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Family donates historic revolver to museum
by Staff Sgt. Cortchie Welch
369th Recruiting Squadron Public Affairs
02/12/03 - LOS ANGELES (AFPN) -- A .38-caliber Smith and Wesson service revolver used by a World War II hero to shoot down a German attack plane will soon be on display at the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

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The family of retired Air Force Tech. Sgt. Paul Posti Sr., who died in December at age 89, donated the weapon to the museum during a tribute to the hero in Santa Monica on Feb. 4. His leather bomber jacket was also donated to the museum.

As a B-17 Flying Fortress tailgunner, Posti shot down a German Messerschmidt ME-109 with his revolver in 1942.

Officials disputed the achievement until a few days later when Capt. Clark Gable presented proof of the kill. Gable, who left his movie career to become an aerial photographer with the U.S. Army Air Force, took Posti into a darkroom and ran off a strip of movie film. The captain had operated a gun camera aboard another bomber during the mission and filmed the German plane in its death dive.

The kill was the only feat of its kind in World War II and has not been repeated since. The achievement helped the Boston native earn a Silver Star, the nation's third-highest decoration for heroism.

Donating the historical items to the museum was a long-time dream for Posti.

Posti "said on many occasions that he wanted the gun and jacket to be donated to the museum for everyone to see after he passed away, instead of being tucked away in the corner of the closet," said his wife, Irene. "In my heart, I know he's celebrating this occasion."




Who the fuck needs Stingers?

WTF!? Ga, having four windows open on two versionso f the smae thing doesnt work. Can someone please move this to off topic.

That guy has bragging roght out the wazzoo.

"So what, how many kruat planes did you shoot down with a pistol. Thats right none I'm the only one who has"

Holy shit.

How do you shoot down a warplane with a pistol? Really? Thats like sinking a battleship with a spoon.

Jesus. I would almost be willing to go to war to be able to accomplish something so ludicrous.

How do you shoot down a warplane with a pistol? Really? Thats like sinking a battleship with a spoon.

Not that hard really. A shot through an oil line or punch a hole in the gas tank in the right place, hit a control cable, or just shoot the pilot. You must remember, in a bf109, there is only a thin metal sheet between the outside and the working innards of the plane.

In fact, the last kill of the war was by a L-2 Grasshopper pilot shooting down a Storch with his 1911 .45.

He probably hit the German pilot when shooting the pistol.

I thought there was a case of this in the Pacific theatre where a Zero was shot down by a man in his parachute firing his pistol as the Zero passed by.

I will see if I can find it, its in a trivia book with 700 pages and no index. Might take a while

Darth Garden Gnome wrote:How do you shoot down a warplane with a pistol? Really? Thats like sinking a battleship with a spoon.

Not really. Aircraft skins are thin and lightweight, even on warplanes. And if you throw a bullet at, say, the engine of those old planes, and the plane could concievably be in for a world of hurt. So really, it's more a matter of dumb luck.

Ok, ok, bad analogy. Still plane must've been going fast for a guy with a single-shot pistol to hit. I think dumb luck sums it up pretty good too.

Bf-109 didn't have much armor, but there was armor glass in the front windscreen, and the engine protects the rest of the pilot. The bullet might have hit higher at an angle though.

In Laos during the 60's there where several An-2's shot down with Uiz's fired from Air America UH-1's in one battle. And in another case an An-2 was badly damaged by an M3 SMG fired down the leaflet chute of a Loach.

The infamous "golden BB" at work.

beyond hope wrote:The infamous "golden BB" at work.

One 5.56mm hit in the right place will down an F-111, and it doesnt involve killing the crew.

One single hit with a .22 long rifle in the right place will take out any airplane. Hit the turbines of most planes (except for the A-10, which would spit it back out), it would most likely just shatter the turbine blades.

Ok, for those that have mentioned that a single gunshot can make the plane go down, how easy is it to actually do so when the plane is flying?

That would be so awesome.

neoolong wrote:Ok, for those that have mentioned that a single gunshot can make the plane go down, how easy is it to actually do so when the plane is flying?

Not very. At a guess, I'd say the guy either hit the pilot from the side, a fuel line/tank, or a hydraulic line. If I could see the video, I'd be able to make a better guess.

neoolong wrote:Ok, for those that have mentioned that a single gunshot can make the plane go down, how easy is it to actually do so when the plane is flying?

The world impossibul, unless your gun is 127+mm, automatic, radar directed and is acutally just a cheep way of launching ramjet SAM's, comes to mind.

The Aardvarks venerability wasn't in the turbines, most planes can keep flying if one suffers the level of damage a bullets gives you, but rather something in the control system electronics.

If I remember right (I'd have to look in my source, A.J. Venter's "The Chopper Boys") there was a helicopter that shot down a jet fighter... I think it was an Alouette G-Car or similar mod that took down an Angolan fighter with its 20mm...

There's also a well discounted though still widely believed claim that an Iraqi Mi-24 shot down an Iranian F-4 with an AT-6. In reality the AT-6's low speed, inaccuracy, poor maneuverability and the limited view of the sight make the whole thing impossible. Records don't support it either as no F-4 was lost that week, let alone that day.

Found the story of a Japanese plane being shot down by a .45 M1911. Im not sure how real it is, but here is the link.

http://www.sightm1911.com/1911%20Myth.htm#2d Lt. Owen J. Baggett

What's so amazing about this story is how much damage planes took in WWII and still made it home.
In the opening months of WWI, pilots would take potshots at each other with small arms, and rarely achieved results. And we're talking about planes that were considered fast if they could do 80mph!
He was one LUCKY bastard.

Sea Skimmer wrote:There's also a well discounted though still widely believed claim that an Iraqi Mi-24 shot down an Iranian F-4 with an AT-6. In reality the AT-6's low speed, inaccuracy, poor maneuverability and the limited view of the sight make the whole thing impossible. Records don't support it either as no F-4 was lost that week, let alone that day.

I've never heard of that. But I wouldn't say it's impossible- it depends on what the F-4 was (or wasn't- i.e. evading) doing, how fast it was going, angle of attack, aspect etc.

Then of course there's the incident when an Israeli F-4 was shot down when it attempted to fly underneath a (?) helicopter firing rockets. I hardly remember where I heard that. Anyone else hear of that?

Sea Skimmer wrote:http://www.af.mil/news/Feb2003/21203362.shtml


Family donates historic revolver to museum
by Staff Sgt. Cortchie Welch
369th Recruiting Squadron Public Affairs
02/12/03 - LOS ANGELES (AFPN) -- A .38-caliber Smith and Wesson service revolver used by a World War II hero to shoot down a German attack plane will soon be on display at the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

RELATED LINKS
Printable Version
The family of retired Air Force Tech. Sgt. Paul Posti Sr., who died in December at age 89, donated the weapon to the museum during a tribute to the hero in Santa Monica on Feb. 4. His leather bomber jacket was also donated to the museum.

As a B-17 Flying Fortress tailgunner, Posti shot down a German Messerschmidt ME-109 with his revolver in 1942.

Officials disputed the achievement until a few days later when Capt. Clark Gable presented proof of the kill. Gable, who left his movie career to become an aerial photographer with the U.S. Army Air Force, took Posti into a darkroom and ran off a strip of movie film. The captain had operated a gun camera aboard another bomber during the mission and filmed the German plane in its death dive.

The kill was the only feat of its kind in World War II and has not been repeated since. The achievement helped the Boston native earn a Silver Star, the nation's third-highest decoration for heroism.

Donating the historical items to the museum was a long-time dream for Posti.

Posti "said on many occasions that he wanted the gun and jacket to be donated to the museum for everyone to see after he passed away, instead of being tucked away in the corner of the closet," said his wife, Irene. "In my heart, I know he's celebrating this occasion."




Who the fuck needs Stingers?

It was repeated. In WWII, just couple of days before Berlin's fall.
An unarmed US scoutplane chased a german artillery coordinator plane and the officer managed to shoot the german down. Just above the american lines.

Both of their name were recorded, the army accepted the word of several officers and soldiers as a proof.

I'll dig up the exact names for next week.