Air planes of World War II

These are some facts about some of the most popular planes in WWIIBy Troy Coates

Press Right Arrow Key to go to Next SlideAir planes of World War II

By Troy CoatesI hope you enjoy this presentation as we discuss some of the most popular fighters and bomber planes in World War II. I will discuss planes from the U.S, Britain, Germany, and Japan. You can press the right and left arrow keys to go through the presentation. At some slides, there will be audio clips of the plane that I am talking about. So, enjoy the clips and the presentation!

the North American Aviation P-51 Mustang (U.S.)(Sound is a P-51 Fly By)Here are two P-51 Mustangs. The Mustang was an American long range single-seat fighter plane.

The P-51 was built in 117 days. It was created because the US did not have many planes that were suitable for flying. It was first used as a fighter-bomber in the Royal Air Force, and then it was converted to a bomber escort. It was used mainly in Europe, but it was used in Japanese. During the Korean war, the Mustang was actually the United Nations main fighter plane, until fighter jets took over the skies. The Mustang remained in service until the early 1980s.

This plane was a fast, durable, and well-made. It had six .50 caliber (12.7mm ) M2 Browning machine guns.

After WWII and the Korean war, the P-51 became a popular air racing plane. In 1948, the planes designation was changed. It was changed from a P-51 (P for Pursuit) to F-51 (F for Fighter). During the Korean war, the P-51 was used mainly for ground attacks, meaning it would fly diagonally towards tanks or soldiers and fire at them.

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (U.S.)(Sound is B-17 Fly By)The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (Bottom Plane) was a popular bomber back in WWII. It could carry up to 4,800 pounds of bombs.

B-17The B-17 Bomber was built by Boeing in the 1930s. Boeing was one of three competitors in the race to make a bomber for the USAAC (United States Army Air Corps). The Boeing out flew both its competitors (Douglas and Martin) and was better than what the USAAC expected. The Boeing was built to replace the Martin B-10. The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress had 4 engines and could carry up to 9,600 pounds of bombs. There were about 10 crew members on the B-17 that all did different things.The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress had a total of 5 gunner positions. A tail gunner, a waist gunner, a ball turret gunner on the bottom of the plane, a turret on the top of the plane, and a turret at the front of the plane. The tail gunner was the most important gun on the plane because many fighters would come from behind to shoot the bomber down.

Front TurretTop TurretFirst flight:July 28, 1935 (prototype)Model number:299Classification:BomberSpan:103 feet 9 inchesLength:74 feet 9 inchesGross weight:65,000 poundsTop speed:287 mphCruising speed:150 mphRange (max.):3,750 milesCeiling:35,600 feetPower:Four 1,200-horsepower Wright R-1820-97 enginesAccommodation:2 pilots, bombardier, radio-operator, 5 gunnersArmament:11 to 13 machine guns, 9,600-pound bomb loadB-17G StatsHere are some stats for the B-17G, one of the popular models of the B-17:

Stats from http://www.boeing.com/history/boeing/b17.html Maybe another page for the B-17?7Supermarine Spitfire (Britain)(Sound is a Spitfire Fly By)The Spitfire was a fighter plane used in the Royal Air Force for many years. It was the only Allied plane that was produced throughout the war.

SpitfireThe Spitfire was created by R.J. Mitchell, who was the chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works, in 1931. The single-seated plane was constructed to be a short-range high-performance interceptor aircraft. Which means it was made to defend against enemy attacks such as bombing raids.Many people say that the Spitfire was the RAF (Royal Air Force) fighter. When the war ended, the Spitfire was a standard for the RAF. The Spitfire was used in many different ways. Including reconnaissance, fighter-bomber, and carrier-based.

SeafireThe Seafire, a carrier-based fighter, was a variation of the Spitfire. The Seafire was made because the Spitfire was not the best for air craft carriers. The Spitfire had a long nose and the pilots could not see over it that well to land or take-off. So, they altered the plane around and created the Seafire, a naval version of the Spitfire.

Mitsubishi A6M Zero (Japanese)The A6M Zero (also called the Zero) was designed as a singe-seater long-range fighter. When introduced, it was the best carrier-based fighter in the world.

At the very early stages of WWII, the Zero was the best plane in the war at dogfighting. It had a total of 4 guns. Two 7.7 mm Type 97 Machine guns in the engine cowling, with 500 rounds per gun. It also had two 20mm Type 99 cannons in the wings. It could also carry bombs. It could carry either two 132 pound bombs, or one fixed 551 pound bomb placed for kamikazes. Info on the Zero

7.7 mm Machine gun

Zero with a Kamikaze bombThe Later Years

The Zero was an amazing plane for the Japanese at first, but then allied planes got better and better. In order for the Zero to be light and maneuverable, the Japanese did not put any armor around the pilot, engine, or any other critical parts of the plane. And self-sealing fuel tanks were not put in the plane as well. Thus, making the plane vulnerable to many of the more armored and newer planes that the Allies owned.Junkers Ju 87(Sound is a Stuka Diving)The Junkers Ju 87, or more commonly know as Stuka (from Sturzkampfflugzeug, which means "dive bomber in German) was a dive bomber in the Luftwaffe that would also do some ground-attacking. It is easily recognizable by its gull wings. A clearer photo of that is on the next page.

The Stukas Scream(Sound is a Stuka diving)The Stuka had a very interesting feature on the plane. When the plane dove when dive bombing or shooting at enemy tanks/troops on the ground, a loud wailing siren seemed to go off. That is because it had a Jericho-Trompete (Jericho-Trumpet). The siren was made to scare the people on the ground when it dove, and they usually dove from 15,000 ft high. Another interesting feature is the gull wings on the plane.

One more interesting feature was that the Stuka had an automatic dive recovery system. So, even if the pilot blacked out because of all g-force going down, it would still come back up.

Pilots tended to dive at about a 60-90 degree angle. The FlawsThe Stuka was a good dive bomber! But, it had many flaws. The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 was a much better plane and preferred by pilots for dogfights. The Stuka had poor maneuverability, lack of speed, and didnt have very good guns to defend itself. The Stuka had two 7.92mm MG 17 Machine Guns facing forward (Far left), and one 7.92mm MG15 Machine Gun facing backwards (Left). It could also hold bombs. A normal load tended to be a 551 lb bomb beneath the fuselage and two 110 lb bombs under each wing.

Focke-Wulf Fw 190(Sound clips is an FW190 Fly By)The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 was a German fighter plane that held 1 pilot. It was used by the Luftwaffe, and first saw combat at the end of 1942. It was used in many ways and was working all the time. It was superior to many aircraft, except the Spitfire IX.

The FW 190 was the best plane that the Germans had. It was everything that they needed. The FW 190 had two 13mm MG 131 Machine Guns and two 20mm MG 151 cannons. It could also carry one 1,102 lb bomb.

Planes in World War II were definitely helpful in many ways. These planes are now amazing artifacts of WWII. Thank You for your timeTHE END!!!

By Troy Coates

Lots of Information found from Wikipedia.orgSome from on Military ChannelSome from book Everyday Life: WORLD WAR II by Walter A. Hazen

Pictures from Google Images

Sounds found on Google

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