The downed WWll Zero by 1911, A neat story if you didnt read it yet.

[xtriggerman]

 Just got this forward and it checks out true. Ya gotta love that 45ACP ! 

 

http://worldwarwings.com/bailed-out-and-shot-at-this-pilot-made-a-historical-kill

[MemHeli]

neat story I hadn't read that before.

[monkeylizard]

https://www.truthorfiction.com/owen-john-baggett-killed-japanese-pilot-mid-air/

 

Looks to be true, though his Obit. says it was a revolver while Air Force Magazine says it was a .45 automatic. Whether it was a 1911 or not seems to be somewhat in question, but the act itself sounds pretty solidly in the "True" category. Either way, what an amazing story.

[Wingshooter]

Cool story!

[Will Carry]

I like talking about WWII planes.....

 

The Mitsubishi A6M Zero could climb like a kite and turn on a dime. It was a fighter pilots dream in 1940.  We got a break when they found one in tact Zero in the Aleutians. The Japanese pilot had some problems with his plane and tried to land on what he thought was a meadow. It turned out to be a quagmire. When the wheels hit the mud they collapsed and the plane nosed over. The pilot broke his neck and was killed instantly.  We put the plane one a ship and sent it to San Diego and within 6 weeks it was Flying with American markings. They got a Hot Shot navy pilot to take it up and find it's strengths and weaknesses.  He found that at speeds higher than 250 miles and hour, it couldn't turn as tight as the Grumman F4F Wildcat. It also had no pilot armor or resealing fuel tanks and it was built light to save weight. After that the Zero was a flying coffin.

 

They story about the US pilot shooting down a Zero with a 45 is true.  The Germans had a policy. They wouldn't shoot enemy pilots in parachutes if we didn't. The Japanese had no such policy.

 

On March 31, 1943, while stationed in British India, Baggett's squadron was ordered to destroy a bridge at Pyinmana, Burma.^[4] Before reaching their target, the B-24 bombers were intercepted by Japanese fighter planes. Baggett's plane was badly hit, and the crew were ordered to bail out. The Japanese pilots then attacked U.S. airmen as they parachuted to earth. Two of Baggett's crew members were killed. Baggett, though wounded, played dead, hoping the Japanese would ignore him. One Zero approached within several feet of Baggett. The pilot then nosed up, almost stalling, and opened his canopy. Baggett shot at the pilot with his .45 caliber pistol. The plane stalled and plunged to the earth,^[7][8][9] and Baggett became legendary as the only person to down a Japanese airplane with an M1911 pistol.^{[1][4][10][11][12]} He survived and was captured by the Japanese. This account is not consistent with Japanese records - discussed in the book "B-24 Liberators vs Ki-43 Oscars" by Edward M Young on page 57. This dogfight was between 13 Ki-43s of the JAAF 64th Sentai and around 12 B-24s of the 7th BG. There were no Japanese pilot loses. Regarding his pistol, his obituary states he shot down the Zero with a revolver. The statement that his pilot, Lloyd K. Jensen was "summarily executed" which appears in some articles regarding this event is untrue. Lloyd Jensen survived as evidenced by Baggett's own statements in the book "Guests of the Emperor" at page 187 and National Archives and Records Administration: "World War II Prisoners of War Data File, 12/7/1941 - 11/19/1946"