Five Favorite Aircraft - Fantasy League

After years of playing war games, both on the tabletop and the computer, I've developed an affection for a few odd aircraft.

5. Brewster Buffalo. I never flew it well, but it's a saucy little airplane a la the Russian I-16 and the Italian CR.42 (i.e., something Jon could whip my ass with). Historically, it was no match for the Japanese Zeroes it faced, but it acquitted itself well on the Russian front in the hands of the Finns.









4. Mitsubishi Ki-67 "Hiryu" (Peggy)
Apologies to Eagle1, who correctly ID'd the Betty that I thought was a Peggy. Playing Avalon Hill's Air Force/Dauntless games, we learned that Peggy could pull off some fighter-like moves and had a considerable defensive battery. We dubbed the Bladerunner soundtrack's "End Title Reprise" as "Peggy Music," which we'd cue up whenever a Peggy was played.

3. Focke-Wulfe 190-D9 Made it fun to fly as a German.






2. Yak-3 Between this one and the La-7, the most kick-ass Russian fighter. Generally stingy with ammo, one variant had a heavy cannon that could ruin a Nazi's day with one shot.



1. MiG-19/F-6 (FARMER) The closest I've come to gaming
this one was a MiG-17 in Janes' US Navy Fighters. Why the FARMER? It's got the Second Best 30-Millimeter in the Pacific, times three! I got to sit in the cockpit of a defected N. Korean F-6 in the mid-80s and watched another one zip across the DMZ in the mid-90s. So many of those guys defect... they must think their careers suck. Guess they don't appreciate flying a classic!