I think it was the Breda 88 that had some serious stability problems, coupled with engines that were too underpowered for what that aircraft could have been. I've always been partial to the sleek lines of the the CANT Z.1018 'Leone.' Of course, that bomber had some serious problems of its own.

Martin B-10.  Revolutionary design when introduced in 1934, used by the Chinese air force to bomb Japan once or twice, unsuccessfully used by the Dutch to fight the Japanese.  Still in US service at the outbreak of war, but only barely, quickly retired since the rapid development of fighters made it a death trap by that time.

Over Hawaii in 1941:


Lovely pre-war color scheme:

We’ve all heard about how the B-24s assigned to bomb Omaha Beach dropped too far inland due to cloud cover.  Perhaps less well known is that the B-26s assigned to Utah went in under the cloud layer and put the bombs where they were needed.

Always liked the look of the B-23 Dragon. To me it resembled a twin engine version of a B-17, albeit built by Douglas.
Only 38 were built and they were used mainly as trainers and transports.

Special Kay. A good friend of mine works on her at the Vintage Flying Museum in Ft. Worth.

I recall there were a couple of Dehaviland Mosquitos equipped with Bofors guns. They loaded it with solid steel rounds, and hunted submarines.

Big steel slug had no problem punching through the sides of the german subs, and then bouncing around the interior ripping up the hardware.

I had a boss who piloted a Lockheed Ventura (PV-2 harpoon).  Had a few stories.

I'm based at that airport so I get to go down and see her often.

I saw it here in WA a year before and am fortunate that I got to see it fly. I was bummed when I heard it was lost.

I’ve been following the story of Taigh Raney’s PV-2 Harpoon on the Warbird Information Exchange (WIX) forum. A few years back he found a PV-2 fire bomber and did a complete restoration. He just acquired a second one and is getting ready to ferry it back to the hanger. Probably my favorite light twin next to the A-20.

They used some aerial shots of his PV-2 for that shitty Indianapolis movie with Nicholas Cage. The plane was the only good thing in the film. Lol.

Most of the USAF ICBM units today were B24/B25 units during WWII.

I was once assigned to the 490th Missile Squadron at Malmstrom AFB, MT.  During WWII, it was the 490th Bomb Squadron in the China-Burma India theater, flying B25s.

The squadron commander's radio operator painted a Skull & Wings on the plane when it first arrived in theater, and that became the squadron's unofficial patch.

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That patch is still used by the 490th Missile Squadron today.

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Throughout 1943 the 490th transported supplies throughout China and provided tactical support to troops, but its main job was interdiction missions, particularly against bridges used by the Japanese to move troops and supplies. Most of those attacks against bridges were unsuccessful to do the terrain and the tactics used. They tried several techniques, to include modifications of skip bombing and dive bombing, but none worked.

On New Year's Day of 1944, one of the squadron members accidentally discovered a new technique for bombing bridges that they called hop bombing.

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Over the next several months, they became so good at destroying bridges (eight just in the first week after discovering the technique) that the 10th Air Force Commander, in a letter to their CO, praised "you and your Bridge Busters". The name stuck. Their expertise at bombing bridges earned them the label as "one of the most specialized bombardment squadrons in the world."

There are several B25s in Burma Bridge Buster livery around the country.  I've seen one at the D-Day Museum in New Orleans, been told there's one in Washington state, there's one on a stick at Lackland AFB, and the one I'm most familiar with is outside the gate of Malmstrom AFB.

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This is a picture of that plane, during a reunion in the early 2000s of the remaining Bridge Busters. One of them has a very interesting story.  His name is Arnold Spielberg (he's still alive at 101).  He was the communications chief for the 490th for 2.5 years, and went on to become an accomplished electrical engineer working at GE (where he created the first electronic point of sale cash register).

To get to the reunion, he was flown there in his son's private jet. His son's name is Steven.  Yes, THAT Steven Spielberg.

Which is why, in the director's notes in Saving Private Ryan, as he's talking about the influence of his dad on his movie making, you'll see a picture of then-MSgt Spielberg wearing a skull-and-wings patch on his jacket, taken during his time flying B25 missions for the Burma Bridge Busters.  Or, like in this interview, where you see a young Steven wearing his dad's jacket.



For me, it's one thing to talk about the planes, but GOOD history is about people's stories.

I don’t know about a Bofors gun, but I do know the Mk XVIII variant used a six-pounder anti-tank gun and was employed by Coastal Command against the U-boats. There were only about twenty or so of them, but as you say they were pretty effective anyway.