Posted on 02/10/2015 9:10:59 AM PST by Timber Rattler
Alex Vraciu, who was just 25 when he reigned as the Navy’s top World War II fighter ace after downing 19 Japanese aircraft and destroying 21 more on the ground in only eight months in 1944, died on Jan. 29 in West Sacramento, Calif. He was 96.
(snip)
Mr. Vraciu (which rhymes with cashew) accomplished his most spectacular feat in the South Pacific when he shot down six dive bombers within eight minutes in what became known as the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot” in the Philippine Sea. He called it “a once-in-a-lifetime fighter pilot’s dream.”
Two of the aircraft carriers he flew from were torpedoed, twice he parachuted to safety, and twice more he was forced to ditch his Grumman F6F Hellcat — brushes with death that earned him the nicknames Grumman’s Best Customer and The Indestructible.
(snip)
Mr. Vraciu achieved his pace-setting six kills under harrowing conditions on June 19, 1944, as Japanese planes attacked a task force of American carriers and battleships. His plane’s folding wings were mistakenly unlocked, and a malfunctioning engine was spewing oil on his windshield and preventing him from climbing above 20,000 feet. Still, he downed the dive bombers firing only 360 of the 2,400 bullets in his arsenal.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
It was only this time last year that William Overstreet died (the USAAF pilot who shot down a Kraut after chasing him UNDER and THROUGH the Eiffel Tower).
Vraciu was a true ace. RIP.
Still, he downed the dive bombers firing only 360 of the 2,400 bullets in his arsenal.
e.g.
Polikarpov I-16
I admit I don't know much about air to air combat, but I have to say, this guy was a crack pilot and a crack shot.
FMCDH(BITS)
I guess he was the top Ace for a period of time? Lots of guys got more than 19.
Our pilots pale in comparison to German Luftwaffe aces who scored hundreds of kills. The max being 352. Of course the Luftwaffe didn’t rotate their pilots out.
Holy crap! through the eiffel tower!
Not many long shots of him but we got 19 confirms on #19 in this close up
Maybe it's the photograph, but that thing looks like your favorite hot rod, looks like shit but goes like hell .. ride
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vavPDHyvShw
The History Channel’s documentary Dogfights: The Zero Killer. About the F6F Hellcat and has some about Vraciu.
Kind'a like a big truck goin' through a hole in the wall ... LOOKS tight, but plenty of room
Ummm someone overlooked Richard Bong - highest scoring air ace?
Bong and 2 others did a LOOP over/above the Golden Gate Bride.
Terrific... really
Bong and McGuire both had more kills in P38s from land bases. The scariest part of a Navy pilot’s sortie was the landing, which was pretty tough back then.
He fought a long war.
You’ve got to hand it to the kraut for trying that to get him off his tail.
Buddy of mine was a pilot in Vietnam. His nickname was “glue”. Once he got on your tail you were not getting him off.
* to wit Read Samurai by Martin Cadin
Yes, but mostly against the Russians who were flying decidedly inferior airplanes.
Let’s not confuse Capt Overstreet, the guy that chased a German under Eiffel with the headliner of this thread .. Capt Alex Vraciu
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