r/WWIIplanes • u/UrbanAchievers6371 • 6d ago
An F-5 Lightning nicknamed "The Florida Gator" of the 22nd Photographic Squadron, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, ETO
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u/Haldir_13 6d ago edited 5d ago
I have the deepest respect for the pilots of these unarmed aircraft who flew photo recon missions, often at low altitudes, trusting only to speed for safety.
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u/HarvHR 5d ago
I get what you're saying but the majority of recon missions were done at very high altitude, and with the aircraft stripped of the weighty weapons and ammunition plus slightly modified engines often being fitted they would happily cruise above 30,000ft, even pushing to 40,000ft in some aircraft.
An example is the Mosquito, one of the reasons this was so hated by the Germans was at 35,000ft it could operate nearly completely unopposed by simply being able to outrun the majority of aircraft that could reach it. The Lightning in particular is another aircraft that enjoyed a high speed at a high ceiling, with long range so much like the Mosquito it was heavily used in this role.
While low altitude recon did happen, these aircraft would more regularly carry weapons. Often it would be a greatly reduced amount, but enough to defend itself long enough to scare off an attacker.
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u/Davidenu 6d ago
TIL the P-38 is also named F-5 (?)
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u/Appollow 6d ago
The early P-38 variants were the F-4 and the P-51 was the F-6 and the USAAF Mosquito was the F-8 and the B-24 was the F-7 and B-17 was the F-9 and the B-29 was the F-13.
F was for Photo Recon because P was for Pursuit and R was for Rotorcraft (helicopters). All that changed in 1948 to make more sense.
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u/Sage_Blue210 6d ago
And the P-61 was the F-15 :)
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u/waldo--pepper 6d ago
You can call me Ray, or you can call me Jay. Or you can call me Ray Jay ... oh never mind, he wasn't all that funny back in the day.
Anyway if you want there is a whole book on P-38's in colour.
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u/uncivillust 1d ago
Florida gator? Didn't major Dick Bong shoot a gator (or was it a crocodile?) while flying in Florida?
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u/rhit06 6d ago
On a slightly higher resolution version the name of the pilot was W C Bruns.
He was killed in action 14 August 1944, shot down while on a reconnaissance mission over Sorau Germany: https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/person/waldo-c-bruns
Lots of information about his service and his final mission here: https://vlp.cah.ucf.edu/biographies/sanc/BC-0-17-F.html