From WWII to Current (photo)

[magman007]

ive seen b-2's doing maneuvers at school, circiling around our VOR etc, deffinitely cool. BTW, ateast with navy pilots, the israeli's are actually better pilots, they have much more drive, more determination. They have a better airforce, even if not from a technological stand point. Ive heard stories of war games with israel, where the US will put up a good fight, but ultimately the israelis end up whooping us.

[bleachit]

yeah, one of the best.... Israel has a reputation for having great pilots

[RoadDawg]

anyone ever have the pleasure of a b-2 fly by? can barely hear it at all. and trying to find it while its coming towards you is near impossible until its VERY close to you. Then when its turns, it becomes huge due to is design. Very interesting to watch fly.

I've seen a B-2 several times (the last 3 Rose Bowls) and only a F-22 once (didn't realize it was an F-22 until it had passed)

When it banks to the side it nearly disappears from the ground view. All that becomes visible is the cockpit. Definitely a wierd bird. Also they are quiet when the baffles are on but when they are off that thing is noisy. Still cool to watch. Same with the F-117.

I'm starting to think about getting into flying model airplanes. I've got my eyes on building a B-17 w/ working bomb doors and gear. Now if I could only get the financing to back it up.

[Recon by Fire]

This is my favorite plane.

P-38 Lightning! My Grandfather flew those also, said it was his choice of favorite planes to fly just for the joy of it. Very fast and manueverable. He said many pilots had trouble adjusting to the counter rotating props as opposed to single engine fighters.

I took the old guy to the Historic Flight Museum down in Galveston on his last visit to Texas. They have mostly WW2 planes there and they all still fly actively in shows and such. You should have seen his eyes light up walking into the hangar, like a 80 something year old kid!

I missed getting to the D-Day museum for June 6

[Steelrat]

ive seen b-2's doing maneuvers at school, circiling around our VOR etc, deffinitely cool. BTW, ateast with navy pilots, the israeli's are actually better pilots, they have much more drive, more determination. They have a better airforce, even if not from a technological stand point. Ive heard stories of war games with israel, where the US will put up a good fight, but ultimately the israelis end up whooping us.

Look, I'll put it plainly. The Israelis cheat in wargames. Wargames are not about sending the planes up and letting them duke it out. Its all about setting up scenarios, and working within the rules of those scenarios. Israelis love to ignore the rules. Often, after being "killed" in a mission, the Israelis pilots would continue to engage US aircraft, and would gloat about any "kills" they scored, even after they were techinically dead.

And, as mentioned, wargames are not about winning or losing. India has been telling anyone who cares about how they defeated the Eagles sent to practice with them in COPE India 2004. What they fail to mention was that the US planes were not allowed to use simulated AMRAAMS (taking away BVR combat, our strongest suit), were limited in how they could engage, and fought 4 to 1 (or worse) odds.

Sure, there are pilots out there just as good as the USAF. But if you look at pretty much every wargame we participate in, we end up "losing" and the host country ends up gloating. Now, you can believe that EVERYONE (Germany, UK, Israel, India, Chile, Sweden, Australia, etc etc) is better than us, or you can think that maybe there is a reason behind it. Playing games and fighting a war are two very, very different things. A wise man might think that maybe we aren't showing all our cards...

[Recon by Fire]

"War Games" are always like the special olympics.