Warbird Information Exchange

A few Army Air Corps Stearmans were used in the combat zones to spray mosquitos.
In WW.II the night witches supposedly used The Polikarpov Po-2 biplane on some raids.
I have seen three types attributed to being the "Bed Check Charlie" bombers in the Korean conflict. The Yak- 18A, the PO-2, and the Yak-12 Moose.

Fun discussion.

Freeman, along with others, clearly documents the use of AT-6s in the ETO in Liason duties. Here, I guess what do we mean by the term 'combat' - flying in a combat zone, being shot at or being delivering ordinance? Same for SNJs -Sullivan and Lucabaugh show they were used well forward in the Pacific Island campaign.

Tangentially, there were the A-27s at Clark/Nichols in the PI that made attacks against the Japanese and they were very much just a big engined T-6.

Fun stuff.

The Japanese pressed some trainers into combat roles as Kamikaze aircraft. Some old biplanes (either army "Spruce" or navy "Willows," not sure which..probably both) were "converted" into suicide attackers by simply putting a drum of fuel in the rear cockpit.

SN

[quote="TonyM

My references indicate that the USAF did not use the T-33 in combat.


TonyM.[/quote]

I have an interesting twist to add, and it involves a USAF advisor, flying T-33s in combat, in Guatemala. He died in the mid-60s in a T-33 crash, in Guatemala.

So, would this qualify as the T-33 being used in combat by the USAF, or would this be stretching the definition a tad tooooo much?


Saludos,


Tulio

_________________
Why take the best part of life out of your life, when you can have life with the best part of your life in your life?

I am one of them 'futbol' people.

Will the previous owner has pics of this double cabin sample

GOOD MORNING, WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Press "1" for English.
Press "2" to disconnect until you have learned to speak English.

Sooooo, how am I going to know to press 1 or 2, if I do not speak English????

T-28s were use by the Honduras Air Force in 1969 in ground attack roles and CAP and one of them managed to put some holes into a Corsair from El Salvador Air Force.

steve...... what an excellent smart *ss reply!!.... i think tulio can relate a few more types, as alot of miscellanious aircraft were used in minor interdictions & combat actions from the 30's to the 60's in various central & south american nations.

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

the Pilatus PC-7 and PC-9 Turbo trainers have been used in ground-attack roles in many countries and conflicts.... most of these mods were done locally and always have been the cause for discussions here in neutral Switzerland that has strong regulations re. arms export....

speak about Guatemala, Iraq, Chad.... and many more.

Martin

_________________
Flying is easy: just learn how to throw yourself at the ground and miss

And the current Texan II being ostensibly a PC-9 (although a Beech/Raytheon product), the USAF are looking to convert it to a COIN aircraft as well. You must admit, the Swiss make great planes!

Just a rather lame attempt at humor.

Back to the subject at hand, I suppose just about any aircraft that could has had a gun and/or bomb attached to it at some point. I've heard of several instances of C-47s used as bombers by simply rolling bombs out the cargo doors.


SN

Quite true, especially in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The Egyptians wreaked havoc in the early days, bombing Tel Aviv with C-47s. The Israelis used several aircraft as "bombers," including Austers, Pipers, and Avro Ansons. Often, the "bombardier" was just some guy who opened the door into the slipstream and tossed the bomb out. Not the most high-tech arrangement, but you do what you gotta do ...

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The main winding was of the normal lotus-o deltoid type placed in panendermic semi-bolloid slots of the stator. Every seventh conductor being connected by a non-reversible tremmy pipe to the differential girdle spring on the up-end of the grammeters. Moreover, whenever fluorescent square motion is required, it may also be employed in conjunction with the drawn reciprocation dingle arm, to reduce sinusoidal depleneration.

I don't know if they were used in combat but I have seen T-33's from South / Central America with gun noses and camo. In the weird category, the NVA used AN-2's as bombers at least once by using the side door (they also reportedly got shot down by a Huey for that mistake!). The N Koreans may still use them to cross the border and dump out/pickup personal ( I gave impromptu "threat" briefings to F-15/16 pilots at airshows who had been sent to shoot them down while deployed).

Cheers,
Brian

I can tell with 100% certainty and knowledge, that T-33s in both the Guatemalan, and Nicaraguan Air Forces, saw active combat.

In Guatemala, against guerrillas, in the 1960s.
In Nicaragua, again employed against guerrillas in 1978-79.

And yes, the use of the Guatemalan PC-7s in combat, brught a diplomatic protest from the Swiss government.

I understan that something similar happened years later when they were employed in Chiapas, against the Zapatista Guerrilla.

I don't know if the Swiss also protested the use of the PC-7s in the Iran / Irak war.

Saludos,


Tulio

_________________
Why take the best part of life out of your life, when you can have life with the best part of your life in your life?

I am one of them 'futbol' people.

Will the previous owner has pics of this double cabin sample

GOOD MORNING, WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Press "1" for English.
Press "2" to disconnect until you have learned to speak English.

Sooooo, how am I going to know to press 1 or 2, if I do not speak English????

you can bet on THAT !.... Iraqi PC-7's and -9's were also used for gas-attacks on Kurdish civilans....

latest uproar was the use of a PC-9 in Chad... their government signed a paper that this a/c was only being used for training.... my a..

Martin

_________________
Flying is easy: just learn how to throw yourself at the ground and miss

It makes sense, right, Martin?

I mean, yeah, gassing up people . . .

But, what I could not understand at the time, when the Swiss protested the Guatemalan use of the PC-7s, was that they should have known that if they sold an armed trainer to a nation that was fighting a guerrilla war, the airplanes would be actually used in combat operations.

Good airplanes, and a few still remain in service, after so many years.

Saludos,


Tulio

_________________
Why take the best part of life out of your life, when you can have life with the best part of your life in your life?

I am one of them 'futbol' people.

Will the previous owner has pics of this double cabin sample

GOOD MORNING, WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Press "1" for English.
Press "2" to disconnect until you have learned to speak English.

Sooooo, how am I going to know to press 1 or 2, if I do not speak English????