene:

Groups of bikers huddled around campfires around dawn at the Le Mans 24 Hour bike race. French Les Miserables between an English and German contingent.

The Bosh:
"Hey! Englanders! Why do they have trees along French roads?"

Tommy (me):
"I don't know Fritz, why do they have trees along French roads?" (I know how to play the straight man...)

The Bosh:
"To give the German Army some shade as they march to Paris!!"

Somehow that reduced us all to fits of laughter (apart from Les Mis, obv...)

[quackhandle]

Out performed the current Spitfire by quite a margin - the Typhoon with the Napier Sabre engine (worth a read on its own just for a classic British engineering story) could match the FW190

But I'm with the others on liking the Mosquito as the best Allied plane of WWII...but the ME262 has to take the overall award

The Tiffy gets my vote as best looking plane of WW2, it was armed to the teeth and could withstand a hell of a battering and still get back to land in blighty. In fact many of the Typhoon pilots died just flying the damn thing. If you can get hold of it, Typhoon Attack by Norman Franks is a great read.

qh

[doodab]

Hmm. Best looking planes of WW2...

Spitfire
Mosquito
Mustang P51-D and onwards
Focke Wulf 190
B29

IMO

[SimonMac]

Maybe he just wanted a decent beer?

The Beer | Spitfire Kentish Ale

Damn: Too Slow

[Old Hack]

Wasn't the Mustang the fastest prop plane in WW2?

Loved the mossy, just an elegant old bird.

[EternalOptimist]

reminds me of the old squadron leader giving a talk at our school in the sixties.
The old duffer was telling us about a dog fight over Kent

'Of course, I was on me own. seperated from the boys. Checked the bally sun, and there they were , two fokkers screaming down at me. So I dived into the clouds, did a reverse immelman, pulled the stick over, and when we came out of the clouds, I was heading back for Manston and those two fokkers were heading for Berlin. Jolly good show.What. what'

'does anyone have any questions for the squadron leader ?'

'Sir sir. were the Fokker 190 or 190A ?'

'No. no. those two fokkers were Messerschmitts'

[KentPhilip]

Colleague who I call food guy came into the office this afternoon.

"Suity, I need to borrow a spitfire"

...

"Our colleagues in Dublin are doing my head in. ....

He was actually in need of Spitfire beer, to calm his nerves..




Edit: Google image search "Spitfire beer". Some of the adverts are quite funny.

[vetran]

just send them some Orange sashes, they will bomb themselves?

[stek]

Just weird from a German

Out performed the current Spitfire by quite a margin - the Typhoon with the Napier Sabre engine (worth a read on its own just for a classic British engineering story) could match the FW190

But I'm with the others on liking the Mosquito as the best Allied plane of WWII...but the ME262 has to take the overall award

Off topic slightly but the Lanc for me, ended up carrying a 22,000lb bomb, when the B17 was stuck with 6000lbs I think...

No other plane could have dropped the mine on the dams at that time, even now could it be done in a similar fashion ie not a SCUD or ICBM?