Actually, no MiGs were shot down by B-29s - the gunners could not follow them. However, the MiGs did drive the B-29s from the daylight skies, with "Black Tuesday" an April 1951 where 3 of 10 were shot down and five others damaged, and "Black Thursday" that October, in which four of nine were shot down and three of the other five never flew again, with another crashing just south of the 38th parallel. It was the worst US bombing mission ever flown. The bombers had been put on night missions after April, then it was decided the mission in October was important enough to fly in daylight. It never happened again. The Air Force parboiled the books and claimed the three that never flew again were "mechanical failures," while the one that crashed coming back was "pilot error". (I have a long chapter on this in "MiG Alley") That was also the mission that ended the career of the F-84E as an escort fighter, with three of them shot down while the MiGs dived through 30 others that couldn't get out of their own way to get to the bombers.
The "MiG kill" claims by B-29 gunners were about as "accurate" as the claims from B-17 and B-24 gunners of shooting down hundreds of Luftwaffe fighters. The Air Force let the claims stand for the gunner's morale, even though it was known the defensive fire was mostly only good for scaring German pilots and putting them off their aim.
Another piece of reality coming home. There are so many « Modified history’s « during armed conflict. The men that were there however know the truth from their vantage point . Thanks for bringing this piece of history to light Tom.
Nice Marcus ! I built the old airfix myself when I was 16. The size alone made it awesome and with the Humbrol enamel of that time came out almost as good as yours. Great workshop and studio background as well !
Often wondered if any air gunner ever shot down an enemy aircraft. I'm sure combined fire from boxes of bombers did. It was probably impossible to verify.
Nice work on this beast, Marcus (@mvtb). I have built this kit before and ran into several areas where I wanted to call it quits. Congrats on turning this lump of coal into a diamond.
Nice work on an old clunker.
Actually, no MiGs were shot down by B-29s - the gunners could not follow them. However, the MiGs did drive the B-29s from the daylight skies, with "Black Tuesday" an April 1951 where 3 of 10 were shot down and five others damaged, and "Black Thursday" that October, in which four of nine were shot down and three of the other five never flew again, with another crashing just south of the 38th parallel. It was the worst US bombing mission ever flown. The bombers had been put on night missions after April, then it was decided the mission in October was important enough to fly in daylight. It never happened again. The Air Force parboiled the books and claimed the three that never flew again were "mechanical failures," while the one that crashed coming back was "pilot error". (I have a long chapter on this in "MiG Alley") That was also the mission that ended the career of the F-84E as an escort fighter, with three of them shot down while the MiGs dived through 30 others that couldn't get out of their own way to get to the bombers.
The "MiG kill" claims by B-29 gunners were about as "accurate" as the claims from B-17 and B-24 gunners of shooting down hundreds of Luftwaffe fighters. The Air Force let the claims stand for the gunner's morale, even though it was known the defensive fire was mostly only good for scaring German pilots and putting them off their aim.
Another piece of reality coming home. There are so many « Modified history’s « during armed conflict. The men that were there however know the truth from their vantage point . Thanks for bringing this piece of history to light Tom.
Nice Marcus ! I built the old airfix myself when I was 16. The size alone made it awesome and with the Humbrol enamel of that time came out almost as good as yours. Great workshop and studio background as well !
Often wondered if any air gunner ever shot down an enemy aircraft. I'm sure combined fire from boxes of bombers did. It was probably impossible to verify.
The first casualty in war is truth.
Very nice looking Super Fort. Great work on this one!
Nice work on this beast, Marcus (@mvtb). I have built this kit before and ran into several areas where I wanted to call it quits. Congrats on turning this lump of coal into a diamond.
Excellent job on this old mold, Marcus.
Nice painting, as well!
Great build, Marcus @mvtb
Love the scheme.
Even at 1/72 this is a plane to require a large workbench.
Well done Marcus!
From sow's ear to silk purse! Superb work Marcus!
Well done Marcus, excellent paint job on that old beast.
Nice work, great job on the scheme!
Nicely done,must take up a lot of shelf space!
Nice work, Marcus. Thanks for sharing this. I’ve never seen one of these actually built before.
Thank you all for the kind comments!
Whatever the truth is, you’ve made this old kit into a great model, definitely liked.
Nice work on a classic Airfix airframe! Looks great.
Thanks guys!