Dear all,
I stumbled across this wartime training video for the P-38 Lockheed Lightning. I thought it may be of interest. It is 40 minutes long but has a very "interesting" (Betty Grable?) intro and I found it fascinating... Couldn't find a similar video for the Vengeance Danny. Either Vultee didn't get around to it or maybe they thought it was was straight forward enough to fly so it wasn't warranted?! Just hopping in it and "giving it a go" obviously worked out ok for Danny et al....
I have to confess I, perhaps naively, didn't realize what complicated bits of kit WW2 era aircraft were. Puts into perspective the enormous challenges young pilots were faced with going into combat with only a few hours time on type. They would have still been coming to terms with how to operate the aircraft capably let alone face hostile aircraft doing their best to shoot them down...
I do have a few questions (Danny, I have you in mind!);
1. Why do the Americans refer to the aircraft as a ship?!
2. Why is the airspeed in mph rather than knots? Seems an odd thing to do..
I'd like to wish a safe Merry Christmas and New Year to Danny and all the wonderful contributors on this fascinating thread.
Cheers
Michael