I recently interviewed some of the last ww2 heroes. One of them was at one point shuttled about by a Liberator, in the bomb bay, on a mission of extracting secret service agents. After 67 years, he still got excited recalling all the noise, clamour and excitement of the experience. Some mighty machines, they are, and they were invaluable to the course of history.

P-51 is the best internal combustion you'll ever hear, short of a 50's Testarossa V-12. Got to hear one once from the tarmac taxi and take off. Still stands the hair up on my neck thinking about it. Also got a chance to look at one of the Packard built Merlin mills taken apart. Absolutely beautiful workmanship. Every internal surface smoothed and polished, not a sharp edge or casting mark left anywhere. And damn near every fastener safty wired. Just a gogeous machine.

In the under the radar Steven Spielberg movie "Empire of the Sun" a young Christian Bale yells "P-51, Cadillac of the skies !!!

Watch the whole scene or just when the Mustangs roll in at 4 minutes or so. Gave me goose bumps watching it then, and when they fly into my local airport in the fall, the goose bumps return. The B-17, B-24, B-25 and the Mustang overhead for two days, it doesn't get much better than that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tztl6ZEjrw4

Scott

I don’t know about that. The Merlin engines in the Spitfire and Hurricane fighters were awesome sounding also.

i love world war two era bombers (and all military planes of that era) but when I see them in the air, I always think of this comic:




..."this is what it sounded like to die in the 40's"

Yeah, vintage planes are way cool, but so far beyond my budget it's not even funny. That's what's so nice about old bicycles-- there is really very llittle that is seriously beyond reach, even for someone raising a family on a Mexican teacher's salary. Also, if you crash your bike it's usually not that big a deal.

Hear about that P-40 they just found in the Sahara?

I live in a country area and was lucky to see at least two dozen or more WWI and WWII fighters and bombers formation flying from one air show to another over my home. The sound and rumble was amazing filling all my senses like going back in time and watching fleet of planes headed for a bombing run.
Planes also do training flights and aerobatics over my home, plenty of biplanes and fighters a P40 spent two weeks training for a show.

This is my model airfield at home and two of many planes I have.

I recall hearing one of the restorers from Duxford (the primary British air repository of restored, flying warbirds) recalling a conversation he had with the rebuilder at Rolls-Royce who was in charge of the engine rebuild for the early Messerschmitt Bf-109 (an Emil, I think) they were working on. The RR tech said, after inspecting the crankshaft of the DB601, "don't damage this, as it simply cannot be replicated on existing machinery." I found that quite an impressive testament to the build quality.

I wonder if this was the same B-25 I saw flying along the central Florida coast a few weeks ago. Neat aircraft. I'm dating myself, but my dad trained in B-25's near the end of WWII. The war ended before he saw active service.

I love the sound of those old radial engines too and had a surprise one day a few years ago. I was in north Seattle and saw a restored Boeing 307 (passenger version of the B-17) on a test flight, heard the radial rattle as I was fueling up my car and looked up. It struck me as odd because there wasn't enough radial rattle coming from those four engines. Turns out it was just about out of fuel, running on one engine at that point, and the crew had to ditch that old beauty in Elliot Bay, only a few dozen yards from shore. Last I heard it was going to be repaired.

Nice job rootboy. Looks like the one I saw last year.

If you want to get in to the nitty-gritty of the P-38, read Warren Bodie's book: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/as...ribtothecac-20 . Amazing detail, including proposals for versions never built. (Including one mounting a humongous cannon down the centerline. The pilot was relocated and nearly straddled the barrel.)

As Zippy pointed out, the B-25 was probably heading out from the Chino Airshow. A relation (what is niece's husband's brother anyway?) took photos. They had two P-38's flying around:



Among others:

The Lyons Air Museum is literally on the same street that I live on. Very cool place. General Lyons himself taxied it in place on opening day.



Sad but true. The B-25 was a weapon of mass destruction. The sound we love today must of been a terror to those on the receiving end.

The "Stangs and Lightnings are indeed cool. Prefer the P-51B and C over the D myself. And there is nothing quite like the sound of a P-38 in flight. But this is the one that does it for me.

Whistling Death....



Click my sig and you will see some of my photos from various air mueums.

!?!?!?!?

I got to visit the Paul Garber facility (the old restoration and storage facility for the National Air and Space Museum, now more or less inactive) back in the early 80s. They were restoring a plane that looked just like that. I know that's not theirs, they don't fly their stuff. I'm thinkin there weren't more than one made...

That's the Chino Planes of Fame Northrop model N9MB Flying Wing. It first flew in 1942. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_N-9M

YouTube video of the N9MB in flight. There's a B-25 on the ramp as N9MB taxis for takeoff in Palm Springs.

Thanks Soylent. Is that the 262 in Munich?

Wow. Fantastic photo. The good old Corsair.
You know, for instruments of death and war, fighter planes are, to my mind, some of the most beautiful things made by the hands of men.

Beautiful RC planes.

That was Christian Bale!? Ha. Never knew that. Yes, Scott, one of my favorite movie scenes. High speed low passes from Mustangs. Goose bumps is right!

Reminds me of "Pappy" Boyington and the Black Sheep Squadron.

As a kid, our National Guard unit still had P-51s . Great planes . My Dad loved the Corsairs, and the close air support they gave in the Pacific , during the war . Sound of death to some, sound of salvation to others .

Indeed. The sound of a Merlin-engined P-51 is magnificent, which I can say from the comfort of this chair and in retrospect.
I'm thankful I never had to hear, or see one, on my tail.

Here's to the magnificent men who flew these wonderful machines in battle. There aren't many of them left.

Sadly, a vintage B-17 Crashed and burned outside chicago last year https://photos.denverpost.com/mediace...ide-chicago/#2

Oh. That is sad.
This is an amazing story, which unfortunately, has turned sort of sad and ugly.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/w...-in-Burma.html