mattb
07-12-2005, 04:05 PM
How is it that today, 60 years after the end of WWII, models of that war's aircraft absolutely keep the diecast aircraft market aloft? There are only a few real examples of these planes left in existence, and only a handful actually fly. Most of the customers weren't even born when they were in service. Yet there is something undeniably heroic about them. Is it the era, the styling, the stories—what fuels the passion for magnificent warbirds like the P-51 Mustang (http://www.diecastxmagazine.com/dx/content/inthehangar/p_51_Mustang.asp) and B-24 Liberator?
jcreimer
10-28-2005, 12:48 PM
How is it that today, 60 years after the end of WWII, models of that war's aircraft absolutely keep the diecast aircraft market aloft? There are only a few real examples of these planes left in existence, and only a handful actually fly. Most of the customers weren't even born when they were in service. Yet there is something undeniably heroic about them. Is it the era, the styling, the stories—what fuels the passion for magnificent warbirds like the P-51 Mustang (http://www.diecastxmagazine.com/dx/content/inthehangar/p_51_Mustang.asp) and B-24 Liberator?
To borrow from Studs Terkel, it was the last good war. Film makers over the last couple of decades have kept interest in WW II alive with releases of the likes of "Tuskegee Airmen", "Peal Harbor" and "Memphis Belle" and DVD re-releases of "Tora, Tora, Tora", "The Longest Day", and others. "x0th" and "x5th" of things like the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and D-Day cause a flurry of news stories.
WW II aircraft are a unique blend of the old-fashioned and the modern. While they were propeller-driven, they (for the most part) had closed cockpits, retractable landing gear, radios, and oxygen systems. They had significant ranges and a lot of armament. Some had radar. Still in all, flying was pretty much a seat-of-the-pants sort of thing without a lot of ground control.
I find it interesting, thoough, that for the plethora of P-51s, Spits, ME-109s, etc. There are some, what I consider significant, holes in the die cast preservation of the aerial combat of WW II. I can't seem to find a Grumman F4F (the O'Hare after whom the airport is named, flew one) larger than 1:87. I can't find a Grumman TBF Avenger, Bell P-39 Airacobra or a Northrop P-61 Black Widow replica, either. There are quite a few P-40 replicas available, but few with Chinese AVG markings. Also, it's hard to find a repilca of a B-29 that isn't marked as the Enola Gay.
I find it interesting that you mentioned the B-24 rather than the B-17. The B-17 was the glamor bird of "Mempis Belle" and "Twelve O'Clock High". As far as I know, the B-24, a blue-collar bomber if there ever was one, never made it to the big screen and, unfortunately, is probably best known for the debackle at the Ploesti oil fields.
JCR