The Bearcat was never going to be pretty enough for widespread accolades.
Posted on 04/09/2009 2:29:15 PM PDT by mikeus_maximus
I know there are "seasoned" ex-military types on this board. I'd like your and anyone else's opinion on this topic. Every year of WWII saw improvements in aircraft development and performance-- so much so that what was state of the art at the beginning of the war, such as the Me 109 and Supermarine Spitfire, would have been death traps by the end, 6 years later.
For years I'd heard the P-51 Mustang was the ultimate WWII fighter. Then I read a quote from a former FockWulfe 190 pilot who said Mustangs were frail-- one bullet in the aluminum cowling and they went down. No one can deny their service record, though.
Other sources say the FW 190D was the best plane to come out of WWII. It was built on the same concept as the P-51-- take a good fighter, shoehorn in a huge bomber engine, and now you've got a great fighter. Except in this case it was a radial engine, which could lose one or two cyl. and keep on ticking (as opposed to the Mustang's inline engine).
Some say the Japanese "Frank" fighter produced near the end of the war was tops. Other have said the Russian YAK3 was.
Recently I heard that the F8F Bearcat was undoubtedly the best plane. Grumman took apart a captured FW 190 and made it better. The Bearcat was a plane deisgned from scratch around a huge radial engine, rather than vice versa. It was smaller, faster and more agile than any of the above. It had a production speed of 455 mph, a rate of climb twice that of a Mustang, and a ceiling almost as high. Is was delviered to the Navy in the Pacific theatre, but the war ended before it saw action, or it would have made its own legend. A few years later a modifed version set the airspeed record for piston planes at 528+ mph.
It gets my vote. Anyone else have an opinion?
Seriously, back when we couldn't get Coors beer in Minnesota and it was popular, we actually had a friend fly it from Colorado to us via P-51 for Coors was said to be lousy if it were allowed to get warm. ; )
The P-47, Corsair and F6F were all powered by the magnificent Pratt and Whitney R-2800 engine--the most powerful radial engine of its day.
And all three were superlative fighter aircraft.
Our side, European theatre- P51-D or later with the bubble canopies. The c’s were kinda cool with the partial bubble lowrider canopy though. Pacific Theatre- the Corasir.
Germany, the FW-190 and Ta-152 variants
Japan, the Tony, or their Me 163 knockoff the Shusui. (technically an interceptor)
Soviet Union, Yak-9.
Great Britain, of course the Spitfire.
Tommy McGuire was killed in a high-speed stall at low altitude. I think he just hit the jungle canopy. I'm not sure if he was engaged in a dogfight at the time -- probably. He could just as easily been trying to turn inside an opponent to pull-lead and just didn't quite make it.
The USAAC had a special P38 group that they sent wherever the air action was hottest in the Pacific. They were trying to run-up the score for a few select aces, or so I've read.
‘..good in a dive...”? Now we’re talking STUKA!
Alpha:
Check out a movie called (strangely) “Blue Planet”. It’s about a squadron of Czech pilots flying for the RAF during the Battle of Britain. Great shots of Spits and some pretty impressive CGI effects to get some of the aerial combat scenes.
The Spit looked like it was sculpted by a master artist. Quite possibly the most beautiful prop-driven aircraft ever.
Hartmann is the all-time Ace of Aces. His combat career did NOT begin in Spain. He did’t begin flying combat until 1943.
As to the best fighter? All around? The P-47 hands down. It broke the back of the Luftwaffe before the P-51 came in with the broom and dustpan. It had the speed and firepower to be an effective air to air fighter and of course it excelled at low level work with its ability to haul ordnance. One thing that people forget about the P-47 is that with its turbo-supercharger it performed much better at high altitude where the bombers flew. This allowed it to maneuver with the best of the German fighters and it’s roll rate was phenomenal, almost, if not as good, as the FW-190. Most importantly, the Jug brought pilots home, often with valuable lessons learned.
When my late father was a GM on the USS Wasp (CV-7)three years before Pearl Harbor (it was sunk by a Jap sub in 1942)he told me about the F2A Brewster Buffalos the carrier had.
It was a total turkey and the only kills it scored was when the Finns used them against even worse Russian turkeys in the early days of WWII.
I don't think there's any question. That's probably why it was derided as a "toy" by Goering at the outset of the war.
You are, of course, correct.
That would be Richard Bong’s P-38. He was the top scoring US ace of WWII.
Shoulda' used the "Jug"...
Later variants had the bubble top (from the Typhoon) canopy and top speeds of 470 miles p.h.! Also by the end of the war the gas tanks size was increased giving it extended range beyond the previous that allowed it to nearly match the P-51.
Not the sports car like the P-51 was but a very reliable and rugged plane. Relegated more frequently to ground attack by the end of the war some P-51 pilots even switched back to the P-47 due to it's sturdiness and reliability.
Variants included models that had an in line engine but that never took hold and the few following models still retained the radial piston engine. (Besides the piston engines sounded great!)
Certainly one that should be considered in the top fighters of WW-II.
Later variants had the bubble top (from the Typhoon) canopy and top speeds of 470 miles p.h.! Also by the end of the war the gas tanks size was increased giving it extended range beyond the previous that allowed it to nearly match the P-51.
Not the sports car the P-51 was but a very reliable and rugged plane. Relegated more frequently to ground attack by the end of the war a few P-51 pilots even switched back to the P-47 due to it's sturdiness and reliability.
Variants included models that had an in line engine but that never took hold and the few following models still retained the radial piston engine. (Besides the piston engines sounded great!)
Certainly a fighter that should be considered in the top fighters of WW-II.
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