For men and women: Would you have liked to be a fighter pilot in WWII?

Question

For men and women: Would you have liked to be a fighter pilot in WWII?

Answer 1

I heard from some who were there that many considered it an adventure. Often,only the plane was destroyed,and the pilot bailed out. A German prisoner who worked on our farm claimed that he had parachuted 50 + times before being captured. I don't like the idea of killing anyone who has not personally harmed me.

Answer 2

"Liked" is the operative term. Very few rational people deliberately take a job where the objective is to kill other people. There are memorable aircraft from the era, even some impressive reproductions that have come onto the market lately.

The actual flying must have been a blast in some of those aircraft. It's the getting shot at and having to shoot at other airmen that sucks nuts.

Would I have done it, had I been born in the era and had the skills? Yes. Would I have enjoyed actual combat? No. Knowing I wouldn't enjoy it, would I do it anyway? Yes.

Liked? No.

Would I? Yes.

Proud of my service? Yes.

JT

Answer 3

As a kid I did, but not anymore. I've read a lot of history-a lot of stuff they didn't teach in school-and I have formed the opinion that the 'good guys' weren't so good and the 'bad guys' weren't so bad, at least as far as the European theatre. Yes, the n**i's did some seriously nasty stuff, but Luftwaffe pilots were rarely involved in that, most were just guys doing their jobs, and they didn't have any 'tour of duty' rotation; their only way out was dieing or the end of the war, win or lose. So I'd feel bad about killing a Luftwaffe pilot. The Japanese on the other hand-well, I like the Japanese now, and have a lot of respect for their history & culture, but the stuff they pulled during WWII was just plain wrong. And so while I wouldn't mind flaming some Japanese pilots, the thought of maybe being shot down in the Pacific and being eaten by a shark doesn't appeal to me much.

Answer 4

Had I been alive in that era I would most definitively have sought to be a pilot... fighter pilot?  Perhaps... but I most definitively would have loved to have been a bomber pilot.  

The B-29 Superfortress is my favorite airplane of WWII.

Answer 5

Yes! And by the way spammer, fighter pilots get the hot babes. Go ahead and make history.

Answer 6

I dont know if I would have liked to be but I would have done it. Alteast you get to fly even though it is very dangerous you are still doing something you love and fighting for your country and the free world.

If there was ever a WWIII (knock on wood) or a draft for a war I would not hesitate to go into the Air Force,Navy,Army etc.. and fly planes or even helicopters for them.

Answer 7

I think I was, since I was a little kid I have had a love for Hurricanes and spitfires, but M E 109's send a shudder down my back.

reincarnated maybe?

Answer 8

i would have like to work behind the lines at the airport. or flight deck.  like refuling planes or sticking bombs on the planes or mantiance on planes. so i would have a little less chance to end up dead. war is not fun and games. there is no fun in war. did you know the life of a gunner in a bomber plane in ww2 is around 13 minutes. that's what a ww2 vetren told me.

Answer 9

It makes a much better fantasy than it does a real experience.  My uncle flew a P-40 in North Africa and took part in the campaign to remove the Wermacht from the island of Malta.

Later he was bitten by a black African scorpion that was hidden in the cockpit by an Arab laundry boy.  The venom caused him to become unconscious, and he died in the crash.  Not a good way to go.  Not even the glory of combat.

I have flown a P-40, a P-47, and a P-51.  They are really hard to fly by today's standards, though very exciting.  Me, I want to die in bed.  Thanks.

Answer 10

I sure wouldn't have wanted to be a Japanese one! Seriously, if I'd been alive then, I would have served, for sure, and if the best way I could do that was flying a P-51 or something like that, then that's what I would have done. (I actually did serve in the USAF, in a Fighter Wing, but not as a pilot.)

Answer 11

I don't think the fighter pilots of WW II "liked" their job. They were proud to defend their country whether it was the US, Germany, Japan or another. It took a lot of fortitude to go into harms way with no guarantee of a safe return. Many people think it would be "cool" or some other trite phrase to be a pilot of a warplane in the middle of the action. It is not. It is a very sobering experience and not one to make light of.

Answer 12

During the 1970s and 80s, I audio recorded as many WW II veterans as I could. Many of these were pilots. I even found a German Messerschmitt 109 pilot. After talking with these men first hand, I don't think I could have been a fighter pilot. I probably would have been taken out of the training in the first place because I wouldn't have displayed the characteristics that the Air Force looked for in their pilots. I have always been reserved and cautious all my life, and always took the time to think about things, and balance out the risks and rewards. That wouldn't qualify me as a fighter pilot. They were looking for men who could make quick and instinctive decisions backed with aggression. I learned a lot from the pilots I interviewed. Enough to learn that the Air Force probably would have reassigned me as a bomber pilot.

Answer 13

A Spitfire pilot in the Battle of Britain, no return guaranteed. I've always been fascinated by the heroism of the RAF pilots, going into battle against seemingly unsurmountable odds and winning some unbelievable battles. Oh yes, given a chance, I'd love to fly for the RAF in the Battle of Britain.

Spammer, why do the history makers call for fighter support when they see enemy movie makers? Afraid of being made history???

Answer 14

No, I definately would love to have flown all those marvelous aircraft, but there was a lot of blood that went with the hyped up glamour. Hours and hours of extreme bordom occasionally disturbed by shear panic and terrror.  I am a pilot, so I get to fly when ever I want and nobody tries to shoot my airplane from under me

Answer 15

I would be a Bomber Pilot.  Fighters makes movies, Bombers makes history :-))

I would pick the Lockheed P38 Lightning or Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe if I have to pick a Pursuit / Fighter aircraft ;-)

I was a door gunner too, in Iraq ;-)

CH 47 Rules !!!