Can you identify these WWII planes?

High speed, long range, good maneuverability and great fire power made the P-51 Mustang one of the best fighters of WWII. This single-engine long range fighter was so popular that more than 15,000 were produced and some remained in service until 1984. After the war many were converted to civilian speed racers. The Mustang had one severe drawback, it was fragile and a single bullet in the engine cooling system was enough to bring it down.

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps relied on Wildcat's heavy armament and relatively small size to fly from convoy escort plane carriers, especially immediately after the Perl Harbor attack. Although not the best equipped nor the fastest fighter aircraft of the time, amazingly, for each destroyed Wildcat the enemy lost on average seven airplanes.

Recognizable by its dive brakes at its wing trailing edge, Douglas SBD-6 could dive at an amazing 80 degrees to accurately hit its target. The pilot and gunner had four machine guns to defend themselves and 2000 pounds of bomb loads to deliver. Many variants of the Douglas SBD-6 were developed over the years and the last aircraft was retired in 1959.

Remaining in service until 1960, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress was mainly used in the Pacific war theater during WWII and in the Korean war between 1950-1953. The most memorable action of this aircraft was executed by "Enola Gay" over Hiroshima and "Bockscar" over Nagasaki, dropping nuclear bombs that ended hostilities of WWII.

Designed in 1938, the P-40 retired from active service in 1958. Some variants of Curtiss P-40 Warhawk are called the Tomahawk and Kittyhawk. This aircraft was nimble at low to medium altitudes and mainly served in areas where their lack of high performance at higher altitudes was not important and not challenged by better machines from air-forces of Axis nations.

Its two tails and cockpit armament made the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft easily recognizable by enemy pilots. Allied flyers liked its stability but for that same reason it was not as good for dogfights. It was especially effective in an areal reconnaissance role. Over 10,000 were produced between 1941 and 1945, and the last model was retired in 1965.

A combination of a huge propeller and powerful radial engine allowed the Vought F4U-1D Corsair to fly with speeds of 400 mph. This unusual configuration caused many mishaps during aircraft carrier landings due to poor visibility among other design imperfections. Over 12,000 were produced between 1942 and 1953, and the last retired from service in 1979.

Many design and production issues caused delays for the Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver to enter the Pacific war theater. Only about 7000 aircraft were produced between 1943 and 1945. Designed as a multi-role aircraft, armed with 2 cannons in the wings, 2 machine guns in the rear cockpit with 4 optional under the wing, 8 high velocity aircraft rockets and even able to carry bombs or torpedoes, it made the aircraft inefficient and many of them were used only in non-combat roles.

Only 53 Sikorsky S-43 JRS-1 were built by Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford, Connecticut. It was mostly used by Pan American World Airways to fly to Cuba and Latin America. During the war it was used to search for enemy fleets in the vast Pacific theater. Billionaire Howard Hughes piloted his S-43 practicing a water landing when it crashed into Lake Mead, Nevada in 1943.

Northrop XP-56 had a pilot cockpit installed at front with wholly retractable landing gear and counter-rotating pusher propellers behind its stocky tail and fins that protruded both above and below the fuselage. Its flying wing position with down bent outboard sections were planned to hold 4 heavy machine guns with 2 cannons in the fuselage. The value of its new design ideas were dubious, and only two experimental planes were made before it was cancelled.

Designed and built by a German locomotive manufacturer, the Henschel Hs 123 had an all metal construction and was nimble in the air. Having devastating armament precision but small load capacity and short range, it was effective in ground attacks. Its robustness allowed it to operate successfully in difficult conditions. Mud, rain, snow and ice could not prevent the Henschel Hs 123 to fly and deliver its deadly payload.

Winning the contest for shipboard and coastal scout airplane in 1936 proved instrumental as the Arado Ar 196 became one of the most successful seaplane designs of WWII. It was the last fighting seaplane to be built in Europe post WWII. It served to scout enemy fleets a few hundred miles away from capital ships, and as search and rescue and coastal patrols. It was heavily armed for its size, with 2 cannons, 2 machine guns and two 110 lbs bombs. The floats were used as extended fuel tanks enabling the Arado Ar 196 to remain in the air for long periods of time.

The Fairchild PT -19 aircraft won a competition as the primary pilot trainer aircraft against 17 other entrants in 1939. More than 7700 airplanes were produced in several factories throughout the continental U.S. and Canada, because Fairchild was not able to assemble them as fast as they were needed all on their own. Initially it had two open cockpits that were enclosed for colder climates. 10 weeks of primary flying practice was sufficient to enable new pilots to successfully transition to more powerful flying machines. Even today, almost 100 of these planes are still airworthy worldwide.

Developed from a civilian plane design, the PT-22 was the first low-wing monoplane built primarily to use for training. The PT-22's simple mechanical system combined with sturdy monocoque fuselage and strong landing gear truss were the reasons behind its success during pilot training. About 1000 of these planes were produced and some of them still fly today. One of them was in an accident in February 2020 in France, killing both people aboard.

Even its patented design for a propeller jetisson system in case of pilot bailout, was too little to prove the value of its unconventional pusher propeller which was located in the back of the steel tube fuselage. Only three prototypes were built, two of them crashed in 1945 due to its inefficient aerodynamic characteristics.