I love 'em all...but do have a few favorites: the P-40 because of the sharkmouth nose art, the F4U Corsair because of the wing design and performance, the P-38 and P51 because of their beauty and performance. And the B-25 was my favorite bomber. I used to work with a former pilot who claimed it was really a big, twin-engined fighter.
The P-38 earned it's knickname, the "fork-tailed" devil in 1942 when it showed its versatility in North Africa. A lone hysterical German pilot surrendered to soldiers at an Allied camp near Tunisia, pointing up to the sky and repeating one phrase—“der Gableschwanz Teufl”—over and over.
