R.I.P.  Great shot of him in front of the Hurricane.

RIP, interesting tidbit, he was shot down four times during the war.

3 hours ago, Mr_Philly said:

RIP, interesting tidbit, he was shot down four times during the war.

Not at all unusual in WW II, particularly for the Germans and Japanese who were forced to keep their pilots flying for the duration of the war or until they were killed or so badly injured they could no longer fly, unlike the allies which eventually had the luxury to rotate their experienced pilots back to training units where they could pass on their valuable "lessons learned" further amplifying the effect.  It was also partially a product of the weapons used.  In WW II a pilot often sat in front of armor plate and behind a bullet proof windscreen mounted atop the mass of the engine to protect them from bullets and small cannon shells fired from in front and behind, which were by far the most common firing positions.  

Fast forward to the Cold War and in U.S. and Western service the primary radar guided weapon was the AIM-7 missile, which weighed 500 lbs (in round numbers), travelled at Mach 2 (in round numbers), and had an 80 lb warhead (in round numbers).  Imagine the kinetic forces involved in a collision with that missile in your fuel and explosives laden aircraft which is also generally traveling at close to 600 mph and pulling "G"s.  Never mind the actual effect of the missile warhead. An enemy pilot was generally not going to survive that shoot down. 

6 hours ago, Mlodj said:

Not at all unusual in WW II, particularly for the Germans and Japanese who were forced to keep their pilots flying for the duration of the war or until they were killed or so badly injured they could no longer fly, unlike the allies which eventually had the luxury to rotate their experienced pilots back to training units where they could pass on their valuable "lessons learned" further amplifying the effect.  It was also partially a product of the weapons used.  In WW II a pilot often sat in front of armor plate and behind a bullet proof windscreen mounted atop the mass of the engine to protect them from bullets and small cannon shells fired from in front and behind, which were by far the most common firing positions.  

Fast forward to the Cold War and in U.S. and Western service the primary radar guided weapon was the AIM-7 missile, which weighed 500 lbs (in round numbers), travelled at Mach 2 (in round numbers), and had an 80 lb warhead (in round numbers).  Imagine the kinetic forces involved in a collision with that missile in your fuel and explosives laden aircraft which is also generally traveling at close to 600 mph and pulling "G"s.  Never mind the actual effect of the missile warhead. An enemy pilot was generally not going to survive that shoot down. 

Yeah I keep forgetting the AMRAAM wasn’t around yet for the gulf, but it seems like the 7M worked out the kinks from Vietnam. 

 

Aside from having flown the cats ass of modern fighters, is there any fighter you wish you had flown?

6 hours ago, Bill said:

Yeah I keep forgetting the AMRAAM wasn’t around yet for the gulf, but it seems like the 7M worked out the kinks from Vietnam. 

 

Aside from having flown the cats ass of modern fighters, is there any fighter you wish you had flown?

There was a world of difference in effectiveness between the early AIM-7 variants used in Vietnam and the AIM-7M.  Fighter I wish I had flown is easy: the F-104. Couldn't turn worth a sheet, but it could go fast and was the sexiest looking fighter ever built.