Lieutenant Commander Edward Henry O'Hare was an American naval aviator of the United States Navy, who on February 20, 1942, became the Navy's first fighter ace of the war when he single-handedly attacked a formation of nine heavy bombers approaching his aircraft carrier. Even though he had a limited amount of ammunition, he was credited with shooting down five enemy bombers and became the first naval aviator recipient of the Medal of Honor in World War II.
The Thach weave is an aerial combat tactic that was developed by naval aviator John S. Thach and named by James H. Flatley of the United States Navy soon after the United States' entry into World War II.
Saburō Sakai was a Japanese naval aviator and flying ace of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Sakai had 28–64 aerial victories, including shared ones, according to official Japanese records, but his autobiography, Samurai!, which was co-written by Martin Caidin and Fred Saito, claims 64 aerial victories.
The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atlantic, the Wildcat was the only effective fighter available to the United States Navy and Marine Corps in the Pacific Theater during the early part of the Second World War. The disappointing Brewster Buffalo was withdrawn in favor of the Wildcat and replaced as aircraft became available.
F-19 Stealth Fighter is a combat flight simulator developed and released in 1988 and 1990 by MicroProse, featuring a fictional United States military aircraft. It is the 16-bit remake of the 8-bit game Project Stealth Fighter, which was released for the Commodore 64 in 1987. It was also ported to the NEC PC-9801 in Japan only, and the DOS version was re-released on Steam distribution platform in 2015.
Cactus Air Force refers to the ensemble of Allied air power assigned to the island of Guadalcanal August 1942 until December 1942 during the early stages of the Guadalcanal Campaign, particularly those operating from Henderson Field. The term "Cactus" comes from the Allied code name for the island. In 1943, the Cactus Air Force was absorbed into AirSols, a joint command of Allied air units in the Solomon Islands.
Combat flight simulators are vehicle simulation games, amateur flight simulation computer programs used to simulate military aircraft and their operations. These are distinct from dedicated flight simulators used for professional pilot and military flight training which consist of realistic physical recreations of the actual aircraft cockpit, often with a full-motion platform.
The Lufbery circle or Lufbery wheel, also spelled Lufberry or Luffberry, is a defensive air combat tactic first used during World War I.
Marine Fighting Squadron 221 (VMF-221) was a reserve fighter squadron of the United States Marine Corps. Originally commissioned during the World War II, it flew the Brewster F2A-3, and after reconstitution in 1943, the F4U Corsair. The squadron, also known as the “Fighting Falcons”, is most notable for its actions on June 4, 1942, during the Battle of Midway, which resulted in 23 members of the squadron, many posthumously, being awarded the Navy Cross for their actions in combat. VMF-221 ended World War II with 185 air-to-air victories, the second most of any Marine Fighting Squadron in the war.
Wing and a Prayer, The Story of Carrier X is a black-and-white 1944 war film about the heroic crew of an American aircraft carrier in the desperate early days of World War II in the Pacific theater, directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Don Ameche, Dana Andrews and William Eythe. Although arguably a classic propaganda movie, it was appreciated for its realistic portrayal and was nominated for the 1944 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
1942: The Pacific Air War is combat flight simulation developed and published by MicroProse for the PC on the DOS operating system in 1994. It is based on the U.S. and Japanese Pacific War conflict from 1942 to 1945. An expansion pack, 1942: The Pacific Air War – Scenario, was released in 1995. A sequel, European Air War, was released in 1998. Tommo purchased the rights to 1942 and digitally publishes it through its Retroism brand in 2015.
Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe is a World War II air-combat combat flight simulation game first released in August 1991 by Lucasfilm Games.
Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain is a World War II combat flight simulation game by Lawrence Holland, released in October 1989 for the Amiga, Atari ST and MS-DOS systems. It was the second game in the trilogy of World War II titles by Lucasfilm Games, the others being Battlehawks 1942 (1988) and Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe (1991). The game was released with a 192-page manual written by Victor Cross, that provided a detailed historical overview of the battle and pilots' perspectives. An expansion pack, Their Finest Missions: Volume One, was released in 1989.
Richard Halsey Best was a dive bomber pilot and squadron commander in the United States Navy during World War II. Stationed on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, Best led his dive bomber squadron at the 1942 Battle of Midway, sinking two Japanese aircraft carriers in one day, before being medically retired that same year due to damage to his lungs caused by breathing bad oxygen during the battle.
The Akutan Zero, also known as Koga's Zero (古賀のゼロ) and the Aleutian Zero, was a type 0 model 21 Mitsubishi A6M Zero Japanese fighter aircraft piloted by Petty Officer Tadayoshi Koga, that crash-landed on Akutan Island, Alaska Territory, during World War II. It was found intact by the Americans in July 1942 and became the first Zero acquired by the United States during the war that could be restored to airworthy condition. It was repaired and flown by American test pilots. As a result of information gained from these tests, American tacticians were able to devise ways to defeat the Zero, which was the Imperial Japanese Navy's primary fighter plane throughout the war.
F-16 Combat Pilot is a 1989 F-16 fighter flight simulator created by British software company Digital Integration Ltd. for Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum. It is considered as one of the first combat flight simulators to have a dynamic campaign environment. While the graphics, scenery and audio are quite sparse and basic, the instruments and flight dynamics of a F-16C Fighting Falcon are fully featured and modeled.
Paul Hubert Ramsey was a World War II naval aviator of the United States Navy (USN).
Moriyasu Hidaka was a fighter pilot officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. He participated in various battles and campaigns throughout the Pacific War and survived the war.
Over 700 different aircraft models were used during World War II. At least 135 of these models were developed for naval use, including about 50 fighters and 38 bombers.
Terufumi Kofukuda, born as Mitsugi Kofukuda, was an officer and a fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. He participated in various battles and campaigns throughout the Pacific War. After the war, he served in the new Japanese Self Defence Force (JSDF) as the commander of the Central Air Defense Force.
