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Difference between revisions of "Common Questions and Answers"
→General: Add Did pilots always fly the same airplane? Section
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Furthermore, it is worth noting that these type of instructions are in no way isolated to the Norden bombsight or heavy bombers. For example, handbooks for ground based radio sets included similar language on when and how to destroy the equipment to prevent enemy capture.<ref>{{cite book |title=Handbook of Maintenance Instructions for Radio Transmitter BC-640-A and Radio Transmitter BC-640-B |date=1943 |page=vi |url=http://www.bunkerofdoom.com/mil/BC640AB1943.pdf}}</ref> | Furthermore, it is worth noting that these type of instructions are in no way isolated to the Norden bombsight or heavy bombers. For example, handbooks for ground based radio sets included similar language on when and how to destroy the equipment to prevent enemy capture.<ref>{{cite book |title=Handbook of Maintenance Instructions for Radio Transmitter BC-640-A and Radio Transmitter BC-640-B |date=1943 |page=vi |url=http://www.bunkerofdoom.com/mil/BC640AB1943.pdf}}</ref> | ||
=== Did pilots always fly the same airplane? === | |||
It depends. Pilots with more prestige, in other words those with a lot of kills or unit leaders, were more likely to have a personal airplane. | |||
Frequently, pilots were more concerned with the opposite: avoiding being forced to fly the "squadron hack".{{efn|A similar role to squadron hack was the "formation ship" or "assembly ship". These were brightly and unusually painted heavy bombers that other aircraft would form up on before heading to their target.}} Squadron hacks were aircraft restricted from combat missions because they were obsolete or beat up.{{efn|These aircraft could be identified by the letter "R" – standing for "restricted [from combat]" prefixed at the beginning of their designation. For example, RB-25. One common reason for being assigned this status was a lack of self-sealing fuel tanks. Similarly, beat up aircraft had the letters "WW" appended to the beginning or end of their serial number, which stood for "war weary".}} They were sometimes pushed of the side of the airfield where they served as a "parts bird" that was scavenged from to keep the other airplanes flying. However, if one of the regular aircraft suffered a malfunction, a pilot might have to fly one as a backup. The lack of care and maintenance, however, made this a risky proposition. The book ''Black and White Airmen'' states: | |||
{{Blockquote | |||
|text=Crews always had favorite aircraft, but except for the special Pathfinder ships, no crew had a guarantee of their "own" plane. When the squadron’s original crews landed in England in 1942, every B-17 commander had a "personal" aircraft, usually with a sweetheart’s name or a racy pinup picture or a slogan painted on the nose. As those planes were damaged or their crews went home, they passed into a general pool to be patched up or refitted for newcomers. Replacement crews quickly learned which B-17s were the trusty ones and which were the dangerous "crates." The more missions you flew, the more likely you were to get a plane you trusted or even a brand-new B-17G.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fleischman |first1=John |title=Black and White Airmen: Their True History |date=2007 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston |pages=123–124}}</ref>}} | |||
== Airplane Design == | == Airplane Design == | ||