To be a pilot in WWII

[em2nought]

Especially portraying the west as heroes.

We were heroes.

[Default]

My father-in-law was a radio repairman in the 15th Air Force in Italy during the Second World War. He worked on b-24 Liberators and he also worked with MIT on down looking radars for bombers. The idea was they could bomb targets through the cloud cover. We still have some newspaper articles about that, but Dad said it didn't really work very well. Also, my great uncle Ernest was in the Philippines at the start of the war and spent the entire time as a prisoner of the Japanese.

[Hrdina]

Also, I’m with those upthread who love the look of the F4U Corsair. Those gull wings are crazy elegant and make for some great lines.

Yeah, growing up I watched a lot of Black Sheep Squadron so had a particular love for the Corsair. I never really enjoyed flying it in simulators, though. I much prefer to fly the P-38 Lightning (aka "der Gabelschwanz Teufel") or P-47 Thunderbolt, sometimes even the P-39 Airacobra if I'm in a strange mood.

The difference between WW2 and my birthday is less than the difference between Nirvana ending and now.

The difference between my birthday and the end of WW2 is less than the difference between Y2K and now.

So, growing up there were still a lot of WW2 movies available to watch, but strangely the model airplane I remember building most clearly was an F-15!

[Holman]

I was born in late 1968, when WW2 was about as far back as 9/11 is today.

[Holman]

My father-in-law was a radio repairman in the 15th Air Force in Italy during the second world war he worked on b-24 liberators and he also worked with the people that were putting down looking radars on bombers so they could bomb through the clouds. We still have some newspaper articles about that, but Dad said it didn't really work very well. Also, my great uncle Ernest was in the Philippines at the start of the war and spent the entire time as a prisoner of the Japanese.

My wife's uncle (her father's older brother) was chief ground engineer for one of the bombers in the Doolittle raid. He wasn't aircrew, but he was on the carrier Hornet from which they launched.

It's weird to remember that when my oldest son is spending this semester in Tokyo.

[Carpet_pissr]

Did you guys ever play European Air War? That was a fantastic WWII flight sim.

Yes. Absolutely loved it.

[Carpet_pissr]

I figured this would be a discussion about the new Amazon series Masters of the Air. A spin off maybe.

I’m a huge airplane enthusiast, and a huge huge Band of Brothers (The Pacific not so much) fan.

I stopped watching Masters of the Air after the second episode because I thought the acting/actors/writing was horrible. And that show should be directly targeting me. But gah…I just could not handle blonde Elvis. Ugh.

It gets 87% on RT so one of the very rare times when I strongly disagree with RT (unless the show and characters and acting get noticeably better than what I saw).

It’s also on Apple TV+, not Amazon.

[Kurth]

I figured this would be a discussion about the new Amazon series Masters of the Air. A spin off maybe.

I’m a huge airplane enthusiast, and a huge huge Band of Brothers (The Pacific not so much) fan.

I stopped watching Masters of the Air after the second episode because I thought the acting/actors/writing was horrible. And that show should be directly targeting me. But gah…I just could not handle blonde Elvis. Ugh.

It gets 87% on RT so one of the very rare times when I strongly disagree with RT (unless the show and characters and acting get noticeably better than what I saw).

That’s sad to hear. I’ve been waiting to binge through Masters of the Air. Loved Band of Brothers and liked The Pacific well enough, but Masters of the Air is covering a theater and a subject of even more interest to me. My grandfather was a bombardier on a B-17 with the 8th Army Air Corp stationed in Framlingham, England. He flew 35 combat missions over Germany during the war, and I’ve always been fascinated with B-17s and the air war over Europe as a result.

[Brian]

But gah…I just could not handle blonde Elvis. Ugh.

Spoiler alert but:

Spoiler:

Like so many of the airmen of that time...best not to get too attached.
So, for you anyway, it's a problem that resolves itself.

I've read one of the books that this is based on, A Wing And A Prayer, written by Harry Crosby (the navigator featured in the show, spoiler alert #2 I guess), and so far the show follows along pretty well with his account.

I'm enjoying it and will likely pick up some more books about the air war in the European Theater to widen my limited knowledge. Likely my next read will be about the Ploesti Oil Fields raid.

[Default]

Here's the thing. The over the top accents? That's accurate for the time. One thing that endless TV and media has done, is water down the accents.
Yeah, it's jarring some times, but the show is accurate in almost everything, according to some of the WW2 historians I follow.

[Carpet_pissr]

I figured this would be a discussion about the new Amazon series Masters of the Air. A spin off maybe.

I’m a huge airplane enthusiast, and a huge huge Band of Brothers (The Pacific not so much) fan.

I stopped watching Masters of the Air after the second episode because I thought the acting/actors/writing was horrible. And that show should be directly targeting me. But gah…I just could not handle blonde Elvis. Ugh.

It gets 87% on RT so one of the very rare times when I strongly disagree with RT (unless the show and characters and acting get noticeably better than what I saw).

That’s sad to hear. I’ve been waiting to binge through Masters of the Air. Loved Band of Brothers and liked The Pacific well enough, but Masters of the Air is covering a theater and a subject of even more interest to me. My grandfather was a bombardier on a B-17 with the 8th Army Air Corp stationed in Framlingham, England. He flew 35 combat missions over Germany during the war, and I’ve always been fascinated with B-17s and the air war over Europe as a result.

I suggest you try it anyway, it could just be a weird ‘me’ thing (and again, I’ll point to the RT score).

Maybe a good thing, because I’ll probably pick up the book.

[Scuzz]

I thought I would be watching this but it is on one network we don’t have. I haven’t read the material this is based on but I have read Ambrose’s book covering the bomber crews.

[Holman]

Not to minimize the courage exhibited and the horrors faced by bomber crews, but the air war over Europe was the epitome of mechanized (and dehumanized) warfare.

A bomber was basically a delivery truck ordered to enter a threat zone, drop its load on a certain coordinate, and then return. Even under threat of Flak or fighters, they didn't deviate from their established course. Whether a particular ship in the flight group made it home was really up to the choices and luck of the enemy AA and interceptors, not the bomber crews themselves.

It's no wonder that so many bomber pilots felt themselves to be just cogs in much larger machine. (See Heller's Catch-22, where the only actual choices all happen on the ground.)

All that said, I think it must be much harder to make individual-character-driven drama (which was the heart of BoB and The Pacific and most other WW2 stories) out of the bomber campaigns.

Oh, and never forget this poem:

"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner"
By Randall Jarrell

From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

[em2nought]

I thought Twelve O'clock High did a pretty good job.

[Scuzz]

I thought Twelve O'clock High did a pretty good job.

We watched that maybe a year or so ago, for me it wasn’t the first time. It is kind of the template for bomber crew movies.

[Carpet_pissr]

I thought I would be watching this but it is on one network we don’t have. I haven’t read the material this is based on but I have read Ambrose’s book covering the bomber crews.

I’ve never paid for Apple TV+ because they have so many places and ways you can get very long trials (usually 3 months, sometimes more).

Best Buy is one place (you can literally put trials of any/every Apple ‘platform’ (Games, Music, etc) in your cart and check out for $0.00).

[Jaddison]

I thought Twelve O'clock High did a pretty good job.

Command Decision as well ....though it was all about the tough decisions being made by HQ to get daylight bombing as the approach to the strategic bombing campaign