They both have to be unshakeable and highly skilled and even the
bomber pilot has to be aggressive to a certain extent.

You should be just as agressive on a bomb run as you would in 6 G turn with an
enemy fighter. I used to tell my crew prior to the IP; "everyone get your fangs
out!!!"

a different mindset for the fighter pilot if he's going to be
successful at shooting other men out of the sky or streaking low
through flak to drop bombs, compared with the mind set of a bomber
that has to flying straight and level and take what get's thrown up at
him.

Fortunately the "fly straight and level and take what's thrown up at you" era,
for the most part, died night #3 of Linebacker II. While we don't "streak"
through flak, we will "pop around" it, and while we obviously don't shoot other
people down, pressing your attack through a SAM salvo takes (IMHO) as much guts
and skill.

The whole reason I brought this up was while you hear of WWII heavy
bomber crews wearing thin toward the end of their tours, you don't
hear the same thing about their brothers escorting them in fighters.

Because the attrition rate was orders of magnitude worse and the tactic of "fly
straight and level and take what's thrown up at you" tends to give you the
feeling, your fate is not in your hands, which tends to demoralize you, or
gives you a feeling of comfort. Unfortunately, for most people its the former.

I'm wondering if that was because of a different mind sets to begin
with, or if it was because of different circumstances

IMHO, it was the circumstances.


BUFDRVR

"Stay on the bomb run boys, I'm gonna get those bomb doors open if it harelips
everyone on Bear Creek"