The Bearcat was essentially the pinnacle of piston driven fighter aircraft. It never saw combat in WWII but nonetheless it was an amazing aircraft.
The Bearcat was essentially a much lightened and shortened Hellcat. By reducing it weight and bulk, but using the same engine top speed and climb rate was increased dramatically. It was also intended that the new lighter plane could operate off the smaller escort carriers, something the Hellcat could not..
However, the same design brief also meant it had serious limitations..Its armament was reduced to 4 .50cal, each with a reduced load of ammo, plus fuel was also reduced to save weight/space, meaning it had a much reduced range.
Indeed it became used primarily as a short range interceptor for fleet defence while the Hellcat was retained for longer range operations.
I think the Bearcat entered service too late to see combat in WW2, but did see combat with the French in Indochina shortly after..
The Bearcat's mindset is the design philosophy of the A6M Zero...and the Zero's lack of armor proved to be it's undoing. To me the Hellcat seemed to find the "sweet spot" of thrust, maneuverability, and survivability.
The Bearcat was FAST**, no doubt about that...and it was a good looking aircraft.
Lookup the racing career of the "Rare Bear", a highly modified Bearcat that just dominated air racing for more than a decade.
Those fighters that served the line early in the war against superior enemy aircraft. The P-40, the F4F, the P-39 all held their own until the aircraft Industry sprang ahead delivering the P-51, P-47, F6F that took the war to the enemy.
Certainly there are other less glamorous types that served well. The C-47 and other transports that fed the tail of the dragon to make sure beans and bullets made it forward.
Another personal favorite is the PBY who was the eyes, ears and sometimes the teeth of the fleet in far flung places. The Black Cats did amazing jobs.
Don't forget lighter than air! No convey protected by blimps were successfully attacked by U-Boats.
I wouldn't call the P-39 underappreciated. The Russians loved the P-39's they got via Lend/Lease.
Believe it had the highest kill ratio also, and the most air aces.
Not sure whether stats are from just Europe, or both Europe and the Pacific... but it was something like;
8,000 + aircraft destroyed 9,000 + locomotives destroyed 40,000 railroad cars destroyed 7,000 tanks and armored vehicles destroyed. and an unbelievable number of trucks, cars, and soft targets.
Was the precursor to the wanting to retire A10
Phil
I think I recall reading that the P47 had the most air victories...I wanna say I read that at some point.
It seems you never hear as much about the F4U Corsair. Most experts agree it was a better handling craft than the F6F but could not be used aboard carriers.
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The Royal Navy cleared the F4U for carrier operations well before the U.S. Navy and showed that the Corsair Mk II could be operated with reasonable success even from escort carriers. It was not without problems, one being excessive wear of the arrester wires due to the weight of the Corsair and the understandable tendency of the pilots to stay well above the stalling speed. A total of 2,012 Corsairs were supplied to the United Kingdom.
Quote
The U.S. Navy finally accepted the F4U for shipboard operations in April 1944, after the longer oleo strut was fitted, which finally eliminated the tendency to bounce.[52] The first Corsair unit to be based effectively on a carrier was the pioneer USMC squadron VMF-124, which joined Essex. They were accompanied by VMF-213. The increasing need for fighter protection against kamikaze attacks resulted in more Corsair units being moved to carriers.
I wouldn't call the P-39 underappreciated. The Russians loved the P-39's they got via Lend/Lease. [/quote]Chuck Yeager was a big fan of the P-39.
As for the Russians, I think most of their top pilots got P-39's even though he Russians had that one very good fighter plane (Yak 9???...I know it was a Yakovlev, just can't remember which one).
They were also very fond of the 37mm gun that came on the P-39's. They put them on trains for air defense.
I mentioned this in the other WWII thread, but here's the show about an attack on a German prison by Mosquitoes to release captured resistance fighters. Their ability to bomb precisely was amazing for the time.
You can skip to about 11:45 to miss the prelude and get to the raid planning and execution portion. It contains film of the actual raid taken from the attacking aircraft.
Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery. Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
Watched a video last night about the P47 showing how the width of its landing gear was so wide that during a failed take off (at speed) you could take and throw the rudder all the way to the left, and slam on the left brake and the plane would just skid into doing circles in place.
Don't think I've ever seen any other plane capable of doing that.
This is the video; watch it at about 11:20 into it. Link
And here's some others;
Uncrating and Field Assembly of the P-47 Thunderbolt Fighter - 1944 Link
How To Fly The P-47 - Pilot Familiarization (1943) Link
How to Fly the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt: Ground Handling, Takeoff, Normal Flight and Landing Link
P-47 Thunderbolt Aerobatics & High Altitude Flight - 1943 Restored Link
I think the Mosquito was a nice concept,..made of balsa and plywood with a pair of Rolls Royce Merlin engines.
One of the best multi-role aircraft of the war. It was the Goldilocks plane, not too big, not too small; just right. A little big for a fighter, but could fend for itself if need be; and was a competent night fighter. Any time it got in trouble, it could point it's nose skyward, firewall the throttles and just out-climb their enemy.
A little too small for a bomber, but ended up doing a LOT of the more precise bombing roles on land and was a fierce U boat hunter. Fast and stable enough to be a reconnaissance aircraft. Just a really great all around workhorse of an aircraft that was indispensable for the British in WW II.
It's wood construction made it light & fast, and the light weight increased it's range. These greatest assets also meant that they had a short overall lifetime, and very few survived long after the war. I think there is only one that's still airworthy today. But yeah, the Hurricane and Spitfire were the Victoria's Secret Angles of the war, while the Mosquito was the "Rosie the Riveter"; just getting the job done.
Watched a video last night about the P47 showing how the width of its landing gear was so wide that during a failed take off (at speed) you could take and throw the rudder all the way to the left, and slam on the left brake and the plane would just skid into doing circles in place.
Don't think I've ever seen any other plane capable of doing that.
Phil
On the other side of the coin, the Messerschmidt BF109's landing gear were so close together that it meant it was one of the more difficult planes to learn to take off properly in. Apparently it didn't take much or it to get squirrely during takeoff.
Have to see if I can find and post that video, was on the AMA page. Top Flite just came out with a new Giant 1/5th scale Razorback was looking at that they were promoting and had the videos up.
It seems you never hear as much about the F4U Corsair. Most experts agree it was a better handling craft than the F6F but could not be used aboard carriers.
Quote
The Royal Navy cleared the F4U for carrier operations well before the U.S. Navy and showed that the Corsair Mk II could be operated with reasonable success even from escort carriers. It was not without problems, one being excessive wear of the arrester wires due to the weight of the Corsair and the understandable tendency of the pilots to stay well above the stalling speed. A total of 2,012 Corsairs were supplied to the United Kingdom.
Quote
The U.S. Navy finally accepted the F4U for shipboard operations in April 1944, after the longer oleo strut was fitted, which finally eliminated the tendency to bounce.[52] The first Corsair unit to be based effectively on a carrier was the pioneer USMC squadron VMF-124, which joined Essex. They were accompanied by VMF-213. The increasing need for fighter protection against kamikaze attacks resulted in more Corsair units being moved to carriers.
I'm going to stretch things a little with this, but while there were many great prop planes made in WW2, there is one that is truly head and shoulders above the rest..
Most of the great prop planes retired after the war being replaced by jets. A few, like Spits or P57's carried on in front line service, but with smaller nations that could not initially afford jets..
However, there is one aircraft that served on and saw extensive combat in major wars and it continued to excel into the 1970's..
The aircraft? The A1 Skyraider..Truly a WW2 design, even if it did not actually see combat in that conflict..
To put the A1 in perspective, B17's on bombing raids to Germany from the UK typically carried a 4500lb bomb load..On shorter missions they would often carry 6000lb, but rarely more..
The A1 could have flown the same missions from the UK and could carry a max of 8000lb of ordinance, with a faster top speed and a faster cruise! Truly an exceptional aircraft!
[quote=NoCAL]It seems you never hear as much about the F4U Corsair. Most experts agree it was a better handling craft than the F6F but could not be used aboard carriers.
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