Famous weapons in WW2

[Peiper]

Very nice clip about a one of the famoust airplanes in this war, the B-24 Liberator:

http://www.flixya.com/video/129890/B-24_...tor_Flight

[Scud]

Pretty neat. I heard they were really hard to fly, unlike the B17 which practically flew themselves. I also remember reading somewhere that there are only three still flying. Is that true?

There was a documentary a long time ago about trying to restore a Liberator that had crashed landed on the ice in northern Alaska (I think). These guys went up there and found it, restored it to flying condition, new wiring, engine overhauls, the works. Then they go to take off, there's a fire and the whole thing burns up. Pretty sad.

[Mike Abberton]

The B-24 had better performance characteristics as a bomber (better range, bigger payload, etc.) than the B-17, but it was a more fragile airplane. The high wing design meant a nice big airframe to hold stuff, but it was a structurally weaker design than the low-wing B-17.

Not sure about flying characteristics, though. I've heard that the huge single tail of the B-17 made it "interesting" to fly in a cross-wind (watch the takeoff scenes in the remake of "Memphis Belle" and watch the B-17s yaw when they leave the ground), but it obviously could fly with a huge amount of damage, which implies it had power and lift to spare (without bombs on board at least).

Mike

[Crossroads]

There was a documentary a long time ago about trying to restore a Liberator that had crashed landed on the ice in northern Alaska (I think). These guys went up there and found it, restored it to flying condition, new wiring, engine overhauls, the works. Then they go to take off, there's a fire and the whole thing burns up. Pretty sad.

Some of these old 'relics' have been preserved in surprisingly good condition :)

Here's something I have kept an eye every now and then for some time now: The Last Brewster

Picture: http://www.airforcemuseum.fi/flash.asp?file=2

Story: http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/sho...hp?t=78458

B239's earned a truly legendary status at this part of world in 1941-43. The pearl of the skies, the pilots called them. What I have read, they are claimed to hold several "world" records: for an example the most planes shot down by the same physical plane (41 enemy planes).

Original footage with Hurricanes, Brewsters and Blenheims flying under the Finnish light-blue swastikas (appear around 3:30). A sight some of you have perhaps not seen?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf4YawhIL7w&NR=1

[Scud]

Great pics. I made the mistake of clicking on the youtube link. I can never watch just one. I think I've just spent the last thirty minutes looking at more videos on it. There's a good one (short) of it sitting on the edge of the lake. Just have to do a search for "Brewster Airplane".

[Crossroads]

Here's another related story:

http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/nordtronde...366357.ece

It is in Norwegian :) but there is a video available as well

A mini submarine managed to locate a Me-109 near Norwegian coast. Eyewitnesses remember seeing a sortie of three German planes, one of them having a motor failure and diving towards the sea. The pilot managed to level the plane just before it hit water and was saved by a boat.

His plane has now (well, in 2008) been located. The article mentions a Norwegian museum taking interest but I have not managed to find whether the plane was brought up to surface or not.