http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2245472/Amazing-tale-WWII-pilots-encounter-German-flying-ace-saluted-American-plane-let-fly-safely-instead-shooting-down.html
Pretty moving story
Con
Remarkable.
Great story thanks for sharing Con.
That's the second story like that I've heard.
Was watching one of those shows on the Military Channel and there was a P-47 pilot who got the crap shot out of him by a German plane. Ultimately the German pulled up along side and saluted the guy before disengaging.
Interesting stories. Thanks for bring them to our attention.
Thanks that is indeed unusual. Too bad they couldn't have
killed the people involved in Redtails before it came out.
That's kinda harsh, man. Some of those folk were only there to keep the craft service tables stocked or drive the little golf cart taxis around the Movie lot.
That's a great story. How awesome that they both survived and lived to a ripe old age. A deacon I served with was a WWII vet. He had been a tail gunner on a B-17. The aircraft went down over Germany on his very first combat mission and he spent two years in a German POW camp. It wasn't anything he would talk about. Thanks for sharing, Con.
Quote from: Steelgrave on December 09, 2012, 05:19:34 PM
That's a great story. How awesome that they both survived and lived to a ripe old age. A deacon I served with was a WWII vet. He had been a tail gunner on a B-17. The aircraft went down over Germany on his very first combat mission and he spent two years in a German POW camp. It wasn't anything he would talk about. Thanks for sharing, Con.
That's the thing that makes this so much fun for me - the appreciation of history and the wealth of knowledge our community has. It's great when we share.
They also serve who drive golf carts..
LOL
Think I recall a story about a P47 that was being shot up by a Focke-Wolf, but the 47 just wouldn't go down. The german pilot pulled alongside, saluted, and left.
Not positive, but the pilot may have been Don Gentile or Duane Beeson.
Franz Stigler lived in White Rock, BC (on the outskirts of Vancouver) until his death a couple of years ago. Every Sunday morning he would gather with a bunch of other pilots at the cafe at the Boundary Bay airport (about 10 minute drive from my house) for morning-long bull sessions. IIRC, Stigler later flew 262's towards the end of the war and was damaged by another local resident / veteran who also sometimes breakfasted at the airport. Said sessions were also attended by a RAF pilot who flew hundreds of missions as a photo recce pilot in a spitfire - no guns, just speed - but who still managed to score 1 maneouver kill vs an Italian fighter.
Great story. Were instances of German pilots shooting at parachutes, etc., more common than we would like to believe?
Quote from: Jack Nastyface on December 11, 2012, 05:37:51 PMSaid sessions were also attended by a RAF pilot who flew hundreds of missions as a photo recce pilot in a spitfire - no guns, just speed - but who still managed to score 1 maneouver kill vs an Italian fighter.
How jacked up do you have to be to get shot down by a guy with no guns on-board? What did the RAF guy do, fart on him?
Quote from: bayonetbrant on December 11, 2012, 09:04:37 PM
How jacked up do you have to be to get shot down by a guy with no guns on-board? What did the RAF guy do, fart on him?
a) well, the other pilot WAS Italian...maybe he had his hands off the joystick and was trying to surrender..
b) actually, I am pretty sure he cranked a high-speed turn that the axis plane couldn't negotiate and he flew into the side of a hill (kinda sounds hollywood, but I am told its true).
A while back I got my glider pilots license. A lot of the time was spent sitting around bullshitting with the other pilots. Turns out many of them are vets and a few were WWII vets. The reason is you have to pass a physical to fly prop or powered flights annualy but only an eye check to pass a glider licenses. So a lot of these old timers with dodgy hearts would transition to gliders so they could keep up with their love of flying.
I got to hear some great stories from them but always hard to tell how much was total bull. These guys were like the fisherman always telling you about the size of the one that got away.
Interestingly enough my instructor was Dave Batson who is credited with one of the first air to air kills of a mig in Vietnam. He flew off the midway and when I got the nerve up to ask him about the dogfight he said the trick was to make your ratio of take offs to landings 1:1. Said that the mig jock did not follow that rule
Con