So, they built a prototype and flew it in some remarkable short time, something like 120 days. Fortunately, the British decided to bet on them. So, they told the British, "Look, we can build you a better airplane in the same time it would take us to tool up to build P-40s for you." Well, that would probably be pretty risky. The North American company was young and very aggressive and had some very talented people. They wanted North American to tool up and produce P-40s, from drawings given to them by Curtiss. They went to North America and asked them to build a current fighter that was in production in the United States, the P-40, built by Curtiss and powered by an Allison engine. The British came over to the United States on the Lend-Lease program, with a commission, trying to find somebody to build fighters for the Royal Air Force. They were a fledgling company in the early forties, trying to get into the business. It was built by the North American company, right here in LA. In this first part of his interview, Anderson describes how the Mustang came to be, the differences between allied and enemy aircraft, and an intense dogfight he had during a large scale bombing mission near Ludwigshafen, Germany. Anderson served as a P-51 Mustang pilot in WWII, and is the highest-scoring living American fighter ace. Today, in the first of a two-part episode, we’ll hear from Col. Thank you for listening, and by doing so, honoring those who have served. Warriors in Their Own Words is our attempt to present an unvarnished, unsanitized truth of what we have asked of those who defend this nation. In partnership with the Honor Project, we’ve brought this podcast back at a time when our nation needs these stories more than ever. I’m Ken Harbaugh, host of Warriors In Their Own Words. Click here to learn about his birthday celebration.įor more pictures of Bud during the war, click here. Anderson was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2008, and in 2013, was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame.
He also commanded the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, an F-105 Thunderchief unit, during its final months of service in the Vietnam War.Ĭol. Anderson was a member of the 357th Fighter group, which was said to have “shot down the most airplanes in the shortest time of any unit in the European theater, perhaps the whole Air Force.” They had over 600 aerial victories in 14 months, and 42 aces, more than any other fighter group. He’s the highest scoring living American fighter ace, and the 10th highest scoring Mustang Ace of all time.Ĭol. Clarence (Bud) Emil Anderson served in the United States Air Force during World War II, and is a triple-ace fighter pilot. Anderson describes how the Mustang came to be, the differences between allied and enemy aircraft, and an intense dogfight he had during a large-scale bombing mission near Ludwigshafen, Germany.Ĭol. "About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.In this first part of his interview, Col. George Beurling is a World War II veteran and author. This is war without sentiment or romance, told in terms of human courage, skill and heroism. The reader has almost the sensation of being in the cockpit with him, climbing to meet the planes driving in from Sicily, diving down through the fighter screen at the bombers, dodging the bullets coming out of the sun, or whipping up under the belly of an Me for a deflection shot at the engine. Malta Spitfire tells his story and that of the gallant Spitfire squadron, 249, which day after day climbed to the ‘top of the hill’ to meet the enemy against overwhelming odds. Hailing originally from Canada, after hard training and combat across the Channel, Beurling finally made it to Malta in the summer of 1942. One of those Spitfire pilots was George Beurling, nicknamed ‘Screwball’, who in fourteen flying days destroyed twenty-seven German and Italian aircraft and damaged many more.
#ACE FIGHTER PILOT PATCH#
Twenty-five thousand feet above Malta – that is where the Spitfires intercepted the Messerschmitts, Macchis and Reggianes as they swept eastwards in their droves, screening the big Junkers with their bomb loads as they pummeled the island beneath – the most bombed patch of ground in the world.
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