Airpower In The Two World Wars Quiz

Answer: Maj. Richard Ira Bong

Bong had 40 kills to lead the American contigent. Hartmann was the leading German Ace of the war, claiming 352 kills. Maguire was the #2 American Ace with 38 kills. Yeager had a few distinct accomplishments like being an "Ace in a day" with five kills in a 24-hour period and the first US pilot to shoot down a jet (a German Me-262), but his final number of 11.5 official victories wasn't enough to surpass Bong.

Answer: P-38 Lightning

The twin-tail, twin-engine design of the P-38 made it quite quick and maneuverable. Both pilots flew out of Australia and New Guinea. Bong was eventually sent back to the States and became a test pilot. He was killed when his plane crashed on 6 Aug 1945. Maguire was killed in Jan 1945 when his aircraft stalled during a dogfight and impacted the ground.

Answer: Messerschmitt Bf 110

The Bf 110, sometimes also called the Me 110, lacked the maneuverability and acceleration to compete with the British Hurricane and American P-51 during visual daylight fights. However, it's heavy firepower, high top speed, and ability to house a radar proved very helpful as a night fighter and long-range bomber escort.

Answer: Ploesti

The strategy for the raid was to go in at low level in order to achieve greater bombing accuracy. Unfortunately for the aircrews, that made them more susceptible to enemy anti-aircraft guns. 54 of the 117 bombers that went on this mission were shot down and another 53 were heavily damaged. Although deemed a success, the mission proved very costly for American aviators.

Answer: 332d Fighter Group (The Tuskegee Airmen)

The Red Tails of 332d became a symbol for adversity and triumph. Their combat statistics are still disputed (they are said to have never lost a bomber they were resposible for escorting, but records may indicate they actually lost up to 25 aircraft), but nonetheless impressive.

The 332nd was deactivated in Oct 1945 but in 2005 was renamed the 332d Expeditionary Operations Group, the flying component of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing serving at Balad Airbase, Iraq.

Answer: Gervais Raoul Lufbery

Lufbery was born in France but later became a U.S. citizen. In 1916, he joined the Lafayette Escadrille. His first two kills came on 30 July 1916 and his fifth a few months later on 12 Oct. Rickenbacker ultimately had more total kills by the end of the war with 26 but didn't become an Ace until May 1918.

Answer: Memphis Belle

"Memphis Belle" is the only one of the choices that refers to the B-17. "The Flying Leathernecks" was a 1951 film starring John Wayne about a group of U.S. Marine Corps avitators in the Pacific Theater of Operations. "Bock's Car" was the name of the B-29 Superfortress the dropped the atomic bomb "Fat Man" over Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945. "Big Beautiful Doll" was the name of all of Col. John Landers' planes (a P-40 Warhawk, a P-38 Lightning, and a P-51 Mustang), all of which he flew in combat in World War II.

Answer: Brig. Gen. William (Billy) Mitchell

Gen. Mitchell was famous (infamous) for his adamant pleas for the creation of a separate air service autonomous from the US Army. He was later court-martialed and demoted for publically denoucing the US War Department for not having the foresight to incorporate air power into their strategic plans. After his death, Mitchell was posthumously awarded the rank of Major General.

Answer: Stalag Luft III

Some people claim the TV series "Hogan's Heros" is loosely based on of this camp. The United States Air Force Academy library (north of Colorado Springs, Colorado) has an extensive Stalag Luft III collection. The Academy's 6th Superintendant, Lt. Gen. Albert P. Clark, was a prisoner at Stalag Luft III and contributed many documents to the library.

Answer: Mid-air collision with his wingman

While the details about Richthofen's death have not been absolutely confirmed, the most common agreement is that he was killed by machine gun fire from Cedric Popkin using a Vickers gun. This happened as Richthofen was chasing down Canadian pilot Wilfrid "Wop" May. Richthofen followed May into Australian-held territory at a very low altitude. Couple that with the fact that Canadian pilot Arthur "Roy" Brown was diving at him from above and behind, and Richthofen was in a very bad situation, either of which could have caused his death.