Significant+Planes+&+Pilots+of+WWII


 * 1) =Significant Planes & Pilots (The top two of each factoion's pilot) of World War II - Alex Gambrel=

Although there were many hundreds of types of planes in the Second World War, there were some pilots who made a few companies and their planes more significant than others.
 * Top two Pilots and their planes
 * Allied
 * 1) Richard Bong
 * 2) Thomas Buchanan
 * Axis
 * 1) Erich Hartmann
 * 2) Gerhard Barkhorn ||



**Pilots** - Allied

 * Richard Ira "Dick" Bong** (Born September 24th, 1920 – Died August 6th, 1945) was the United States' highest-scoring (in kills) ace, having shot down roughly 40 Japanese aircraft during World War II. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor. He flew a P-38 Lightning in all of his battles, and he survived ﻿ until he left to become a trainer. On August 6, 1945, the plane's primary fuel pump malfunctioned fatally during takeoff. Bong cleared away from the aircraft, but was too low for his parachute to deploy. The plane crashed into a narrow field at Oxnard St & Satsuma Ave, North Hollywood. His death was front-page news across the country, and allegedly shared﻿ space with the first news of the bombing of Hiroshima.


 * Thomas Buchanan McGuire Jr.**(Born August 1st, 1920 – Died January 7th, 1945) was the second highest scoring in the Ameican army (with 38 kills) who was remembered by the naming of McGuire Air Force Base in Burlington County, New Jersey.

McGuire's life nearly came to an end on October 17th, 1943 when he was rushed from Dubodura, New Guinea to intercept approaching Japanese bombers being escorted by fighters over Oro Bay, New Guinea. During the dogfight, McGuire observed roughly seven Japanese fighters attacking a single P-38 that was trailing smoke. Without hesitation McGuire dove into the fray and quickly shot down three Japanese fighters. Unfortunately the remaining four fighters were able to attack McGuire and crippingly damage his aircraft. With his controls busted, McGuire decided to bail out, but as he exited his aircraft he found his parachute had snagged on something in the cockpit. From 12,000 ft to 5,000 ft McGuire struggled to free himself from the fighter that was falling rapidly. Finally he was able to free himself and deploy his parachute only 1,000 ft from his death. Fortunately, he landed safely in the water and was rescued by a PT boat. He suffered a 7.7 mm bullet wound to his wrist and numerous other injuries including a few broken ribs. He spent six weeks in the hospital before he returned to his unit. For his actions, he was awarded a Silver Star and Purple Heart.



P38 Lightning
The **Lockheed P-38 Lightning** was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by the Lockheed company. Developed for the United States army, the P-38 had a distinctive two "bomb shaped" engines and a single central nacelle (The nacelle is a cover housing (separate from the fuselage) that holds engines, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft) containing the cockpit and weaponry. It was named "fork-tailed devil" by the //Luftwaffe// and "two planes, one pilot" by the Japanese, and it was used in a number of roles, mainly as a dive bomber, and a long-rage escort fighter.

The P-38 was used most successfully in the Pacific Theater and the China-Burma-India Theater as the plane of America's top two aces (Thomas McGuire and Richard Bong). In the South West Pacific theater, the P-38 was the main long-range fighter of USAAF until the production of many P-51D Mustangs closer to the end of the war. The P-38 was very, almost eerily quiet for a fighter, with the exhaust muffled by turbo-superchargers. It was extremely forgiving, and could be handled poorly in almost every way, but the rate of roll was too slow for it to excel as a dogfighter. The P-38 was the only American plane produced from the ﻿ start of the war to the bombing of Japan (the end).

Pilots - Axis

 * Erich Hartmann** (Born April 1922 19th – Died September 20th 1993) was a German WWII fighter pilot, who was the highest scoring fighter ace in the history of the war in the skies. He ended his career with 352 victories in the skies in 1,404 missions. He had to crash land his Messerschmitt 14 times, which was due to his fighter receiving damage from flying debris of the planes in front of him. He was never shot down. [[image:Barkhorn_hartmanns_wedding.jpg align="right"]]

Hartmann was a master of stalk-and-ambush tactics. He was convinced that 80% of the pilots that he downed weren't even sure what hit them. He relied on his plane's extremely high powered engines for quick approaches and the occasional dive through enemy formations. He didn't open fire until the plane was in his whole windscreen (less than 20m/66 ft). Then, he figured, he couldn't miss. "His careful approach was described by himself by the line "See – Decide – Attack – Break": observe the enemy, decide how to proceed with the attack, make the attack, and then disengage to re-evaluate the situation." - __Wikipedia__

"I must say that during the war I never disobeyed an order, but when General Seidemann ordered Graf and me to fly to the British sector and surrender to avoid the Russians, with the rest of the wing to surrender to the Soviets. I could not leave my men. That would have been bad leadership." - Hartmann on his General's orders to retreat.

On May 8th, he and his unit were captured by the IS 90th Infantry Division.


 * Lieutenant-General Gerhard Barkhon**(Born March 20th 1919 – Died January 8th 1983) was the second highest scoring Fighter Ace of all time. He joined the Luftwaffe in 1937. He flew his first combat missions in the Bat[[image:Barkhorn.jpg width="165" height="241" align="right"]]tle of France and the Battle of Britain, scoring a kill in neither. His first kill came in July of 1941, and his total rose steadily against the Soviets. In March of 1944 he was awarded the third-highest decoration (The Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords / //Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern)// for 200 aerial victories. He was credited with 301 victories.

On January 16th, 1945, Barkhorn was assigned as Geschwaderkommodore to JG6, which was assigned to defend the Reich. He was equipped with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190D (but he still kept his trusty Bf109G with him). He did not last long in this position, due to him taking medical leave after considerable physical and mental strain.

Barkhorn survived the war and was taken prisoner by the Western Allies in May of 1945. After the war, he joined the Bundelsluftwaffe until 1976. On the 6th of January, 1983, Barkhorn was involved in a car accident with his wife Christl. She died instantly, and Barkhorn died two days later on January 8th, 1983.

Focke-Wulf Fw 190D
The 190D was a German single-seat single engine fighter designed by Kurt Tank. It was used as a "workhorse", and was very adaptable just like the BF109. When it started flying over France in August of 1941, it was proved to be superior in every way except for the turn radius to the RAF's Spitfire MK Vs. It kept air superiority until the Spitfire Mk. IX was built. Although Soviets regarded the Bf109 as the greatest threat in air combat, the Fw190 made a significant impact.

[[image:Me109_G-6_D-FMBB_1.jpg width="544" height="262" align="right"]]
The plane flown by Erich Hartmann, it was "one of the first true modern fighters of the era", with a closed canopy, retractable landing gear, and it was powered by a liquid cooled V12 Aero Engine. It was still in service as late as the beginning of the Jet Age at the end of WWII. From the end of 1941, the BF109 waas supplemented by the Focke-Wulf Fw 190.

It was originally conceived as an interceptor, but later models were developed to fullfill multiple tasks such as Fighter-bomber, All-weather/time fighter (Day/night), Ground-Attack, as well as a reconnaissance aircraft. It was the mots produced fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 33,984 produced up until April of 1945. It was flown by the top three scoring Aces in Germany.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_P-38_Lightning http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_flying_aces http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focke-Wulf_Fw_190 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Bf_109