I'm a huge aviation nerd, so apologies if this isn't the correct sub to ask, but are there any recordings of chatter between pilots in combat during WW2 or later conflicts?
Thank you, and again my apologies if this is the incorrect sub to ask!
I don't know if the military recorded chatter as a matter of course during the war, but on at least a handful of occasions the BBC sent sound engineers up with Avro Lancaster bombing crews to record the sounds of an air raid. The sound engineer recorded the chatter on disks which could only hold about 3 minutes of audio, so the recordings are brief. You have to remember that the crews were aware they were being recorded, but at the same time the flak and fighter fire you hear is very real.
Link to description, mp3s and transcripts
Youtube links to the audio: Raid over Essen, April 1943 Raid over Stettin, April 20 1943 Raid over Berlin, September 03 1943