Military Piston

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_J2M

The Mitsubishi J2M Raiden (雷電, "Lightning Bolt") is a single-engined land-based fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War II. The Allied reporting name was "Jack".

The J2M was designed by Jiro Horikoshi, creator of the A6M Zero, to meet the 14-Shi (14th year of the Showa reign, or 1939) official specification. It was to be a strictly local-defense interceptor, intended to counter the threat of high-altitude bomber raids, and thus relied on speed, climb performance, and armament at the expense of manoeuvrability. The J2M was a sleek, but stubby craft with its oversized Mitsubishi Kasei engine buried behind a long cowling, cooled by an intake fan and connected to the propeller with an extension shaft.

The Raiden made its combat debut in June 1944 during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Several J2Ms operated from Guam and Saipan and a small number of aircraft were deployed to the Philippines. Later, some J2Ms were based in Chosen airfields, Genzan (Wonsan), Ranan (Nanam), Funei (Nuren), Rashin (Najin) and Konan under Genzan Ku, for defence of these areas and fighting against Soviet Naval Aviation units. Primarily designed to defend against the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the type was handicapped at high altitude by the lack of a turbocharger. However, its four-cannon armament supplied effective firepower and the use of dive and zoom tactics allowed it to score occasionally. Insufficient numbers and the American switch to night bombing in March 1945 limited its effectiveness.

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From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_P-38_Lightning

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is a World War II–era American piston-engined fighter aircraft. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament. Allied propaganda claimed it had been nicknamed the fork-tailed devil (German: der Gabelschwanz-Teufel) by the Luftwaffe and "two planes, one pilot" by the Japanese.^[6] Along with its use as a general fighter, the P-38 was utilized in various aerial combat roles including as a highly effective fighter-bomber,^[7] a night fighter,^[8] and as a long-range escort fighter when equipped with drop tanks.^[9] The P-38 was also used as a bomber-pathfinder, guiding streams of medium and heavy bombers; or even other P-38s, equipped with bombs, to their targets.^[10][11] Used in the aerial reconnaissance role, the P-38 accounted for 90 percent of the aerial film captured over Europe. ^[12][13]

The P-38 was used most successfully in the Pacific Theater of Operations and the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations as the aircraft of America's top aces, Richard Bong (40 victories), Thomas McGuire (38 victories) and Charles H. MacDonald (27 victories). In the South West Pacific theater, the P-38 was the primary long-range fighter of United States Army Air Forces until the introduction of large numbers of P-51D Mustangs toward the end of the war.^[14][15]

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From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakovlev_Yak-9

The Yakovlev Yak-9 (Russian: Яковлев Як-9) was a single-engine single-seat multipurpose fighter aircraft used by the Soviet Union in World War II and after. Fundamentally a development of the robust and successful Yak-7B fighter based in turn on a tandem-seat advanced trainer Yak-7UTI, the Yak-9 arrived to Soviet fighter aviation regiments at the Stalingrad Front in December 1942 and played a major role in taking air superiority over Luftwaffe aces on the new Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and Messerschmitt Bf 109G fighters during the grand Battle of Kursk in summer 1943.

The Yak-9 had a lowered rear fuselage decking and all-around vision canopy. Its lighter metal longerons gave the new fighter a potential to increase fuel load and armament that previous models with wooden airframe had lacked.^[2] The maneuverable, high-speed at low/medium altitudes and easy to control Yak-9 was one of the best and the most mass-produced Soviet fighter of World War II. It was produced in different variants including the Yak-9T with the 37 mm and the "large-calibre" Yak-9K with the 45 mm cannon firing through propeller hub to be effectively used against enemy tanks and aircraft, the fighter-bomber Yak-9B with the inner hanger behind cockpit of up to 400 kg bombs, the long-range Yak-9D and the Yak-9DD with additional wing fuel tanks to escort Allied bombers over Eastern Europe, the Yak-9U with the more powerful engine and improved aerodynamics. The Yak-9 remained in production from 1942 to 1948, with 16,769 built (14,579 during the war).^[3].

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From: https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/focke-wulf-fw-190-d-9/nasm_A19600319000

The FW 190 was the only completely successful piston-engined fighter introduced by the German air force, the Luftwaffe, after World War II started. The Museum's Fw 190 F and D represent the "second-generation" Fw 190s which followed the Fw 190A into combat. The Fw 190D interceptor was considered by many German pilots to be the finest piston-engined fighter in Luftwaffe service.

The Fw 190 D was a reengined and reengineered development of the widely-used Fw 190 A, the first Fw 190 production model. It was viewed by its designer, Kurt Tank, as an interim design pending availability of the Ta 152. Prototype testing began in March 1942, with the unreliable air-cooled BMW 801-series engine replaced by the liquid-cooled Junkers Jumo 213A 12-cylinder engine (1776hp, boosted to 2240hp with water-methanol injection). This engine had previously been used exclusively on bombers.

The longer-nosed Fw 190 D, with a redesigned tail, was a success with pilots because of increased engine reliability and performance much superior to the Fw 190 A-8 in climb, dive and level speed. The aircraft attained 692kph (430mph) at 11,300m (20,200ft) and could fly 850kmh (480mi/h) -- performance that made it a much better interceptor against the burgeoning and fighter-escorted Allied bomber formations. Pilots considered it more than a match for the P-51D "Mustang". Armament was two 20mm Mauser MG-151/20 cannon in the wing (with a robust 250 rounds per gun) and two 13mm Rheinmetall MG-131 cannon (with 475 rounds per gun) over the engine. Small batches of Fw 190 D-0 and D-1 preproduction fighters were delivered for service evaluation in Spring and Summer 1943, just as the American 8th Air Force was starting large daylight bombing raids.

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From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Bf_109

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force.^[3] The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War and was still in service at the dawn of the jet age at the end of World War II in 1945.^[3] It was one of the most advanced fighters when it first appeared, with an all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy, and retractable landing gear. It was powered by a liquid-cooled, inverted-V12 aero engine.^[4] From the end of 1941, the Bf 109 was steadily supplemented by the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. It was called the Me 109 by Allied aircrew and some German aces, even though this was not the official German designation.^[5]

It was designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser who worked at Bayerische Flugzeugwerke during the early to mid-1930s.^[4] It was conceived as an interceptor, although later models were developed to fulfill multiple tasks, serving as bomber escort, fighter-bomber, day-, night-, all-weather fighter, ground-attack aircraft, and reconnaissance aircraft. It was supplied to several states during World War II, and served with several countries for many years after the war. The Bf 109 is the most produced fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 33,984 airframes produced from 1936 to April 1945.^[2][3] Some of the Bf 109 production took place in Nazi concentration camps through slave labor.

The Bf 109 was flown by the three top-scoring fighter aces of all time, who claimed 928 victories among them while flying with Jagdgeschwader 52, mainly on the Eastern Front. The highest-scoring, Erich Hartmann, was credited with 352 victories. The aircraft was also flown by Hans-Joachim Marseille, the highest-scoring ace in the North African Campaign who shot down 158 enemy aircraft (in about a third of the time). It was also flown by many aces from other Axis nations, notably the Finn Ilmari Juutilainen, the highest-scoring non-German ace. Pilots from Italy, Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Hungary also flew the Bf 109. Through constant development, the Bf 109 remained competitive with the latest Allied fighter aircraft until the end of the war.^[6]

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The VB became the main production version of the Mark Vs. Along with the new Merlin 45 series the B wing was fitted as standard. As production progressed changes were incorporated, some of which became standard on all later Spitfires. Production started with several Mk IBs which were converted to Mk VBs by Supermarine. Starting in early 1941 the round section exhaust stacks were changed to a fishtail type, marginally increasing exhaust thrust. Some late production VBs and VCs were fitted with six shorter exhaust stacks per side, similar to those of Spitfire IXs and Seafire IIIs; this was originally stipulated as applying specifically to VB(trop)s.^[80] After some initial problems with the original Mk I size oil coolers, a bigger oil cooler was fitted under the port wing; this could be recognised by a deeper housing with a circular entry. From mid-1941 alloy covered ailerons became a universal fitting

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Preliminary F8F Bearcat modified to be a Reno Racer called F8F_VooDooBear. Lot's of work to be done - released for FlightNight Reno Air Races!

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daVinci P-39-Q25 version. Only one livery so far but it flies well and looks awesome. Basically uploaded for folks who like Warbirds but can't handle taildraggers. This is a tricycle gear and it's easy to land and taxi.

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The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and other conflicts. The Mustang was conceived, designed and built by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a specification issued directly to NAA by the British Purchasing Commission. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed and, with an engine installed, first flew on 26 October.

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The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Wurger was a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II.

Detlef Faber's FW-190 A8 with multiple liveries all visible over MP.