re: American Pilots WWII vs Modern

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Also, we have never had to engage in a modern war of air superiority against another formidable air force. WWII was the last time.

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Debatable. We definitely lost air superiority at times in Vietnam, although I suppose you might not consider the NVA to be a “formidable Air Force”.

Apples and oranges. The skill level required to master the beasts of WW2, dont compare to those of today's computer driven platforms. There were no EASA radars, or long range missiles. Only 6 .50 CAL Brownings, and your head on a swivel. Get yourself into un aerodynamic situation, you were pretty much toast. Today, it's let go and hang on and the ship will correct its attitude. The last of the beasts were A-6's and F-4's, heavy underpowered flying bricks. I have a Bud that says flying an F-18 was like flying a C172.

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We definitely lost air superiority at times in Vietnam,

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that was addressed torwards the end and training re-emphasized the need for that skill, the F-4 was built with no internal cannon, I've flown with a bunch of VN vets and known several schooling events where the VN vet in an F-4 v. 4 Vipers just embarrasses the hell out of the whippersnappers


Chuck Yeager is a blowhard, full of shite a-hole, btw, and not well respected in the fighter community

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I thought we were running carpet bombing missions at will?

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talking about knife fighting, baw

ETA: quite a few WWII fighter pilots flew fighters in Vietnam too

My grandson was a WW2 pilot. He's a good man

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that was addressed torwards the end and training re-emphasized the need for that skill, the F-4 was built with no internal cannon

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This has been cited ad nauseum as a reason modern fighters should keep their guns and practice close quarters air combat. Drives me crazy.

The idea to remove the gun was only a bad idea because the designers overestimated the capabilities of A2A missile technology at the time. Missile tech caught up a few years later, but the gun remains into the 21st century as a result. It would almost be like modern subs continuing to have a deck gun because American torpedoes didn’t work for shite till the last months of WW2, or if we’d never removed the tail gun from the B-52.

In today’s world, with the possible exception of ground support strafing runs, the fighter’s gun is a relic of past times that has practically no value in modern air combat.

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I thought we were running carpet bombing missions at will?

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We did eventually, but we also lost 15 B-52s (primarily to AA fire though)

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Chuck Yeager is a blowhard, full of shite a-hole, btw, and not well respected in the fighter community

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I've talked to several people who actually met the man more than just in passing and they all pretty much said he's an insufferably arrogant prick.

Of course, he's still one of the greatest pilots that ever lived. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

Bob Hoover and Dick Bong were better, though.

The flyover for Bob Hoover's funeral tells you all you need to know about what he meant to aviation. The first element was an built of an Air Force utility plane similar to the civilian plane he flew at airshows. The Thunderbirds sent two F-16s and the Canadian Air Force Snowbirds sent one of their tutors to complete the first element of aerobatic airshow planes. The second element was an F-22 and 2 F-86 Sabres. The final element was four WWII warbirds with the P-51 in the formation pulling up into the missing man. The P-51 was the actual aircraft that Bob Hoover flew in airshows for many years.

Bob Hoover showing why he's Bob Hoover

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OP what you're basically asking is "does the lack of dogfights and lack of emphasis on close ACMs and the ubiquitous presence of computer controlled processes in modern day fighter aviation mean that today's pilots are less capable than they were in previous generations?" and the answer is simply put, no.

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I didn't intend to imply anything about modern pilots being less capable.

More so, this is about how impressed I am with the aces of WWII and wondering whether or not they could hold up against modern day pilots and all the advancements that have been made in our understanding of aviation because of their experiences in actual combat.

SD Tider and Rockford understood the question.

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Poser questions posed by people who don't know much but want to appear to be really knowledgeable and smart. Lunch table questions asked by people that have seen a handful of shows on The History Channel.

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but do you think you could take a bobcat irl baw?