P-51 Mustang
If you want to see more, go to youtube and search Luftwaffe’s Deadlest Mission 2.
The P-51 Mustang was designed by North American Aviation. It went to combat in WWII, because most of the fighters that were already in service did not have a long enough range to escort the longer range bombers. Plus they were getting torn up by the Germans’ extreme defense. Then, as soon as the Mustang entered the war things got very bad for the Germans. Hundreds of factories, bases, and other buildings were bombed relentlessly. Mustangs surprised unsuspecting German ME 109 fighters until. . . . .
As a desperate last move (which I think was actually two moves), Germany did the following: First, they invented the world’s first jet. (the ME 262) Second, Germany started sacrificing their planes to crash into bombers, it was almost suicide.
In the end the Germans moves were too late in the war, and the 262 was nearly matched by the P-51 Mustang, because it had been upgraded over time. The only advantage the 262 had over the Mustang was speed. Speed is every thing, almost. What really is the advantage in combat is not the plane at all. It is the pilot.
The F-15 Eagle
The F-15 Eagle was the first American jet designed specifically for combat since the F-86 Saber. It packed two primary weapons: Four heat seeking Aim-9 Sidewinders and four radar guided Aim-7 Sparrows. It also packed 940 rounds for a twenty millimeter cannon.
Even though it was produced by America, the IAF (Israeli Air Force) scored the first kill for the F-15 Eagle. That kill was scored by Moshe Melnik with a Python 3, an advanced Israeli version of the American Aim-9 Sidewinder. This kill was scored on the fast and nimble MiG-21. Melnik started his engagement with the MiGs when GCI (Ground Control Intercepting) warned them of a flight of MiGs heading towards them. The F-15s made a hard turn to the right to engage the enemy. Even though they were twenty miles away, the Eagles spotted their prey. This is because the F-15 is designed for BVRC (Beyond Visual Range Combat) . The flight got radar lock and GCI gave permission to fire but the flight leader hadn’t given his permission at all. Seconds into the F-15s first armed confrontation, Melnik realized why his leader had not given him permission to fire: both men wanted the first kill. So instead of waiting Melnik pressed the launch button about the same time his leader did. Two Aim-7 Sparrows rocketed away at mach three (2,160 mph). At the first attempt to score an F-15 kill the Sparrows failed to lock and darted harmlessly into space. Already an ace in the F-4 Phantom, Melnik instinctively reverted to old tactics: he got his head outside the cockpit. The MiGs however, aware that they were facing the most powerful fighter in the world (back then) turned back towards Syria (Seer-eeaa). Their turn exposed their hot tail pipes to Melnik’s heat seeking Python missiles. Melnik got first tally on the MiGs, and the Python gained lock on the MiGs. Suddenly the MiGs reversed their turn. Melnik fired right when they do so, but is cranked more than 130 degrees to stay behind the MiGs. The Python is an all terrain missile and can take the g. After the missile hit there is not an ejection.
click here to see a video.
Part 2
In the span of thirty seconds Melik makes history. An Israeli has taken first blood for the F-15, but the MiGs wingman was escaping, but two other F-15s entered the fight. They were piloted by Eitan Ben Eliyahu and Yol Felsho. Felsho gained radar lock on the wing man and fired a sparrow missile. This time the sparrow tracked strait to the target. It’s number two in favor of the F-15. Suddenly a second flight of MiGs loomed on the horizon and they were heading strait at the F-15s. Now Eiton Ben Eliyahu faced a third. Number four in the formation flew directly at Eliyahu. The two planes passed in a classic merge then each turned right to get behind the other. Eliyahu found himself in a high g turning fight, an arena which the Israelis dominate. He soon found himself behind the MiG. The MiG, however, could not sustain a high g level turn so it dove down to keep its speed up. It descended rapidly, but Eliyahu was on him like glue. With his powerful twin F-100 turbofan engines providing unmatched thrust in the turn. After two and one half turns he was very close to the MiG, which was looking for the right time to escape. He had no choice because they were close to the ground and he had to pull out of the dive. However, it was too close for even a Python missile. Ben went to guns. Eliyahu pulled one more turn then he was 600-700 yards away. The M-61 gatling gun sprayed out ammunition at 6000 rounds a minute. After two shots the MiG was no longer flying. This was the first ever engagement in an F-15 Eagle. As you can see, the F-15 was clearly a mean machine.
Even though back then it was the best fighter in the world, it is no longer in the top spot. Many new American, Russian, and even UK fighters are higher in the top ten list, but it still is currently number five on the list. The number one plane in the world is the F-22 Raptor.
F4U Corsair
You asked for it so it will give you it! The following is on the story behind the F-4U Corsair’s wing design.
The reason the Corsair got it’s wings was simple: The propeller was very large. The propeller actually was in fact, larger than any other planes propeller. It was a three blade with a diameter of a little more than thirteen feet. The designers tried to make long enough gear struts to give the long blades clearance from the ground so they wouldn’t hit the ground durring takoff or landing. The couldn’t make it. Then somebody said,”Why don’t we bend the wings?” Everyone else thought that was a silly idea, then they said,”Wait, why don’t we?” And then the gull wing desgin was made. The wings were bent down then back up. This not only allowed crash-free landings and takoffs, but a much more agile plane.
de Havilland Mosquito
The de Havilland Mosquito was a WWII multirole aircraft. The Mosquito was one of the few front line fighters made almost completely out of wood. This earned it the nickname “The Wooden Wonder” The mosquito mainly served as a night fighter, fighter bomber, and a bomber. The mosquito was one of the fastest planes in the world, due to its twin Merlin engines. The Mosquito was a great intercepter and put out a big enough punch to sink a ship.
F-8 Crusader
The F-8 crusader was a single engined jet that served in Vietnam and was decommissioned with the arrival of the Cold War. The F-8 was armed with four missiles and four guns in the nose. It had a very powerful engine, and had a similar reputation for speed as the F-4 Phantom, but was much more agile than the F-4 Phantom. Although it was the only fighter in the american’s arsenal that had a gun, earning it the nickname, “The last gunfighter.” It wasn’t actually the last gunfighter, but it was the last plane to have a gun for a while. The F-8 was slowly overcome by the F-4 Phantom late in the Vietnam war. At the beginning of the Cold War the last F-8 was decommissioned; the F-4 Phantom was in fact a better fighter FOR THE JOB. Over all the F-8 Crusader demonstrated a huge advantage over the F-4 Phantom by having a gun as well as missiles. F-4 Phantoms only had missiles, due to the engineers assumption that gun would not be needed anymore since the missile had arrived.
