Aerial warfare has been around for just over a hundred years, and that's long enough for some strange things to have happened.
Sometimes when faced with overwhelming odds, people pulled off the impossible. In others, aircraft that had no business fighting each other did.
Let's take a look at some of the stranger dogfights that have taken place over the years.
B-17 vs Zeros
Encounters between B-17s and A6M Zeros were fairly commonplace in the Pacific. What sets this one apart is the numbers of aircraft involved.
A B-17E was normally vulnerable to a head-on attack. Zeamer's crew, however, had added extra forward firing guns to their aircraft.
While on a photo reconnaissance mission over Bougainville (New Guinea), Captain Jay Zeamer's single B-17 was set upon by a large number of Japanese fighters. By Zeamer's account there were
fifteen Zeros plus a pair of twin-engine Ki-46 Dinahs.
If I didn't know this story was true I'd say it came straight from Hollywood Central Casting.
Zeamer was known to be a bit of problem child. He'd never officially checked out in the left seat of the B-17, he just never let that stop him from flying missions in the left seat.
The A6M was extremely maneuverable but lacked armor and self-sealing fuel tanks. They tended to burn easily when hit.
He put together a crew of the squadron's "renegades and screw-offs" and commandeered a worn out B-17 that was to be scrapped for spare parts. Not satisfied with the number of guns on a "stock" B-17E, Zeamer's crew modified #41-666 to carry as many as
nineteen machine guns. They even had a fixed forward-firing gun operated by a switch on the pilot's control column.
The crew of "Old 666" soon developed a reputation for taking on dangerous missions and succeeding. You just can't make this stuff up. I think this is the plot of at least half the war movies ever made.
"Whenever the 43rd got a real lousy mission, the worst possible mission of all that nobody else wanted to fly, they went down to see Jay Zeamer and his gang."
So when they needed a crew to volunteer for a certain death highly dangerous reconnaissance flight over heavily defended Japanese islands, they knew who to call.
While flying straight-and-level at 25,000 feet the B-17 was set upon initially by five Japanese fighters. The Japanese attacked from the front, since a B-17E was vulnerable from that aspect. Well a normal B-17E was anyway.
Old 666 never had nose art, but I think this would have been a good choice.
Zeamer reportedly shot one down with his fixed machine-gun while his bombardier Joe Sarnoski claimed two with his nose gun. Badly wounded by a cannon shell, Sarnoski crawled back to his gun and kept firing until he died.
With their oxygen system shot out, the damaged B-17 was forced to descend to 10,000 feet. What ensued was a running 45-minute engagement with as many as 17 Japanese fighters. Zeamer threw the bomber through a series of S-turns, denying the Zeros a decent shot at his aircraft. The crew claimed two additional fighter kills during the engagement. Finally the Japanese ran low on fuel and ammunition and had to turn back.
Zeamer's crew claimed a Ki-46 as well as four Zeros. The Japanese claimed one aircraft lost and four damaged. This sort of discrepancy was common.
Zeamer was so badly wounded his copilot had to land the shot-up B-17. He had lost so much blood they initially thought he was dead. He recovered, and was awarded the Medal of Honor. Sarnowski was also posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
Why they never made a movie about this I have no idea. It did make it into an episode of Dogfights on the History Channel. That was before the History Channel started running American Pickers and Ancient Aliens 24/7.
One of these men is a badass. Guess which one.
Jay Zeamer (supreme badass) visiting Sarnowski's grave shortly before his death in 2007.
Lockheed Hudson vs Zeros
A Lockheed Hudson like this one was outmatched by a Zero, let alone nine of them led by Saburo Sakei himself.
Not one of the better known aircraft of WWII, a Lockheed Hudson was a twin-engine light bomber originally built for the British. The type proved popular and went on to serve with the United States, Canada and Australia. It had one noteworthy feature - it was exceptionally maneuverable for a twin engine bomber.
In July of 1942, a lone Hudson of the Royal Australian Air Force was set upon by a crack squadron of Japanese Zeros, led by legendary ace Saburō Sakai himself.
Pilot Officer Warren Cowan turned the Hudson on its wing and into his attackers. In a ten minute dogfight, he used the Lockheed's maneuverability to deny the Zeros a shot.
Unfortunately, sometimes your best just isn't enough. Sakai himself was finally able to shoot down the badly outnumbered Hudson. Sakai was so impressed by the pilot's skill that after the war he wrote to the Australian government and recommended he be "posthumously awarded your country's highest military decoration".
Bomber vs Bomber
The B-24 Liberator served in many roles, including submarine hunter. The sub hunter versions lacked armor plating to protect the crew, making them more vulnerable than a "regular" B-24.
Modified B-24 Liberators regularly flew anti-submarine patrols in the Atlantic. Likewise, the Germans used a variety of bombers and flying boats to attack allied convoys. It was only a matter of time before they ran into each other, and they did.
The FW-200 Condor was an airliner converted to a naval patrol bomber. These frequently attacked allied convoys in the Atlantic.
In 1943 alone, B-24s managed to shoot down five FW-200 Condors, three flying boats and a JU-88. The German "heavies" managed to shoot down three B-24s as well.
I can only imagine these dogfights were like 18th Century ships of the line exchanging broadsides.
In one such incident, a B-24 flown by Hugh Maxwell intercepted a pair of FW-200s that were attacking a convoy. Positioning itself between the two German heavies, the B-24's gunners shot down the lead Condor but took heavy from the second one.
With one wing on fire, and both engines on that side shot out, Maxwell managed to ditch his badly damaged B-24. He and six of his crew were rescued by a British destroyer, along with some survivors from the first FW-200.
The second Condor limped back to France with one engine shot out. It reportedly crashed on landing with all crew surviving.
Bomber vs Transport
The B-26 Marauder was fast and tricky to handle but had an outstanding combat record.
A lot of times in war you have to make do with what you've got. When the allies needed to intercept German cargo planes over the Mediterranean they needed a fast, long range fighter.
Well, the next best thing turned out to be a Martin B-26 medium bomber. Roaming the Mediterranean, these claimed several German and Italian transports flying between Italy and North Africa.
An ME-323 "Gigant" comes under fire from a B-26.
I notice that the B-26 had four forward-firing machine guns mounted alongside the fuselage. This probably helped it in its role as a "heavy fighter".
Dauntless vs Zeros
A flight of Dauntless dive bombers.
As dive bombers went the SBD Dauntless was one of the better ones. Still, nobody expected it to go head to head with a Japanese Zero, let alone
three Zeros.
When Stanley "Swede" Vejtasa's flight of SBD's was bounced by a flight of A6M Zeros, four of his wingmen were shot down in the initial attack.
Swede found himself alone facing three Zeros intent on finishing the job. In a grueling twenty minute dogfight, Swede through his SBD through a series of violent maneuvers against the nimble Japanese fighters.
Once mortal enemies, today you can see a Dauntless and a Zero fly together at airshows.
On each head-on pass, Swede would stomp the rudder and "skid" his aircraft away from the stream of Japanese cannon shells. Then back into a tight turn as each aircraft came around again.
Throughout the dogfight, the SBD's rear gunner was unable to track his guns due to the extreme G forces.
It is sometimes said that dogfights aren't won, they're lost. Eventually one guy makes a mistake. In this case one of the Zeros didn't turn quite tight enough and Swede was able to get in a shot with his forward firing machine guns. The lightly armored Zero went down in flames.
A second Zero pulls up into the vertical. Swede pulls up after him and manages to get a shot off just before his SBD runs out of airspeed. Two down, one to go.
The last Zero, apparently out of ammunition, comes at him head on in a Kamikaze style attack. Swede stands his plane on its wingtip and the two aircraft actually touch wings as they pass. The ruggedly built SBD kept flying, the Zero did not.
Vejtasa was awarded the Navy Cross and transferred to F4F Wildcat fighters. He later went on to shoot down seven Japanese planes in a single day.
P-38 vs Yak-9
A group of P-38s was attacked by Soviet fighters after accidentally strafing a Soviet convoy.
So-called "friendly fire" is to this day a big problem in combat. In late 1944, a case of mistaken identity resulted in a dogfight between US and Soviet fighters.
A group of P-38s from 15th Air Force were operating over Yugoslavia in search of fleeing units of the German Army. Except the trucks they began strafing weren't German, they were Russian. The Lightnings had made a navigational error and were mistakenly attacking the Red Army.
American P-38s accidentally fought Soviet Yaks like this one over Yugoslavia.
A group of Yak fighters (probably Yak-9s in late 1944) engaged the Lightnings. Two P-38s and two Yaks were downed in a quick dogfight before the US fighters realized they were fighting their allies.
The US later apologized for the incident.
Props vs Jets
The MiG-15 initially came as a nasty surprise to the US and its allies. Nobody expected the Soviets to field something this good in 1950.
In WWII it was not uncommon for propeller driven allied fighters to find themselves fighting German jets. Chuck Yeager once said "The first time I saw a jet - I shot it down".
While the Korean War brings up images of F-86 Sabres dueling with MiG-15s, there were a few prop vs jet engagements as well.
My wife's favorite, the Hawker Sea Fury scored at least one MiG kill during the Korean conflict.
RAF pilot Peter "Hoagy" Carmichael and his flight of four Hawker Sea Furies were bounced by eight MiG-15s. The Brits turned on their attackers and shot down one, possibly two of the MiGs, depending on which source you believe.
Eight MiGs came at us out of the sun. I did not see them at first, and my No. 4, 'Smoo' Ellis, gave a break when he noticed tracer streaming past his fuselage.
We all turned towards the MiGs and commenced a 'scissors'. It soon became apparent that four MiGs were after each section of two Furies, but by continuing our break turns, we presented impossible targets. They made no attempt to bracket us.
One MiG came at me head on. I saw his heavy tracer shells. I fired a burst, then he flashed past me. I believe Carl got some hits on him too. This aircraft then broke away, and went head on to my Nos 3 and 4, Lieutenant Pete Davies and 'Smoo' Ellis. They were seen to get good hits on one who broke away with smoke coming from him.
There were numerous kills scored by allied jets against propeller driven Communist fighters in the Korean but these aren't as well publicized.
A-1 Skyraiders like this one scored kills against jets in both Korea and Vietnam.
As late as the Vietnam war, propeller driven A-1 Skyraiders achieved kills on two MiG-17 jets. Likewise two A-1s were shot down by MiG-17s during the conflict.
F-82 vs Anything (because F-82s are just weird)
The bizarre looking F-82 Twin Mustang proved to be a capable multi-role aircraft
In my book, any dogfight that involved an F-82 was going to be strange by definition.
The "Twin Mustang" was developed towards the end of WWII as a long range bomber escort. Later it was converted to a night-fighter with the addition of a large radar pod under the center wing.
The original escort version carried two pilots. The night fighter version replaced one of the pilots with a radar operator.
F-82 night fighters with their distinctive radar pod.
While ungainly looking, apparently it flew well enough. On at least one occasion these successfully engaged North Korean Yak-9s and La-7s and shot down three of them. It could dogfight if it had to.
In addition to operating as night fighters, these also put their considerable firepower to use against North Korean ground targets.
These had a relatively short service life. By 1953 they were all retired. Envisioned as an interim aircraft until the arrival of jets, only a small number of spare parts had been ordered.
To this day an F-82 holds the record for longest flight by a piston engine fighter.
Biplane vs Jet
North Korea used Po-2 biplanes as "Bed-check Charlies"
If facing a jet in a Sea Fury wasn't daunting enough, imagine facing one in a biplane that was obsolete even in the
previous war.
During the Korean war, the North Koreans used Po-2 biplanes for night harassment of allied troops. These became known as "bed check Charlie".
F-94 Starfires (love the name) were used as night fighters in the Korean conflict.
The little biplanes, flying slowly at treetop level, could be difficult to intercept. In one instance a state-of-the-art F-94 Starfire attempted to intercept one of the slow flying biplanes. There are two accounts to this incident. One has the F-94 running into the Po-2 while most have the F-94 flying too slow, resulting in a stall and crash. The second account seems to be the more numerous.
Bf-109 vs Spitfire
A Bf-109 with Israeli markings just looks plain wrong. The Jumo engine and paddle-bladed prop were ill suited to this airframe.
There's really nothing strange about Messerschmitts tangling with Spitfires. Except when it's 1948 and the Messerschmitts happen to have Israeli markings on them.
OK, technically they were Avia S-199s from Czechoslovakia but they were Bf-109 airframes. Since the supply of Daimler Benz engines had dried up, the Czech aircraft instead used the Junkers Jumo engine and propeller from the He-111 bomber.
The end result was an ill-handling aircraft, especially on takeoff and landing. Still the newly formed Israeli Air Force successfully fought Egyptian and Jordanian Spitfires with these aircraft.
Pictures of actual Egyptian Spitfires are hard to come by. The five-bladed prop and four cannons marks this as a late model Spitfire.
Israel also operated Spitfires and Mustangs, so this war probably saw Spitfire vs Spitfire and Mustang vs Spitfire engagements as well.
Something you don't see every day. B-17s in Israeli markings.
The IAF also acquired three surplus B-17s from the United States. How these were smuggled to Israel is a story unto itself. I don't know if the Avias ever flew as escorts for the B-17s, but that would have been the ultimate irony.
Corsair vs Mustang vs Corsair
The Salvadoran Mustangs were civilian aircraft converted for military service.
This story is odd on multiple levels. Both the Mustang and Corsair were American aircraft types. Odder yet, the dogfight took place in
1969.
This was during the so-called "Football War" between Honduras and El Salvador.
Cap. Fernando Soto of the Hoduran Air Force shot down a Salvadoran P-51 Mustang and two Corsairs, since both Air Forces operated this type.
Honduran Corsair. This may be Soto's aircraft with the three kill markings.
Another oddity of this war was the "Cavalier" Mustangs. These were actually civilian P-51s that were converted back into military aircraft for export to El Salvador.
I believe this is Capt. Soto with his Corsair.
This was the last recorded combat between piston engine fighters.
One of my coworkers actually flies both Mustangs and Corsairs in warbird demonstrations (lucky bastard). I was in the crew room one night and heard him saying "I was flying the Corsair the other day...." which to me is like hearing "I was on a date with Katy Perry yesterday...."
While he liked both aircraft he said "I'd walk past a row of Mustangs to fly a Corsair".
L-4 Grasshopper vs Fi-156
The L-4 Grasshopper was essentially a Piper J-3 Cub in military service.
The last dogfight on the Western Front in WWII took place between two highly unlikely adversaries.
Lieutenants Duane Francis and Bill Martin were flying their L-4 Grasshopper (Piper Cub) observation plane when they spotted its German equivalent, a Fiesler Fi-156 Storch.
The Fiesler Storch was no match for the mighty L-4 Grasshopper.
Diving on the Storch, the two intrepid airmen pulled out their .45 caliber sidearms and started shooting at it. The German plane was forced to land and surrender.
YB-40 vs P-38
The YB-40 traded its bombs for extra guns, armor and ammunition. They proved too slow to be effective escorts.
I include this story as one that has been largely disproved.
Google "Italian P-38" and you'll still see it passed off as truth.
Supposedly the Italian Air Force captured a P-38 intact and used it to prey upon damaged American bombers. The stricken bomber would let their guard down and allow the "friendly" P-38 to get close - with fatal results.
As the story goes, the Americans got wind of this and sent out a lone B-17 to act as bait. Except it wasn't really a B-17, it was a YB-40 gunship - its bomb load replaced by extra guns, armor and ammunition. You can probably figure out the rest.
There are several versions of the story, some of which have the American pilot later being killed during the Berlin Airlift.
The Italian pilot is usually named as "Guido Rossi" and the American as "Fisher".
Like all good urban legends it contains a few bits of truth.
The Axis did on occasion used captured Allied aircraft. Mostly they would try to join up on a formation of bombers and report their altitude and heading. The Allies quickly caught on to this.
The Italians did indeed capture a P-38 and it did actually once shoot down an American bomber.
There was no trickery involved however. The P-38 had been properly repainted in Italian Air Force markings. The Italian P-38 was never shot down, it was grounded when their poor quality fuel trashed its fuel system.
There was no Italian ace named "Rossi" and there was no "Fisher" killed in the Berlin airlift.
The YB-40 chin turret was later put into production on the B-17G to protect from head-on attacks.
There was indeed a YB-40 gunship. These were intended to escort B-17s prior to the development of long range fighters. The only problem was, they were too slow to keep up with the bomber formations, especially once the bombs had been released. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Some of the features of the YP-40, like the chin turret, were later added to the B-17G, so it wasn't a total failure.
No YB-40s were ever in the Mediterranean theater, so we'll call this story "busted".