Introduced to replace slower piston-engined cargo planes such as the C-124 Globemaster II, the C-141 was designed to requirements set in 1960 and first flew in 1963. Production deliveries of an eventual 285 planes began in 1965: 284 for the Air Force, and one for the National Aeronautics ...
late in the war. Equipped with the R4M rocket, it could fire from outside the range of the bombers' .50 caliber defensive guns and bring an aircraft down with one hit. During World War II, after crash-landing or being forced down, approximately 40 B-17s were captured and refurbished by...