Yamamoto shootdown

1,482 Views | 8 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by GasAg90
mullokmotx
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AG
75 years ago today, April 18 1943, Army Air Force P-38s shot down Yamamoto. I had always thought the planes came from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal but when I visited there in 2013 I learned they took off from Fighter 2 which was a few miles west of Henderson. The site is now a golf course.
BQ78
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AG
Lanphier's nephew was one of my high school teachers.
ABATTBQ87
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AG
76 years ago, from the flight deck of the USS Hornet:

marcel ledbetter
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There is an warbird museum in Madras, Oregon that has piece of Yamamoto's plane on display. It's a great museum to tour if you find yourself in central Oregon.
Cardiac Saturday
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AG
Geez, that flight deck is tiny!
Cinco Ranch Aggie
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AG
Cardiac Saturday said:

Geez, that flight deck is tiny!
Which is one reason why the Doolittle raid story is so compelling. The B-25 Mitchell was a medium bomber and was never intended to be flown from the deck of any carrier.
GasAg90
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The problem wasn't the flight deck being so small, it was the gas tanks were too little. Since they had to take off prematurely due to discovery, they only had enough gas to get to about 200 miles from Chinese coast.
aalan94
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AG
Well, the deck being so short was an issue. It was worse for the first planes, which is why Doolittle and the more experienced pilots went first. The guys at the end actually had a decent roll before lift off.
45-70Ag
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AG
I don't have the stones to fly much less fly off that deck.
GasAg90
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All the planes took off from the same spot without difficulty except for one plane that took off without flaps. They had trained for the short take off and all the pilots were competent.

Prior to releasing brakes they had 40-50 knots indicated airspeed from wind and carrier motion. In practice, sone takeoffs were made with as little as 60knots indicated.

While it would have been nice to have more takeoff roll (ask any pilot), the main reason for takeoff at the same spot was due to the Hornet's island as they had 6 ft of clearance between it and the right wing tip. There was also an overhanging structure on the island that they needed to pass under. The first two planes took off almost immediately with the second almost stalling so the crews were instructed to adjust their elevator trim to keep them on the deck a little longer.

The pilots were not worried about takeoff, but I think one mentioned that probably would have changed if Doolittles plane didnt make it.
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