Aircraft Trivia Quiz

No, not the F-104S. In fact one of the key upgrades the F-104S had was the ability to fire radar-guided missiles in addition to the IR-guided missiles that most other F-104's were equipped with (But not the subject of the question). Also the F-104S has over 35 years of service, not the 24 that the subject saw with its original user.

A further clue. This variant's primary weapon prior to the early-70's refit was never owned by the country that operated these aircraft. That distinction is not unique to this aircraft in this country's service, although this was the only aircraft in this country's service to use this particular weapon.

Guess that makes it my turn then.

What was the combat variant (not reconnaissance) of the F-104 Starfighter that featured no air to air combat capability, who operated it and what was its role?

mykroft wrote:

Johannes Steinhoff and JG 77?

Very good mykroft!  You are correct! 

This unit served with much distinction in North Africa and fought against overwelming odds, especially in Sicily.  Herman Goering was so out of touch with the actual combat and logistical problems surrounding the defense of Sicily, that he continually berated and condemned JG77 during this time period.  At this stage of the war the allies had overwhelming superiorty in quality and quantity.  JG77s airfields were bombed during the day by B-17, B-24 and B-26 raids, and at night by Wellingtons.  The allied bombers were routinely escorted by large numbers of Spitfires, P-40s, P-38 Lightnings and P-47 Thunderbolts.    JG77 was flying the proven, yet outclassed Bf109E-4/7 and Bf109F variants at this stage of the war. 

To give you an example of Goering's lunacy, here is a story from a book written by Johannes Steinhoff titled "Messerschmitts over Sicily".  Units of JG77 were sent on a long range mission to intercept a flight of B-17s that were flying over the Mediterranean on a bombing mission that was fairly far from the Luftwaffe fighter bases.  Steinhoff and his men had flown for quite some time attempting to locate and intercept the B-17s.  At this point fuel was becoming an issue and many of the Bf109's turned and headed back to their home fields, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to return home.  Suddenly, they spotted the flight of B-17s and made just one quick pass.  Steinhoff managed to shoot down a single B-17 but the others had no luck, and many of them had already turned back do to low fuel. 

Steinhoff managed to land his plane just as his aircraft ran out of fuel.  Shortly thereafter, upon learning that only one B-17 had been shot down, Goering issued the ridiculous decree that one officer from each of the squadrons (3) that belonged to JG77 was to be court martialed on charges of cowardice!  Upon hearing this discouraging news (as if the overwhelming odds against them weren't  already enough to kill their morale) all three squadron commanders volunteered to face the court martial charges instead of randomly selecting one of their men (all of whom were in no way, shape or form cowards).  Fortunately Adolph Galland managed somehow to get Goering not to follow through with his "motivational" punishment. 

JG77 was simply not enough to stem the tide of allied airpower at this stage of the war.  The allies had huge quantities of planes, ships, tanks, men, fuel, ammunition etc. as they prepared Sicily for invasion, which they conquered in short order.  JG77 often had to fly from "forward" airfields that were nothing more than a field or meadow with a bare minimum of what's required to keep fighter squadrons up and operational.  What was expected of these men and machines was so unrealistic as to be mind boggling.  The German high command was still thinking in terms of the early years in WWI and didn't grasp the technical aspects of modern air combat operations and the unique challenges this brought.

"Messerschmitts over Sicily" by Johannes Steinhoff is a very interesting read.  I really enjoy the first person accounts and this is one book I'd put at the top of the list!  I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys these type of books or is interested in this period of the war.

forest gump wrote:

was it erich hartmann?

Erich Hartmann had 352 confirmed kills, all of which occured on the Eastern Front.  Your first guess of Hans-Joachim Marseilles (before you edited your post to Hartmann) was much closer. Keep trying! 

Nope and Nope. 

Here's another clue.  This individual was credited with 176 confirmed kills.  This unit was stationed in North Africa for a short time, then evacuated to Sicily to defend both the Island and the Straights of Messina.

Here is a Luftwaffe Trivia question.

In 1943 Hermann Goering sent this "motivational" communique to this commander.   

"Together with the fighter pilots in France, Norway and Russia, I can only regard you with contempt.  I want an immediate improvement in fighting spirit.  If this improvement is not forthcoming, flying personnel from the commander down must expect to be remanded to the ranks and transferred to the easter front to serve on the ground."

This Wing Commander and unit served with distinction is often the subject of Luftwaffe modellers.  

Name the Wing Commander and the unit that so unfairly earned the scorn Herman Goering (totally unjustified and showed just how out of touch with reality he was.....). 

wdolson2 wrote:

Hs-126?  It's definitely not a Swordfish since it is a parasol wing monoplane. Bill

osher wrote:

espins1 wrote: And nope, not an Arado 68.  I would say a captured Swordfish, but the undercarriage is not one I recall, unless the Germans modified one.

espins1 wrote:

And nope, not an Arado 68.

I would say a captured Swordfish, but the undercarriage is not one I recall, unless the Germans modified one.

osher wrote:

Do we need to guess the aircraft?    In which case, I'd go for an Arado 68

Yes, please identify the aircraft. 

And nope, not an Arado 68. 

It does look an aweful lot like the HE-100, so I'd be inclined to agree there is a definate connection there.  I'd be curious to learn more about that connection.  

Here's another Luftwaffe entry.

I believe you might both be partly correct, Bill.

Te German designer who worked for Kawasaki later went back to Germany to do bomber projects (for his name I would have to look him up again) so we do not have a definate clue there.

Indeed it used a license-built version of the German Daimler-Benz DB 601A engine, so although the Meserschmidt fuselage airframe might have been  a factor in its design, the general profile much more closely matches the He-100, which, of course was a German design as well that also used that same engine.

Nevertheless, Mr. Scott has done it again, and guessed the correct answer first and gets the next go here

Tom

Tom, I believe you're referring to the Ki-61 "Hien" Tony.  It was "Tony" by the allies since it looked so much like the Italian Macchi C.202.  It was the only liquid cooled, in-line engined fighter to see service with the Japanese during WWII, and it's design was heavily influenced by the Bf109E.  It used a license-build DB 601A engine, the same in the Messerschmitt Bf109.

Thank you Osher 

I did recall the incident you referred to, but I defered to the Saboru Sakai's account since my focus was your phrase "last official combat action of WWII", meaning to me that post-surrender actions were "unofficial", since they were not supposed to be sanctioned by either side.

It is also possible that our friend Mr Sakai could have had "convenient amnesia" and in fact this could have been the same incident he was part of, only not willing to admit engaging in hostile acts after the official surrender signing. You see, his book Samauri was carefully edited and co-authored by Martin Cadin, and some of his "historic accounts" (refer to the book "The Ragged Rugged Warriors")have been proven to be completely fictitious, so we may never truly know. Revisionist history does wonders to make heroes out of villians, and vice-versa.

Now this should be an easy one:

There was a very prominant Japanese fighter that was given an Italian-sounding allied code-name, since our people felt that it was a copy of an Italian fighter, but in fact, it appears to have been designed by a German aircraft designer who worked for this Japanese manufacturer for a while early in WWII.

Name and claim it .

Bonus points for naming the German designer as well

Good Luck

Tom