AIR PLANES OF WORLD WAR II
These are some facts about some of the most popular planes in WWII
By Troy Coates
Press Right Arrow Key to go to Next Slide
By Troy Coates
I 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-17
The 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.
Top
Turret
Front
Turret
B-17G Stats
Here are some stats for the B-17G, one
of the popular models of the B-17:
First flight:
July 28, 1935 (prototype)
Model number:
299
Classification:
Bomber
Span:
103 feet 9 inches
Length:
74 feet 9 inches
Gross weight:
65,000 pounds
Top speed:
287 mph
Cruising speed:
150 mph
Range (max.):
3,750 miles
Ceiling:
35,600 feet
Power:
Four 1,200-horsepower Wright R-1820-97 engines
Accommodation:
2 pilots, bombardier, radio-operator, 5 gunners
Armament:
11 to 13 machine guns, 9,600-pound bomb load
Stats from http://www.boeing.com/history/boeing/b17.html
SUPERMARINE 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.
SPITFIRE
The 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 highperformance 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.
SEAFIRE
The 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.
INFO ON THE ZERO
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.
7.7 mm Machine gun
It could also carry bombs. It could carry
either two 132 pound bombs, or one fixed
551 pound bomb placed for kamikazes.
Zero with a Kamikaze bomb
The 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 STUKA’S 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 FLAWS
The 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 didn’t
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 time…
THE END!!!
By Troy Coates
Lots of Information found from Wikipedia.org
Some from on Military Channel
Some from book Everyday Life: WORLD WAR II by Walter A. Hazen
Pictures from Google Images
Sounds found on Google