RE: Dogfight: Long Odds
07-30-2009, 09:40 PM (This post was last modified: 01-17-2018, 12:31 PM by Bob Schroeck.)
07-30-2009, 09:40 PM (This post was last modified: 01-17-2018, 12:31 PM by Bob Schroeck.)
Excellent point. I keep forgetting about the ranges involved in the Pacific. They are almost always enormous. For some reason I remember the ranges when it
comes to the European theater much better. I guess it's because the maps and diagrams I've seen typically illustrated things against a backdrop that
was easier to grasp. The Thunderbolts can only go THIS far before turning back, the Mustangs could go all the way to Berlin and back, etc.
Speaking of the Thunderbolts, or "Jugs", did anyone see the episode of Dogfights that was centered on them? Good GOD what a monster of a plane!
Didn't have nearly the range of the Mustang of course, but in all other respects was a great dogfighter. Incredibly tough. That episode (among other
stories) told of a "Jug" pilot who nearly got shot out of the sky before recovering and as he's limping back home, is attacked by a Focke Wolfe.
He can't do ANYTHING to fight back because the plane can barely fly in a straight line and he can't bail out because the canopy is stuck.
The Focke Wolfe Pilot used ALL HIS AMMO on that plane and COULD NOT KILL IT. He finally had to give up and fly away. The Thunderbolt pilot made it home alive
and relatively ok.
Oh hey - here's a link to the footage I mentioned.
comes to the European theater much better. I guess it's because the maps and diagrams I've seen typically illustrated things against a backdrop that
was easier to grasp. The Thunderbolts can only go THIS far before turning back, the Mustangs could go all the way to Berlin and back, etc.
Speaking of the Thunderbolts, or "Jugs", did anyone see the episode of Dogfights that was centered on them? Good GOD what a monster of a plane!
Didn't have nearly the range of the Mustang of course, but in all other respects was a great dogfighter. Incredibly tough. That episode (among other
stories) told of a "Jug" pilot who nearly got shot out of the sky before recovering and as he's limping back home, is attacked by a Focke Wolfe.
He can't do ANYTHING to fight back because the plane can barely fly in a straight line and he can't bail out because the canopy is stuck.
The Focke Wolfe Pilot used ALL HIS AMMO on that plane and COULD NOT KILL IT. He finally had to give up and fly away. The Thunderbolt pilot made it home alive
and relatively ok.
Oh hey - here's a link to the footage I mentioned.