History of Sorts

Flying a plane in normal circumstances is difficult enough, flying a plane during bad weather is bad. However flying a plane while being shot at is like hell in the sky.

Especially  during WWII where there were no sophisticated systems on board like they have nowadays.

Following are just some examples where flying did become hell in the skies.

This Hellcat, the Grumman F6F-5P of Fighter Squadron VF-23, crash landed on the deck of the American aircraft carrier the USS Princeton in 1943. When the Hellcat’s arrest gear engaged, the plane ripped in half

On November 10, 1943, this Hellcat crash landed on the deck of the aircraft carrier the USS Enterprise. It crashed into the ship’s port side 20mm gun gallery. In this (colorized) photo, Lieutenant Walter L. Chewning, Jr. is seen helping the pilot out of the burning plane. The pilot, Ensign Byron M. Johnson, survived relatively uninjured.