"'First Prop plane to shoot down a jet, a Mig, in Korea.'"

Actually there were ME262s shot down by P51s in World War II. It happened. Roger

HeyEd!!! I got an R3350 you can barrow. roger

There was a program on PBS a few years back about a bunch of guys trying to recover a WWII bomber that ditched in Greenland(?) It was extremely entertaining until the end. What a shame that it burned up.

Just an observation on my part, but were all or most of the prop planes powered by Rolls-Royce engines faster than with other powerplants? Reason I ask, is because on my tour of Viet Nam we had a squadron of Brits flying F4 Phantoms powered by RR engines and they were faster than the F4's of the other American squadrons. Even the ones with the newest GE J79-8's.

This thread is getting addicting. Thinking about warbirds, I ran A WING AND A PRAYER" last night. An old WW-2 movies with some great footage of TBM's (They called them TBF's, could be.) TBM's IIRC were built by General Moters and TBF's by Grumman. Also showed F4F's and a few Curtiss Helldivers. Even a couple of SBD-1's.
I have a couple of tapes, WARBIRDS which show mostly WW-2 aircraft andsome of the more modern stuff and GHOSTS OF THE SKY. IIRC, that one shows the last Curtis Helldiver in existance. Took many years and lots of bucks to get that one flying again. Both tapes are quite good and show these planes as they once were. I found them a K-mart several years ago, so I don't know how easy it would be to find copies.
A few years ago, the Discovery channel had a series on flight. I was able to tape a few including the P-51, the Corsair and the DC-3.
If you want a real thrill (?), try crossing the Pacicic ocean in a C-54. Took two and a half days to get from Travis AFB to Osan Korea. Coming back, I got a ride in a Dubo, the old C-46 that flew the Hump in WW-2.
Seafire. I remember that old B-36 at Chanute AFB. It was not full length, from what I heard. I was there in 1960 so no B-58. Anhyway, as the story goes, the B-36 made an emergency landing for some reason. After getting repaired, it was discovered that Chanute's runway was too short for it to take off. Supposedly, they cut 25 feet from the fuselage and tried again. Still too short so they stripped it, and made a static display out of it. I still have a slide I took of that plane somewhere around the house.
I always loved flying in those old prop planes. They were way too cool. First flight ever was at 11 or 12 years of age in a Lockheed Constellation, the old triple tailer as I used to call them. Flew from San Francisco to Los Angeles. What a boot!
Speaking of the B-36, they made a very distincive sound like no other plane I ever heard. You could be outside and hear them, look up and you couldn't see them unless they were leaving contrails. The noise level was such, that inside the house, everything that wasn't tied down would vibrate or shake. I remember to old Martin Mars doing the same thing when they took off from SF Bay. I had a magazine on flying boats a while back. Don't know where it is now, but in it, it said that those old martim Mars were still flying in Canada as tankers for fire fighting. Tht was about ten years ago IIRC. I wonder if those beautiful old birds are still flying today?
Paul B.

A couple more comments-

Regarding the Me 262, While reasearching some information about an old (and sadly departed) friend of mine who was a pilot in 352nd FG, I was contacted by a squadron mate of his who had shot down a 262. The interesting thing is that his Mustang was sold to Switzerland after the was, then ended up in S. America, and was purchased a few years ago by an american. The plane is now on the west coast and restored back into the original 352nd markings, and he was able to go and sit back into the cockpit last summer, 60 years after he last was in it.... Kinda interesting.

Now, if you guys haven't checked this site out, please do so ASAP-

http://www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com/

All sorts of cool videos you can buy, but the best thing is you can watch a bunch of them online too! Link of the day, if I say so myself!

Count me in, as well. I've loved warplanes, especially WWII-era, longer than I've loved guns and hunting.

The apex, for me, was a couple years ago when my Father got me a ride on a B-25 that was in town for a few days. That was simply amazing. Without a bomb load, that thing just jumped off the runway like a kite. And, of course, it was over way too soon.

Just this weekend, a B-17 flew directly over my house east of Austin. What a sight! My first reaction was to hop in the truck and follow it. But, wife and baby wouldn't have appreciated that too much.

I also really love the last-generation piston engine fighters like the F8F Bearcat, Fury, Sea Fury, etc.

RSY

And of course one of the greatest fun and exciting things
is to see the Rolls and Allison engines in pulling tractors.
Got beat by a few, and won a few.Ed.

There were several Me 262's shot down during WW2. Pilots such as Chuck Yeager and Urban Drew, who claimed two jets on the same day. The first 262 kill was scored by P-47's flown by Major Myers and Lt. Croy from the 78th FG. The RAF also claimed several 262's including the first by Sqn Ldr Rod Smith of 401(RCAF) Sqn.

Several of the rocket powered Me 163 Komets were also shot down by prop planes. The first Komets were shot down by P-51's and by B-17 gunners.

Can't afford it anymore.Got to the point where guys had sponsors and 4--50 grand motors.I pulled with tank engine against Rolls(Helm,Hodgins,etc from Can)and Allisons(EJ,
Errer,Lowe,Schmeising,etc), and won in the light classes
as my engine was lighter, and I could get front up a little.
I hauled with my semi a whole bunch of 28 cylinder Pratt
and Whitneys for EJ, that were found in the bottom of a
200 ft high pile of junk in Milwaukee, back to his farm here in MI.They were the R-4360 Wasp Majors.We never did get them in tractors as they were too heavy.EJ had in his
biggest tractor, a 3420 double 24 cylinder Allison, and sheared off a wheel hub at the Silverdome, with wheels going about 150 mph about 25 years ago.Ed.