#VeteranOfTheDay U.S. Army Air Corps Veteran David C. Schilling - VA News

Cpl Jason Lang So did the pilots who flew both the P-47 and P-51. Interestingly, the 56th FG opted to keep the P-47 rather than switch to theP-51.

SSG Franklin Briant Thanks.

MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. - There could be several reasons to do that. They could get the remaining P-47 planes and spare parts fro other units that were upgraded, and they already knew the plane, both on the ground and in the air.

MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. - From what I've learned over the years, the pilots preferred the Jug over the Mustang because it could absorb a hell of a lot more battle damage and bring the pilots home than the Mustang could. And yes. I know that the mustang had longer legs, but once they came out with the "D" model Jug, range was just about the only advantage the Mustang had over the Jug. They had the same number of machine guns, and could carry pretty much the same bomb load, and they could both carry extra fuel in drop tanks. The Mustang may have also been a little bit more maneuverable, and it depends on who you talk to as to which aircraft was faster. I know the Mustang was definitely faster in a dive. The Mustang's major weakness, (which became noticeably apparent in Korea), was that its engine was water cooled. The N. Koreans learned this very quickly....as did the Americans. The Germans and the Japanese seldom had the chance to get behind a Mustang to learn about this. But going by my own observations and education, pretty much every plane the Allies built after the war started, outclassed anything the Germans or the Japanese had. Richard Bong was the USA's top scoring ace of the Pacific, and he did it in a P-38 Lightning. Robin Olds was a top scoring ace, and he [initially] flew a Jug. "Pappy" Boyington flew a Vought F4U-1A Corsair, and was one of our top scoring aces as well....and he started out in a Curtis P-40 Warhawk/Tomahawk/Kittyhawk, (eg: I can't remember the specific model at the moment)......in the Flying Tigers in China. If someone were to FORCE me to choose a favorite, it would be the Corsair. And yes. At least partially because I'm a Marine. But in the hands of a good pilot, the Corsair was a force to be reckoned with. The Japanese who survived encounters with it called it: "Whistling Death". But they were ALL, outstanding aircraft. And yes. I know that the Mustang took down a few ME-262's, and they were the only piston engined aircraft to do so. But if I had the kind of money that Elon Musk has, I'd have at least one of each...and then some. The Hellcat, Avenger, and Dauntless being the most difficult one's to come by......especially the Hellcat, and the Dauntless. To my knowledge, there are only one or two of each that are flyable....as well as the Zero. I could look up all of this to confirm it, but it's a quarter to 4 in the morning, and I'm not in the mood to do research......lol...... To anyone who's reading this, my sincere apologies for my comment getting so long. I didn't mean to, I swear. It's just that studying, and learning about, and talking about, WW II is a passion of mine, and I could talk about it for hours. If you're still reading, thank you for your time and patience.

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