Aircraft recognition theory

While the Normandy landings were underway, the Luftwaffe was totally absent from the skies. Allied air forces achieved not just air superiority but air supremacy. German soldiers took to saying:

If an airplane is silver-coloured, it's American. If it's camouflaged, it's British. If there is no airplane, it's German.

History Channel Dogfights: the Grumman F6F Hellcat

The Hellcat was arguably the most important US fighter in World War II. It was the top "ace-maker" and had a record 19:1 kill ratio, the best of any fighter in history.

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The indefatigable DC-3

The Douglas DC-3 was arguably the most important airliner ever built. In 1938, the type was responsible for 95 % of all commercial traffic in the U.S. and its military version, the C-47 Dakota, was so important that Eisenhower said it was "one of the four machines that won World War II, along with the bulldozer, 6x6 truck, and the landing craft. “

The DC-3 was reliable and solid, and is still used today.

In 1966, North Central Airlines retired one of the most used DC-3s ever : N21278. It had logged 83,033 flying hours in 9 years and used up 136 engines, but 90% of all its components were still the original, factory-built, ones.

A Row of Idiots

At the beginning of World War Two, RAF fighter pilots flew in combat in tight "Vee" formations. This formation was completely inadequate for modern air combat. It had initially been thought that it would allow for greater firepower against enemy bombers, but mostly proved to be unflexible. The German tactical formation, the Schwarme, was much more fluid and efficient but early in the war British pilots kept flying that way as there was no time to re-train young pilots to better tactics. German pilots dubbed the RAF formations Idiotenreihen ("rows of idiots") because they left squadrons so vulnerable to attack.