In the movie Pearl Harbor, why is there a biplane flying in front of the formation of Japanese planes?

Question

You'd think that the biplane would be shot down in a few minutes? Why didn't they just use a regular airplane (fighter plane to fly in front)? Also, in WW2, did the US navy/air force use biplanes to fly in front of a formation of planes?

Answer 1

The bi-planes were used for reconnaissance. They were economical fuel wise(for distance), and not as easy to see or hear for spy flights, and could easily land and take off from a carrier. After the development of efficient radar, they weren't needed.

Answer 2

Wanda is right, in the movie, for comic relief, there is a flying instructor giving lessons in a biplane, which is overtaken by the first wave of Japanese bombers. I think most of the incidents in the movie are true, and are probably from Gordon Prange's book "At Dawn We Slept" or the more famous Walter Lord's "Day of Infamy."

Answer 3

Because there was a lady flight instructor who gave flight tours and flying instructions to the people of Hawaii, who happened to be flying at the time and place that the Japanese were arriving to bomb Pearl Harbor and the surrounding air fields.

Answer 4

I believe that the biplane was a flying instructor and student that just happened to be in the way and not worth the firepower to blow out of the sky. Fact or Fiction?? probably based on some fact.

Answer 5

typically when biplanes were used in WWII they were used for scouting and recon. both the allied and the axis used biplanes for these purposes. the us mainly used the stearman pt-17 kaydet and one fron grummen i forget the designation. in actual combat then they would have used douglas sbd dauntless in the navy