The Y-Wing has always been my favorite fighter. It is a tough, utilitarian, and starkly beautiful spacecraft.

It is a little known fact that US President George H. Walker Bush piloted this torpedo bomber with a turret Y-Wing in WW II.

It is especially noteworthy because like the experience of other Y-Wing pilots we are more familiar with, Lt. Bush's craft was damaged heavily but still managed to complete its run and deliver its ordnance before going down.

If only modern Y-Wings could actually fit a second crew member in the back seat. I believe the ancestors of the Mazda Miata design team were responsible for the layout of the Y-Wing backseat, with the predictable result that nobody can actually sit in it.

Regardless, I have found that while it rarely manages to impress you with the unexpected and herioc, neither does it disappoint you with a sudden lapse into uselessness. It is a solid, reliable craft that can be depended upon to perform under any circumstances.

I have always loved the look of the Y-wing without its paneling. I feel like it exemplifies its qualities as the dependable workhorse of the fleet, and just gives it a lot of character.

I'm also a sucker for putting turrets on small spacecraft (and aircraft for that matter).

i prefer the fully armoured version..... especially the ralph mcquarrie version.

Friend of mine fell in love with the Y-Wing back in the XvT days. He got in a match vs one, he was flying the Tie/In and they had a Y-Wing... Figured it would be a cakewalk match... Then got his rear handed to him over and over again.

After that the Y was about all he'd fly, because he figured out the trick to it and seldom if ever lost a match in one.

Put the thumb hat down as transfer power to shields while running shield maintenance and then full laser recharge? That is all I do when flying and I just avoid getting hit

i prefer the fully armoured version..... especially the ralph mcquarrie version.

This. I would kill for a fully armored, fresh off the factory floor, version of the Y-Wing.

i prefer the fully armoured version..... especially the ralph mcquarrie version.

This. I would kill for a fully armored, fresh off the factory floor, version of the Y-Wing.

Do you know how much money you could make if you had a working version of even the lowly Tie Fighter? You would be set for life. A Y-Wing, that allowed interstellar travel, would make you a resource kingpin if you could reverse engineer the tech.

Here is a famous picture of a Y-Wing after having fired torpedoes at a command bridge on the Death Star surface.

And a Y-Wing flying interdiction patrol in support of Rebel sweep operations on Tatooine.

I feel like this thread has gone to a very strange place already.

But the rather sluggish Y-Wing was at the mercy of concentrations of TIE Fighters. Here is a TIE Fighter and a TIE Bomber are seen in action in the skies of Bespin.

What is this I don't even.

My concept of a Y-wing: P-47 Thunderbolt

My Grandfather was a pilot in WWII, fighter pilot and test pilot. He has flown nearly everything the US had plus a half dozen German models after the war. The P-51 was favorite for performance but he always said in actual combat his choice was always the P-47. A flying tank that always brought you home.

FYI....the TBM Avenger had a crew of 3 (pilot, turret gunner & a radio operator who also manned a .30cal below the turret). Saburo Sakai, a Zero pilot with 60 kills, ran afoul a flight of Avengers off Guadacanal. Thinking they were Wildcats, he came up underneath a formation of 5 and was badly damaged in the exchange of fire. He did manage to nurse his crippled aircraft 600 miles back to Rabaul and crash land on the airfield there.

I know they did, and the Dauntless is actually my favorite torpedo bomber. However, George H didn't fly one of those so I didn't have a nifty "shot to hell but still dropped the ordnance" with a recognizable name available for a Dauntless..

I know they did, and the Dauntless is actually my favorite torpedo bomber. However, George H didn't fly one of those so I didn't have a nifty "shot to hell but still dropped the ordnance" with a recognizable name available for a Dauntless..

The SBD Dauntless was a dive bomber, not a torpedo bomber.

Lol. Methinks there is a WW II buff with a penchant for detail among us.

Here is a B-Wing after having downed a TIE Bomber. The B-Wing began to replace the Y-Wing in assault roles.

Lol. Methinks there is a WW II buff with a penchant for detail among us.

WW2 aviation is my favorite historical time period. In the span of 6 years you went from biplanes like the CR-42 of Italy to the jet powered ME-262 & HO-229 of the German Luftwaffe. And remember, Lucas got a lot of inspiration for the Death Star attack from the gun camera footage and movies from WW2, including some dialog taken from the film "The Dam Busters".

Friend of mine fell in love with the Y-Wing back in the XvT days. He got in a match vs one, he was flying the Tie/In and they had a Y-Wing... Figured it would be a cakewalk match... Then got his rear handed to him over and over again.

After that the Y was about all he'd fly, because he figured out the trick to it and seldom if ever lost a match in one.

Y-Wing vs. TIE Fighter in the X-Wing vs. TIE fighter game. I feel for the TIE fighter if the Y-Wing pilot has any skill. In the X-Wing games what I really liked about the Y-Wings was how point on their weapons were even if you weren' t "locked on" some target. If something was in your cross-hairs that is were you weapons shot unlike the X-Wing which could throw shots all around your target sight.

Although the Utapaun P-38 eventually claims the "direct descendant" aspect of the P-38 Lightning Bolt the Y-Wing does resemble that ship in some aspects.

My concept of a Y-wing: P-47 Thunderbolt

My Grandfather was a pilot in WWII, fighter pilot and test pilot. He has flown nearly everything the US had plus a half dozen German models after the war. The P-51 was favorite for performance but he always said in actual combat his choice was always the P-47. A flying tank that always brought you home.

I read that British pilots of the Thunderbolt claimed it was so big that they could dodge flak by running around inside the cockpit.

I read that about the Thunderbolt too. When it came to pounding a target punching it with EIGHT 50's also provided a bit more smack than just hitting it with the six that were common on a lot of other American fighters.

It's the P-47's reputation that gave the A-10 its "official" nickname of the Thunderbolt II before it earned the Warthog nickname.

What? No love for the F4U? The F4U-4 outright out performs the P-51D in speed, rate of climb, and maneuverability. It was also significantly more versatile (carrier use!) in it's ability to perform close air support than the P51 and much more durable too boot (the USAAF even admitted it could take more punishment than the the P-47!!), Tack on the fact that it could swap it's armament for 4 20mm cannons and significant bomb (and later rocket) loads. Now to be fairness in conversation act, the Mustang did have the edge in range and visibility, but the only time the two air-frames went head to head in air to air combat, the F4U came out on top.

I know they did, and the Dauntless is actually my favorite torpedo bomber. However, George H didn't fly one of those so I didn't have a nifty "shot to hell but still dropped the ordnance" with a recognizable name available for a Dauntless..

Would this work for your Dauntless (and other bombers) exploits?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf7cCqc_J4Y

What? No love for the F4U? The F4U-4 outright out performs the P-51D in speed, rate of climb, and maneuverability. It was also significantly more versatile (carrier use!) in it's ability to perform close air support than the P51 and much more durable too boot (the USAAF even admitted it could take more punishment than the the P-47!!), Tack on the fact that it could swap it's armament for 4 20mm cannons and significant bomb (and later rocket) loads. Now to be fairness in conversation act, the Mustang did have the edge in range and visibility, but the only time the two air-frames went head to head in air to air combat, the F4U came out on top.

F4U is one of my favorites but I'm not sure it quite beats the P-51 in speed. I think the P-51 had the edge there; even breaking the sound barrier in a power dive (although the results were catastrophic).