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I wanted to like this article but it was all over the place. More attention was paid to the color schemas than how the airplanes were actually captured.
It was actually prompted by the US Navy deploying the Mach 2 A-5 Vigilante attack aircraft; the MiG-25 had enough of a speed advantage to make interception of that type and the B-58 possible.
“In June 1942, after shooting down a Spitfire, a Luftwaffe pilot named Armin Faber landed his Fw 190A-3 at RAF Pembrey in Wales (believing it to be France). Because of an unfortunate inability to distinguish the Bristol Channel from the English Channel said Armin let his plane get into the grubby hands of the RAF, with barely a scratch. Given its total superiority to any Allied fighter then in service, this unexpected gift was insanely valuable to the technical experts of the RAF. In fact, so desperate were the British to get their hands on one that a Commando raid had been planned to steal an Fw 190 from a French airfield.”
Never heard this story before “In June 1942, after shooting down a Spitfire, a Luftwaffe pilot named Armin Faber landed his Fw 190A-3 at RAF Pembrey in Wales (believing it to be France). Because of an unfortunate inability to distinguish the Bristol Channel from the English Channel said Armin let his plane get into the grubby hands of the RAF, with barely a scratch. Given its total superiority to any Allied fighter t…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93U.S._RQ-170_inc...
https://www.wearethemighty.com/history/ussr-won-jet-engine-b...
Also funny that the "Soviet Enemy MiG-28"s from Top Gun were in fact F-5's with red stars painted on them, making that a bit less far-fetched :D I never knew they actually captured one of those.
Yes, as all the kids obsessed with military hardware noticed right away. I'm sure real captured Soviet planes were too valuable to risk for a movie, not to mention their existence was probably kept secret. (Another common error that warplane buffs immediately recognise is the replacement of Bf 109 by Ha-1112.)
1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonopah_Test_Range_Airport#447...
Also funny that the "Soviet Enemy MiG-28"s from Top Gun were in fact F-5's with red stars painted on them, making that a bit less far-fetched :D I never knew they actually captured one of those.
Never heard this story before “In June 1942, after shooting down a Spitfire, a Luftwaffe pilot named Armin Faber landed his Fw 190A-3 at RAF Pembrey in Wales (believing it to be France). Because of an unfortunate inability to distinguish the Bristol Channel from the English Channel said Armin let his plane get into the grubby hands of the RAF, with barely a scratch. Given its total superiority to any Allied fighter t…
Wouldn't it also take the inability to distinguish North from South to mistake Wales for France on that basis?