ME-262

I think our own CK flies a B-25 sometimes. At least he used to.

I'm a fan of the P-61 Black Widow. There is something super cool about the totally unsportsmanlike way it would sneak up and clobber enemy fighters. It's like the WWII equivalent of spawn camping...
 
Somehow these got passed over in the discussion of sexy airplanes....

Spitfire8oClock.jpg




31885.jpg





Also, the Mustang sucks. That is all.
 
flyinguitar said:
I can't get excited about a plane that fought to exterminate my people, succeeding enough to erase large swaths of my extended family.

My love for the beauty of aviation overpowers concerns I have about Japanese or Russian planes, but Nazi planes are just too over the line for me.

No problem if it doesn't bother you... just something to think about.
Click to expand...

Oh my god give me a break.
 
Inverted said:
Oh my god give me a break.
Click to expand...
+1.

Honestly, in those pictures of the 262... it looks like something is missing on the vertical stab. If I owned the thing, I would have no issues displaying the period-correct insignia there. It's historical. Sometimes sucky things happened in history. My great uncle was killed in his P-47 by some Nazis in Luxembourg.
 
Inverted said:
Oh my god give me a break.
Click to expand...
I think you misinterpreted my thoughts as directing how you or anyone else should feel about seeing a Nazi plane. That's not what I said, and it's not what I meant.

Sure it has historical value. And I don't object to them being preserved. But for me, the personal connection to the history they were involved in means I don't get enjoyment from them like other planes.
 
pete2800 said:
+1.

Honestly, in those pictures of the 262... it looks like something is missing on the vertical stab. If I owned the thing, I would have no issues displaying the period-correct insignia there. It's historical. Sometimes sucky things happened in history. My great uncle was killed in his P-47 by some Nazis in Luxembourg.
Click to expand...
Really? You would feel comfortable flying around in an airplane displaying a swastika?
 
I understand where you are coming from but these planes are there to represent history and by removing historical markings because it makes people uncomfortable does nothing to accurately portray these machines and there place in history.
 
FW_190_A8_1.jpg


The very essence of Menace. 4x20mm, incredible roll rate, and radial power. The A4 cleaved through Spitfires like they were going out of style when it was introduced in late 1941. Pure boom and zoom...carry the speed, hit them hard, then climb through in the vertical. A taste of things to come...

As to by whom or why it was operated, the history of the world is very, very long. Every ethnic, religious, national, and trans-national group has done some extremely unsavory stuff they should be deeply ashamed of. I don't know anyone who hates the Gladius because it was used to subject pretty much the entire Western world to the whims of the Roman Emperors. It's just an object. It's possible to admire the engineering and effort that went in to the Gladius over hundreds of years without attaching onseself to the political idealogy of the Empire. That's because, unlike us, the Gladius (or the FW, or the 262) is just an object. Human beings have to decide how to use them.

And, I mean, honestly. Slavery? The Conquest of the Americas (and attendant genocide)? Do we really find ourselves in a position to point fingers at some other group's MACHINES, of all things?
 
pete2800 said:
Yeah, as long as the rest of the airplane was similarly historically accurate. I would feel just fine about that.
Click to expand...
There's nothing wrong with that. The swastika is such a powerful symbol, however, that I imagine it would dominate people's response to the plane if it was flying around. I suspect that might be why the owners removed it. If they had built a replica for a museum, they probably would have included the swastika. Can you imagine taxiing up to an FBO with that symbol? I bet a lot of people would get upset.
 
Brian29 said:
I understand where you are coming from but these planes are there to represent history and by removing historical markings because it makes people uncomfortable does nothing to accurately portray these machines and there place in history.
Click to expand...
I never suggested that the swastika be removed.
 
Boris Badenov said:
FW_190_A8_1.jpg


The very essence of Menace. 4x20mm, incredible roll rate, and radial power. The A4 cleaved through Spitfires like they were going out of style when it was introduced in late 1941. Pure boom and zoom...carry the speed, hit them hard, then climb through in the vertical. A taste of things to come...

As to by whom or why it was operated, the history of the world is very, very long. Every ethnic, religious, national, and trans-national group has done some extremely unsavory stuff they should be deeply ashamed of. I don't know anyone who hates the Gladius because it was used to subject pretty much the entire Western world to the whims of the Roman Emperors. It's just an object. It's possible to admire the engineering and effort that went in to the Gladius over hundreds of years without attaching onseself to the political idealogy of the Empire. That's because, unlike us, the Gladius (or the FW, or the 262) is just an object. Human beings have to decide how to use them.

And, I mean, honestly. Slavery? The Conquest of the Americas (and attendant genocide)? Do we really find ourselves in a position to point fingers at some other group's MACHINES, of all things?
Click to expand...
When you see someone pointing fingers, let me know.
 
When one considers that most of the men who flew the 262 paid for the experience with their lives, 4.6K doesn't really seem too expensive.
 
GX said:
In reference to the Mustang, flight time is around $3200 an hour, with a buy cost of over 3 million, after airframe, insurance, and other costs. The Corsair cost over $4500 an hour to fly, and the sell price of Race 57 was undisclosed. Precious Metal, the racing Mustang, the operating cost per hour is about $4000.
Click to expand...

That is so sad. :(
 
Incidentally, there are multiple anecdotal accounts that the Bearcat was strongly influenced by the FW190. Notice the stubby wings, reduced size (compared to other Grumman products), and vastly improved rollrate over, say, the Hellcat. Being a naval fighter (and being primarily intended to fight the Japanese), it still had substantially lower wing-loading, but the resemblance is noticeable.
 
Boris Badenov said:
Incidentally, there are multiple anecdotal accounts that the Bearcat was strongly influenced by the FW190. Notice the stubby wings, reduced size (compared to other Grumman products), and vastly improved rollrate over, say, the Hellcat. Being a naval fighter (and being primarily intended to fight the Japanese), it still had substantially lower wing-loading, but the resemblance is noticeable.
Click to expand...

I've talked to people who've flown Bearcats and they really wax orgasmic about the experience. And this from people that have flown lots of things (really, if you are flying a Bearcat in the relatively near past or present that's almost a given). The only other machine I've heard people giddy about like the Bearcat is a Jungmeister - people just seem taken with the airplane.
 


Hals und breinbruch! And I mean you couldn't have picked a better pilot, he's a Squarehea...er German straight out of Central Casting. So full of win! "ACHTUNG, ACHTUNG, SPITFEUR!"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top