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Dewoitine D.520


D.520 n°408 in flight in the 1980s

Type: Fighter aircraft
Manufacturer: SNCAM / SNCASE
Maiden flight: 2 October1938
Introduced: January 1940
Retired: 1953
Primary users: Armée de l'Air
Luftwaffe
Regia Aeronautica
Bulgarian Air Force
Number built: ≈900

The Dewoitine D.520 was a French fighter aircraft that entered service in early 1940, shortly after the opening of World War II. Unlike the Morane-Saulnier M.S.406, which was at that time the Armée de l'Air's most numerous fighter, the Dewoitine D.520 came close to being a match for the latest German types, such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Because of a delayed production cycle, only a small number were available to meet the Luftwaffe.

Design and development
Design of the Dewoitine 520 started in November 1936 at the private design firm led by Emile Dewoitine. Trying to address problems in earlier designs, he created a fighter using only the latest techniques and engines. The new design was to be able to reach 520 km/h and became known as the "520". Only months later the firm was conglomerated into one of a number of design-and-manufacturing pools, in this case SNCAM. Still known as the D.520, work on the design continued at the new company.

The prototype D.520 flew on 2 October 1938, powered by the new 890 hp (660 kW) Hispano-Suiza 12Y-21 liquid-cooled engine. The plane managed to reach only 480 km/h in flight tests, much slower than expected. Most of the problem seemed to come from greater than expected drag from the underwing radiators, so these were merged into a single radiator under the fuselage. After minor damage in a landing accident, the engine was changed to a newer -29 and included exhaust ejectors for added thrust, along with an adjustable prop. These changes were enough to allow the aircraft to reach its design speed.

The prototype was followed in 1939 with two airframes with a new sliding canopy and a larger tail unit. These were armed with a 20 mm cannon firing through the propeller spinner (a feature later found on many German and Russian designs) and two 7.5 mm machine guns in small pods under the wing.

The third also included a small tail-wheel instead of the original skid. Flight tests went fairly well and a contract for 200 production machines to be powered by the newer -31 engine (later replaced by the -45) was issued in March of 1939. A contract for an additional 600 planes was issued in June reduced to 510 in July.

With the outbreak of war, a new contract brought the total to 1280, with the production rate to be 200 machines per month from May 1940. The Aéronautique navale then ordered 120. Another Armée de l'air order in April 1940 brought the total to 2250 and increased quotas to 350 a month.

The first production D.520 flew in November, powered by the 830 hp (620 kW) 12Y-31 and armed with two 7.5 mm machine guns in housings underneath the wings. It had a curved, one-piece windshield and a sliding canopy. The rest of the production machines were delivered with the 930 hp (690 kW) 12Y-45 engine with a new supercharger and a Ratier 3-bladed propeller (a few had the -49 of 910 hp (680 kW)). They were armed with a Hispano-Suiza 404 20 mm cannon firing through the propeller hub and four MAC 1934 7.5 mm machine guns in the wings. The curved, one-piece windshield from the prototypes was replaced with one containing an optically flat panel.

As the first batch of machines rolled off the production lines, they failed acceptance tests due to insufficient top speed and troublesome cooling. Redesigned compressor intakes, a modified cooling circuit and propulsive exhaust pipes proved to be effective remedies for these shortcomings, but as early examples had to be retrofitted with those improvements, the type was not declared combat-worthy until April.

Operational history


Battle of France

The Groupe de Chasse I/3 was the first unit to get the D.520, receiving its first aircraft in January 1940. These were unarmed and used for pilot training.

In April and May they received 34 production machines, which proved to be very popular with the pilots. In tests against a captured Bf 109E-3 (handicapped by an engine that didn't develop full power), the D.520 proved to be 20 km/h slower, but had better high speed manoeuvrability. The D.520 matched the turning circle of the Bf 109 but displayed nasty departure characteristics, spinning out of the turn repeatedly during the tests while the Bf 109, owing to its slats, could easily sustain the turn on the edge of the stall.

When Germany invaded France and the Low Countries on 10 May, 228 D.520s had been manufactured, but the Armée de l'Air had only accepted 75, as most others had been sent back to the factory to be retrofitted to the new standard. As a result, only GC I/3 was fully equipped with the D.520, with 36 planes. They met the Luftwaffe on 13 May, shooting down three Henschel Hs 126s and one Heinkel He 111 without loss. GC II/3, GC III/3, GC III/6 and GC II/7 later completed their conversion to the D.520 and all took part in the Battle of France. A naval unit, the 1st Flotille de Chasse, was also equipped with the D.520. GC II/6 and GC III/7 converted to the D.520 but too late to see action.

By the time of the armistice at the end of June, 437 D.520s had been built and 351 of these had been delivered. In that time they had 108 confirmed kills and 39 probables, losing 54 to enemy action. As French resistance collapsed in the middle of June, GC I/3, II/3, III/3, III/6 and II/7 flew their aircraft to Algeria so as to avoid being captured. Three more, from GC III/7, escaped to Britain and were delivered to the Free French. 153 machines remained in mainland France.

Under Vichy

In April 1941, the German armistice commission authorized Vichy authorities to resume production of a batch of one thousand military aircraft for their own use, under the condition that two thousand German-designed aircraft would be later be manufactured in France and delivered to Germany. As part of this agreement, 550 examples of the D.520 were ordered so as to replace all other single-seat fighters in service. The plan was to have the D.520 eventually equip a total of 17 Groupes with 442 aircraft, three escadrilles of the Aéronautique navale with 37 aircraft each plus three training units with 13 aircraft. The agreement stated planes of the new batch were to be similar with the ones already in service. From serial number 543 on however, D.520s used the 12Y49 engine that had a slightly higher rated altitude than the 12Y45. But the German armistice commission explicitly prohibited production of the more powerful 12Y51 or 12Z engines.

D.520s of GC III/6, II/3 and naval escadrille 1AC faced the allies during the Syria-Lebanon campaign in 1941, where they claimed 31 kills over British and Australian planes, while losing 11 of their own in air combat and 24 to AA fire, accidents, and attacks on their airfields. However, No. 3 Squadron RAAF — which had just converted to the new P-40 Tomahawk I — claimed five D.520s destroyed, for the loss of one P-40 in air combat.

During Operation Torch, GC III/3 (who was really GC I/3 renamed, as the previous unit with this designation had been disbanded) opposed the Allies over Oran, while Flottile 1F saw some action versus the US Navy over Casablanca. Other D.520-equipped units in North Africa like GC II/7 or GC II/3 were lucky enough not to take part in the fratricidal fighting. Many D.520s were destroyed on the ground by Allied bombing.

Free French Dewoitines

A very small number of D.520s were briefly operated by Free French Forces for training purposes. Additionally to the three examples who had evacuated to Great Britain in June 1940, two were recovered from retreating Vichy forces in Rayak in Lebanon. These D.520 were flown by pilots of the Normandie-Niemen unit before the men were sent to the USSR, where they flew the Yakovlev Yak-1 that had many similarities with the D.520.

With the Allies

In December 1942, as French forces formerly under Vichy had sided with the Allies, there were 153 D.520s left in French hands in North Africa. They flew a few patrols during the Battle of Tunisia, but were considered obsolete, and their radio sets were incompatible with Allied equipment. From early 1943 on, they were relegated to training duties at the fighter school in Meknes, and progressively replaced by Spitfires and P-39s in combat units.

During the liberation of France, a few examples abandoned by the Germans were used by ad hoc units in ground attacks against the isolated German pockets of resistance on the Western coast.

Postwar service

Postwar, those that remained in France were used as trainers. One example was field-modified as a two seater in late 1945. After further experiments, in March 1946, the Armée de l'air required a batch of twenty D.520s to be so converted. However only 13 of these D.520 DC are recorded to have been completed. The last flight of a military D.520 occurred in 1953.

Foreign users

As German forces invaded Vichy's so-called "free zone" in November 1942, they captured 246 D.520s; additionally, a batch of 62 was completed under German occupation[3]. Some were used by the Luftwaffe for training purposes. The Germans also transferred 120 D.520s to Bulgaria and 60 to Italy. A number of them were intended for the Romanian Air Force, but the shipment was lost on the way. One source claims that they arrived and have been used against the Soviets, but says no details of service are known.

Another source claims 150 aircraft were sent to Romania. Yet another source claims the so-called Romanian Dewoitines were in fact in transit to Bulgaria and only flew over Romania in order to get to their final destination.

The latter seems the most reliable explanation viewed against the numbers of Dewoitines actually available.

Operators
Main operators
Bulgaria
France
Germany
Italy

Intended operators
Romania


Survivors
The three remaining D.520s known to exist today are:

Dewoitine D.520 n°603
On display at the Conservatoire de l'air et de l'espace d'Aquitaine in Bordeaux-Mérignac.

Dewoitine D.520 n°655
Under restoration at the Naval Museum in Rochefort.

Dewoitine D.520 n°862
Currently on display at the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace. It has been repainted as n°277 used by GC III/6 in June 1940.

Dewoitine D.520 n°408
Aircraft was restored to flying condition in the 1970s. Painted as n°90 used by the GC I/3 in 1940, it performed at various airshows in Europe, but was destroyed in a fatal crash in 1986.


Specifications (Dewoitine D.520C.1)


General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 8.6 m (28 ft 3 in)
• Wingspan: 10.2 m (33 ft 6 in)
• Height: 2.57 m (8 ft 5 in)
• Wing area: 15.97 m² (172 ft²)
• Empty weight: 2,036 kg (4,489 lb)
• Loaded weight: 2,676 kg (5,900 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 2,780 kg (6,129 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× Hispano-Suiza 12Y-45 liquid-cooled V12 engine, 690 kW (930 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 535 km/h (289 knots, 332 mph)
• Range: 1,250 km (675 nm, 777 mi)
• Service ceiling 10,000 m (33,000 ft)
• Rate of climb: 14.3 m/s (2,820 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 167 kg/m² (34.2 lb/ft²)
• Power/mass: 257 W/kg (0.156 hp/lb)

Armament

• Guns:
  • 1× 20 mm (0.787 in) Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon
  • 4× 7.5 mm (0.295 in) MAC 1934 machine guns

Dewoitine D.520 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

In honor of JCFalkenberg's "operation zeppelin" posting

Ar 232



Type: Transport
Manufacturer: Arado
Maiden flight: June 1941
Introduction: 1943
Retired: 1945
Primary user: Luftwaffe
Number built~20

The Arado Ar 232 Tausendfüssler (German:"Millipede") was the first truly modern transport aircraft, designed and built in small numbers by the German firm Arado during World War II. The design introduced almost all of the features now considered to be "standard" to modern transports, including a low-slung box-like fuselage, rear loading ramp, a high tail for easy access to the hold, and various features for operating from rough fields. Although the Luftwaffe was interested in replacing or supplanting their fleet of outdated Ju 52/3 m transports, they were overloaded with types at the time and did not purchase large numbers of the Ar 232.

Design

The Ar 232 design led from a tender offered by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (German Air Ministry, RLM) in late 1939 for a replacement for the Ju 52 transport. Both Arado and Henschel were asked for rear-loading designs powered by two of the 1,193 kW (1,600 hp) BMW 801A/B engine, which was just entering prototype production and not currently used on any frontline designs. The Arado design beat out Henschel's after an examination of the plans, and an order for three prototypes was placed in 1940.

Wilhelm van Nes led the design of the Ar 232. He began at the cargo area, with a bay directly behind the cockpit that extended 6.6 m (21 ft 7¾ in) to the rear, 2.3 m (7 ft 6½ in) wide and 2.0 m (6 ft 6¾ in) high. Typical designs of the era would use a side-mounted door for access, but the Ar 232 used hydraulically powered clamshell-doors on the rear of the bay with a ramp to allow cargo to be rolled into the hold. The tail control surfaces were mounted on the end of a long boom to keep the area behind the doors clear so trucks could drive right up to the ramp. This allowed the Ar 232 to be loaded and unloaded faster than other designs.

For short-field performance, the Ar 232 incorporated Arado's own "travelling flap" design for the entire rear surface of the wing. Even loaded to 16,000 kg (35,273 lb) the plane could take-off in 200 m (656 ft). This distance could be further reduced by using rocket assist (RATO) for take-off, and either parachutes or reverse RATO for landing.

The most noticeable feature of the Ar 232 was the landing gear. Normal operations from prepared runways used tricycle gear, but the struts could "break", or kneel, after landing to place the fuselage closer to the ground and thereby reduce the ramp angle. An additional set of 11 smaller wheels per side supported the aircraft once "broken", or could be used for additional support when landing on soft or rough airfields. The aircraft was intended to be capable of taxiing at low speeds on its small wheels, thus being able to negotiate small obstacles such as ditches up to 1.5 m (5 ft) in width. The appearance of the row of small wheels led to the nickname "millipede". In flight the main legs fully retracted into the engine nacelles, while the support wheels remained extended and the nose wheel only semi-retracted.

Normally operated by a crew of four, the pilot was the only member without two jobs. The navigator operated a MG 131 machine gun in the nose, the radio operator an MG 151 cannon in a rotating turret on the roof, and the loadmaster an MG 131 machine gun firing rearward from the extreme rear of the cargo bay above the cargo doors.

Development

Even before the prototypes were complete in 1941, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 project had moved to the BMW 801A/B engine, and was proving to be a capable design. Production of the BMW 801 was insufficient to supply this new demand, and the Ar 232 was forced to use another engine. Eventually the BMW Bramo 323 from the Junkers Ju 352 was selected instead, as it was already in production and could meet requirements if the Ar 232 really did replace the Ju 52/3m in service. The prototypes were far enough along that switching engines would have seriously delayed the program, so the first two were to be completed as the Ar 232A, and the third and a newly ordered fourth as the Ar 232B. The prototypes (and all production aircraft) used four engines (in place of the two specified in the RLM specification) in order to provide the desired performance.

The first two prototypes, GH+GN and VD+YA, started trials in early 1941. The first flight resulted in the collapse of the nose gear, but the millipede wheels saved the plane from damage. A further ten pre-production machines were built, and were used operationally as the Ar 232A-0 while awaiting production versions. In general the Ar 232 completely outperformed the Ju 52/3 m. It carried roughly double the load over longer distances, operated from shorter runways and rougher fields if need be, and cruised about 70 km/h (44 mph) faster.

The Ar 232B program ran at the same time. With four 895 kW (1,200 hp) Bramo 323, the plane increased in power from 2,386 kW to 3,580 kW (3,200 hp to 4,800 hp), solving the A model's problem of having little excess power in case of engine failure. This change also required the wing to be extended slightly, the span rising just over 3 m (9 ft 10 in) in total. The extra weight of the engines also moved the center of gravity forward, which was offset by extending the cargo area rearward another meter.

Two prototypes were ordered, the V3 and V4, and V3 first flew in May 1942. A further 10 were then ordered as the Ar 232B-0, and were used widely in an operational role. However, this was the only order for the design, as the Luftwaffe gave transport aircraft production a very low priority. Many of those produced were used by Arado to transport aircraft parts among their factories, and did not see front-line service.

Plans were also made to replace the outer wing sections and control surfaces with wooden versions to conserve then-limited supplies of aluminium.

Originally to be known as the Ar 232C, the design dragged on and was later re-named as the Ar 432. Plans were finally put into place to start production in October 1945, but the war ended without even a prototype being produced. Two even larger planned versions, the Ar 532 and the Ar 632, would have almost doubled the wingspan to 60 m (196 ft 10 in) and added another two engines.

Two of the B-0s were captured by the British at the end of the war. After test flights by Eric Brown, who gave the design excellent marks, they were used by the Royal Air Force on flights between England and Germany after the war.



Specifications (Ar 232B)


General characteristics

• Crew: 4
• Length: 23.52 m (77 ft 2 in)
• Wingspan: 33.50 m (109 ft 10¾ in)
• Height: 5.69 m (18 ft 8 in)
• Wing area: 142.60 m² (1,535 ft²)
• Empty weight: 12,780 kg (28,175 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 21,150 kg (46,628 lb)
• Powerplant: 4× BMW Bramo 323 R-2 Fafnir 9-cylinder radial engine, 895 kW (1,200 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 308 km/h at 4,000 m (191 mph at 13,123 ft)
• Cruise speed: 290 km/h at 2,000 m (180 mph at 6,561 ft)
• Range: 1,062 km (660 miles)
• Service ceiling 6,900 m (22,640 ft)

Armament

• 1 x MG 131 machine gun mounted in the nose
• 1 x MG 151 cannon mounted in an EDL 151 dorsal turret
• 1 - 2 x MG 131 machine gun mounted in the rear position
• 8 x MG 34 machine guns mounted in side windows when transporting infantry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_232

 

Fairey Swordfish

Type: Torpedo Bomber
Anti-submarine
Manufacturer: Fairey Aviation
Maiden Flight: April 17, 1934
Introduced: 1936
Retired: 21 May 1945
Primary Users: Fleet Air Arm
Royal Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
Dutch Naval Aviation Service
Number Built: 2,400

The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company and used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during World War II. Affectionately known as the Stringbag by its crews, it was outdated by 1939, but achieved some spectacular successes during the war, notably the destruction of the Regia Marina (the Italian Navy) in the Battle of Taranto and the famous crippling of the Bismarck. It was operated primarily as a fleet attack aircraft, however, during its later years it was also used as an anti-submarine and training craft. Designed in the 1930s, the Swordfish remained in frontline service through to the end of the war in Europe in 1945.

Design and development

The Swordfish was based on a Fairey Private Venture (PV) design; a proposed solution to the Air Ministry requirements for a Spotter-Reconnaissance plane - Spotter referring to observing the fall of a warship's gunfire. A subsequent Air Ministry specification S.15/33, added the torpedo bomber role. The "Torpedo-Spotter-Reconnaissance" prototype TSR II (the PV was the TSR I) first flew on April 17, 1934. It was a large biplane with a metal frame covered in fabric, and featured folding wings for carrier use. An order was placed in 1935 and the aircraft entered service in 1936, replacing the Fairey Seal n the torpedo bomber role.
By 1939 the Royal Navy had 13 squadrons equipped with the Swordfish Mark I. There were also three flights of Swordfish equipped with floats, for use off catapult-equipped warships. One such, from HMS Warspite spotted fall of shot (i.e., radioed gunnery corrections back to the ship) during the Second Battle of Narvik and subsequently sank the U-boat U-64.
Swordfish flew from merchant aircraft carriers ("MAC ships"), 20 civilian cargo ships modified to carry three or four aircraft each, on anti-submarine duties with convoys. Three of these ships were Dutch manned, flying Swordfish from 860 (Dutch) Squadron.

Operational history

The primary weapon was the torpedo, but the low speed of the biplane and the need for a long straight approach made it difficult to deliver against well-defended targets. However, Swordfish flying from HMS Illustrious made a very significant strike, on November 11, 1940, against the Italian navy during the Battle of Taranto, Italy, sinking or disabling three Italian battleships and a cruiser. The successful Taranto attack may have given inspiration or confidence to the Japanese who would later attack Pearl Harbor. Swordfish also flew anti-shipping sorties from Malta.
In May 1941 a Swordfish strike from HMS Ark Royal was vital in damaging the German battleship Bismarck, preventing it from escaping back to France. The low speed of the attacking aircraft may have acted in their favour, as the planes were too slow for the fire-control predictors of the German gunners, whose shells exploded so far in front of the aircraft that the threat of shrapnel damage was greatly diminished. The Swordfish also flew sufficiently low that most of the Bismarck's flak was unable to hit them. The Swordfish aircraft scored two hits, one which did little damage but another which disabled the Bismarck's rudder, preventing it from maneuvering and thus sealing its fate. The Bismarck was scuttled less than 13 hours later.
The problems with the aircraft were starkly demonstrated in February 1942 when a strike on German battlecruisers during the Channel Dash resulted in the loss of all attacking aircraft. With the development of new torpedo attack aircraft, the Swordfish was soon redeployed successfully in an anti-submarine role, armed with depth-charges or eight "60 lb" (27 kg) RP-3 rockets and flying from the smaller escort carriers or even Merchant Aircraft Carriers when equipped for rocket-assisted takeoff (RATO). Its low stall speed and inherently tough design made it ideal for operation from the MAC carriers in the often severe mid Atlantic weather. Swordfish-equipped units accounted for 14 U-boats destroyed. The Swordfish was meant to be replaced by the Fairey Albacore, also a biplane, but actually outlived its intended successor. It was, however, succeeded by the Fairey Barracuda monoplane torpedo bomber.
The last of 2,392 Swordfish aircraft was delivered in August 1944; the last operational squadron was disbanded on 21 May 1945, after the fall of Germany; and the last training squadron was disbanded in the summer of 1946.

Origin of the Stringbag nickname

The Swordfish received the Stringbag nickname not because of its construction but because of the seemingly endless variety of stores and equipment that the aircraft was cleared to carry. Crews likened the aircraft to a housewife's string shopping bag which was common at the time and, which due to its having no fixed shape, could adjust to hold any shape or number of packages. Like the shopping bag, the crews thought the Swordfish could carry anything

Variants

Fairey Swordfish in pre-war Fleet Air Arm markings


Swordfish I First production series. Swordfish I Version equipped with floats, for use off catapult-equipped warships. Swordfish II Version with metal lower wings to enable the mounting of rockets, introduced in 1943. Swordfish III Version with added a large centrimetric radar unit, introduced in 1943. Swordfish IV Last serial built version (production ended in 1944) with an enclosed cabin for use by the RCAF Almost 2,400 had been built, 692 by Fairey and 1,699 in Sherburn by the Blackburn Aircraft Company, which were sometimes dubbed the "Blackfish". The most numerous version was the Mark II, of which 1,080 were made.

Operators
Canada

• Royal Canadian Air Force

Netherlands

• Dutch Naval Aviation Service

United Kingdom

• Royal Air Force
• Fleet Air Arm

Specifications (Fairey Swordfish)

General characteristics

• Crew: Three (pilot, observer, and radioman/rear gunner)
• Length: 35 ft 8 in (10.87 m)
• Wingspan: 45 ft 6 in (13.87 m)
• Height: 12 ft 4 in (3.76 m)
• Wing area: 542 ft² (50.4 m²)
• Empty weight: 4,195 lb (1,900 kg)
• Loaded weight: 7,720 lb (3,500 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: lb (kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Bristol Pegasus IIIM.3 or XXX radial engine, 690 hp (IIIM.3) or 750 hp (XXX) (510 kW / 560 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 138 mph at 5,000 ft (222 km/h at 1,500 m)
• Range: 546 mi combat; 1,025 mi ferry (879 km / 1,650 km)
• Service ceiling:19,250 ft (5,870 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,220 ft/min (6.2 m/s)

Armament

• 1x 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun in engine cowling
• 1x 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis or Vickers machine gun in rear cockpit
• 1x 1,670 lb (760 kg) torpedo or 1,500 lb (700 kg) mine
• 8x 60 lb (27 kg) RP-3 rocket projectiles (Mk.II and later)

Fairey Swordfish - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

One, I'm amazed at having a biplane in combat throughout the war and two, why didn't the Brits design a more modern torpedo bomber? Were these used in the pacific?

Also, I wonder how the pilots assigned to these biplanes felt compared to being assigned to a monoplane fighter

 

Time for something a bit more modern...

Hawker Typhoon

Type: Fighter-bomber
Manufacturer: Hawker Aircraft/Gloster
Designed by: Sydney Camm
Maiden Flight: 24 February 1940
Introduced: 1941
Primary Users: RAF
RCAF
Number built: 3,330

The Typhoon was a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft starting in 1941. Although it was intended to be a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane in the interceptor role, the Typhoon underwent a long gestation period, eventually evolving into one of the Second World War's most successful ground-attack aircraft. In RAF slang, the Typhoon was nicknamed the Tiffy.

Design and development

Even before the new Hurricane was rolling off the production lines in March 1937, Sydney Camm had moved on to designing its future replacement as a private project. This was to be a massive plane designed around the equally massive Napier Sabre engine. The work proved useful when Hawker received specification F.18/37 in January 1938 from the Air Ministry, which asked for a fighter based around either the Napier Sabre or the Rolls-Royce Vulture engine. The engines were similar in that they were both 24 cylinder designs that were designed to deliver over 2,000 hp (1.5 MW); the difference between the two being, primarily, in the arrangement of the cylinders — an H-block in the Sabre and an X-block in the Vulture.

RAF Typhoon at RAF Hendon Museum clearly showing the large "chin" radiator beneath the nose



The two resulting models became known as the "R" and "N" (based on the engine manufacturer) and were very similar—the Vulture-powered R plane had a rounder nose profile and a ventral radiator, whereas the Sabre-powered N had a flatter deck and a chin mounted radiator. The basic design of both continued the Hawker tradition of using "older" construction techniques; the front fuselage was welded steel just like the Hurricane, and the design used a massive 40 foot (12 m) wing that was much thicker than those on designs like the Spitfire. Camm did give in to the times for much of the rest of the plane though; it was semi-monocoque from the cockpit rearward, flush riveted, and had wide set gear. Instead of a sliding or lifting canopy the Typhoon was first produced with a side door.

Summary of Technical Changes

As a front line Second World War RAF aircraft the Typhoon was a rarity in that it only appeared as a Mark I. However the Typhoon was modified and updated regularly, so that a 1945 production machine looked quite different to one built in 1942. After D-Day, as Typhoon attrition increased, a number of older aircraft were taken out of storage and overhauled. It was possible to find old R7771, a Typhoon first built in 1942 with "car-door" canopy, unfaired cannon etc. had reappeared in front line service (on 182 Sqn.) in February 1945 with a clear-view "bubble" hood, rocket rails and other late series features.

Unidentified early Typhoon with 45 gallon drop tanks and unfaired cannon; note retractable step (above starboard wheel).


The most important and visible changes are listed:

• From mid to late 1941 the solid metal aft canopy fairing was replaced with a transparent structure. The pilot's head armour plate was modified to a triangular shape; the side cut-outs were fitted with armour-glass. This applied from the 163rd production Typhoon R7803. All earlier aircraft were quickly withdrawn and modified.
• Longer exhaust stubs fitted in November 1941.
• Portside (left) cockpit doors were sealed shut in November 1941. Both modifications were made in an attempt to alleviate the problem of carbon monoxide seepage into the cockpit.
• 12 x .303 Brownings (Typhoon Ia) superseded by 4 x Hispano 20mm cannon (Typhoon IB).
• A steel strap was fitted internally across the rear fuselage transport joint in September 1942. This was a temporary measure, superseded by Mod 286.
• Mod 286; 20 alloy "fishplates" were riveted externally across the rear fuselage transport joint. This was a permanent measure designed to stop in-flight rear fuselage structural failures. From December 1942 through to March 1943 all Typhoons without this modification were taken out of service and modified. Introduced on production line from 820th production aircraft EJ902.

A Charles E Brown photo of EK286 "Fiji V, Morris Headstrom Fiji" a brand new presentation aircraft, at Gloster's Hucclecote airfield, April 1943. The photo gives a clear view of the "car-door" cockpit entry – the rear view mirror under a perspex blister can be seen on the hinged canopy roof.

• Redesigned internal elevator mass balance weight fitted from May 1943 on. This was also designed to alleviate rear fuselage failure due to harmonic vibration failure of the bracket holding the weight assembly.
• Replacement of external mass balance weights on the rudder by an internal mass balance weight on a slightly redesigned rudder. Mid-1942.
• Removable fairings over the cannon barrels were fitted.
• Fitting of bomb racks capable of carrying 500 lb bombs from October 1942. First used by 181 Squadron. By mid-1943, all Typhoons off the production line were capable of carrying bombs.
• Bigger, solid rubber, grooved "anti-shimmy" tail wheel tyres were introduced in March 1943 on all Typhoons from EK238 (1,001st production). The new tyres helped to make heavier, bomb-laden Typhoons more manageable during ground manoeuvres.
• Small extensions on cannon shell case ejector slots. These allowed the casings to clear bombs or drop tanks suspended from the wing racks.
• Reinforced mainwheels. Openings smaller than earlier wheels and flatter, thicker "spokes."
• Bigger brake discs. Originally only on "Bombphoons"; eventually all Typhoons used these brakes.
• Rear view mirror in perspex blister on "car-door" canopy roof. This was not very successful; the mirror was prone to vibration.
• The Camera gun was moved from the leading edge of the outer port wing to the starboard engine bearers, sighting through an opening in the lower engine cowling. The new location was prone to engine vibration but, because the film was still usable, the camera stayed.
• Exhaust fairings were fitted in mid-1943. These were soon discarded when they were found to be of little benefit to aircraft performance, plus they complicated maintenance.
• Aerial mast through the rear canopy structure was replaced by a "whip" aerial on the rear fuselage on late "car-door" Typhoons.
• Wings plumbed and adapted to carry cylindrical 45-gallon drop tanks from early 1943.

Late model Typhoon of 43(RCAF) Squadron. Note the bomb rack under the wing. Rows of 5 gallon jerrycans dominate the foreground

• The "car-door" canopy structure was replaced by a clear, one piece sliding "bubble" canopy from mid-1943. Many Typhoons were retrofitted with the new canopies. The first modified Typhoon R8843 DJ-S was flown by New Zealander Wing Commander Desmond J. Scott, C/O of the Tangmere Wing from September 1943. From November 1943, all production aircraft, starting with JR333 were so fitted. With the new canopy the pilot's head armour was reshaped and the identification light seen behind the aerial mast structure on "car-door" canopy aircraft was removed. In addition two small, rear opening vents were added below the port side radio hatch, just below the canopy. A small round window on the lower, forward, left side cockpit access panel was omitted.
• Tailplane tip to fuselage IFF aerials were replaced by a "bayonet" aerial under the wing's centre section.
• Steel "Mark I" rocket rails introduced: these were first fitted to production aircraft of 181 Sqn. in October 1943. Aluminium "Mark III" rails were used starting in December 1944.
• The transparent landing light covers on the wing leading edges were discarded on all rocket equipped aircraft, and replaced with metal fairings. Eventually all production Typhoons were manufactured without the lights.
• A Rebecca transponder unit was fitted in 1944, with the associated aerial appearing under the centre section.
• A Four-blade propeller unit (de Havilland or Rotol) was introduced from early 1944.
• Larger Tempest tailplanes were fitted from June 1944 on. Originally they were only used on "Bombphoons" which were able to be cleared to carry 1,000 lb bombs. Starting in the MN production series all Typhoons had the larger tail unit.
• After D-Day, once Typhoons started operating from forward landing grounds in Normandy, it was found that the dust clouds which were stirred up by propeller wash contained hard materials which were damaging the Sabre engines. An urgent modification, fitted to all Typhoons within a week, was a mushroom shaped filter which covered the air intake in the centre of the radiator. These "mushroom" filters, which could become red-hot, had a habit of being blown off the air intake at high speed whenever a Sabre engine backfired. They were replaced by drum shaped filters which had "cuckoo clock" doors in front.
• A small, elongated oval static port appeared on the rear starboard fuselage in late 1944. This was apparently used to more accurately measure the aircraft altitude.
• Throughout its service life the Typhoon suffered a high frequency vibration of the airframe while in flight, such that pilots reported that touching the cockpit walls was akin to receiving a mild electric shock. Although not dangerous, it was uncomfortable and a specially sprung seat was designed and fitted. This vibration was alleviated to some extent with the introduction of the four-bladed propeller.

Late production Typhoon of a Canadian squadron. Clear view canopy, grooved "anti-shimmy" tailwheel, four blade propeller, "bayonet" IFF aerial, no landing lights.



One Typhoon, R8694, was used by Napiers for trials with an annular radiator: this aircraft was also fitted with a four-bladed propeller.

Typhoon carrier fighter

In 1941 Hawker tendered the Hawker P.1009 "Fleet Fighter" in response to specification N.11/40 for a carrier based fighter. A new centre section was to be fitted, extending the wingspan to over 45 feet: the wings themselves were to swing and fold parallel to the fuselage with the leading edges pointing upwards. The rear fuselage was to be longer and a vee arrestor hook and associated catapult gear was to be fitted. The design chosen was to eventuate as the Blackburn Firebrand.

Operational service

The R version first flew in October 1939, and the RAF was so impressed they ordered 1,000 as the Tornado. In February 1940, the first N model, now known as the Typhoon, was delivered. The RAF placed a large order for it as well, but moved production to Gloster Aircraft (part of the Hawker Siddeley group), who had no designs to produce at the time. The Typhoon was soon demonstrating problems, including vibrations from the engine causing the wing skinning to peel.
Eventually the RAF postponed production plans on both models in May 1940 so that Hawker could concentrate solely on the Hurricane during the Battle of Britain. This was the design's first brush with cancellation. Some small-scale work continued with changes to streamline the fuselage and incorporating a much thinner wing were looked at, as well as alternate engines in the form of large radials. In October, pressure on the RAF eased and work was allowed to continue on the two original designs.
The Tornado was cancelled in 1941, with no more than four being built. However the Typhoon had "good enough" performance to warrant production. It soon became clear that as a replacement for the Spitfire the Typhoon was a failure. Performance above 20,000 feet deteriorated rapidly and climb rate was disappointing. Manouverability was also considered to be below par. However, at lower altitudes the Typhoon was fast and stable and showed itself to be a good gun platform. Still, the Typhoon faced cancellation until the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 made its debut in late 1941.

EK183 US-A of 56 Sqn. was a "car-door" Typhoon with the perspex blister and mirror, and has the small tyred tailwheel. The black and white underwing stripes were used to identify Typhoons to friendly forces, as were the yellow stripes on the leading edges.



The Spitfire Vs, with which the bulk of Fighter Command squadrons were equipped, were outclassed in combat with the new Luftwaffe fighter and suffering heavy losses, with the result that the Typhoon was rushed into squadron service (with Nos. 56 and 609 Squadrons) in an attempt to counter the Fw 190. Sadly, this decision proved to be a disaster, and several Typhoons were lost to mysterious causes. Once again there was talk of killing the Typhoon.
In-flight tail failure was eventually identified, albeit only because one pilot managed to survive and return to tell his story. The problem was found to be caused by fatigue failure of the elevator mass-balance, allowing elevator-flutter to occur which was at its greatest when pulling out of a dive. Diving out of combat was the favourite escape manoeuvre for the Fw 190, which had a distinct speed advantage over the Spitfire. Against the heavy, fast diving Typhoon this manoeuvre should have proved deadly for the Fw pilots, but flutter problems turned the tables.
As a "temporary" measure, rectangular strengthening "fishplates" were riveted around the fuselage/empennage joint, the site of the failures.

US-A was flown by Squadron Leader T.H.V Pheloung (Oamaru, New Zealand) April 1943. An 18 inch wide yellow recognition stripe is visible on the upper wing.


These fishplates remained a feature on all subsequent Typhoons. Problems with leakage of exhaust fumes into the cockpit and subsequent high carbon monoxide levels also meant Typhoon pilots had to use oxygen from take-off to landing. Vents were later added to the fuselage sides which, added to the new canopy, helped evacuate the fumes, although pilots continued to wear their masks as a precaution through to the end of the war. Cockpit temperatures were very high and eventually an air- ventilation tube was added. The Sabre engine was also a constant source of problems, notably in colder weather where it was very difficult to start. Due to the efforts of operational pilots like S/L Roland Beamont (609 Squadron), the Typhoon continued under development despite these design drawbacks.
During late 1942 and early 1943, the Typhoon Squadrons on the South Coast were finally effective in countering the Luftwaffe's "tip and run" low-level nuisance raids, shooting down a score or more fighter-bomber Fw 190s. The first two Messerschmitt Me 210 fighter-bombers to be destroyed over the British Isles fell to the guns of Typhoons in late 1942, and during a daylight raid by the Luftwaffe on London on 20 January 1943, five Fw 190s were destroyed by Typhoons.
As soon as the aircraft entered service it was immediately apparent the profile of the Typhoon resembled a Fw190 from some angles, and this similarity caused more than one "friendly fire" incident with Allied anti-aircraft units and other fighters. This led to Typhoons being marked up with high visibility black and white stripes under the wings; a precursor of the marking applied to all Allied aircraft on D-Day.
It was not until 1943 that the various problems with the airframe and engine had finally started to be worked out of the system. By this time the need for a pure fighter was no longer important and the design was converted into a fighter-bomber, much like the Hurricane had before it. The powerful engine allowed the plane to carry a massive load of (eventually) up to two 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs, equal to the light bombers of only a few years earlier. The bomb-equipped aircraft were nicknamed, "Bombphoons", and entered service with No. 181 Squadron, formed in September 1942.

175 Sqn. EK139 N "Dirty Dora" being rearmed Appledram, late 1943. The White "bombs" were concrete, used for practice.


Armed with four "60 lb" RP-3 rockets under each wing, the Typhoon would however become much more famous — the so-called "Rocketphoons." In October 1943, No. 181 Squadron made the first Typhoon rocket strikes. Although the rocket projectiles were inaccurate and took some considerable skill to aim properly and allow for the drop after firing, the sheer firepower of just one Typhoon was equivalent to a destroyer's broadside. The top speed of the Typhoon was reduced by some 15 mph by the non-jettisionable rocket rails. By the end of 1943, 18 rocket-equipped Typhoon squadrons formed the basis of the RAF's Second Tactical Air Force ground attack arm in Europe.
Inaccuracy notwithstanding, the rockets (backed by the Typhoon's four 20 mm cannon) proved highly effective against many targets, such as unarmoured "soft-skinned" vehicles, road transport, trains and small sea craft. Although great things were expected against the heavily armoured tanks of the Wehrmacht, the rockets needed to hit the thin-walled engine compartment or the tank's tracks to really have any destructive effect. Analysis of destroyed tanks after the Normandy battle showed a "hit-rate" for the air-fired rockets of only 4%.
The Mk IB (by late 1943 modified with a four-blade propeller and teardrop perspex canopy) nevertheless distinguished itself during 1944 and in the Battle of Normandy.
By D-Day, in June 1944, the RAF had 26 operational squadrons of Typhoon IBs. The aircraft proved itself to be the most effective RAF tactical strike aircraft, both on interdiction raids against communications and transport targets deep in North Western Europe prior to the invasion, and in direct support of the Allied ground forces after D-Day.

198 Sqn. Typhoons on airfield B.7 Rucqueville-Martragny, France, in July 1944. MN526 TP-V has the larger Tempest tailplane and a four bladed propeller. A heavy dust cloud has been stirred up by the taxiing aircraft.


A system of close liaison with the ground troops was set up by the RAF and army: RAF radio operators in vehicles equipped with VHF R/T travelled with the troops, often close to the front line. In situations where air support was needed they were able to call up Typhoons operating in a "Cab Rank", which then continuously attacked the targets marked for them (usually smoke shells fired by mortar or artillery) until they were destroyed.
On 7 August, the German counter-attack at Mortain, threatening Patton's breakout from the beachhead, was repulsed by 2nd TAF Typhoons, some 81 vehicles destroyed or damaged. In the Vire area, where the British Army was under attack, Typhoons flew 294 sorties on one day, with 2,088 rockets and 80 tons of bombs dispatched. On 24 October 1944, No. 146 Wing of Typhoons attacked a building in Dordrecht where senior German 15th Army staff were meeting; 17 staff officers and 55 other officers were killed.
For use in the tactical reconnaissance role, the Typhoon FR IB was developed in early 1944. In this version the port inner cannon was removed and three F.24 (one forward facing 14 inch and two vertical five inch) cameras were carried in its place. Later, when it was found that the missing cannon caused a yaw during firing (the recoil of two cannon on the starboard wing wasn't properly balanced by the single cannon to port), the starboard inner cannon was also removed from some aircraft. Because of the inherent airframe vibration the photographs produced were usually sub-standard. After some service with 268 Sqd. from July 1944, the FR IB was phased out in January 1945.
In 1943 one Typhoon was converted as a prototype night fighter, the NF Mk IB. R7881 was fitted with A.I. (Airborne Interception, i.e., radar) equipment, special night-flying cockpit and other modifications. Also in 1943, five Typhoons, R8889, R8891, R8925 and DN323 and EJ906 were modified to "Tropical" standard with the fitting of an air filter in a fairing behind the main radiator housing. R8891, DN323 and EJ906 were trialled in Egypt by 451 Sqn RAAF during 1943.



Armourers loading RP-3 rockets with 60 lb High Explosive heads onto steel Mk. I rails. The large hinged gun-bay doors are open. The weathered Invasion stripes are on upper and lower wing surfaces, indicating this photo was taken some time in June 1944.


On 3 May 1945, the Cap Arcona, the Thielbek and the Deutschland were sunk in four separate attacks by RAF Hawker Typhoon 1Bs of 83 Group, 2nd Tactical Air Force: the first by No. 184 Squadron RAF based in Hustedt, the second by No. 198 Squadron RAF based in Plantlünne led by Wing Commander John Robert Baldwin, the third by No. 263 Squadron RAF based in RAF Ahlhorn (Großenkneten) led by Squadron Leader Martin T.S. Rumbold and the fourth by No. 197 Squadron RAF led by Squadron Leader K.J. Harding based in RAF Ahlhorn.
Top scoring fighter ace flying Typhoons was Wing Commander John Robert Baldwin, who claimed 15 aircraft shot down during 1942–44. Some 246 Axis aircraft were claimed by Typhoon pilots during the war.
Production of the Typhoon, almost entirely by Gloster, was 3,330 machines.
Hawker developed an improved version of the Typhoon, the Typhoon II but the differences between it and the Mk I were so great that it was effectively a different plane, the Hawker Tempest.

Captured Typhoons

By 1943, with its change of role to ground attack, the Typhoon was constantly operating over enemy territory: inevitably some flyable examples were to fall into German hands.
The first Typhoon to be flown by the Luftwaffe was EJ956 SA-I of 486(NZ) Sqn. On 23 March 1943 two aircraft flown by F/O Smith and F/S Mawson were on a "Rhubarb" over France. Just as they were crossing the coast at low altitude Mawson's Typhoon was hit by light flak. He managed to belly-land in a field near Cany-Barville but before he could destroy the aircraft it was surrounded by German troops. The Typhoon was repaired and test flown at Rechlin (a German equivalent to RAE Farnborough) and later served as T9+GK with "Zirkus Rosarius". EJ956 overturned and was written off during a forced landing near Meckelfield, 10 August 1944.
On 14 February 1944, another Typhoon was captured and later flown in Zirkus Rosarius. JP548 of 174 Sqn., force landed after engine failure near Marigny, France - the pilot, F/O Proddow evaded capture. This Typhoon crashed at Reinsehlen on 29 July 1944, killing Feldwebel Gold.
A third unidentified Typhoon (possibly an aircraft of 1 Sqn.) was also thought to have been flown by the Luftwaffe.

Flying the Typhoon

In early March 1943 at Tangmere the then new Squadron Leader of 486(NZ) Sqn., Des Scott, flew a Typhoon for the first time:
"At 1600 hours I was back at A Flight and surveying the cockpit of a Typhoon, which was like looking up at a second-story window. The small glasshouse, streamlined into the fuselage and directly behind the large engine of this seven-ton monster, was nine feet above ground. You climbed into it by placing the toes of your shoes into small covered recesses in the metal skin..." "The 24 cylinders of the Napier Sabre engine were forced into life by what was known as a Koffman starter, which was itself motivated by a large shotgun-type cartridge. When fired, the expansion of this charge turned over the huge motor...If the engine did not come to life with the first explosion you could guarantee to have a fire in the large air intake..." "The first thing I noticed was the Typhoon's poor forward visibility. Although my seat was hoisted to its maximum height I had to crab along in zigzag fashion..." "With the control column hard back in my lap I opened the motor to 3,000 rpm to ensure all the plugs were cleaned after the slow revs.[14] The aircraft strained at the leash until I eased back to about quarter boost..." "I let go the brakes and slowly pushed the boost lever until it reached the fully-open position. She bounded forward at a great rate and tried to swing slightly to starboard. This tendency was easily corrected by applying a little left rudder. Then we thundered down the runway as straight as an arrow before rocketing into the sky..." "My Typhoon and I began our airborne association by climbing up to 15,000 ft, where I pulled her up straight onto her tail. After reaching her zenith she spun off quickly, and I was agreeably surprised when she recovered almost as soon as I had applied corrective action. To make sure she was not fooling me I again put her into a spin, and once more she recovered beautifully. We then headed earthwards in a vertical power dive. As the speedo needle was winding up towards the 450 mph mark, I pulled her up into a loop and rolled off the top. We did ever-increasing tight turns until she blacked me out. We slow-rolled and barrel-rolled as I thrashed her about the sky for a full half hour." "She roared, screamed, groaned and whined, but apart from being rather heavy on the controls at high speeds she came through her tests with flying colours...Applying a few degrees of flap we swung on down into the airfield approach, levelled out above the runway and softly eased down on to her two wheels, leaving her tail up until she dropped it of her own accord." "We were soon back in her bay by the dispersal hut, where I turned off the petrol supply cock. After a few moments she ran herself out and with a spit, sob and weary sigh, her great three-bladed propeller came to a stop. So that was it: I was drenched in perspiration and tired out..." Survivors


Hawker Typhoon (replica) at Memorial de la Paix, Caen



Only one complete Hawker Typhoon still survives - MN235 - and it is on display at the RAF Museum in Hendon, North London. It was previously on display at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) (Smithsonian Institute) before being presented to the museum in commemoration of the RAF's 50th Anniversary in exchange for a Hawker Hurricane. The Hawker Typhoon replica at the Memorial de la Paix, Caen (France) had been reconstructed from some original components.

Typhoon Memorial Site

On 9 June 1994, in recognition of the aircraft and crew's role in the liberation of Normandy, a Typhoon Memorial at Villers Bocage was dedicated by Major M. Roland Heudier. Also present at the ceremony were General Yves Paul Ezanno DFC and bar and Squadron Leader Denis Sweeting, both former Squadron Leaders of 198 Squadron.

Squadron use

RAF – United Kingdom

• No. 1 Squadron RAF
• No. 3 Squadron RAF
• No. 4 Squadron RAF
• No. 33 Squadron RAF
• No. 54 Squadron RAF
• No. 56 Squadron RAF
• No. 80 Squadron RAF
• No. 137 Squadron RAF
• No. 164 Squadron RAF
• No. 168 Squadron RAF
• No. 174 Squadron RAF
• No. 175 Squadron RAF
• No. 181 Squadron RAF
• No. 182 Squadron RAF
• No. 183 Squadron RAF
• No. 184 Squadron RAF

• No. 186 Squadron RAF
• No. 193 Squadron RAF
• No. 195 Squadron RAF
• No. 197 Squadron RAF
• No. 198 Squadron RAF
• No. 245 Squadron RAF
• No. 247 Squadron RAF
• No. 257 Squadron RAF
• No. 263 Squadron RAF
• No. 266 Squadron RAF
• No. 268 Squadron RAF
• no. 274 Squadron RAF
• No. 609 Squadron RAF

RCAF – Canada

• No. 438 Squadron RCAF
• No. 439 Squadron RCAF
• No. 440 Squadron RCAF

RNZAF – New Zealand

• No. 486 Squadron RNZAF

Specifications (Typhoon Mk Ib)



General characteristics

• Crew: One
• Length: 31 ft 11.5 in (9.73 m)
• Wingspan: 41 ft 7 in (12.67 m)
• Height: 15 ft 4 in (4.66 m)
• Wing area: 249 ft² (23.13 m²)
• Empty weight: 9,800 lb (4,445 kg)
• Loaded weight: 11,400 lb (5,170 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 13,980 lb (6,340 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Napier Sabre IIC liquid-cooled H-24, 2,260 hp (1,685 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 405 mph at 18,000 ft (650 km/h at 5,485 m)
• Range: 610 mi (980 km)
• Service ceiling: 34,000 ft (10,400 m)
• Rate of climb: 2,630 ft/min (13.4 m/s)
• Wing loading: 45.8 lb/ft² (223.5 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.20 hp/lb (0.33 kW/kg)

Armament

• 4x 20 mm Hispano cannons
• 2x 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs
• 8x 3 in (75 mm) RP-3 ("60 lb) unguided rockets

Hawker Typhoon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

HE 162

Type: Fighter
Manufacturer: Heinkel
Maiden Flight: 6 December 1944
Introduced: 1945
Primary Users: Luftwaffe
Number built: 170

The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger ("People's Fighter", named after the Volkssturm) was a single engined, jet powered fighter aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe in WWII. Designed and built in a rush, and made primarily of wood as metals were in very short supply and prioritised for other aircraft, the He 162 was nevertheless the fastest of the first generation of Axis and Allied jets. Volksjäger was the RLM's official name for the He 162. Other names given to the plane include Salamander, which was the codename of its construction program, and Spatz ("Sparrow") which was the name given to the plane by Heinkel.

Development

When the US 8th Air Force re-opened the bombing campaign on Germany in early 1944 with the Big Week offensive, the bombers returned to the skies with the P-51 Mustang in escort. This changed the nature of the war in the air. Earlier in the war, German fighter units could freely attack Allied bombers, and over the previous year the Luftwaffe had been modifying their fleet to improve their capabilities against them. The addition of heavy cannons and armour had the side effect of reducing their performance, turning the planes into deathtraps in stark comparison to the lighter Mustangs, which could outperform the German fighters with ease.
By the end of April the backbone of the Jagdwaffe (fighter force) had been broken. With few planes coming up to fight, the US fighters were let loose on the German airbases, railways and truck traffic. Logistics soon became a serious problem, maintaining aircraft in fighting condition almost impossible, and having enough fuel for a complete mission profile was even more difficult. This posed a considerable problem for the Luftwaffe.
Two camps quickly developed, both demanding the immediate introduction of large numbers of jet fighter aircraft.
One group, led by General der Jäger (General of Fighters) Adolf Galland, reasoned that superior numbers had to be countered with superior technology, and demanded that all possible effort be put into increasing the production of the Messerschmitt Me 262, even if that meant reducing production of other aircraft in the meantime.
The second group pointed out that this would likely do little to address the problem; the Me 262 was notoriously unreliable, and the existing logistics problems would mean there would simply be more of them sitting on the ground waiting for parts that would never arrive, or for fuel that simply wasn't available. Instead, they suggested that a new design be built, one so inexpensive that if it did break it could simply be thrown away.
Galland and other Luftwaffe senior officers expressed vehement opposition to the light fighter idea, while Reichsmarshall Herman Göring and Armaments Minister Albert Speer fully supported the idea. Not surprisingly, Göring and Speer got their way, and a contract tender for a single-engined jet fighter that was suited for cheap and rapid mass production was established under the name Volksjäger ("People's Fighter").
The official RLM requirement specified a single-seat fighter, powered by a single BMW 003. The jet was to use cheap and unsophisticated parts made of wood and other non-critical materials and, more importantly, could be assembled by low-skilled and non-skilled labor. Specifications included a weight of no more than two tonnes (4,400 pounds), when most fighters of the era were twice that. Maximum speed was specified as 750 km/h (466 mph) at sea level, operational endurance at least a half hour, and the takeoff run no more than 500 meters (1,640 feet). Armament was specified as either two 20 mm MG 151/20's with 100 rounds per gun, or two 30 mm MK 108 with 50 rounds per gun. More importantly the Volksjäger needed to be easy to fly. Some suggested that even glider or student pilots should be able to fly the jet effectively in combat.
The requirement was issued 10 September 1944, with basic designs to be returned within 10 days and to start large scale production by January 1 of 1945.

Design

Because the winner of the new lightweight fighter design would be building huge numbers of the planes, nearly every German aircraft manufacturer expressed interest in the project. However, Heinkel had already been working on a series of "paper projects" for light single-engine fighters over the last year under the designation P.1073, with most design work being completed by Professor Benz, and had gone so far as to build and test several models and conduct some wind tunnel testing. Although some of the competing designs were technically superior, with Heinkel's head start the outcome was largely a forgone conclusion. The results of the competition were announced in October 1944, only three weeks after being announced, and to no-one's surprise the Heinkel entry was selected for production. In order to confuse Allied intelligence, the RLM chose to reuse the 8-162 designation (formerly that of a Messerschmitt fast bomber) rather than the other considered designation He 500.
Heinkel had designed a neat, sporty-looking little aircraft, with a sleek, streamlined fuselage, a BMW 003 engine carried in a nacelle on the back of the aircraft, twin vertical tailfins mounted at the ends of highly dihedralled horizontal tailplanes to clear the jet exhaust, a high-mounted straight wing with a shallow dihedral, an ejection seat for the pilot, and tricycle landing gear that retracted into the fuselage. The plane was in the air within an astoundingly short period of time: the design was chosen on 25 September and first flew on December 6, less than 90 days later. This was despite the fact that the factory in Wuppertal making the plywood glue, Tego-Film, had been bombed by the Royal Air Force and a replacement had to be quickly substituted.
The first flight of the He 162 V1, by Flugkapitan (test pilot) Gotthard Peter, was fairly successful, but during a high-speed run at 840 km/h the highly acidic replacement glue holding the nose gear cover on failed and the pilot was forced to land. Other problems were noted as well, notably a pitch instability and problems with slideslip due to the rudder design. Neither was considered important. On a second flight on 10 December, again with Peter at the controls, in front of various Nazi officials the glue failed again. The glue failure allowed the aileron to separate from the wing causing the plane slowly roll over and eventually crashed, killing Peter.
An investigation into the failure revealed that the wing structure had to be strengthened and some redesign was needed as the glue bonding required for the wood parts was in many cases defective. However the schedule was so tight testing was forced to continue with the current design. Speeds were limited to 500 km/h when the second prototype flew on 22 December. This time the stability problems proved to be more serious, and were found to be related to Dutch roll which could be solved by reducing the dihedral. However, with the plane supposed to enter production within weeks, there was no time to change the design. A number of small changes were made instead, including adding lead ballast to the nose to move the center of gravity more to the front of the plane, slightly increasing the size of the tail surfaces.
The third and fourth prototypes, which now used an "M" for "muster" (model) number instead of the older "V-for-Versuchs" (experimental) number, as the He 162 M3 and M4, after being fitted with the strengthened wings, flew in mid-January 1945. These versions also included small aluminum wing tip "droops", reportedly designed by Alexander Lippisch and known in German as Lippisch-Ohren (Lippisch Ears), in an attempt to cure the stability problems via decreased dihedral. Both were equipped with two MK 108s in the He 162 A-1 bomber hunter version, but in testing the recoil proved to be too much for the lightweight fuselage to handle, and plans for production turned to the A-2 fighter with two MG 151/20s instead while a redesign for added strength started as the A-3.
Various changes had raised the weight over the original 2 tonne limit, but even at 2800 kg the aircraft was still the fastest jet aircraft in the air at 890 km/h (553 mph) at sea level, and even faster at 905 km/h (562 mph) at 6,000 meters (20,000 feet).


He 162 A-1, Imperial War Museum, London

Operations

In January 1945, the Luftwaffe formed a "Erprobungskommando 162" (Test Unit 162) evaluation group to which the first 46 aircraft were delivered. The group was based at the Luftwaffe test center at Rechlin and it is frequently stated that this unit was under the command of Heinz Bär. Bär, an experienced combat pilot credited with more than 200 kills gained 16 of his victories with Me 262 as commander of operational training unit III./EJG 2. However Bär's personal documents do not confirm his presence at Erprobungskommando 162 or if he ever flew He 162s.
February saw deliveries of the He 162 to its first operational unit, I./JG1 (1st Group of Jagdgeschwader 1 {1st Fighter Wing}), which had previously flown the Focke-Wulf Fw 190A. I./JG1 was transferred to Parchim, near the Heinkel factory at Marienehe, where the pilots could pick up their new jets and start intensive training beginning in March, all while the transportation network and fuel supply of the Third Reich was collapsing under the pressure of Allied air attacks. On April 7, the USAAF bombed the field at Parchim with 134 B-17 Flying Fortresses, inflicting serious losses and damage to the infrastructure. Two days later, I./JG1 moved to an airfield at nearby Ludwigslust and, less than a week later, moved again to an airfield at Leck, near the Danish border. In the meantime, on April 8 II./JG1 moved to Marienehe and started converting from Fw 190 As to He 162s. The III./JG1 was also scheduled to convert to the He 162, but the Group disbanded on April 24 and its personnel used to fill in the vacancies in other units.
The He 162 finally saw combat in mid-April. On April 19, a captured Royal Air Force fighter pilot informed his German interrogators that he had been shot down by a jet fighter matching the description of a He 162. The Heinkel and its pilot were lost as well, shot down by a RAF Hawker Tempest while on approach. Though still in training, I./JG1 had scored a number of kills beginning in mid-April, but had also lost thirteen He 162s and ten pilots. Ten of the aircraft were operational losses, such as flameouts and sporadic structural failures. Only two of the 13 aircraft were actually shot down. The He 162's 30-minute fuel capacity also caused problems, as at least two of JG 1's pilots were killed attempting emergency landings after exhausting their fuel.
In the last days of April, as the Soviet troops approached, II./JG 1 evacuated from Marienhe and on May 2 joined the I./JG 1 at Leck. On May 3, all of JG 1's surviving He 162s were restructured into two groups, I. Einsatz (Combat) and II. Sammel (Replacement). All JG 1's aircraft where grounded May 5 when General Admiral von Friedeburg signed the surrender of all German armed forces in Holland, Northwest Germany and Denmark. On May 6 when the British reached their airfields, JG 1 turned their He 162s over to the Allies, and examples were shipped to the U.S., Britain, France, and the USSR for further evaluation. Erprobungskommando 162 fighters, which had been passed on to JV 44, an elite jet unit under Adolf Galland a few weeks earlier, were all destroyed by their crews to keep them from falling into Allied hands. By the time of the German unconditional surrender May 8, 1945, 120 He 162s had been delivered; a further 200 had been completed and were awaiting collection or flight-testing; about 600 more were in various stages of production.
The difficulties experienced by the He 162 were caused mainly by its rush into production, not by any inherent design flaws. One experienced Luftwaffe pilot who flew it called it a "first-class combat aircraft." This opinion was mirrored by Eric Brown of the FAA, who flew it not only during post-war evaluations, but went on to fly it for fun after testing had completed. He considered it delightful to fly, although the very light controls made it suitable only for experienced pilots. He wrote about his 162 flights in Wings of the Luftwaffe, a description that has been reprinted in many media over the years. Brown had been warned to treat the rudder with suspicion due to a number of in-flight failures, but this warning was apparently not given to another RAF pilot, and one of the tailfins broke off during the Farnborough air show, killing the pilot.

Variants

• He 162 A-0 - first ten pre-production aircraft.
• He 162 A-1 - armed with 2 × 30 mm MK 108 cannons, 50 rounds each.
• He 162 A-2 - armed with 2 × 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons, 120 rounds each.

He 162A-2, RAF Hendon, London

• He 162 A-3 - proposed upgrade with reinforced nose mounting twin 30 mm MK 108 cannons.
• He 162 A-8 - proposed upgrade with the more powerful Jumo 004D-4 engine.
• He 162 B-1 - a proposed follow on planned for 1946, to include more powerful Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011A turbojet, a stretched fuselage to provide more fuel and endurance as well as increased wingspan, with proper dihedral and discarding the anhedral wingtip extensions. To be armed with twin 30 mm MK 108 cannon.

The He 162B airframe was also used as the basis for possible designs powered by one or two Argus As 044 pulsejet engines.

• He 162C - proposed upgrade featuring the B-series fuselage, Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011A engine, swept wing, a new V-tail stabilizing surface assembly, and twin MK 108 cannon featuring a Schräge Musik weapons assembly.
• He 162D - proposed upgrade with a configuration similar to C-series but a forward-swept wing.
• He 162E - He 162A fitted with the BMW 003R mixed power plant, a BMW 003A turbojet with an integrated BMW 718 liquid-fuel rocket engine for boost power. At least one prototype was built and flight-tested for a short time.
• He 162S - two-seat training glider.

Trivia

• The He-162 was originally built with the intention of being flown by the Hitler Youth, as the Luftwaffe was fast running out of pilots. However, the aircraft was far too complicated for anything but a highly experienced pilot.

Survivors

• A He 162 A-2 (Werk Nummer 120227) of JG 1 is on display at the Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon.
• A He 162 A-2 (Werk Nummer 120077) is currently owned by Planes of Fame and on static display Chino, California. Rumor has it this aircraft was for sale and was purchased by a German museum.
• A He 162 A-2 (Werk Nummer 120230), thought to have been flown by Oberst Herbert Ihlefeld of 1./JG 1, is currently owned by the U.S. National Air and Space Museum. This He 162 is currently fitted with the tail unit from Werk Nummer 120222
• Two He 162 A-2s (Werk Nummer 120086 and 120076) were owned by Canada Aviation Museum, 120086 is disassembled and only accessible to the public on a limited basis. Werk Nummer 120076 was traded to Aero Vintage in the UK for a Bristol Fighter (G-AANM, D-7889) in December 2006. Investigations are currently being made into the practicality of an airworthy restoration of Werk Nummer 120076.
• A He 162 A-1 (Werk Nummer 120235) is displayed hanging from the ceiling of The Imperial War Museum in London (shown above).
• A He 162 A-2 (Werk Nummer 120015) formerly of III./JG1, is currently under restoration at the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace, near Paris, France.

Specifications (He 162)


General characteristics

• Crew: One, pilot
• Length: 9.05 m (29 ft 8 in)
• Wingspan: 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in)
• Height: 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in)
• Wing area: 14.5 m² (156 ft²)
• Empty weight: 1,660 kg (3,660 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 2,800 kg (6,180 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× BMW 003E-1 or E-2 turbojet, 7.85 kN (1,760 lbf)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 900 km/h (562 mph)
• Range: 975 km (606 mi)
• Service ceiling 12,000 m (39,400 ft)
• Rate of climb: 1,405 m/min (4,615 ft/min)

Armament

• 2× 30 mm MK 108 cannons, 50 rounds each (He 162 A-0, A-1)
• 2× 20 mm MG 151 cannons, 120 rounds each (He 162 A-2)

Heinkel He 162 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

JU 87 "Stuka"

Type: dive Bomber
Manufacturer: Junkers
Introduction: 1937
Retired: 1945
Primary Users: Luftwaffe
Regia Aeronautica
Number Built: 5,752

The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka as it became universally known (from Sturzkampfflugzeug or German: dive bomber) was a German combat aircraft operational from 1937 and throughout World War II, and easily recognisable by its inverted gull wings, fixed undercarriage and its infamous Jericho-Trompete (Jericho Trumpet) wailing siren — though the siren was only fitted to a few aircraft because of the extra drag induced on the rather slow aircraft.

General description


A Kette of Ju 87 circa 1939-40.



Nazi propaganda image "Air victory over Poland" with an artistic vision of a Junkers Ju 87



Junkers Ju 87 G-2 (Royal Air Force Museum Hendon)



Junkers Ju 87 G-2 (Royal Air Force Museum Hendon)


The Stuka's design included some innovative features, including automatic pull-up dive brakes under both wings to ensure that the plane recovered from its attack dive even if the pilot blacked out from the high acceleration, and a wind-powered siren under its nose (later mounted to the front upper section of each fixed landing gear strut) that wailed during dives to frighten its victims. These were named Jericho-Trompeten, or "Trumpets of Jericho", by Junkers and were a form of psychological warfare. Its rugged fixed undercarriage allowed it to land and take-off from improvised airstrips close to the battlefront, giving close support to the advancing German forces. 5,752 Ju 87 of all versions were built between 1936 and August 1944.
Although sturdy, accurate, and very effective, the Stuka suffered from low speed and poor maneuverability, with little defensive armament, making it highly vulnerable to enemy fighters. The Germans learned during the Battle of Britain that air superiority must be obtained before ground attack aircraft could be effectively used. After the Battle of Britain, the Stuka was little used in Western Europe, but it remained effective further south where Allied fighters were in short supply, most notably in the battles of Crete, Malta and Leros.
Stukas were used in vast numbers on the Eastern Front, although the steady rise in Soviet airpower as the war progressed meant that Stuka squadrons suffered very heavy losses by the final stages of the war.
Hans-Ulrich Rudel was the most notable Stuka ace, and the most highly decorated German soldier of World War II. (Hermann Goering was awarded the Großkreuz des eisernen Kreuzes, but not for achievements in battle.)

Operational History

Condor Legion and the Spanish Civil War

Among the many German designs that participated in the Spanish Civil War, a single Ju 87 A-0 was allocated the serial number 29-1 and was assigned to the Vj/88, the experimental staffel of the Legion's fighter wing. The only known information pertaining to its combat career in Spain is that it was piloted by Unteroffizier Herman Beuer. It took part in the Nationalist offensive against Bilbao in February 1937. Presumably it was shipped back to the Reich in secrecy.
In January 1938 three Ju 87 A-1s arrived. The Ju 87s spatted undercarriage however sank into the soft surface, as a result these were removed. Another problem was that the Ju 87As 500 kg bomb-load could only be carried if the gunner vacated his seat. Therefore the bomb-load was restricted to 250 kg. The Stukas supported the Nationalist forces and carried out anti-shipping missions until they returned to Reich in October 1938.
The A-1s were replaced by five Ju 87 B-1s. With the war close to concluding they found little to do and found themselves supporting formations of Heinkel He 111s attacking enemy positions. As the Ju 87 A-0 had been, the B-1s were withdrawn discreetly back to the Reich.
The experience of the Spanish Civil War had been invaluable. Air and ground crews perfected skills, and the equipment could be evaluated in combat conditions. Although one serious experience had been lacking - numerical and well coordinated fighter opposition.

Poland

On 1 September 1939 the Wehrmacht invaded Poland triggering World War Two. At exactly 04.26 hours a Kette of Ju 87s of 3./StG 1 led by Staffelkapitän Oberleutnant Bruno Dilly carried out the first bombing attack of the war. The aim was to destroy the charges wired to the bridges over the Vistula. The mission failed and the Poles destroyed the bridge before the Germans could reach it.
It was a Ju 87 that achieved the first air victory during World War II on 1 September 1939, when Kettenführer Leutnant Frank Neubert of I./StG 2 'Immelmann' shot down a Polish PZL P.11c fighter aircraft piloted by Captain Mieczysław Medwecki, who was killed in the engagement.
The Luftwaffe had few anti-shipping naval units like 4.(St)/TrGr 186. This unit performed effectively sinking the 1540-ton destroyer Wicher and minelayer Gryf of the small but modern Polish Navy.
On one occasion six Polish divisions trapped by encircling German forces were forced to surrender after a relentless four day assault by StG 51, 76 and 77. Employed in this assault were the 50 kg fragmentation bombs which caused appalling damage to enemy ground troops. Demoralized, the Poles surrendered. The Stukas also participated in the Battle of Bzura which resulted in the breaking of Polish ability to resist effectively. The Sturzkampfgeschwader alone dropped 388 tonnes of bombs during this battle.
Once again enemy air opposition was light, the Stukawaffe lost just 31 machines during the campaign.

Norway

Operation Weserübung began on 9 April 1940 with the invasions of Norway and Denmark, Denmark capitulated within the day whilst Norway continued to resist with British and French help.
The campaign was not the classic Blitzkrieg of fast moving armoured divisions supported by air-power as the mountainous terrain ruled out close Panzer/Stuka cooperation. Instead the Germans relied on Fallschirmjäger (paratroops), airborne troops transported by Junkers Ju 52s and specialised mountain (ski troops). The strategic nature of the operation made the Stuka essential. The Ju 87s were given the role of ground attack and anti-shipping missions. The Stuka was to prove the most effective weapon in the Luftwaffe's armoury carrying out the latter.
The Stukageschwaders were now equipped with the new Ju 87R, which differed from the Ju 87B by having increased internal fuel capacity and two 300l underwing drop tanks for more range.
The first Stukas took off at 10.59 hours from occupied airfields to destroy Oscarsborg Fortress. The Stukas of I.StG 1, failed to silence its batteries contributing to the loss of the heavy cruiser Blücher and causing the disruption of the amphibious landings in Oslo through Oslofjord.
The Stukas however had numerous successes against Allied Naval vessels. HMS Bittern was sunk on 30 April. The French super-destroyer Bison was sunk along with HMS Afridi by Sturzkampfgeschwader 1 on 3 May 1940.

France and the Low Countries

The Stukawaffe had learned some lessons from the Polish and Norwegian campaigns. The failures of Poland and the Stukas of I.StG 1 to silence the Oscarborg fort ensured even more attention was paid to pin-point bombing during the Phoney War period. This was to pay off in the Western campaign.
When Fall Gelb began on 10 May 1940 the Stuka helped swiftly neutralise the fortress of Eben Emael. The HQ of the Commander responsible for ordering the destruction of the bridges along the Albert Canal was stationed in the village of Lanaeken (14 km to the north). However the Stuka demonstrated its accuracy when the small building was destroyed after receiving four direct hits. As a result only one of the three bridges was destroyed allowing the German Army to rapidly advance.
The Sturzkampfgeschwader were also instrumental in achieving the breakthrough at Sedan. The Stukawaffe flew 300 sorties against French positions, with StG 77 alone flying 201 individual missions.
The Luftwaffe also benefited from excellent ground-to-air communications throughout the campaign. Radio equipped forward liaison officers could call upon the Stukas and direct them to attack enemy positions along the Axis of advance. In some cases the Stukas responded to requests in 10-20 minutes. Oberstleutnant Hans Seidemann (Richthofen's Chief of Staff) said that "never again was such a smoothly functioning system for discussing and planning joint operations achieved".
During the Battle of Dunkirk 89 merchantmen (of 126,518 grt) were lost, and the Royal Navy lost 29 of its 40 destroyers sunk or seriously damaged, mostly at the hands of the Ju 87s. Enemy airpower was ineffective and disorganised, as a result the Stuka losses were mainly due to ground fire. Some 120 machines, one-third of the Stuka force was destroyed or damaged to all causes.

Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain proved for the first time that the Junkers Ju 87 was vulnerable in hostile skies against well organised and determined fighter opposition.
Steady losses had occurred throughout their participation in the battle. On 18 August, a day known as the 'hardest day' as both sides suffered heavy losses, the Stuka was withdrawn after losing 16 of its number and numerous others damaged. The myth of the Stuka was shattered.

North Africa and the Mediterranean

In response to the Italian defeats in Greece and North Africa the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ordered the deployment of some German forces to these theatres. Amongst the Luftwaffe contingent deployed was the Geschwaderstab StG 3 which touched down in Sicily in December 1940. In the next few days two Gruppen - some 80 Stukas were deployed under X. Fliegerkorps. The first task of the Korps was to attack British shipping passing between Sicily and Africa. The Ju 87s first made their presence by subjecting the British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious to heavy attack. The crews were confident that they could sink it given the flight deck spanned approximately 7,000 square metres.
On 10 January 1941 the Stuka crews were told four direct hits with 500 kg bombs would be enough to sink the carrier. The Ju 87s delivered six and three damaging near-misses. But the ships engines remained untouched and it made for the dubious sanctury of Malta.
Many ex-Luftwaffe Ju 87s were handed over to their Italian ally, the Regia Aeronautica and re-named the Picchiatello. Some of the Picchiatelli saw action in the opening phase of the Italian invasion of Greece in October 1940. The number was ineffective and the Italian forces were quickly pushed back. By early 1941 the Greeks had pushed into Italian occupied Albania. Once again Hitler decided to send military aid to his Allies.
In March the pro-German Yugoslav government was toppled. A furious Hitler ordered the attack to be expanded to include Yugoslavia. Operation Marita commenced on 7 April. The Stuka once again spearheaded the air assault with a frontline strength of 300 machines. Yugoslav resistance in the air was minimal. As a result the Stukas fearsome reputation returned. Operating unmolested the Stukas took a heavy toll of ground forces. The light losses incurred were a result of ground fire. The effectiveness of the dive-bombers helped bring about Yugoslav capitulation in just ten days.
The Stukas also took a peripheral part in Operation Punishment - Hitler's retribution bombing of Belgrade. The dive-bombers were to attack airfields and known anti-aircraft gun positions whilst the level bombers struck civilian targets. Belgrade was badly damaged, and a reported 15,000 people were killed or injured.
In Greece, despite British aid, little air opposition was encountered. The Stukas were able to roam the skies and attack targets unmolested. As the Allies withdrew and resistance collapsed the Allies began evacuating to Crete. The Stukas proved effective in inflicting severe casualties to Allied shipping. On 22 April the 1,389 ton destroyers Psara and Ydra were sunk. In the next two days the Greek Naval base at Piraeus suffered the loss of 23 vessels to Stuka attack.
As the Battle of Crete drew to a close the Allies began yet another withdrawal. The Stukas and their crews once again proved exceptional against enemy warships. On 21 May HMS Juno was sunk, on the 22 May the battleship HMS Warspite, and the cruiser HMS Gloucester were damaged . The Ju 87s also crippled HMS Fiji that morning, (she was later finished off by Bf 109 fighter bombers) whilst destroying HMS Greyhound with a single hit. On 23 May the Royal Navy also lost HMS Kashmir, HMS Kelly sunk followed by HMS Hereward on the 26 May. HMS Orion and HMS Dido were also severely damaged.
The Sturzkampfgeschwader faithfully supported Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommels Deutsches Afrika Korps in its two year campaign in North Africa, helping it achieve considerable success. However as the tide turned and Allied airpower grew in the Autumn of 1942, the Ju 87 became little more than cannon fodder. The old frailties emerged and losses were heavy. The entry of the Americans into North Africa during Operation Torch made the situation far worse. The Stuka became obsolete in what was now a fighter-bomber's war. The Bf 109 and Fw 190 could at least choose to fight on equal terms after dropping their ordnance whereas the Stuka enjoyed no such option. An example of the Junkers vulnerability was demonstrated on 11 November 1942 when 15 Ju 87Ds were all shot down by USAF P-40Fs in minutes.
By 1943, the Allies enjoyed total air superiority in North Africa. The Ju 87s ventured out in Kette strength only, often jettisoning their bombs at the first sight of enemy aircraft and making "a run for home".
The dive-bombers continued to support operations in Southern Europe; after the Italian surrender in September 1943, the Ju 87 helped Germany achieve the last campaign-sized victory over the Western Allies. The Greek Dodecanese Islands had been occupied by the British. The Luftwaffe reacted by committing 75 Stukas (of StG 3) to recover the Islands. With the RAF bases some 500 km away the Ju 87 helped the German landing forces achieve a rapid conquest of the Islands.
The remaining Stuka units continued to operate during the Italian campaign, but mainly at night to avoid Allied fighters.

Eastern front

On 22 June 1941 the Wehrmacht commenced Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. The Luftwaffe order of battle of 22 June 1941 contained four different Sturzkampfgeschwader. Fliegerkorps VIII under the command of General der Flieger Wolfram von Richthofen was equipped with units Stab, II., and III./StG 1. Also included were Stab, I., II., and III. of Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 Immelmann. Attached to Fliegerkorps II, under the Command of General der Flieger Bruno Loerzer, were Stab, I., II., and III. of StG 77. Luftflotte 5, under the command of Generaloberst Hans-Jürgen Stumpff, operating from Norway's Artic circle, were alloted IV. Gruppe (St)/LG 1.
The first Stuka loss on the Soviet-German front occurred early at 03.40-03.47 in the morning of the 22 June. While being escorted by Bf 109s from JG 51 to attack a fortress at Brest, Oberleutnant Karl Führing of StG 77 was shot down by a I-153. The Sturzkampfgeschwader had suffered only two losses on the opening day of Barbarossa. As a result of the Luftwaffe's attention, the Soviet Air Force in the Western Soviet Union was nearly destroyed. The official report claimed 1,489 Soviet aircraft destroyed. Göring ordered this checked. After picking their way through the wreckages across the front, Luftwaffe officers found that the tally exceeded 2,000. In the following two days the Soviets reported the loss of another 1,922 aircraft. Soviet aerial resistance, whilst it continued, ceased to be effective, and the Luftwaffe maintained air-superiority until the end of the year.
The Ju 87 took a huge toll on Soviet ground forces, helping to break up counter-attacks of Soviet armour, eliminating strongpoints, and disrupting the enemy supply lines. An example of the Stuka's effectiveness occurred on 5 July when StG 77 knocked out 18 trains and 500 vehicles. As Panzergruppe 1 and 2 forged bridgeheads across the Dnieper river and closed in on Kiev the Ju 87s again rendered invaluable support. On 13 September Stukas from StG 1 destroyed all the rail networks in the vicinity as well as inflicting heavy casualties on escaping Red Army columns - for the loss of a single Ju 87. Days later, on 23 September, Hans-Ulrich Rudel (who to become the most decorated serviceman in the Wehrmacht) of StG 2, sank the Soviet battleship Marat, during an air attack on Kronstadt harbor in the Leningrad area, with a hit to the bow with a 1,000 kg bomb. Also during this action Leutnant Egbert Jaekel sank the destroyer Minsk, while the destroyer Steregushchiy and submarine M-74 were also sunk. The Stukas also crippled the battleship Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya and the destroyers Silnyy and Grozyashchiy in exchange for two Ju 87s shot down.
Elsewhere on the Eastern front the Junkers assisted Army Group Centre in its drive toward Moscow. From 13-22 December 420 vehicles and 23 tanks were destroyed by StG 77, greatly improving the morale of the German infantry, who were by now on the defensive. StG 77 finished the campaign as the most effective Sturzkampfgeschwader. It had destroyed 2,401 vehicles, 234 tanks, 92 artillery batteries and 21 trains for the loss of 25 Ju 87s to hostile action.
At the end of Barbarossa, StG 1 had lost 60 Stukas in aerial combat and one on the ground. StG 2 lost 39 Ju 87s in the air and two on the ground, StG 77 lost 29 of their dive-bombers in the air and three on the ground (25 to enemy action). IV.(St)/LG1 operating from Norway lost 24 Ju 87s, all in aerial combat.
In early 1942 the Ju 87s were to give the Germany Army (Heer) yet more valuable support. On 29 December 1941 the Soviet 44th Army landed on the Kerch Peninsula. The Luftwaffe was only able to dispatch meager reinforcements of four Kampfgruppen (note: not Kampfgeschwader) and two Sturzkampfgruppen, belonging to StG 77. With air-superiority the Ju 87s operated with impunity. In the first ten days half the landing force was destroyed, while sea supply lines were cut off by the Stukas inflicting heavy losses on Soviet shipping. The Ju 87s effectiveness against Soviet armour was not yet potent. The later models of the T-34 could withstand Stuka attack, in general, unless a direct hit was scored. However the Soviet 44th Army had only obsolecent types with thin armour, this resulted in a rapid loss of virtually the entire armoured force.
During the Battle of Sevastopol the Stukas mercilessly bombed the trapped Soviet forces. Some Ju 87 pilots flew up to 300 sorties against the Soviet defenders. Luftflotte 4's StG 77 flew 7,708 combat sorties dropping 3,537 tonnes of bombs on the city. Their efforts help secure the capitualtion of Soviet forces on 4 July.
For the German summer offensive, Fall Blau, the Luftwaffe had concentrated 1,800 aircraft into Luftflotte 4 making it the largest and most powerful single air-command in the world. The Stukawaffe strength stood at 151.
During the Battle of Stalingrad Stukas flew thousands of sorties against Soviet positions in the city. StG 1, 2 and 77 flew 320 individual sorties on 14 October 1942. As the German Sixth Army pushed the Soviets into a 1,000 yard enclave on the West bank of the Volga river, 1,208 Stuka sorties were flown against this small strip of land. However the intense air attack, though causing horrific losses on Soviet units, failed to eliminate them. The Luftwaffe's Sturzkampfgeschwader made maximum effort during this phase of the war, and despite flying an average of 500 sorties per day and causing heavy losses among Soviet forces, losses averaged only a single Stuka per day.
The Battle of Stalingrad marked the high point in the fortunes of the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka. As the numerical strength of the Soviet Air Forces grew, they gradually wrestled control of the skies from the Luftwaffe. From this point onward the frailties of the Stuka became apparent once more.
The Stuka was also heavily involved in Operation Citadel, the Battle of Kursk. The Luftwaffe comitted I, II, III./St.G 1 and III./StG 3 under the command of Luftflotte 6. I., II, III. of StGs 2 and 3 were comitted under the command of Hans Seidemanns Fliegerkorps VIII. Hauptmann Rudels cannon equipped Ju 87 Gs had a devastating effect on Soviet armour at Orel and Belgorod. The Ju 87s participated in a huge aerial conter-offensive lasting from 16 July - 31 July against a Soviet offensive at Khotynets and saved two German armies from encirclement, reducing the attacking Soviet 11th Gurad Army to just 33 tanks by 20 July. The Soviet offensive had been completely halted from the air. However losses were considerable. Fliegerkrops VIII lost eight Ju 87s on 8 July, six on 9 july, six on the 10 July and another eight on the 11 July. The Stuka arm also lost eight of their Knights Cross holders. StG 77 lost 24 Ju 87s in the period 5-31 July (StG had lost 23 in July-December 1942) while StG 2 lost another 30 machines in the same period. In September 1943 three of the Stuka units were re-equipped with the Fw 190
Schlachtgeschwader. In the face of overwhelming air-opposition the dive-bomber needed heavy protection from German fighters. Some units like StG 2 Immelmann continued to operate with great success throughout 1943-45 operating the Ju 87 G variants equipped with 37 mm cannons, which became effective tank-killers, although in increasingly small numbers. Toward the end of the war the Ju 87 would be replaced by ground-attack versions of the Fw 190. Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey, a mixed aircraft unit, which included large numbers of Stuka dive bombers, was rushed to the Finnish front in the summer of 1944, and was instrumental in the halting of the Soviet fourth strategic offensive.

Design History
In the early 1920's the Dessau-based Junkers Flugzeugwerke AG concentrated upon military rather than civil aircraft. One such product was the Junkers K 47. The K 47 first flew in 1929, and was found to be capable of carrying a 100 kg bomb-load. After the Nazis had come to power they were designated A 48s, although these machines had "uncranked" wings and twin tail-fin units. Despite initial competition from the Henschel Hs 123 the Reichsluftfahrtministerium turned to Herman Pohlmann of Junkers and co-designer of the K 47 (the other, Karl Plauth, had been killed in a flying accident).
Design of the Ju 87 had begun in 1933 as part of the Sturzbomber-programm. However the project began poorly, the Ju 87 V1, powered by a Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine V12 cylinder liquid cooled engine, and sporting a twin-tail crashed in 1935. Square twin fins and rudders proved too weak and during dive testing they collapsed and the aircraft crashed. This prompted a change of tail design to single Vertical stabilizer.

Ju 87A
The second prototype had a redesigned single fin and rudder and a 610 PS (602 hp, 449 kW) Junkers Jumo 210A engine. After official evaluation in 1936 against three other competing aircraft, orders for 10 aircraft were placed for it, as well as for the Heinkel He 118. The initial production variant was the Ju 87 A-1, powered by a 640 PS (631 hp, 471 kW) Jumo 210C, which began to replace the Henschel Hs 123 biplanes. At least three of these aircraft were tested under operational conditions by the Condor Legion in the Spanish Civil War.

Ju 87B
The next major variant was the Ju 87 B-1 with a considerably larger engine, its Junkers Jumo 211D generating 1,200 PS (1,184 hp, 883 kW), and the fuselage and landing gear were completely redesigned. This new design was again tested in Spain, and after proving its abilities there, production was ramped up to 60 per month. As a result, by the outbreak of World War II the Luftwaffe had 336 Ju 87 B-1s on hand. The Ju 87 B-2s that followed had some improvements and were built in a number of variants that included ski-equipped versions, and at the other end, with a tropical operation kit called the Ju 87 B-2/trop. Italy's Regia Aeronautica received a number of the B-2s and named them the Picchiatello, while others went to the other members of the Axis, including Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.
A long range version of the Ju 87B was also built, known as the Ju 87R. They were primarily intended for anti-shipping missions. Internal fuel capacity was increased by adding some inner-wing tanks and by using two 300-liter under-wing drop tanks. Bomb carrying ability was reduced to a single 250 kg bomb if the aircraft was fully loaded with fuel. The naval variant of the Ju 87B was known as the Ju 87C, and these were built to operate from the aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin. In any case the carrier was never completed, and all of these were converted back to the Ju 87B standard.

Ju 87D

Junkers Ju 87D Stuka dive-bombers on a mission over the Russian countryside. The Ju 87G variant was used to devastating effect as a "tankbuster" with twin 37 mm cannons fitted under the wings.


Despite having its vulnerability to enemy fighters exposed during the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe had no choice but to continue the Stuka's development as there was no replacement aircraft in sight.[35] The result was the D-series. The Ju 87 D-series received better streamlined oil and water coolers, and an aerodynamically refined cockpit with better visibility and space. In addition, armor protection was increased and a new dual-barrel 7.92 mm MG 81Z machine gun with an extremely high rate of fire was installed in the rear defensive position. The engine power was increased again, the Jumo 211 J-1 now delivering 1,420 PS (1,401 hp, 1,044 kW).
Production of the D-1 variant started in 1941 with 476 deliveries, rising to 917 D-1 and D-3 in 1942. The D-series saw extensive use in the Eastern Front and the Middle East. Bomb carrying ability was massively increased from 500 kg in the B-version to 1,800 kg in the D-version (max load for short ranges, overload condition), a typical bomb load ranged from 500 to 1,200 kg.
The D-2 was a variant used as a glider tug by converting older D-series airframes. The D-3 was an improved D-1 with more armor for its ground-attack role. The D-4 designation applied to a prototype torpedo-bomber version. The Ju 87 D-5 was another ground-attack variant that appeared in mid 1943, it had the outer wing panels extended, dive brakes were removed and the wing-mounted 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns were replaced by 20 mm MG 151 cannons.
The D-6 was not built, for unknown reasons. The D-7 was another ground attack aircraft based on D-1 airframes upgraded to D-5 standard (armor, wing cannons, extended wing panels), while the D-8 was similar to the D-7 but based on D-3 airframes. It's a common myth that the D-7 and D-8 were specifically designed and built for night fighting as they were solely based on converted airframes and used for multiple mission types.
The Ju 87E and F proposals were never built, and Junkers went straight onto the next variant. Another variant derived from the Ju 87D airframe was called the Ju 87H, and saw service as a dual-control trainer.

Ju 87G

Ju 87 G-2 "Kanonenvogel" with its 37 mm guns.


With the G variant the aging airframe of the Ju 87 found new life as an anti-tank aircraft. This was the final operational version of the Stuka and was deployed on the Eastern Front starting in the early months of 1943. The Ju 87G was armed with two 37 mm cannons mounted in under-wing gondolas, each loaded with a 6-round magazine of armour piercing tungsten ammunition. With these weapons the Kanonenvogel ("cannon-bird"), as it was nicknamed, proved spectacularly successful at the hands of the Luftwaffe ace Hans-Ulrich Rudel. The G-1 was converted from older D-series airframes retaining the smaller wing but without the dive brakes. The G-2 was similar to the G-1 except using the extended wing of the D-5 with 208 G-2 new built and at least 22 more converted from D-3 airframes.
While still slow, its stable attitude, large wings and low stall speed were valuable in the acquisition of slow moving targets, such as assault boats and ground vehicles. The G-1 even influenced the design of the A-10 Thunderbolt II, with Hans Rudel's book, Stuka Pilot, being required reading for all members of the A-X project.

Diving procedure

Flying at 4,600 meters (15,000 ft), the pilot located his target through a bombsight window in the cockpit floor. After opening the dive brakes and retarding his throttle, he then rolled the aircraft 180°, automatically nosing the aircraft into a dive. Red tabs protruded from the upper surfaces of the wing as a visual indicator to the pilot that in case of a g induced black-out, the automatic dive recovery system would be activated. The Stuka dived at a 60 - 90 degree angle, accelerating to 600 km/h (350 mph).
When the aircraft was reasonably close to the target, a light on the contact altimeter came on to indicate the bomb-release point, usually at a minimum height of 450 m (1,500 ft). The pilot released the bomb by depressing a knob on the control column to release weapons and to initiate the automatic pull-out mechanism. An elongated U-shaped crutch located under the fuselage would swing the bomb out of the way of the propeller, and the aircraft would automatically begin a 6 g pullout.
Once the nose was above the horizon, dive brakes were retracted, the throttle was opened, and the propeller was set to climb. The pilot regained control and resumed normal flight.
In his book Wings of the Luftwaffe, Royal Navy test pilot Eric "Winkle" Brown reported that a captured Ju 87 D-3 he test-flew after the war felt "absolutely right" diving at a 90° straight down angle, and stated that he had no doubt of the Stuka's ability in its assigned role.

Other designs

The concept of dive bombing became so popular among the leadership of the Luftwaffe, that it became almost obligatory in new aircraft designs. Later bomber models like the Junkers Ju 88 and the Dornier Do 217 were fitted for dive bombing. Even the giant Heinkel He 177 bomber was initially supposed to have dive bombing capabilities — a requirement that contributed much to the failure of the design.
Once the Stuka became too vulnerable to growing fighter opposition on all fronts, work was done to develop a replacement. All dedicated close support designs on the drawing board did not progress much further due to the war situation and technological obstacles. In response the Luftwaffe decided to settle on the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter aircraft with the the Fw 190F becoming the dedicated ground attack version. The Fw 190F started to replace the Ju 87 as close support aircraft for day missions in 1943 but the Ju 87 stay active as night nuisance raider until the very end in 1945.

Operators
Bulgaria

• Bulgarian Air Force

Czechoslovakia

• Czechoslovakian Air Force operated captured aircraft postwar.

Germany

• Luftwaffe

Hungary

• Hungarian Air Force

Italy

• Regia Aeronautica

Japan

• Imperial Japanese Army Air Force received Ju 87s for trials.

Romania

• Romanian Air Force

Slovak Republic

• Slovak Air Force

Yugoslavia

• SFR Yugoslav Air Force operated captured aircraft postwar.

UK Operated a few captured aircraft USA Operated a few captured aircraft Survivors
Two intact Ju 87s survived and few more wrecks are on display today.

• The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry has a Ju 87 R-2/Trop., this was captured in Libya 1941 and subsequently sent to the US.
• A Ju 87 G-2, captured by British troops in Germany in 1945, is displayed in the RAF Museum in London.
• The Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin has the wreckage of two complete aircraft that were recovered from separate crash sites near Murmansk in 1990 and 1994.
• The Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum displays the remains of an aircraft that crashed near Saint-Tropez in 1944 and was raised from the sea-bed in 1989.
• In October 2006, another Stuka was found underwater, near Rhodes

Junkers Ju 87 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Henschel Hs 129

Type: Ground Attack
Manufaturer: Henschel
Maiden Flight: 25 May 1939
Introduced: April 1942
Retired: 1945
Primary Users: Luftwaffe
Hungarian Air Force
Romanian Air Force
Produced: June 1940 - September 1944
Number Built: 865

The Henschel Hs 129 was a World War II ground attack aircraft fielded by the German Luftwaffe. Its nickname, the Panzerknacker (tank cracker), is a deliberate pun - in German, it also means "safe cracker". Although likely to be a good anti-tank weapon, it never really had a chance to prove itself in any real way - the plane was produced in only small numbers and deployed during a time when the Luftwaffe was unable to protect them from attack.

Design and development

By the middle of the 1930s the idea of using aircraft against ground targets had been "well understood" to be of little use other than hurting enemy morale. Experiences during World War I had demonstrated that attacking the combatants was generally much more dangerous to the aircraft than the troops on the ground, a problem that was only becoming more acute with the introduction of newer weapons. For much of the 1920s and 1930s the use of aircraft was seen primarily in the strategic and interdiction roles, where their targets were less likely to be able to fight back with any level of coordination. For high-value point targets, the dive bomber was the preferred solution.
The German Condor Legion experience during the Spanish Civil War turned this idea on its head. Although armed with generally unsuitable aircraft such as the Henschel Hs 123 and cannon-armed versions of the Heinkel He 112, their powerful armament and fearless pilots proved that the aircraft was a very effective weapon even without bombs. This led to some support within the Luftwaffe for the creation of an aircraft dedicated to this role, and eventually a contract was tendered for a new "attack aircraft".
Since the main source of damage would be from rifle and machine gun fire from the ground, the plane had to be heavily armored around the cockpit and engines. They also required the same protection in the windscreen, which required 75 mm thick armored glass. Since the aircraft was expected to be attacking its targets directly in low level strafing runs, the cockpit had to be located as close as possible to the nose in order to see the ground. One last requirement, a non-technical one, ended up dooming the designs; the RLM demanded that the aircraft be powered by "unimportant" engines of low power that were not being used in other designs, so the plane's production would not interfere with that of other types deemed more essential to the war effort.
Four companies were asked to respond, and only two of the resulting three entries were considered worthy of consideration; Focke-Wulf's conversion of their earlier Fw 189 reconnaissance plane, and Henschel's all-new Hs 129.

Prototypes

The Hs 129 was designed around a single large "bathtub" of steel sheeting that made up the entire nose area of the plane, completely enclosing the pilot up to head level. Even the canopy was steel, with only tiny windows on the side to see out of and two angled blocks of glass for the windscreen. In order to improve the armor's ability to stop bullets, the fuselage sides were angled in forming a triangular shape, resulting in almost no room to move at shoulder level. There was so little room in the cockpit that the instrument panel ended up under the nose below the windscreen where it was almost invisible, some of the engine instruments were moved outside onto the engine nacelles, and the gunsight was mounted outside on the nose.
In the end the plane came in 12% overweight and the engines 8% underpowered, and it understandably flew poorly. The controls proved to be almost inoperable as speed increased, and in testing one plane flew into the ground from a short dive because the stick forces were too high for the pilot to pull out. The Fw design proved to be no better. Both planes were underpowered with their Argus As 410 engines, and very difficult to fly.
The RLM nevertheless felt they should continue with the basic concept. In the end the only real deciding factor between the two was that the Henschel was smaller and cheaper. The Focke-Wulf was put on low priority as a backup, and testing continued with the Hs 129A-0. A series of improvements resulted in the Hs 129A-1 series, armed with two 20 mm MG 151/20s and two 7.92 mm MG 17s, along with the ability to carry four 50 kg bombs under the fuselage midline.

Hs 129B-1
Even before the A-1s were delivered the plane was redesigned with the Gnome-Rhône 14M radial engine, which were captured in some number when France fell. This engine supplied 700 hp (522 kW) for takeoff compared to the Argus at 465 hp (347 kW). The Gnome-Rhone radials were also made in versions with opposite rotation for the propeller, and were installed on the Hs 129 with the port engine rotating clockwise, and the starboard rotating counterclockwise, as seen from nose-on, exactly as the Allison inline V-12 engines in the USA's P-38 Lightning twin-engined fighter were set up, thus eliminating engine torque problems. The A-1 planes were converted into Hs 129B-0's for testing (although some claim that some As were sold to Romania) and the pilots were reportedly much happier. Their main complaint was the view from the canopy, so a single larger windscreen and a new canopy with much better vision were added, resulting in the production model

Hs 129B-1.
B-1s started rolling off the lines in December 1941, but they were delivered at a trickle. In preparation for the new plane, I./Sch.G 1 had been formed up in January with Bf 109 E/B's (fighter-bomber version of Bf 109 E) and Hs 123's, and they were delivered B-0s and every B-1 that was completed. Still, it wasn't until April that 12 B-1s were delivered and its 4th staffel (squadron) was ready for action. They moved to the eastern front in the middle of May, and in June they received a new weapon, the 30 mm MK 101 cannon with armor-piercing ammunition in a midline pod.

Hs 129B-2
By May of 1942 after only 50 of the planes had been delivered, they started to deliver the new Hs 129B-2 model side-by-side with the B-1. The only difference between the two were changes to the fuel system – a host of other minor changes could be found almost at random on either model. As time went on these changes were accumulated into the B-2 production line until you could finally tell them apart at a glance, the main differences being the removal of the mast for the radio antenna, the addition of a direction-finding radio antenna loop, and shorter exhaust stacks on the engines.
In the field the differences seemed to be more pronounced. The R-kits were renumbered and some were dropped, and in general the B-2 planes received the upgraded cannon pack using a MK 103 instead of the earlier MK 101. These guns both fired the same ammunition, but the 103 did so about almost twice the rate.

Hs 129B-3

Close up of the Bordkanone BK 7,5 cannon



Even by late 1942 complaints started about the MK 103 against newer versions of the Soviet T-34 tanks. One obvious solution would be to use the larger 37 mm gun, adapted from an anti-tank gun that had recently been abandoned by the army. These guns had already been converted into pod-mounted weapons for the Ju 87 and found to be a fearsome weapon. When mounted on the Hs 129 the empty area behind the cockpit could be used for ammunition storage, which would address the only problem with the Ju 87's mounting, limited ammunition.
But for some reason the Luftwaffe decided to skip over this gun for the Hs 129, and install a gigantic 75 mm gun from the Panzer IV. A huge hydraulic system was used to damp the recoil of the gun, and an auto-loader system with twelve rounds was fitted in the large empty space behind the cockpit. The resulting system was able to knock out any tank in the world, but the weight slowed the already poor performance of the plane to barely flyable in this new Hs 129B-3 version.
B-3s finally started arriving in June 1944, and only 25 were delivered by the time the lines were shut down in September. A small number were also converted from older B-2 models. In the field they proved deadly weapons, but with only 25 of them they had no effect on the war effort.

Hs 129C
In order to address the poor performance of the aircraft, plans had been underway for some time to fit the plane with newer versions of the Italian Isotta-Fraschini Delta engine that delivered 850 hp (634 kW). However the engine ran into a number of delays, and was still not ready for production when the plant was overrun by the Allies in 1945.

Operators
Germany

• Luftwaffe

Hungary

• Hungarian Air Force

Romania

• Romanian Air Force

Specifications (Hs 129 B1)


General characteristics

• Crew: one, pilot
• Length: 9.75 m (32 ft)
• Wingspan: 14.2m (46 ft 7 in)
• Height: 3.25 m (10 ft 8 in)
• Wing area: 28.9 m² (312 ft²)
• Empty weight: 4,060 kg (8,932 lb)
• Loaded weight: 5,110 kg (11,242 lb)
• Powerplant: 2× Gnome-Rhône 14M 14-cylinder radial engine, 522 kW (700 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 408 km/h (253 mph)
• Range: 880 km (546 mi)
• Service ceiling: 9,000 m (29,525 ft)
• Rate of climb: 7.083 m/s (1,394 ft/min)

Armament

• (B1) 2 × 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns
• 2 × 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons
• up to 8 × 50 kg (110 lb) fragmentation bombs or a 30 mm MK 101 armor piercing gun externally
• (B2) as B1, but MG 17 replaced by 13 mm MG 131 machine gun
• 37 mm or 75 mm anti-tank gun in pod

 

Personally I would love to have been a stuka pilot, especially on the Eastern Front against those T-34s.

Me 323 "Gigant"



Type: Heavy transport
Manufacturer: Messerschmitt A.G.
Maiden flight: Late 1941
Introduced: 1943
Retired: 1944
Primary user: Luftwaffe
Produced: 1941-1944
Number built ca. 200
Variants: Messerschmitt Me 321

YouTube - Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant

The Messerschmitt Me 323 "Gigant" was a German transport aircraft of World War II. It was a powered variant of the Me 321 glider. The Me 323 was the biggest land-based cargo transports of the war with loads brought through 11-ft high doors in the front of the fuselage. A total of 213 are recorded as having been made, a few were converted from the Me 321.

Design and development

The genesis of the Me 323 Gigant (giant) transport was in a 1940 German requirement for a large assault glider. The DFS 230 light glider had already proven its worth in the famous attack on Fort Eben-Emael in Belgium (the first ever assault by gliderborne troops), and would later be used successfully in the Crete invasion in 1941. However, the prospective invasion of Great Britain focused minds on the need to be able to airlift vehicles and other heavy equipment as part of an initial assault wave. Although Operation Sealion was cancelled, the requirement was still a valid one with the focus now on the forthcoming invasion of the USSR.

On 18 October 1940, Junkers and Messerschmitt were given just 14 days to submit a proposal for a large transport glider. The emphasis was still very much on the assault role: the ambitious requirement was to be able to carry either an 88mm gun and half-track tractor, or a PzKpfw IV medium tank. The Junkers Ju 322 'Mammut' reached prototype form, but was completely unsatisfactory and was scrapped. The Messerschmitt was originally designated the Me 261w, was then changed to Me 263, eventually becoming the Me 321. Although the Me 321 saw considerable service, it was never used for a Maltese invasion, or for any other such undertakings.

Early in 1941, the decision had been taken to produce a motorized variant of the Me 321. It was now realized that a serious heavy-lift requirement would exist outside the specialized assault role, and that a huge glider that needed specialized towing aircraft, rocket packs and other equipment was simply not the answer. After much study and testing with a converted Me 321 with four engines, it was decided to fit six French Gnome-Rhone GR14N engines.

These were in production and readily available, and could easily be bolted on the wing, which consequently needed to be strengthened. A cabin for a flight engineer was added in each wing between the inboard and center engines, although the pilot could override each engineer’s decision on engine and propeller control. A brand-new permanent landing gear was bolted on to the side of each fuselage with eight wheels rather than four, the central gravity on a proper loaded aircraft was on the rear wheel-pair, the modification gave the Me 323 superb rough-field performance.

Compared to the Me 321, the Me 323 had a much-reduced payload of between 10–12 tonnes, which was the price that had to be paid for an aircraft that could operate autonomously. Even with the engines, rocket assisted take off packs were still frequently used.

Some Me-321s were converted to Me-323s, but the majority were built as six-engined aircraft from the beginning; early models were fitted with wooden two-blade propellers which later was replaced by metal three-blade versions.


"Gigant" (Italie, August 1943)


It was, for its time, a remarkable aircraft. The aircraft was designed with massive, semi-cantilever, high-mounted wings in order to lift the heavy weights desired. As the aircraft technology was not yet sufficiently advanced for this type of wing, they had to be braced from the fuselage out to the middle of the wing. To reduce weight and to save on aluminum much of the wing was made of plywood and fabric. The fuselage was of composite metal-wood-fabric with heavy bracing in the floor to hold the weight.

In order to get the powered version of the glider airborne it was equipped with six Gnome-Rhone engines. The French engines were chosen as their design was complete and they could be built in occupied France without interfering with German engine production. Just as on the similar engines used on the Henschel Hs 129 ground attack aircraft, the six Gnome-Rhone engines used on the Gigant had opposing rotation-a trio of clockwise rotation engines were mounted on the port wing, and a trio of counterclockwise rotation engines on the starboard wing.

The landing gear where a set of 10 semi-recessed wheels designed to flex like caterpillar treads for landing on rough terrain and to distribute the weight over a large area, a proper loaded Me-323 should have the central gravity on the rear pair of wheels of the five pairs. In all, it bore a remarkable resemblance to the heavy-airlift aircraft of today, indeed, it was the forerunner of this type of transport aircraft. The cargo hold was 36 feet long, 10 feet wide and 11 feet high. The typical loads it carried were: two four-ton trucks, or 8,700 loaves of bread, or an 88 mm Flak gun, its equipment, ammunition and crew, or 52 drums of fuel (45 gal/252 L), or 130 men, or 60 stretchers.

The Me-323 transport had a crew of five consisting of two pilots, two flight engineers and a radio operator. Two additional gunners could be carried as well. The pilot's area was in front of the leading edge of the wing at the top of the cargo area and was armored. It was powered by six Gnome-Rhone 14N 48/49 14 cylinder radial, air-cooled engines each rated at 990 hp. Four rockets could be mounted on each wing outside of the last engine to assist with takeoffs. The left and right side engines had to be counter-rotating to avoid the severe torque that would be generated by six engines rotating in the same direction. It had a maximum speed of only 136 mph (218 km/h) at sea level and speed dropped with altitude. Range was sufficient to transport troops in North Africa flying from Italy. For defensive armament, the Me 323 was armed with five 13 mm machine guns firing from a dorsal position behind the wings and from the fuselage. They were manned by the extra gunners, radio operator and engineers.

To make the Me 323 fit for cheap mass production with use of none aviation industry, wood was used and a German furniture company made lot of parts to the fuselage parts in wood, it had been designed with a fabric-covered steel tube framing instead of a conventional light-alloy monocoque structure. Initially, the Me 323 was going to be fitted with four engines, but prototype flight testing showed that six engines were necessary to achieve the desired load-carrying capability. The French Gnôme-Rhône engines used had been designed by Gabriel Voisin.

Operational history

Capable of carrying 100 combat-equipped troops or a similar freight load of about 15 tons, the Me 323 was used in 1943 to ferry supplies and reserve troops from Italy and Sicily to the German Afrika Korps in Tunis and the area of North Africa. However, from Ultra intelligence, the transport formations' flight schedules were known to the Allies who used this information to send fighter squadron to ambush the aerial convoys and shoot down the transports.

A total of 213 Me 323s were built before production ceased in April 1944. There were several production versions, beginning with the D-1. Later D- and E- versions differed in the choice of power plant and in defensive armament, with improvements in structural strength, total cargo load and fuel capacity also being implemented. Nonetheless, the Me 323 remained significantly underpowered. There was a proposal to install six BMW 801 radials, but this never came to pass. The Me 323 was also a short-range aircraft, with a typical range (loaded) of 1,000–1,200 km. Despite this, the limited numbers of Me 323s in service were an invaluable asset to the Germans, and saw intensive use.

In the final weeks of the North African campaign in April/May 1943, 43 Gigants were lost, along with much greater numbers of Ju 52s. A demonstration of its frailty occurred on 22 April 1943 when a flight of 14 Me 263s were intercepted by P-40s. All 14 were shot down, whilst a flight of seven Bf 109s from JG 27 tried to to defend them, the escorts accounted for three of the P-40s.

In terms of aircraft design, the Me 323 was actually very resilient, and could absorb a huge amount of enemy fire, unless loaded with barrels with fuel – the Afrika Korps' nicknames of Leukoplastbomber ("Elastoplast bomber") or even more derisively as the "adhesive tape bomber," were somewhat unfair. The Me 323 was something of a "sitting duck," being so slow and large an aircraft. However, no transport aircraft can ever be expected to survive without air superiority or at least, comprehensive local air cover, and it is believed that no Me 323s survived in service beyond summer 1944.

Survivors

No complete aircraft survives, but the Luftwaffenmuseum der Bundeswehr at Berlin-Gatow has a Me 323 main wing spar in its collection.

Variants

Me 323V1
Prototype, powered by four Gnome-Rhône 14N engines
Me 323V2
Prototype, powered by six Gnome-Rhône 14N engines, became the standard for D production series
Me 323D-1
First production series, powered by six Gnome-Rhône 14N engines, two 7.92-mm MG 15 machine guns in cockpit fittings provided, field modifications increased defensive armament
Me 323E-1
Second production series, turrets incorporated in the wings Me 323E-2 Third production series
Me 323E-2WT
Third production series, incorporating a front turret
Me 323V16
Prototype, powered by six Jumo 211 Rs, intended to serve as a master for the
Me 323F
production series
Me 323V17
Prototype (unfinished), powered by six 1,320 hp Gnome-Rhône GR14R engines, intended to serve as a master for the Me 323G


Specifications (Me 323)


General characteristics

• Crew: 5
• Capacity: 130 troops or 10–12 tonnes equipment
• Length: 28.2 m (92 ft 4 in)
• Wingspan: 55.2 m (181 ft 0 in)
• Height: 10.15 m (33 ft 3.5 in)
• Empty weight: 27,330 kg (60,260 lb)
• Loaded weight: 29,500 kg (65,000 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 43,000 kg (94,815 lb)
• Powerplant: 6× Gnome-Rhône 14N , 700 kW (950 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 270 km/h (170 mph)
• Range: 800 km (500 miles)
• Service ceiling 4,000 m (13,100 ft)
• Rate of climb: 216 m/min (710 ft/min)
• Ferry range: 1,100 km (684 miles)

Armament

• 18 × 7.92 mm MG 81 machine guns

Messerschmitt Me 323 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


YouTube - Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant

 

SBD Dauntless




Type: Dive bomber
Manufacturer: Douglas
Maiden flight: 1 May 1940
Introduced: 1940
Retired: 1959 (Mexico)
Primary users:
United States Navy
U.S. Army Air Force
Fleet Air Arm
Free French Air Force
Number built: 5,936
Developed from: Northrop BT

The SBD Dauntless was an American naval dive bomber made by Douglas during World War II.

Design and development

The Northrop BT-1 provided the basis for the SBD, which began manufacture in 1940. It was designed by designers team lead by Ed Heinemann with a 1,000 horsepower Wright Cyclone powerplant. A year earlier, both the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps had placed orders for the new dive bombers, designated the SBD-1 and SBD-2 (the latter had increased fuel capacity and different armament). The former went to the Marine Corps in late 1940, and the latter went to the Navy in early 1941.

The next version, designated SBD-3, began manufacture in early 1941. It provided increased protection, self-sealing fuel tanks, and four machine guns. The SBD-4 provided a 12-volt (from 6) electrical system, and a few were converted onto SBD-4P reconnaissance platforms.

The next (and most produced) variant, the SBD-5, was primarily produced at the Douglas plant at Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was equipped with a 1,200 hp (895 kW) engine and increased ammunition. Over 2,400 were built, and a few were shipped to the Royal Navy for evaluation. In addition to American service, the type saw combat against the Japanese with No. 25 Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force which soon replaced them with F4U Corsairs, and against the Germans with the Free French Air Force. A few were also sent to Mexico. The final version, the SBD-6, provided more improvements but production ended in the summer of 1944.

The U.S. Army had its own version of the SBD, known as the A-24 Banshee, which lacked the tail hook used for carrier landings, and a pneumatic tire replaced the solid tail wheel. First assigned to the 27th Bombardment Group (Light) at Hunter Field, Ga., A-24s participated in the Louisiana maneuvers during September 1941. There were two versions of the A-24, the A-24A and A-24B, used by the Army in the early stages of the war.

Operational history


A restored SBD Dauntless

The Douglas SBD Dauntless was the U.S. Navy's main dive bomber from mid-1940 until late 1943, when it was supplanted (although not entirely replaced) by the SB2C Helldiver. The SBD was involved in combat from the first day of the Pacific War, as Dauntlesses arriving at Hawaii from USS Enterprise were caught in the Pearl Harbor attack.

The U.S. Army sent 52 A-24 Banshees in crates to the Philippine Islands in the fall of 1941 with the 27th Bombardment Group, however with the attack of Pearl Harbor, these aircraft were diverted to Australia. While in Australia, these aircraft were plagued with mechanical problems and would see combat with the 91st Bombardment Squadron. On 17 February 1942, only seven of the original 52 A-24s were combat ready. The A-24s had worn-out engines, no armor plating, and no self sealing fuel tanks. Referring to themselves as "Blue Rock Clay Pigeons", the 91st attacked the enemy harbor and airbase at Bali and damaged or sunk numerous ships around Java. After the Japanese shot down two A-24s and damaged three so badly they could no longer fly, the 91st received orders to evacuate Java in early March, ending a brief but valiant effort.

The Banshees left in Australia were assigned to the 8th Bombardment Squadron, 3rd Bombardment Group, to defend New Guinea. On July 26, 1942, seven A-24s attacked a convoy off Buna, but only one survived: the Japanese shot down five of them and damaged the sixth so badly that it did not make it back to base. Regarded by many pilots as too slow, too short-ranged and too poorly armed, the remaining A-24s were relegated to non-combat missions. In the United States, the A-24s became training aircraft or towed targets for aerial gunnery training. The more powerful A-24B was used later against the Japanese forces in the Gilbert Islands.

The type's first major use was in the Battle of the Coral Sea, when SBDs and TBDs sank the Japanese aircraft carrier Shōhō. SBDs were also used as anti-torpedo combat air patrol and scored several times against Japanese aircraft trying to attack USS Lexington and USS Yorktown.

Their relatively heavy gun armament (two forward firing .50 caliber machine guns, one to two rear flexible-mount .30 caliber machine guns) was more than just a sinecure against the lightly built Japanese fighters, and many pilot-gunner combinations took an extremely aggressive attitude to fighters which attacked them. One pilot, "Swede" Vejtasa, was attacked by three A6M Zero fighters and managed to hold them off and down all three in the process. (His skill as a fighter pilot was clear and he was immediately transferred to fighters; in October 1942 he downed seven enemy planes in one day.)

However, the SBD's most important contribution to the American war effort probably came during the Battle of Midway (early June 1942), when SBD dive bomber attacks sank all four of the Japanese aircraft carriers, three of them in the space of just six minutes (the Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū, and Hiryū) as well as heavily damaging two Japanese cruisers (including the Mikuma, which sank before a Japanese destroyer could scuttle it).


Belted cartridges loaded aboard SBD-3 at NAS Norfolk, 1942

At Midway, Marine SBDs were not as effective. One squadron, VMSB-241, operating from Midway Island, was not trained in the "Helldiving" technique; instead, the new pilots resorted to the slower but easier glide bombing technique, which led to heavy losses. The carrier-borne squadrons, on the other hand, were much more effective, combined with their F4F Wildcat fighter escorts. It should also be mentioned the success of dive bombing was due to two important circumstances: First and foremost, the Japanese carriers were at their most vulnerable, readying bombers for battle, with full fuel hoses and armed ordnance strewn across their hangar decks. Second, the valiant but doomed assault of the TBD Devastator squadrons from the American carriers had drawn the Japanese fighter cover away from the dive bombers, thereby allowing the SBDs to attack unhindered.


SBD Dauntless goes around for another landing attempt, after being "waved off" by the Landing Signal Officer on USS Ranger CV-4, circa June 1942

Next, SBDs participated in the Guadalcanal campaign, both from American carriers and Henderson Field on Guadalcanal Island. Dauntlesses contributed to the heavy loss of Japanese shipping during the campaign, including the carrier Ryūjō near the Solomon Islands on 24 August, damaging three others during the six-month campaign. SBDs proceeded to sink one cruiser and nine transports during the decisive Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.


A-24B taxiing at Makin Island.

During the decisive time of the Pacific Campaign, the SBD's strengths and weaknesses became evident. Interestingly, while the American strength was dive bombing, the Japanese stressed their Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers, which caused the bulk of the damage at Pearl Harbor.

Although it was already reaching obsolescence by 1941, the SBD was used until 1944 when the Dauntless undertook its last major action during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. However, some Marine squadrons utilized Dauntlesses until the end of the war. It had already been replaced by the SB2C Helldiver in the U.S. Navy, much to the dismay of the pilots, many of whom believed the "Slow But Deadly" Dauntless was a better aircraft than the Helldiver, which gained the nickname "Son of a Bitch 2nd Class." The Dauntless was one of the most important aircraft in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, sinking more enemy shipping in the Pacific war than any other Allied aircraft. In addition, Barrett Tilman, in his book on the Dauntless, claims that the Dauntless has a "plus" score against enemy aircraft, a rare event for a nominal "bomber" indeed. 5,936 SBDs were produced in World War II.


SBD Dauntless landing aboard USS Ranger CV-4



3-side view of a SBD-5

Operators

Chile

• Chilean Air Force operated A-24B Banshees.

France

• French Air Force
• Aeronavale

Mexico

• Mexican Air Force

Morocco

• Moroccan desert police

New Zealand

• Royal New Zealand Air Force
• No. 25 Squadron RNZAF

United Kingdom

• Fleet Air Arm Nine aircraft for test purposes.
• Royal Air Force Four aircraft for test purposes (from the nine originally tested by the Fleet Air Arm.

United States

• United States Army Air Force
• United States Marine Corps
• United States Navy

Specifications (Douglas SBD Dauntless)


Gunner of an SBD Dauntless aims his plane's twin .30 caliber machine guns aboard USS Independence, during the shakedown period, 30 April 1943.


General characteristics

• Crew: Two
• Length: 33 ft 1 in (10.08 m)
• Wingspan: 41 ft 6 in (12.65 m)
• Height: 13 ft 7 in (4.14 m)
• Wing area: 325 ft² (30.19 m²)
• Empty weight: 6,404 lb (2,905 kg)
• Loaded weight: 10,676 lb (4,843 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 10,700 lb (4,853 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Wright R-1820-60 radial engine, 1,200 hp (895 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 255 mph (410.38 km/h)
• Range: 773 mi (1243.8 km)
• Service ceiling 25,530 ft (7,780 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,700 ft/min (8.6 m/s)
• Wing loading: 32.8 lb/ft² (160.4 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.11 hp/lb (0.18 kW/kg)

Armament

• 2x 0.50 in (12.7 mm) forward-firing machine guns in engine cowling
• 1x 0.30 cal (7.62 mm) flexible-mounted machine guns in rear (later versions fitted with 2x machine guns of the same caliber)
• 2,250 lb (1,020 kg) of bombs

SBD Dauntless - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Yokosuka P1Y Ginga (銀河, "Galaxy")



The Yokosuka P1Y Ginga (銀河, "Galaxy") was a twin-engine, land-based bomber developed for the Japanese Imperial Navy in World War II. It was the successor to the Mitsubishi G4M and given the Allied codename "Frances".
The P1Y was designed by the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal to Navy specifications calling for speed matching the Zero, range matching the G4M, a 1-ton bomb load, and the ability to dive-bomb as well as carry torpedoes. As a result, the construction suffered from excess complexity, difficulty of manufacture, and poor serviceability. Problems with the Nakajima Homare engine led to its replacement by the Mitsubishi Kasei.

The first flight was in August 1943. Nakajima manufactured 1,002 examples. A night-fighter version, the P1Y2-S Kyokko (極光, "Aurora") was equipped with radar and upward-firing, as well as forward-firing, 20 mm cannon. A total of 97 were produced by Kawanishi, but due to inadequate high-altitude performance against B-29s, many were converted back to Ginga bombers.

Versions

• Prototypes: six examples with NK9C Homare 11 1820 hp engines.

• P1Y1 Ginga (Milky Way) Model 11 Japanese Navy land bomber Model 11: first model of the series.

• P1Y1 Ginga Kai Model 11 Special: modified version capable of transporting one Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka "Baka" (model 22).

• P1Y1-S Byakko (White Light), Japanese Navy Night Fighter: night fighter version armed with four type 99 20 mm cannons firing obliquely forward, and one type 2 13 mm machine gun in the back defensive position.

Radar equipped P1Y

• P1Y2-S Kyokko (Aurora) Japanese Navy Night Fighter: other night fighter version with new Mitsubishi MK4T-A Kasei 25a 1850 hp engines. Armed with two type 99 20 mm cannons firing obliquely forward, and one type 2 13 mm machine gun in the back defensive position.

• P1Y2 Model 16: conversions of previous night fighter version.

• P1Y1a/P1Y12a: similar to P1Y1/P1Y2 with one type 99 20 mm cannon in nose cabin and one type 2 13 mm machine gun in back defensive position.

• P1Y1b/P1Y2b: version armed with dorsal turret with two type 2 13 mm machine guns and one type 99 20 mm cannon in nose cabin.

• P1Y1c/P1Y2c: similar to P1Y1b/P1Y2b but the front nose cabin cannon is replaced with one type 2 13 mm machine gun.

• P1Y3-P1Y6 different engine and turbocompressors, only projects.

• MXY10 Yokosuka Navy Bomber Ginga: Ground Decoy Non-flying replica of Yokosuka P1Y1

Total production: 1,002 or 1,098 examples.

Specifications (P1Y1a)


General characteristics

• Crew: 3
• Length: 15.00 m (49 ft 2 in)
• Wingspan: 20.00 m (65 ft 7 in)
• Height: 4.30 m (14 ft 1 in)
• Wing area: 592 ft² (55 m²)
• Empty weight: 7,265 kg (16,020 lb)
• Loaded weight: 13,500 kg (29,750 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: lb (kg)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 547 km/h (340 mph)
• Range: 5,370 km (3,337 miles)
• Service ceiling 9,400 m (30,840 ft)
• Rate of climb: 7,300 shaku/min (2,210 m/min, 7,250 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 50 lb/ft² (245 kg/m²)

Armament

• 1x flexible, nose-mounted 20 mm Type 99 cannon
• 1x flexible rear-firing 13 mm Type 2 machine gun
• up to 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) of bombs or
• 1x torpedo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokosuka_P1Y

 

Also in the PTO context...

Brewster Buffalo


Type: Single seat carrier-based fighter
Manufacturer: Brewster Aeronautical Corporation
Designed by: Dayton Brown and R.D. MacCart
Maiden Flight: 2 December 1937
Introduced: April 1939
Retired: 1948
Primary Users: United States Navy
Royal Air Force
Produced: 1938-1941
Number built: 509

The Brewster F2A (company Model 139) was an American fighter aircraft which saw limited service during World War II. In 1939, the F2A became the first monoplane fighter aircraft used by the US Navy. In December 1941, it suffered severe losses with both British Commonwealth and Dutch air forces in South East Asia, for reasons unrelated to the basic design. It also saw action with US Marine Corps squadrons at the Battle of Midway. The F2A was derided by some American servicemen as a "flying coffin", due to poor construction and perceptions of its general performance. Despite this reputation, the F2A proved a potent weapon with the Finnish Air Force, against the Soviet Air Forces.

Design and development

In 1935, the US Navy issued a requirement for a carrier-based fighter intended to replace the Grumman F3F biplane. Two aircraft designs were considered: the Brewster and the Grumman XF4F-1 which was still a "classic" biplane. The Model 139 incorporated sophisticated features for the time: a monoplane configuration, wing flaps, arresting gear, retractable landing gear and an enclosed cockpit.
The US Navy competition was opened up to allow another competitor, the Seversky XFNF-1, a navalized P-35 eliminated early on when the prototype could not reach more than 267 mph.

Brewster XF2A-1 prototype


The Navy awarded Brewster the contract; the Model 139 was redesignated XF2A-1. The prototype first flew on 2 December 1937 and early test results showed it was far in advance of the Grumman entry. While the XF4F-1 would not enter production, it would later re-emerge as a monoplane, the Grumman Wildcat. The Brewster fighter looked "pugnacious" with a stubby fuselage, mid-set wings and a host of advanced features. It was all-metal, with flush-riveted, stressed aluminum construction, although flying surfaces were still fabric-covered. Split flaps, a hydraulically-operated retractable main undercarriage (and partially retractable tail wheel) and a streamlined framed canopy gave the XF2A-1 a modern look. Powered by an 850 hp Wright R1820-22 Cyclone, it had a top speed of 277.5 mph, later boosted to 304 mph at 16,000 ft after improvements were made to the cowling streamlining and carburetor/oil cooler intakes.

Lt. John S. Thach tipped this F2A-1 Buffalo of VF- (BuNo 1393) onto its nose on Saratoga in March 1940.



Cockpit of a Brewster F2A Buffalo serving as US Navy training aircraft in April 1943.


Service testing of the prototype began in January 1938 and, in June, the Navy ordered 54 of the production F2A-1. The initial armament mix of two machineguns, a .30 (7.62 mm) and .50 (12.7 mm) Browning mounted in the cowl and firing through the propeller arc, would later be augmented by the provision of an additional two .50s, one in each wing outboard of the landing gear.
A later variant, the F2A-2, of which 43 were ordered, included a more powerful engine, a better propeller, and integral flotation gear, and was followed by the F2A-3. Unfortunately, the improvements added weight that adversely affected the fighter's performance and caused perennial problems with its landing gear (collapse issues), especially in shipboard service.

Operational history

Of the first deliveries, beginning in June 1939, nine went to VF-3 aboard the USS Saratoga. The balance of 44 were declared surplus and sold to Finland. Although it was becoming clear the F2A was inferior to the latest German fighters, in early World War II, all modern fighter types were in demand, including the F2A. Consequently, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the Netherlands East Indies purchased several hundred of the land-based versions.

Belgium

Just before the start of World War II, Belgium sought more modern aircraft to expand and modernize its air force. Belgium ordered 40 F2A-2s (which had a factory designation of B-339), with a different engine, the Wright R-1820-G105, with a power output of 1,000 hp. The arrestor hook was removed and the aircraft was modified with a slightly longer tail. Unfortunately, only two aircraft reached France during the collapse of Belgium and they were later captured by the Germans. Six aircraft ended up in Martinique with the French Air Force, where they were eventually destroyed.

British Commonwealth


Brewster Buffalo Mark Is being inspected by RAF personnel at Sembawang Airfield, Singapore on 12 October 1941.


Facing a shortage in combat aircraft in January 1940, the British government established the British Purchasing Commission to acquire US aircraft that would help supplement domestic production. Among the fighters that caught the commission's attention was the F2A. The balance of the French order was passed to the UK. Appraisal by the British criticised it on numerous points including lack of armament, maintenance issues and cockpit controls while it was praised for handling, roomy cockpit and visibility. With a top speed of about 300 mph and poor performance over 15,000 ft it was considered unfit for duty in western Europe and they were supplied to British Commonwealth air forces in Asia; as well, the UK ordered 170 of the B-339E variant.
The B-339 was fitted with an export-approved 1,100 hp Wright Cyclone engine and modified for land use with navy equipment such as the life raft and arrestor hook removed. The RAF stipulated numerous upgrades to their order, including replacement of the standard ring and bead gunsight with a British Mk III reflector gun sight, and improving pilot protection, by adding reinforced armor plating and installing armored glass behind the canopy windshield.
They were sent to Royal Australian Air Force, RAF and Royal New Zealand Air Force fighter squadrons in Singapore, Malaya and Burma, shortly before the outbreak of war with Japan.

Brewster F2A wrecks stripped of their engines.


Prior to December 1941, the Western Allied air forces seriously underestimated the numbers, pilots, leadership and capability of their Japanese opponents. Despite having initial successes against the Ki-43 Oscar and Ki-27 Nate, the five British Commonwealth squadrons flying Buffalos in the Malayan campaign, suffered severe losses on the ground and in the air, especially during the first week of the campaign, resulting in the ongoing merger of squadrons and their gradual evacuation to the Dutch East Indies.
The two RAAF, two RAF, and one RNZAF squadrons, during December 1941-January 1942, were beset with numerous problems, including: poorly-built and ill-equipped aircraft; poor supplies of spare parts; inadequate numbers of support staff; airfields that were difficult to defend against air attack; lack of a clear and coherent command structure; antagonism between RAF and RAAF squadrons and personnel, and; inexperienced pilots lacking appropriate training.
The Hawker Hurricanes which succeeded the Buffalos (from 20 January) also suffered severe losses from ground attacks, and were also virtually wiped out.
The Fleet Air Arm used the Buffalo in the Mediterranean defending Crete in early 1941. Four British Commonwealth pilots (Geoff Fisken, Maurice Holder, Benjamin Clare and Richard Vanderfield) became aces in the Buffalo. Fisken, the top-scoring of them, later flew P-40s and became the highest-scoring Commonwealth pilot within the Pacific theatre.

Netherlands East Indies

The Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger ("Military Air Service of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army", ML-KNIL) had ordered 144 Brewster B-339C and 339D models, the former with used engines supplied by the Dutch and the latter with new and more powerful engines that Brewster purchased from Wright. By the time war began, only 71 had arrived in the Dutch East Indies, and not all were in service. A small number served briefly at Singapore before being withdrawn for the defense of Java.
As the Dutch Buffalos were lighter than the F2A-3 used by the U.S., they were able to successfully dogfight the Oscar, although it was still out-turned by the A6M Zero. Apart from their role as fighters, they were also used as dive bombers against Japanese troopships. Though reinforced by the Commonwealth Buffalos retreating from Malaya, the Dutch squadrons were unable to stem the superiority of Japanese forces at ground level, and they flew their last mission on 7 March. Altogether 17 Dutch pilots were killed, 30 Buffalos were shot down, 15 were destroyed on the ground, and several were lost to misadventure. In return, Dutch pilots claimed 55 enemy aircraft destroyed. In a major engagement on 19 February 1942, eight Dutch Brewsters intercepted a formation of about 35 Japanese bombers, which had an escort of about 20 Zeros. The Dutch pilots destroyed 11 Japanese aircraft and lost four Buffalos.
Two Dutch pilots, Jacob van Helsdingen and August Deibel, scored the highest on the Buffalo. Each recorded three victories.

U.S. Marine Corps

The U.S. Marine Corps flew F2As at the Battle of Midway, and suffered 15 losses out of 25 aircraft. The grim outcome was the primary source for the reputation of the Brewster being one of the worst fighters flown in combat. However, the main reasons for the losses included the obsolescence of F2A-3, inexperience of USMC pilots, who attempted to enter into a World War I-style dogfight with experienced Japanese aviators, and the fact that the F2As were outnumbered and at a tactical disadvantage.
The poor performance of the Buffalo in the aerial battle sparked Finnish Ace Hans Wind to write his combat manual on Brewster; he analyzed the air combat and the tactical errors the Americans made, and proposed tactics which Finnish Brewster pilots used, with remarkable success, in 1942–43. Meanwhile, the Battle of Midway marked the end of F2A-3's American combat career. The surviving airframes were transported to the U.S. mainland as advanced trainers.

Finland

In Finland, the Brewster Buffalos, typically called "Brewsters" enjoyed their greatest success. The aircraft did not arrive in time for the Winter War, but their impact in the Continuation War (1941-44) was remarkable. The fighter was never referred to as the Buffalo in Finland; it was known simply as the Brewster, or sometimes by the nickname Taivaan helmi ("Sky Pearl") or Pohjoisten taivaiden helmi ("Pearl of the Northern Skies"). Other nicknames were Pylly-Valtteri ("Butt-Walter"), Amerikanrauta ("American hardware" or "American car") and Lentävä kaljapullo ("flying beer-bottle"). The 44 Brewsters used by the FAF received serial numbers BW-351 to BW-394. It appears the workmanship of the Finnish airframes was also better than those produced later, a common phenomenon as the aircraft factories were manned by a less-skilled workforce after the start of World War II.

Finnish Air Force's Brewster B239 formation during the Continuation War


The Brewster was regarded as being very easy to fly and many Finnish pilots called it was a "gentleman's plane", while the Messerschmitt Bf 109 (also used by the FAF) was "a killing machine." Brewsters were also popular within the FAF because of their long range and endurance, and their good maintenance record. This was due in part to FAF mechanics, who solved a problem plaguing the Wright Cyclone engine by inverting one of the piston rings in each cylinder, thus enhancing engine reliability. Note that the Finnish aircraft dispensed with most of the U.S. Navy gear such as a life raft, resulting in a considerably lighter aircraft.
In the end, the Brewster gained a reputation as one of the most successful combat aircraft ever flown by the Finnish Air Force. In service during 1941-1945, the Brewsters were credited with 496 Soviet and German aircraft destroyed, against the loss of 19 Brewsters: a victory ratio of 26:1. However, the substantiation of this claim on German and Soviet records is so far incomplete, and all claims have not been managed to be connected on actual losses (as of 2007).
During the Continuation War, Lentolaivue 24 (Fighter Squadron 24) was equipped with the B-239s until May 1944, when the Brewsters were transferred to Hävittäjälentolaivue 26 (Fighter Squadron 26). Most of the pilots of Lentolaivue 24 were Winter War combat veterans and the squadron achieved total of 459 kills with B-239s, while losing 15 Brewsters in combat. For example, between 25 June 1941 and 31 December 1941, LeLv 24 scored 135 kills with Brewsters at a cost of two pilots and two Brewster Buffalos.
The top-scoring Buffalo pilot was Hans Wind, with 39 kills in B-239s. Wind scored 26 of his kills while flying BW-393, while Eino Luukkanen scored seven more in the same aircraft. After evaluation of claims against Soviet actual losses, BW-364 is credited with 42½ kills in total, possibly making it the fighter aircraft with the greatest number of victories in the history of air warfare. BW-393 is credited with 40 victories.
The top scoring Finnish ace, Ilmari Juutilainen, scored 34 of his 94½ kills in B-239s, including 28 in BW-364.
Although the Buffalo was clearly obsolete in 1944, barely holding its own against Soviet fighters, with most airframes worn out, LeLv 26 pilots still scored some 35 victories against the Soviets in the summer of 1944. The last aerial victory by a Brewster against the Soviet Union was scored over the Karelian Isthmus on 17 June 1944. After Finland agreed to a truce, it was obliged to turn against its former ally, Germany, and a Brewster pilot, Lt Erik Teromaa (11 kills), claimed a Luftwaffe Stuka on October 3, 1944, during the Lapland War.
There were many other modifications to the B-239 made locally in Finland during its career. Some of these were the installation of pilot seat armor and replacing the single 0.30 in (7.62 mm) machine gun with a 0.50 in (12.7 mm). By 1943, all except one Finnish B-239 had four 0.50s. The wing guns had 400 rounds and fuselage guns 200 rounds each, the 0.30s 600 rounds. In spring 1941, before reflector sights, the Finnish Väisälä T.h.m.40 sight, based on the Revi 3c—were installed; metric instruments were also installed.
During the war, Finnish designers devised a new aircraft, the Humu, based on the Brewster Buffalo, domestically produced from cheaper materials such as plywood. Only a single prototype was built, as the aircraft was clearly obsolete in 1943 and deliveries of Messerschmitt Bf 109s filled the needs of fighter squadrons.
The last flight made by a Buffalo in Finnish service was on 14 September 1948. Besides the Humu prototype, the hood and fin (with 41 kills) of BW-393 survive in a museum. The BW-372 is displayed today in NAS Pensacola's aviation museum, restored in Finnish colours.

Survivors

Surviving Brewster Buffalo are extremely rare, as their construction quality was generally poor, and most were quickly dispatched to foreign military service. It was long thought no intact Buffalo remained, but during Summer 1998, a Finnish B-239 (serial no. BW-372) was discovered in a Russian lake, Big Kolejärvi, about 50 kilometers from Segezha, Russia. This aircraft was identified as one of the 44 Model 239s sold to Finland during the Winter War.
On 25 June 1942, BW-372 piloted by Lieutenant Lauri Pekuri was in a formation of eight Brewsters that encountered a mixed squadron of Soviet Hurricanes and MiG-3s. In the clash, seven Soviet aircraft were damaged. Lieutenant Pekuri shot down two Hurricane fighters (he had to his credit 18 kills, including seven Hurricanes) but his fighter was hit by heavy cannon fire from a MiG-3 and he was forced to ditch the burning Brewster in Big Kolejärvi lake. Pekuri survived with minor injuries and managed to walk 20 km to the Finnish lines.
The aircraft was recovered from the lake in 1998, and after extensive negotiations with Russian officials, it was finally transported to the United States. The Brewster fighter finally reached the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, on 18 August 2004. After discovering the historic nature of the aircraft, original plans to restore and display it as an F2A from the Battle of Midway were quickly dispensed with. The museum plans to reassemble the Brewster and display it exactly as it came from the lake in Russia. Damage caused by enemy fire and subsequent crash landing will not be disturbed. As near as possible, it will be fully authentic and original and instantly recognizable as a Finnish Air Force B-239 at a point in time when it made its last flight in hostile skies and settled to the bottom of the lake.

Variants


Brewster Buffalo F2A-2


XF2A-1 Prototype (Model B-139) F2A-1 Model B-239 (with R1830-34 engine and two guns) for the United States Navy,11 built. F2A-2 Model B-339 (with R-1820-40 engine and four guns) for the United States Navy and Marines, 43 built. F2A-3 Improved F2A-2 for the United States Navy with longer range and provision to carry two underwing 100 lb bombs, 108 built. B-239 Export version for Finland (with R-1820-G5 engines and four guns), 44 built. B-339 Export version for Belgium, 40 built (only 2 delivered to Belgium, rest to United Kingdom Fleet Air Arm) B-339C Export version for the Netherlands East Indies, 24 built. B-339D Export version for the Netherlands East Indies, 48 built. B-339E Export version for the British Royal Air Force as the Buffalo 1, 170 built (also used by the RAAF and RNZAF) B-439D Export version for the Netherlands East Indies with 1200 hp GR-1820-G205A engine, 20 built, (17 later to the RAAF, some used by the USAAF) Buffalo I United Kingdom designation of the Model B339E


US Navy Ordnance man loads guns of a F2A fighter, 1943.


Specifications (F2A-1)

General characteristics

• Crew: One, pilot
• Length: 26 ft (7.9 m)
• Wingspan: 35 ft (10.7 m)
• Height: 11 ft 11 in (3.63 m)
• Wing area: 208.9 ft² (19.408 m²)
• Empty weight: 3,785 lb (1,717 kg)
• Loaded weight: 5,040 lb (2,286 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Wright R-1820-34 Cyclone 9 , 950 hp ()

Performance

• Maximum speed: 311 mph at 18,000 ft (500 km/h at 5,500 m)
• Cruise speed: 160 mph (258 km/h)
• Range: 1,000 miles (1,600 km)
• Service ceiling: 33,000 ft (10,100 m)
• Rate of climb: 3,070 ft/min (993 m/min)

Armament

• 1 x 0.30 cal (7.62 mm) machine gun and 1 x 0.50 cal (12.7 mm) machine gun in the fuselage
• 2 x 0.50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns in the wings (optional)
• In Finnish service: 4 x 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns

Specifications (F2A-3)

General characteristics

• Crew: One, pilot
• Length: 26 ft 4 in (8.03 m)
• Wingspan: 35 ft (10.7 m)
• Height: 12 ft 1 in (3.68 m)
• Wing area: 208.9 ft² (19.408 m²)
• Empty weight: 4,732 lb (2,146 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 6,321 lb (2,867 kg)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 284 mph at sea level, 321 mph at 16,500 ft (457 km/h, 517 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 160 mph (258 km/h)
• Range: 965 mi (1,553 km)
• Service ceiling: 30,000 ft (9,144 m)
• Rate of climb: 2,290 ft/min (673 m/min)

Armament

• 4 x 0.50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns and two 100-pound (45.36 kg) bombs

Brewster Buffalo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

C.205 Veltro / C.205N Orione


Regia Aeronautica C.205V, Serie I from 352a Squadriglia, 51° Stormo, photographed at Capoterra, Sardinia, summer 1943

Type: Fighter
Manufacturer: Aeronautica Macchi
Designed by: Mario Castoldi
Maiden flight: 19 April 1942
Introduced: February 1943
Retired: 1947 (Italy)
1950 (Egypt)
Primary users: Regia Aeronautica
Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana
Luftwaffe
Produced: September 1942 - May 1944
Number built: 262
Developed from: Macchi C.202

The Macchi C.205 (also known as the MC[Macchi Castoldi].205) Veltro (Italian: Greyhound) was an Italian World War II fighter aircraft built by the Aeronautica Macchi. Along with the Reggiane Re.2005 and Fiat G.55, the Macchi C.205 was one of the three "Serie 5" Italian fighters built around the powerful Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine. The C.205 was a development of the earlier C.202 Folgore.

Although the definitive Macchi fighter, able to match the best Allied opponents in speed and maneuverability, the C.205 Veltro was introduced late in the conflict. Due to poor industrial capability, only a small production run of the C.205 fighter was delivered before the end of the war.

Design and development
In 1941, seeking to further improve the performance of the C.202 fighter, the Regia Aeronautica decided to license-build the German DB 605 1,100 kW (1,475 hp) liquid-cooled supercharged inverted V-12 engine in Italy, which Fiat produced as the RA.1050 R.C.58 Tifone (Typhoon). Fighter manufacturers were invited to enter versions of their designs with this engine as the caccia della serie 5 ("series-5 fighter") and were provided with imported DB 605s for prototype use. All of the designs used the number 5 in the name, with the Macchi becoming the C.205 (instead of C.202bis or C.203).

Macchi used the DB 601 engine in the C.202 which was comparable to the DB 605. The C.205V Veltro first flew on 19 April1942, and was considered a stop-gap with the definitive variant being the 205N Orione (N stood for "new").[2] In testing, the Fiat G.55 Centauro and Re.2005 Sagittario proved to be better performers at high altitude due to their larger wings. In fact, the Veltro used the same wing as the earlier Folgore but its weight had increased from 2,350 to 3,408 kg (5,180 to 7,515 lb) and the wing loading from 142 to 203 kg/m² (29 to 41 lb/ft²). The Veltro's performance was similar to German designs with their higher wing loading, and was at its best at medium altitudes where it could reach 642 km/h (347 knots, 399 mph). The C.205 Veltro was placed in production until the G.55 and the Re.2005 would become available.

The first 100 Veltro Serie I were only machine gun-armed, but many were also fitted with the MG 151 cannon. There were no Serie II built, but 150 Serie III examples were ordered, which were fitted with guns in the wings as standard.

The necessity to re-engineer the forward fuselage was time-consuming, but after several months of delays, the "205N" was ready. The C.205N1 first flew on 1 November 1942, with armament consisting of a 20 mm cannon firing through the propeller hub, and four cowling-mounted 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns for which it carried 300-400 and 1,400 rounds of ammunition respectively. This configuration allowed a higher ceiling, but less speed (629 km/h), however, the better aerodynamics (with a longer and more streamlined rear fuselage) provided an overall advantage over the Macchi C.205V/MG151 (620 km/h).

The maiden flight of the second aircraft, the C.205N2, took place on 19 May 1943, and in testing reached 628 km/h (340 knots, 390 mph) which was only marginally slower than the C.205N1 with a correspondingly longer time to reach its operational altitude. It was equipped with one engine-mounted 20 mm cannon, two wing-mounted 20 mm cannon, and two fuselage-mounted 12.7 mm machine guns.

The ammunition load comprised 600 or more rounds of 12.7 mm ammunition, and a maximum of around 900 x 20 mm rounds which was much heavier than that carried by the C.205N1, and to a lesser extent that of the Reggiane and the Fiat which carried 490-550 and 650 x 20 mm rounds respectively. Although 1,200 aircraft were initially ordered, the design was abandoned due to the Armistice.

The N-series aircraft should have performed better than the C.205V, but Macchi test pilot Carestiano noted that their flying characteristics were inferior to the lighter and more agile C.205 Veltro. The later series also experienced overheating while in climbs.

Technical details

The C.205, also known initially as the C.202bis, was similar to the previous Folgore, but there were many differences in the fuselage: the tail was larger, the cockpit and its hump redesigned, the antenna mast was bigger and some modifications were made to the wings.

The C.205 was a single-seat, all-metal, monoplane fighter, intended primarily as an interceptor but with ground attack and escort capabilities. The long nose housed the DB605 engine which drove a three-blade, constant-speed metal propeller, with the main fuel tank situated between the engine and the cockpit. The engine cooling system radiator was located under the centre section of the fuselage beneath the cockpit while the short rear section housed the radio equipment, oxygen cylinder and an 80 l reserve fuel tank. The wings were made of light alloys and steel, having two spars and three sections, housing two additional fuel tanks, in addition to the fully retractable wide-set main undercarriage gear.

Apart from the all-metal flaps in the inner wing, all the other control surfaces were metal-framed and fabric covered. Veltros had self-sealing tanks, armoured seat and armoured windscreen as standard. The cramped cockpit possessed a limited field-of-view, but some examples were fitted with a rear-view mirror.

The 827 kg (normal) payload was comprised of the equipped pilot (85 kg), fuel (307 kg), two Breda machine guns and two Mauser cannon (60 and 84 kg respectvely), 740 rounds of 12.7 mm ammunition (76 kg), 500 rounds of 20 mm ammunition (100 kg), and other sundry items such as oil (33 kg), oxygen cylinder (12 kg) and radio equipment.

Additionally, 100 l fuel tanks or 160 kg of bombs could be carried on two underwing hardpoints. Due to a lack of passenger transport aircraft, modifications were made to a C.205 to enable it to carry eight passengers in the belly of the fuselage, and among others, three pilots of 51° Wing (including Adriano Visconti) made the journey from Sardinia to Italy after the Armistice in this manner.

Operational history

The C.205 entered production only five months after its maiden flight and began reaching front line units in February 1943. During the next few months, C.205s of the Regia Aeronautica were involved in several major engagements with units from the 4,000 Allied aircraft that were stationed in the Mediterranean at that time.

Battle of Pantelleria

1° Stormo received the first Veltros in time to fight over the southern Italian air base. In free-ranging patrols, this wing fielded 24 Veltros (around a tenth of all those produced) and nine Folgores in an attempt to intercept all enemy aircraft in the area. While patrolling between Cap Bon and Cap Mustafà on 20 April 1943, a large enemy formation was spotted 35 km west of Pantelleria. The Italian fighters started to close with the aircraft of Nos. 1, 92, 417, and 601 SAAF squadrons which were flying at low level, but were surprised by the Polish pilots of 145 Squadron, flying at high altitude. These were joined by other Spitfires, and eventually, the 33 Macchis found themselves in combat with up to 60 Spitfires (mainly Mk Vs, and possibly Mk VIIIs and IXs). The Italian pilots claimed 15 victories (one by Mars. Baschirotto who fired 500 rounds), with 14 Spitfires downed in the sea and another over African soil. The Polish pilots, on the other hand claimed seven victories, another three were claimed by 92 Squadron and one by a pilot of 601.

However, the actual numbers were different, as confirmed by Allied records. Only two MC.205Vs were downed (Lts. Andreoli and Fanelli), while another made an emergency landing near Cap Bon, and explains why some sources quote two losses and others three, but there is some doubt as to whether this aircraft, the only one to fall on African soil, was a Veltro or a Folgore. At least one other Macchi was damaged, and the pilot wounded. Similarly, the Italian claims didn't match any losses recorded in Allied squadron reports, consequently turning the apparent Italian "victory" into a defeat. On 24 June, 1° Stormo left Sicily and the few pilots returned to Udine, while the remaining aircraft joined other units.

Battle of Capo Pula

On 2 August 1943, two Beaufighters were downed and the Italians sent a Cant C.506 Airone aircraft escorted by four C.205Vs on a search and rescue mission. A group of P-40s attacked the Cant, but despite the defence put up by the few Veltros, one American fighter crashed into the C.506 and both fell into the sea.

A USAAF search and rescue PBY Catalina mission was also mounted, escorted by 12 P-38s. C.202 and C.205s of 51° Stormo, led by Ennio Tarantola, intercepted this flight. The Catalina was surprised on the surface near the Sardinian coast having broken a propeller blade in the heavy sea conditions. The Italians claimed to have also downed all 12 P-38s, whereas the Americans claimed three-four victories over the Axis fighters with no losses. Later records showed that only the Catalina and the C.202 of Marshall Bianchi, a close friend of Tarantola, were shot down.

The two or three victories over P-38s claimed by Tarantola are not supported by any data available; however, no further SAR missions were made by Americans to search for downed pilots, while the Italians claimed as many P-38s downed as all those available in the theatre. Except for a crewman killed by strafing, the crew of the Catalina was saved, thanks to a fast vessel of the Royal Navy whose captain was awarded with the DSC for battling adverse sea conditions, coastal battery fire and eventually enemy aircraft while rescuing the survivors.

Like its predecessors, the first Veltros were insufficiently armed (without the MG 151 cannons later installed in the wings), but the aircraft often performed well in combat.

Guido Carestiano said about the C.205, that it was the best Italian fighter that "he knew" and many pilots like the C.205 "ace" Luigi Gorrini, scored 19 or 24 victories (in return, he was downed four or five times).

Battle of Rome

Gorrini claimed 12 victories in July 1943 and several of them were with the Veltro. On 13 August in defending Rome, he downed one B-17, then a P-38 and finally another B-17. His Veltro was wrecked by the damage sustained in the mission (an MG 151 gun exploded in the wing sending his aircraft into a steep dive and damaged it beyond repair). Gorrini avoided a crash, but five days after, crashed into another C.205V, and sustained serious injuries. He continued under the aegis of the Italian Social Republic (RSI, the German puppet state in northern Italy), flying in combat sometimes with the G.55 but mainly with the C.205. Given the shortage of modern aircraft, it was natural that more advanced combat aircraft like Veltros were usually given to the best flyers and most experienced pilots, like Vittorio Minguzzi, an "ace" as well , who formerly used the MM.494, the Re.2005 prototype, in the defence of Naples.

General operations in Regia Aereonautica

Veltros fought mainly over Sicily, 4° Stormo started operations on 9 July 1943, replacing 1° Stormo, that had no Veltros still flyable. 4° Stormo initially had a complement of ten Veltros and 38 Folgores (no Italian unit was equipped with Veltros alone) and later received a delivery of a further ten of these new fighters. 51° Stormo fought with some success over Sardinia, (apart from the battle of 2 August) but sustained many losses, especially at the end of July and the beginning of August. 21° Gruppo, of 3° Stormo, was partially re-equipped with Veltros with the task of Rome's defence.

In wartime colours and markings, Veltros originally had "tropical" patterns, with orange-like schemes, and irregular black-green lines all over their surface. Those in service in RSI aviation were painted an overall dark green (nearly black).


Macchi C.205 Veltro in service with the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force C. 1943



After the Armistice

At the time of the Armistice with Italy, 8 September 1943, the Regia Aeronautica had received 177 Veltros but only 66 were still usable. Six of these flew to Allied airfields to serve with the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force, while another 29 reached northern airfields and were used by the Italian Social Republic Air Force (ANR - Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana).

Macchi produced the remaining 72 aircraft of the third series for the ANR before production was shut down by Allied bombing in May 1944. Statistics on aircraft production post-Armistice are unclear and incomplete. 1° Gruppo, based in Udine, was equipped with a few Veltros, as was 3° Gruppo, based in Vicenza, while further Veltros were scattered throughout other small units. Overall, around 100 Veltros were taken on charge, surviving partially during the re-equipment of the groups to Bf 109s. The "ace" Torresi was killed in a fierce battle, 1 July 1944, when three C.205s and two G.55s of 1° Gruppo were attacked by P-47s. The Italians claimed two P-47s, but three USAF machines were only damaged. All five Italian aircraft were lost, with two pilots killed and one wounded.

Apart these unfortunate combat losses, in general, C.205s fought well in RSI service: they were attached to units that had similar equipment, or at least of comparable quality, and were guided by German radar stations. Though few in number, they achieved some success in inflicting losses on Allied bombers and fighters, with anti-aircraft guns accounting for even more, but this still didn't prevent the Allies bombing even the most defended targets in Northern Italy. Together with the overall availability of many of the best pilots (Gorrini and Visconti among others), around 100 Veltros, 160 G.55s and almost 200 Bf 109G/Ks constituted a considerable fighting force.

The Luftwaffe's 77 JDG, for some time, used a number of Veltros as interim equipment, their first non-German aircraft, while waiting for more Bf 109s. The Germans had a mixed opinion of these aircraft, and in 1943 rated them as "mediocre", while the Re. 2005 Sagittario was "good" and the G.55 "excellent".

German pilots wrote in their flight reports that the aircraft was fast (described by Italians as "the fastest fighter in the world") and had good flying characteristics, but tended to close too much in turns and would enter into a spin. Also, the engine throttle operated in the opposite manner to that on German aircraft, so pilots often made the mistake of closing the throttle instead of opening it (and vice versa) which led to many errors; some of them fatal. Other shortcomings were noted, such as the unreliable Italian radios, and a very slow time to reload fuel and ammunition on the ground. After a few months, on 31 December 1943 they gave their Veltros back to Italian units.

German pilots had claimed at least one victory, on 1 December 1943, against one of their "classic" enemies, the P-38 Lightning. At least five Veltros were destroyed in accidents, apart from two lost during ferryng operations by 51JDG pilots.

With the interruption of production, the Italians were forced to re-equip their three groups almost fully with Bf 109s, largely because the Germans were quick to offer some of their best models, including Bf 109G-6s and Bf 109K-4s. The Allies were less generous with the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force (ICAF), and Veltros, including some upgraded C.202s, were slowly replaced with worn-out P-39s and Spitfires, but not before summer 1944.

Postwar

During 1948-1949, Egypt received 62 refurbished C.205Vs, of which 41 were converted from C.202 airframes. The new Veltros were fully equipped, while the Folgore conversions were armed with only 2 x 12.7 mm Breda guns. They were the lightest series of the entire production, and consequently had the best performance, but were seriously under-gunned. These briefly saw combat against the Israeli Air Force in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Variants

With limited production and service-life, the C.205 saw only a few modifications. After the first 100 examples, the wing-mounted 7.7 mm machine guns were replaced with a pair of 20 mm MG 151 cannon.
M.C.205 One prototype armed with two 12.7-mm (0.50-inch) and two 7.7-mm (0.303-inch) machine-guns. M.C.205V Main production version. M.C.205S Long-range escort fighter with a 200 litre (52.8 US gal) fuel tank replacing the fuselage machine guns; 18 converted from production aircraft. M.C.205N Orione Proposed DB 605-powered fighter with a more significant design revision than the C.202-derived C.205V. The aircraft had a new wing with the wingspan increased to 11.25 m (36 ft 11 in) and wing area increased to 19 m² (204.5 ft²), and new forward fuselage that brought the length to 9.65 m. This made the shape in general much slimmer, instead of being a "big nose" design. Also, the fuselage was finally adapted for an MG 151 cannon. M.C.205N-1 High-altitude interceptor fighter prototype. Armed with four 12.7-mm (0.50-inch) machine-guns mounted in the fuselage, and one 20-mm cannon mounted in the engine. M.C.205N-2 High-altitude interceptor fighter prototype. Armed with three 20-mm cannons and two 12.7-mm (0.50-inch) machine-guns. M.C.206 Similar armament to the C.205N/1 with a larger wing and a Daimler-Benz DB 603 engine. Single prototype destroyed by Allied bombing before being completed. M.C.207 Similar to C.206 but with armament of four 20 mm cannon, none built.

Operators

Egypt

• Royal Egyptian Air Force
  • No.2 Squadron REAF

Germany

• Luftwaffe
  • II/JG 77 operated 25 aircraft.

Italy

• Regia Aeronautica
• Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force received 6 aircraft.

Italian Social Republic

• Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana received 101 aircraft.

Survivors

There are three C.205s survivors, one is stored in Udine, another C.205 is stored in the Air & Sea Transport Building of the National Museum of Science and Technology "Leonardo da Vinci", in Milan. The Italian Air Force, together with Fiat and Aermacchi, restored the C.205 stored at the Museo della Scienza (Science Museum of Milan). The museum's "Veltro", after painstaking restoration work, was put back in the air in 1981.

The third C.205 is stored in the Museo dell'Aeronautica Militare Italiana (Italian Military Aircraft Museum) in Vigna di Valle, Italy.

A Macchi C.205 wreck recovery was undertaken near Bologna for future restoration and display at Museo Caproni di Trento (Caproni Museum of Trento).

Specifications


General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 8.85 m (29 ft 0 in)
• Wingspan: 10.58 m (34 ft 9 in)
• Height: 3.05 m (10 ft 0 in)
• Wing area: 16.80 m² (180.8 ft²)
• Empty weight: 2,581 kg (5,690 lb)
• Loaded weight: 3,408 kg (7,513 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 3,900 kg (8,600 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× Fiat RA.1050 R.C.58 Tifone liquid-cooled supercharged inverted V12 engine, 1,475 hp (1,100 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 640 km/h (345 knots, 400 mph) at 7,500 m (24,600 ft)
• Range: 950 km (515 nm, 590 mi)
• Service ceiling 11,500 m (37,730 ft)
• Wing loading: 202.9 kg/m² (41.55 lb/ft²)

Armament

• Guns:
  • 2× 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns, 400 rounds/gun, in the nose
  • 2× 20 mm MG 151 cannon, 250 rounds/gun, in the wings
• Bombs: 2× 160 kg bombs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macchi_C.205

 

F4U Corsair

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F4U Corsair

Type Carrier-based fighter aircraft Manufacturer Chance Vought Designed by Rex Beisel
Maiden flight 29 May 1940 Introduction 28 December 1942 Retired 1953 Primary users United States Navy
United States Marine Corps
Royal Navy
Royal New Zealand Air Force Produced 1940-1952 Number built 12,571 Unit cost $1,500,000 Variants F2G "Super Corsair" The Chance Vought F4U Corsair was an American fighter aircraft that saw service in World War II and the Korean War (and in isolated local conflicts). Goodyear-built Corsairs were designated FG and Brewster-built aircraft F3A. The Corsair served in some air forces until the 1960s, following the longest production run of any piston-engined fighter in history (1940 - 1953). During World War II, it was the fighter the Japanese feared the most. The U.S. Navy counted an 11:1 kill ratio for every F4U shot down.[1]
Contents

[hide]

• 1 Background
• 2 Design and development
• 3 Wartime variants
  • 3.1 Super Corsair variants
• 4 Service
  • 4.1 United States Navy and Marine Corps
  • 4.2 Korean War
  • 4.3 Royal Navy
  • 4.4 Royal New Zealand Air Force
  • 4.5 French Navy (Aeronavale)
  • 4.6 The "Football War"
• 5 Legacy
• 6 Operators
• 7 Survivors
• 8 Popular culture
• 9 Specifications
  • 9.1 F4U-1A
  • 9.2 General characteristics
  • 9.3 Performance
  • 9.4 Armament
  • 9.5 F4U-4
  • 9.6 General characteristics
  • 9.7 Performance
  • 9.8 Armament
• 10 See also
  • 10.1 Related development
  • 10.2 Comparable aircraft
  • 10.3 Related lists
• 11 References
  • 11.1 Notes
  • 11.2 Bibliography
• 12 External links

[edit] Background

The Corsair started life as the result of a U.S. Navy requirement for a carrier aircraft which could match the performance of the best land and carrier-based fighter planes. Designed in 1938 by Rex Beisel, the first prototype Corsair designated XF4U-1 first flew on 29 May 1940.[2] When flown in 1940, the XF4U-1, powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine, became the first U.S. single-engine production aircraft capable of 400 mph (640 km/h) in level flight.[3] It was a remarkable achievement for Vought; compared to land-based counterparts, carrier aircraft are "overbuilt" and heavier, to withstand the extreme stress of deck landings.

[edit] Design and development


The XF4U-1 prototype in 1940/41


The Corsair was designed by Rex Beisel and Igor Sikorsky, incorporating the largest engine available at the time,[citation needed] the 2,000 hp (1,490 kW) 18-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial. To extract as much power as possible, a relatively large, 13 ft, 4 inch (4.06 m) Hamilton Standard Hydromatic three-blade propeller was used. To accommodate a folding wing, the designers considered retracting the main landing gear rearward, but for the chord of wing selected, it was difficult to fit gear struts long enough to provide sufficient clearance for the large propeller. Their solution was an inverted gull wing, the same layout used as Germany's infamous Stuka dive bomber, considerably shortening the length of the main gear legs[4] The "bend" in the wing also permitted the wing and fuselage to meet at the optimum angle for minimizing drag.[4] Offsetting these benefits, the bent wing was more difficult to construct and would weigh more than a straight one.
ir


The Corsair's aerodynamics were an advancement over contemporary naval fighters. The F4U was the first U.S. Navy airplane to feature landing gear that retracted fully, exactly in the manner of the Curtiss P-40 in rotating through 90° during retraction with the wheel atop the lower end of the strut, leaving a completely streamlined wing.[5] Air intakes used slots in the leading edges of the wings rather than protruding scoops. Panels were attached with flush rivets, and the design took advantage of the newly-developed technique of spot welding. While employing this new technology, the Corsair was also the last American-produced, combat aircraft to feature fabric covered control surfaces, which was used for the top and bottom of each outer wing in addition to elevators.[citation needed] Despite being capable of speeds in excess of 400 mph (640 km/h), with full 60 degree flap deployment, the Corsair was capable of flying at speeds slow enough for carrier landings.
Despite advances in technology and a top speed greater than existing Navy aircraft, numerous technical problems had to be solved before the Corsair would enter service. Carrier suitability was a major development issue, prompting changes to the main landing gear, tail wheel and tailhook. Early prototypes had difficulty recovering from developed spins since the inverted gull wing's shape interfered with elevator authority. A small spoiler was added to the leading edge of the starboard wing to reduce adverse stall characteristics.[6]

Underside of a Corsair


The combination of an aft cockpit and the Corsair's long nose made landings hazardous for newly-trained pilots. The cockpit position in the prototype was 36 in (91 cm) further forward, but a desire for more powerful armament necessitated changes. Putting three 50 caliber guns in each outer wing panel eliminated fuel tanks there, and the fuselage tank above the wings was enlarged to compensate.[7] This required the seat to be moved rearward, behind the tank, an arrangement used in other piston fighters of the era, such as the Spitfire. Because the more docile, and simpler to build, F6F Hellcat was coming into service, Corsair deployment aboard U.S. carriers could be delayed. Following Vought modifications to the landing gear, repositioning of the seat, addition of the stall block to the starboard wing, and after a landing technique was developed that kept the LSO (landing signal officer) in view while coming aboard, Corsairs entered U.S. carrier service toward the end of 1944.

[edit] Wartime variants


An early F4U-1





During World War II, Corsair production expanded beyond Vought to include Brewster and Goodyear models. Allied forces flying the aircraft in World War II included FAA and RNZAF. Eventually, more than 12,500 F4Us would be built, comprising 16 separate models.[8]
World War II variants included: F4U-1: The first Corsair with the original cockpit seat height and "bird cage" canopy. It was based on the XF4U, but differed with the addition of a larger fuel tank and the removal of the fuselage windows behind the canopy as well as a modified armament consisting of six Browning MG53-2 0.50" machine guns. A land-based version for the USMC, without the folding wing capability, was built by Goodyear under the designation FG-1. In Fleet Air Arm service the F4U-1 was given the name Corsair Mk I.[9] Vought also built a single -1 two-seat trainer; the Navy showed no interest.[10]
F4U-1A: Variant incorporating the new "Malcolm" hood with only two struts, similar to the canopy of the Supermarine Spitfire. The cockpit seat was also raised to allow the pilot to see over the long nose as well. F4U-1As supplied to the USMC lacked folding wings and arrester hooks. Aircraft ready for naval service, however, had these features. Additionally, an R-2800-8W engine with water injection was experimented on one of the late F4U-1As. After satisfactory results, many F4U-1As were fitted with the new powerplant. The aircraft carried 237 U.S. gallon (897 liter) in the main fuel tank, located in front of the cockpit, as well as an unarmored, non-self-sealing 62 U.S. gallon (235 liter) fuel tank in each wing. With drop tanks fitted, the fighter had a maximum ferry range of just over 1,500 mi. (2,425 km). A land-based version, without the folding wing capability, was built by Goodyear as the FG-1A. In British service, the aircraft type was modified with clipped wings for use on British aircraft carriers,[9] under the designation Corsair Mk II.
F4U-1B: Essentially identical to the F4U-1A. This new variant however had clipped wing tips to fit in the smaller elevators and lower-overhead hangar decks of British carriers.
F4U-1C: This variant was in production in 1943, but was only introduced in combat during 1945, most notably in the Okinawa campaign. Intended for ground-attack as well as fighter missions, the F4U-1C was similar to the F4U-1A but its armament was replaced by four 20 mm (0.79") AN/M2 cannons, each containing 231 rounds[11] of ammunition. The variant was very rare as only 200 were built. This was due to the fact aviators preferred the standard armament of six .50 machine guns since they were already more than powerful enough to destroy most Japanese aircraft, and had more ammunition and a higher rate of fire.[12] The weight of the Hispano cannons and their ammunition affected the flight performance, especially its agility, but the aircraft was found to be especially potent in the ground attack role.

Goodyear FG-1D at Wings Over the Rockies Museum, Denver, CO, modified as racer N194G.


F4U-1D: Built in parallel with the F4U-1C, but was introduced in 1944. It had the new -8W water-injection engine. This change gave the aircraft up to 250 hp (187 kW) more power, which, in turn, increased performance. Speed, for example, was boosted from 417 mph (671 km/h) to 425 mph (684 km/h). Because of the U.S. Navy's need for fighter-bombers, it had a payload of rockets double the -1A's, as well as twin-rack plumbing for an additional belly drop tank. Such modifications necessitated the need for rocket tabs (attached to fully metal-plated underwing surfaces) and bomb pylons to be bolted on the fighter, however, causing extra drag. Additionally, the new job of fighter-bombing was a new task for the Corsair and the wing fuel cells proved too vulnerable and were removed.[citation needed] The extra fuel carried by the two drop tanks would still allow the aircraft to fly relatively long missions despite the heavy, unaerodynamic load. The regular armament of six machine guns were implemented as well. The canopies 50 of most -1Ds had their struts removed along with their metal caps, which were used - at one point - as a measure to prevent the canopies' glass from cracking as they moved along the fuselage spines of the fighters.[citation needed] Additional production was carried out by Goodyear (FG-1D) and Brewster (F3A-1D). In Fleet Air Arm service, the former was known as Corsair Mk IV, the latter as Corsair III, and both were modified with clipped wingtips.[9]
F4U-1P: A rare photoreconnaissance variant.[13]
F4U-2: Experimental conversion of the F4U-1 Corsair into a carrier-borne night fighter, armed with four .50 machine guns, and fitted with airborne Intercept (AI) radar set in a radome placed outboard on the starboard wing. Since Vought was preoccupied with more important projects, only 32 were converted from existing F4U-1s by the Naval Aircraft Factory and another two by frontline units.[14][15] The type saw combat with VF(N)-101 aboard USS Enterprise and USS Intrepid in early 1944, VF(N)-75 in the Solomons and VMF(N)-532 on Tarawa.
XF4U-3: Experimental aircraft built to hold different engines in order to test the Corsair's performance with a variety of powerplants. This variant never entered service. Goodyear also contributed a number of airframes, designated FG-3, to the project. A single sub-variant XF4U-3B with minor modifications was also produced.[16]

An F4U-4 folding its wings with an F4U-1 overhead.


F4U-4: The last variant to be produced during World War II, the F4U-4 began entering service near the end of 1944. It fully equipped naval squadrons four months before the end of hostilities. It had the 2,100 hp (1,566 kW) dual-stage-supercharged -18W engine. When the cylinders were injected with the water/alcohol mixture, power was boosted to 2,450 hp (1,827 kW). The aircraft required an air scoop under the nose and the unarmored wing fuel tanks of 62 U.S. gal capacities were removed for better maneuverability at the expense of maximum range. The propeller had one additional blade, bringing the total to four. Maximum speed was increased to 448 mph (718 km/h) and climb rate to over 3,800 fpm (1,180 m per minute) as opposed to the 2,900 fpm (884 m per minute) of the F4U-1A. The service ceiling also increased significantly from 37,000 ft. (11,278 m) to 41,000 ft. (12,497 m).[citation needed] The "4-Hog" retained the original armament and had all the external loads (i.e., drop tanks, bombs) capabilities of the F4U-1D. The armored windshield was now flat to avoid optical warping, unlike the curved, armored windshields of the earlier Corsairs.[citation needed] Vought also tested the two F4U-4Xs (BuNos 49763 and 50301, prototypes for the new R2800) with fixed tiptanks (the Navy showed no interest) and an Aeromatic six-blade contraprop (not accepted for production).[17]
F4U-4B: Designation for F4U-4s to be delivered to the British Fleet Air Arm, but were retained by the U.S. for its own use. The Fleet Air Arm received no F4U-4s.[18]
F4U-4C: 300 F4U-4s ordered with alternate gun armament of four 20 mm (0.79") AN/M2 cannons.[18]
F4U-4E and F4U-4N: Developed late in the conflict, these night fighters featured radar radomes projecting from the starboard wingtip. The -4E was fitted with the APS-4 search radar, while the -4N was fitted with the APS-6 type. In addition, these aircraft were often refitted with four 20mm M2 cannons similar to the F4U-1C. The night fighter variants would see greater use during the Korean conflict.[19]
F4U-4P: As with the -1P, a rare photoreconnaissance variant.[20]
F4U-5: A 1945 design modification of the F4U-4, first flown on December 21st of that year, was intended to increase the F4U-4 Corsair's overall performance and incorporate many Corsair pilots' suggestions. It featured a more powerful Pratt and Whitney R-2800-32(E) engine with a two stage supercharger,[21] rated at a maximum of 2,450 hp (1,830 kW). Other improvements included automatic blower controls, cowl flaps, intercooler doors and oil cooler for the engine, spring tabs for the elevators and rudder, a completely modernized cockpit, a completely retractable tail wheel, and heated cannon bays and pitot head. The cowling was lowered two degrees to help with forward visibility, but perhaps most striking as the first variant to feature all-metal wings.[22]

[edit] Super Corsair variants

Main article: F2G Corsair
The F2G-1 and F2G-2 were significantly different aircraft, fitted with the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major 4-row 28-cylinder "corncob" radial engine and teardrop (bubble) canopy, as a specialized interceptor against Japanese suicide Kamikaze attacks. The difference between the -1 and -2 variants was that the -1 featured a fixed wing, while the -2 had the folding wing capability for carrier use. As World War II was drawing to a close, development problems emerged that led to the abandonment of further work on the F2G series.[23] While only 10 were built, several F2Gs went on to racing success after the war, winning the Thompson trophy races in 1947 and 1949.

[edit] Service


[edit] United States Navy and Marine Corps

In February 1938, the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics published two requests for proposal, for twin-engined and single-engined fighters. For the single-engined fighter the Navy requested the maximum obtainable speed, and a stalling speed not higher than 70 mph (113 km/h). A range of 1,000 miles (1,610 km) was specified.[citation needed] The fighter had to carry four guns, or three with increased ammunition. Provision had to be made for anti-aircraft bombs to be carried in the wing. These small bombs would, according to thinking in the 1930s, be dropped on enemy aircraft formations.
In June 1938, the USN signed a contract for a prototype, the XF4U-1, BuNo 1443. After mock-up inspection in February 1939 construction of the XF4U-1 powered by an XR-2800-4 engine, rated at 1,805 hp (1,350 kW) went ahead quickly. The first flight of the XF4U-1 was made on 29 May 1940, with Lyman A. Bullard Jr. at the controls. The maiden flight was eventful; a hurried landing was made when the elevator trim tabs failed because of flutter.[citation needed]
On 1 October, the XF4U-1 made a flight from Stratford to Hartford with an average ground speed of 404 mph (650 km/h), the first U.S. fighter to fly faster than 400 mph (640 km/h). The XF4U-1 also had an excellent rate of climb. On the other hand, the testing of the XF4U-1 revealed some requirements would have to be rewritten. In full-power dive tests, speeds of up to 550 mph (885 km/h) were achieved, not without damage to the control surfaces and access panels, and, in one case, an engine failure.[24] The spin recovery standards also had to be relaxed, as recovery from the required ten-turn spin proved impossible without recourse to an anti-spin chute.[citation needed] The problems clearly meant delays in getting the type into production
Reports coming back from the war in Europe indicated that an armament of two .30 caliber (7.62 mm) and two .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns was insufficient, and so when the U.S. Navy asked for production proposals in November 1940, heavier armament was specified. At the end of June 1941, the Navy ordered 584 F4U-1 fighters. One year later, on 25 June 1942, Boone Guyton flew the production F4U-1 on its maiden flight.[3] At that time, Brewster and Goodyear were already tooling up to join the Corsair production program. The performance of the F4U was impressive. The F4U-1 was considerably faster than the F6F Hellcat and 13 mph (21 km/h) slower than the P-47 Thunderbolt,[25][26][27] the two other fighters powered by the R-2800. The P-47 achieved its highest speed at 30,020 ft (9,150 m), with the help of a turbocharger,[citation needed] while the F4U-1 reached its maximum speed at 19,900 ft (6,100 m) and used a mechanically supercharged engine.[citation needed]
Carrier qualification trials on the escort carrier USS Sangamon Bay, on 25 September 1942, caused the U.S. Navy to release the type to the U.S. Marine Corps.[28] After all, the U.S. Navy still had the Grumman F6F Hellcat, which did not have the performance of the F4U but was a far better deck landing aircraft. The Marines needed a better fighter than the F4F Wildcat. For them it was not as important the F4U could be recovered aboard a carrier, as they usually flew from land bases. Growing pains aside, Marine Corps squadrons readily took to the radical new fighter.
Despite the decision to issue the F4U to Marine Corps units, two Navy units, VF-12 (October 1942) and later VF-17 (April 1943) were equipped with the F4U. By April 1943, VF-12 had successfully completed deck landing qualification.[citation needed] However, VF-12 soon abandoned its aircraft to the Marines. VF-17 kept its Corsairs, but was removed from its carrier, Bunker Hill (CV-17). The squadron operated as a shore-based unit in the Solomon Islands due to perceived difficulties in supplying parts at sea.[29]. In November 1943, VF-17 reinstalled its tail hooks so its F4Us could land and refuel while providing top cover over the task force participating in the carrier raid on Rabaul. The squadron's pilots successfully landed, refueled and took off from their former home, Bunker Hill, and the USS Essex (CV-9) on 11 November 1943.[30].
The U.S. Navy didn't get into combat with the type until September 1943 and the FAA would qualify the type for carrier operations first. The U.S. Navy finally accepted the F4U for shipboard operations in April 1944, after the longer oleo leg was fitted, which finally eliminated the tendency to bounce.[31] The first Corsair unit to be based effectively on a carrier was the pioneer USMC squadron, VMF-124, which joined USS Essex. They were accompanied by VMF-213. The increasing need for fighters as a protection against kamikaze attacks resulted in more Corsair units being moved to carriers.[32]
From February 1943 onward, the F4U operated from Guadalcanal and ultimately other bases in the Solomon Islands. Corsairs were flown by the famous Black Sheep Squadron (VMF-214, led by Marine Maj. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington) in an area of the Solomon Islands called "The Slot." Boyington was credited with 22 kills in F4Us (of 26 total, including four in an AVG P-40). Other noted Corsair pilots of the period included VMF-215's Robert M. Hanson and Don Aldrich, VMF-124's Kenneth A. Walsh, Joe Foss, James E. Swett, and Archie Donohue, and VF-17's Tommy Blackburn, Roger Hedrick, and Ike Kepford. Nightfighter versions equipped Navy and Marine units afloat and ashore. At war's end, Corsairs were ashore on Okinawa, combating the kamikaze, flying from fleet and escort carriers. VMF-312, VMF-323, VMF-224, and a handful of others met with success in the Battle of Okinawa.[33]
The Corsair was in frontline service by early 1943. A dozen USMC F4U-1s arrived at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal (code name "Cactus") in the Solomon Islands on 12 February 1943. The first recorded combat engagement was on 14 February 1943, when Corsairs of VMF-124 under Major William E. Gise assisted P-40s and P-38s in escorting B-24 Liberators on raids against Japanese installations in the Solomons. Japanese fighters contested the raid and the Americans got the worst of it, with four P-38s, two P-40s, two Corsairs, and two Liberators lost. No more than four Japanese Zeroes were destroyed. A Corsair was responsible for one of the kills, but it wasn't anything to boast about since it was due to a midair collision. The fiasco was referred to as the "Saint Valentine's Day Massacre."[34].

A Corsair fires its rockets at a Japanese stronghold on Okinawa


Although the Corsair's combat debut was not impressive, the Marines quickly learned how to make better use of the machine and demonstrate its superiority over Japanese fighters. By April 1943, the Corsair was getting the upper hand. By May, VMF-124 had produced the first Corsair ace, 2nd Lieutenant Kenneth A. Walsh, who would rack up a total of 21 kills during the war.[35].
Corsairs also served well as fighter bombers in the Central Pacific and the Philippines. By spring 1944, Marine pilots were beginning to exploit the type's considerable capabilities in the close-support role during amphibious landings. Charles Lindbergh flew Corsairs with the Marines as a civilian technical advisor for United Aircraft Corporation in order to determine how best to increase the Corsair's warload and range in the attack role and to help evaluate future viability of single- versus twin-engine fighter design for Vought.[36] Lindbergh managed to get the F4U into the air with 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) of bombs, with a 2,000 lb (900 kg) bomb on the centerline and a 1,000 lb (450 kg) bomb under each wing.[37] In the course of such experiments, he performed strikes on Japanese positions during the battle for the Marshall Islands.[38]
By the beginning of 1945, the Corsair was a full-blown "mudfighter," performing strikes with high-explosive bombs, napalm tanks, and HVARs. She proved surprisingly versatile, able to operate everything from Bat glide bombs (without sacrificing a load of 2.75 in {70 mm} rockets)[39] to 11.75 in (300 mm) Tiny Tim rockets.[40] She was a prominent participant in the fighting for the Palaus, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa Prefecture, with the ground-pounders calling it the "Sweetheart" for its welcome services when things were getting nasty.[citation needed]
Statistics compiled at the end of the war indicate that the F4U and FG flew 64,051 operational sorties for the U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy through the conflict (44% of total fighter sorties), with only 9,581 sorties (15%) flown from carrier decks.[41] F4U and FG pilots claimed 2,140 air combat victories against 189 losses to enemy aircraft, for an overall kill ratio of over 11:1.[42] The aircraft performed well against the best Japanese opponents with a 12:1 kill ratio against Mitsubishi A6M, 7:1 against Nakajima Ki-84, 13:1 against Kawanishi N1K-J, and 3:1 against Mitsubishi J2M during the last year of the war.[43] The Corsair bore the brunt of fighter-bomber missions, delivering 15,621 tons of bombs during the war (70% of total bombs dropped by fighters during the war).[42]
Corsair losses in the World War II were as follows:

• By combat: 189
• By enemy anti-aircraft artillery: 349
• Accidents during combat missions: 230
• Accidents during non-combat flights: 692
• Destroyed aboard ships or on the ground: 164[42]

One particularly interesting kill was scored by a Marine Lieutenant R.R. Klingman of VMF-312 Checkerboards, over Okinawa. According to the story, he was in pursuit of a Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu ("Nick") twin engine fighter at extremely high altitude when his guns jammed due to the gun lubrication thickening from the extreme cold. He simply flew up and chopped off the Ki-45's tail with the big propeller of the Corsair. Despite missing five inches (127 mm) off the end of his propeller blades, he managed to land safely and was awarded the Navy Cross.[44].

[edit] Korean War

During the Korean War, the Corsair was used mostly in the close-support role. The AU-1 Corsair was a ground-attack version produced for the Korean War; its Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine, while supercharged, was not as highly "blown" as on the F4U.[citation needed] As the Corsair moved from its air superiority role in World War II into the close air support role in the Korean Conflict, the gull wing proved to be a useful feature. A straight, low-wing design would have blocked most of the visibility from the cockpit toward the ground while in level flight, but a Corsair pilot could look through a "notch" and get a better ground reference without having to bank one way or the other to move the wing out of the way.[citation needed]
The AU-1, F4U-4B, -4C, -4P, and -5N logged combat in Korea between 1950 and 1953.[45] There were dogfights between F4Us and Soviet-built Yakovlev Yak-9 fighters early in the conflict, but when the enemy introduced the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, the Corsair was outmatched, though one Marine pilot did get lucky. On 10 September 1952, a MiG-15 made the mistake of getting into a turning contest with a Corsair piloted by Captain Jesse G. Folmar, with Folmar shooting the MiG down with his four 20 millimeter cannon.[46] The MiG's wingmen quickly had their revenge, shooting down Folmar, though he bailed out and was swiftly rescued with little injury.
Corsair night fighters were used to an extent. The enemy adopted the tactic of using low-and-slow Polikarpov Po-2 intruders to perform night harassment strikes on American forces, and jet-powered night fighters found catching these "Bedcheck Charlies" troublesome. U.S. Navy F4U-5Ns were posted to shore bases to hunt them down, with U.S. Navy Lieutenant Guy Pierre Bordelon, Jr. becoming the Navys only ace in the conflict, as well as the only ace to not score any victories in a jet plane.[47] "Lucky Pierre" was credited with five kills (two Yakovlev Yak-18 and three Po-2).[46] Navy and Marine Corsairs were credited with a total of 12 enemy aircraft.[46]
More generally, Corsairs performed attacks with cannon, napalm tanks, various iron bombs and unguided rockets. The old HVAR was a reliable standby, however sturdy Soviet-built armor proved resistant to the HVAR's punch leading to a new 6.5 in (16.5 cm) hollow-charge antitank warhead being developed. The result was called the "Anti-Tank Aircraft Rocket (ATAR)." The big 11.75 inch (29.8 cm) Tiny Tim was also used in combat, with two under the belly.[48] There is a story of a Corsair pilot who cut enemy communications lines by snagging them with his arresting hook.[citation needed]
Lieutenant Thomas J. Hudner, Jr., flying with naval squadron VF-32 off the USS Leyte, was awarded the Medal of Honor for crash landing his Corsair in an attempt to rescue his squadron mate, Ensign Jesse L. Brown, whose aircraft had been forced down by antiaircraft fire near Changjin.[49]

[edit] Royal Navy

FAA introduced the Corsair into service before the USN. British units solved the landing visibility problem by approaching the carrier in a medium left-hand turn, which allowed the pilot to keep the carrier's deck in view over the dip in the port wing, allowing safe carrier operations.[50]
In the early days of the war, RN fighter requirements had been based on cumbersome two-seat designs, such as the Blackburn Skua, Fairey Fulmar, and Fairey Firefly, on the assumption they would only be fighting long range bombers or flying boats. The RN hurriedly adopted higher performance but less robust types derived from land based aircraft, such as the Supermarine Seafire. The Corsair was welcomed as a much more robust and versatile alternative.[citation needed]
In RN service, most Corsairs had their outer wings clipped to assist with carrier storage as well as benefitting its low-altitude performance.[citation needed] Despite the clipped wings and the shorter decks of British carriers, RN aviators found landing accidents less of a problem than they had been to USN aviators due to the curved approach used. RN Corsairs saw widespread service with the British Pacific Fleet from late 1944 until the end of the war, some six carrier-based squadrons flying intensive ground attack/interdiction operations and also claiming 47.5 aircraft shot down.[citation needed]
The Royal Navy received 95 Corsair Mk Is and 510 Mk IIs, these being equivalent to the F4U-1 and -1A. Goodyear-built aircraft were known as Mk IIIs (equivalent to FG-1D), and Brewster-built aircraft as Mk IVs (equivalent to F3A-1D). British Corsairs had their wing tips clipped, 20 cm being removed at the tips, to allow storage of the F4U on the lower-overhead British carriers. The Royal Navy was the first to clear the F4U for carrier operations. It proved 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.[citation needed]
Fleet Air Arm units were created and equipped in the US, at Quonset Point or Brunswick and then shipped to war theaters aboard escort carriers. The first FAA Corsair unit was No. 1830, created on the first of June 1943, and soon operating from HMS Illustrious. At the end of the war, 19 FAA squadrons were operating with the Corsair. British Corsairs operated both in Europe and in the Pacific. The first, and also most important, European operations were the series of attacks in April, July and August 1944 on the German battleship Tirpitz, for which Corsairs from HMS Victorious and HMS Formidable provided fighter cover.[51] It appears the Corsairs did not encounter aerial opposition on these raids.
FAA Corsairs originally fought in a camouflage scheme with a Dark Slate Grey/Extra Dark Sea Grey disruptive pattern on top and Sky undersides, but were later painted overall dark blue. Those operating in the Pacific theater acquired a specialized British insignia - a modified blue-white roundel with white "bars" to make it look more like a U.S. than a Japanese insignia to prevent friendly-fire incidents. A total of 2,012 Corsairs were supplied to the United Kingdom.[28]
In the Pacific, FAA Corsairs began to operate in April 1944, participating in an attack on Sabang, and later in the attack on oil refineries at Palembang. In July and August 1945, Corsair squadrons Nos. 1834, 1836, 1841, and 1842 took part in a series of strikes on the Japanese mainland, near Tokyo. They operated from the carriers HMS Victorious and Formidable.[52]
At least one Corsair was captured by the Germans, this was Corsair JT404 from No. 1841 squadron (HMS Formidable). Wing Leader Lt Cdr RS Baker-Falkner made an emergency landing on 18 July 1944 in a field at Sorvag, near Bodø, Norway. The Corsair was captured intact and it is not known if it was taken to Germany.[53]
On 9 August 1945, days before the end of the war, FAA Corsairs from Formidable were attacking Shiogama harbor on the northeast coast of Japan. Canadian pilot, Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray, was hit by flak but pressed home his attack on a Japanese destroyer, sinking it with a 450 kilogram (1,000 pound) bomb but crashing into the sea. He was posthumously awarded Canada's last Victoria Cross, becoming the second fighter pilot of the war to earn a VC as well as the final Canadian casualty of the Second World War.[54].

[edit] Royal New Zealand Air Force

Equipped with obsolescent Curtiss P-40s, RNZAF squadrons in the South Pacific performed impressively compared to the American units they operated alongside, in particular in the air-to-air role. The American government accordingly decided to give New Zealand early access to the Corsair, especially as it was not initially being used from carriers. Some 424 Corsairs equipped 13 RNZAF squadrons, including No. 14 Squadron RNZAF and No. 15 Squadron RNZAF, replacing SBD Dauntless as well as P-40s.[citation needed]
In late 1944, the F4U equipped all twelve Pacific-based fighter units of the RNZAF.[55] The first squadrons to use the Corsair were Nos 20 and 21, on Espiritu Santo island, operational in May 1944. In the RNZAF Corsair units, only the pilots and a small staff belonged to the squadron; aircraft and maintenance crew were grouped in a pool.[citation needed]
By the time the Corsairs arrived, there were virtually no Japanese aircraft left in New Zealand's allocated sectors of the Southern Pacific, and despite the RNZAF Squadrons extending their operations to more northern islands, they were primarily used for close support of American, Australian and New Zealander soldiers fighting the Japanese. New Zealander pilots were aware of the Corsair's poor forward view and tendency to ground loop, but found these drawbacks could be solved by pilot training in curved approaches before use from rough forward airbases.[citation needed]
The RNZAF Corsairs mainly flew close-support missions, and as a consequence did not claim a single enemy aircraft shot down. At the end of 1945, all Corsair squadrons but one (No. 14) were disbanded. That last squadron was based in Japan, until the Corsair was retired from service in 1947.[56]
No. 14 Squadron took its Corsairs to Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force. Only one airworthy example of the 424 aircraft procured survives: NZ5648/ZK-COR, owned by the Old Stick and Rudder Company at Masterton, NZ. One other mostly complete aircraft and the remains of two others were known to be held by a private collector at Ardmore, NZ, in 1996. Their current whereabouts are unknown.[57].[58]

[edit] French Navy (Aeronavale)

A total of 94 F4U-7s were built for the Aeronavale in 1952, with the last of the batch, the final Corsair built, rolled out in December 1952. The F4U-7s were actually purchased by the U.S. Navy and passed on to the Aeronavale through the U.S. Military Assistance Program (MAP). The French used their F4U-7s during the bitter end of the First Indochina War in the 1950s, where they were supplemented by at least 25 ex-U.S.MC AU-1s passed on to the French in 1954, after the end of the Korean War.[59]
French Corsairs also performed strikes in the Algerian War in 1955 and 1956 and assisted in the Anglo-French-Israeli seizure of the Suez Canal in October 1956, codenamed Operation Musketeer. The Corsairs were painted with yellow and black recognition stripes for this operation. In 1960, some French Corsairs were rigged to carry four SS-11 wire-guided missiles. This was a more or less experimental fit and it is hard to believe it worked well, since it required a pilot to "fly" the missile after launch with a joystick while keeping track of a flare on its tail – an exercise that might be very tricky in a single-seat aircraft under combat conditions. All French Corsairs were out of service by 1964, with some surviving for museum display or as civilian warbirds.[57]

[edit] The "Football War"

Corsairs flew their final combat missions during the 1969 "Football War" between Honduras and El Salvador. The conflict was famously triggered, though not really caused, by a disagreement over a football (soccer) match. Both sides claimed various numbers of kills, and each side disputed the claims of the other.[60]

[edit] Legacy

The Corsair entered service in 1942. Although designed as a carrier fighter, initial operation from carrier decks proved to be troublesome. Its low-speed handling was tricky due to the port wing stalling before the starboard wing.[citation needed] This factor, together with poor visibility over the long nose (leading to one of its nicknames, "The Hose Nose"), made landing a Corsair on a carrier a difficult task. For these reasons, most Corsairs initially went to Marine Corps squadrons who operated off land-based runways, with some early Goodyear built examples (designated FG-1A) being built with fixed, non-folding wings.[28] The USMC aviators welcomed the Corsair with open arms as its performance was far superior to the contemporary Brewster Buffalo and Grumman F4F-3 and -4 Wildcat, and superior in a number of ways to the F6F Hellcat, which replaced the Wildcat.
Moreover, the Corsair was able to outperform the primary Japanese fighter, the Mitsubishi A6M "Zero". While the Zero could out-turn the F4U at low speed, the Corsair was faster and could out-climb and out-dive the A6M.[61] Tactics developed early in the war, such as the Thach Weave, took advantage of the Corsair's strengths.
This performance advantage, combined with the ability to take severe punishment, meant a pilot could place an enemy aircraft in the killing zone from the F4U's six .50 (12.7 mm) Browning machine guns and keep him there long enough to inflict major damage. The 2,300 rounds carried by the Corsair gave over one full minute of fire from each gun, which, fired in three to six-second bursts, made F4U a devastating weapon against aircraft, ground targets, and even ships.[citation needed]
Beginning in 1943, the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) also received Corsairs and flew them successfully from Royal Navy carriers in combat with the British Pacific Fleet and in Norway.[62] These were clipped-wing Corsairs, the wingtips shortened eight inches (20 cm) to clear the lower overhead height of RN carriers. FAA also developed a curving landing approach to overcome the F4U's deficiencies.[63]
Corsairs served with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marines, Fleet Air Arm, and the Royal New Zealand Air Force, as well the French Aeronavale and other services postwar. It quickly became the most capable carrier-based fighter-bomber of World War II. Demand for the aircraft soon overwhelmed Vought's manufacturing capability, resulting in production by Goodyear (as the FG-1) and Brewster (as the F3A-1). From the first prototype delivery to the U.S. Navy in 1940, to final delivery in 1953 to the French, 12,571 F4U Corsairs were manufactured by Vought,[64] in 16 separate models.[65][66]
Infantrymen nicknamed the Corsair "The Sweetheart of the Marianas" and "The Angel of Okinawa" for its roles in these campaigns. Among Navy and Marine aviators, however, the aircraft was nicknamed "Ensign Eliminator" and "Bent-Wing Eliminator" because it required many more hours of flight training to master than other Navy carrier-borne aircraft. It was also called simply "U-bird" or "Bent Wing Bird".[64]The Japanese allegedly nicknamed it "Whistling Death", for the noise made by airflow through the wing root-mounted oil cooler air intakes.[67][68]
The Corsair has been named the official aircraft of Connecticut,[69] due to its connection with Sikorsky Aircraft, in legislation sponsored by state senator George "Doc" Gunther; Gunther had also organized a Corsair Celebration and Symposium at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford, Connecticut, on Memorial Day, 29 May 2006.[70]

[edit] Operators


An Aéronavale F4U-7 Corsair of 14.F flotilla



Corsair FG-1D (Goodyear built F4U-1D) in the Royal New Zealand Air Force markings


Argentina

• Argentine Navy

El Salvador

• El Salvador Air Force

France

• Aéronavale

Honduras

• Honduran Air Force

Indonesia

• Tentara Nasional Indonesia - Angkatan Udara/TNI-AU

New Zealand

• Royal New Zealand Air Force

United Kingdom

• Fleet Air Arm

United States

• United States Navy
• United States Marine Corps

[edit] Survivors




F2G-1 "Super Corsair" #88458, painted as Race #57, owned by Bob Odergaard of Kindred, North Dakota, flying at the 2005 AirVenture at Oshkosh, Wisconsin.


Over two dozen Corsairs are believed to be still airworthy, most in the United States. Others are found in museum collections worldwide.

• FG-1D 92436: In flying condition (currently undergoing complete restoration in Idaho) owner: Olympic Flight Museum, olympia airport, Olympia, Washington state
• FG-1D 92106: 17,000 hour restoration completed in 2003 by Airpower Unlimited, judged as 2003 Oshkosh E.A.A. Airventure Grand Champion Warbird - World War II and 2003 - Rolls Royce - Heritage Trophy Reno, NV - People's Choice Trophy . Acquired in 2007 by Vintage Wings of Canada, Ottawa/Gatineau Airport(CYND), Canada and flown regularly for commemorative events.[71]
• FG-1D #88382: on static display in the Personal Courage Wing of The Museum of Flight, Seattle, Washington
• F4U-1A #17799: in flying condition at the "Air Museum Planes of Fame," Chino, California
• F4U-1D #50375: on static display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia
• XF4U-4 #80750: on static display at the New England Air Museum, Windsor Locks, Connecticut
• F4U-4 #97142: on static display at the Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona
• F4U-4 #97280 / NX712RD: on static display at the Cavanaugh Flight Museum, Addison, Texas
• F4U-4 #97286: Angel of Okinawa on static display at the Fantasy of Flight Museum, Polk City, Florida. This aircraft was owned by Merle B. Gustafson from 1972 until 1984.
• F4U-4 #97349: on static display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, NAS Pensacola, Florida
• F4U-4 #97369: on static display at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, Quantico, Virginia
• F4U-5N #121881: former Argentine Navy aircraft (c/n 121881, COAN serial 0389), although missing its radome, restored in the colors of Lt. Guy Bordelon. Flying as a night fighter in Korea as a member of VC-3 Squadron, U.S. Navy, Lt. Bordelon was the only U.S. ace in Korea who flew a propeller driven airplane. Lone Star Flight Museum, Galveston, Texas
• F4U-5N #122189: on static display at the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum, MCAS Miramar, California[72]
• F4U-5N: In flying condition, served with the Honduran Air Force and saw combat in the ground-attack role in 1969 against El Salvador. Indiana Aviation Museum, Valparaiso, Indiana
• F4U-7 #133704: on static display at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park, Mobile, Alabama
• F2G-1 "Super Corsair" NX4324: Restored by Doug Champlin is on display in the Great Gallery of the Museum of Flight in Seattle Washington.
• F2G-1 "Super Corsair" #88458: in flying condition, painted as Race #57 at the Fargo Air Museum, Fargo, North Dakota
• F2G-1D "Super Corsair" #88463: Race No. 74 was sold to Walter Soplata, of Newberry, Ohio. This F2G was acquired by the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. Bob Odergaard of Kindred, N.D. is restoring the aircraft to static condition.
• F4U-5 #121928: last remaining in Argentina (c/n 121928, COAN serial 0391), on static display as 3-A-211 at the Museo de la Aviacion Naval, Espora Naval Air Base, Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
• F4U-7 #133704 (not original Bu#): in flying condition, restored as a Flotille (Squadron ) 14F, Marine Nationale (French Navy). Originally a former F4U-5NL Argentine Navy aircraft (Bu#124541, COAN serial 0433, 3-A-204) which was on static display at the Museo Naval de la Nacion, Tigre, Argentina. Sold in 1991, currently privately owned in France.

[edit] Popular culture

• Flying Leathernecks (1951) starring John Wayne, was about a Marine Corps squadron flying Corsairs while developing close-support tactics.
• The exploits of Marine Corps squadron VMF-214, which flew the Corsair in the Pacific during the war, were depicted in the popular 1976 made-for-TV movie Baa Baa Black Sheep (also released as Flying Misfits) and the follow-up television series Baa Baa Black Sheep, which aired from 1976 to 1978). The TV series featured six genuine flying Corsairs, but the storylines were fictional. See also Pappy Boyington.
• The Corsair plays a prominent role in W.E.B. Griffin's book series, The Corps (1986- present).

[edit] Specifications


[edit] F4U-1A

Data from Aeroweb[73]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1 pilot
• Length: 33 ft 4 in (10.1 m)
• Wingspan: 41 ft 0 in (12.5 m)
• Height: 16 ft 1 in (4.90 m)
• Wing area: 314 ft² (29.17 m²)
• Empty weight: 8,982 lb (4,073 kg)
• Loaded weight: 14,000 lb (6,300 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney R-2800-8W radial engine, 2,250 hp (1,678 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 425 mph (369 knots, 684 km/h)
• Range: 1,015 mi (882 nm, 1,634 km)
• Service ceiling 36,900 ft (11,200 m)
• Rate of climb: 3,180 ft/min (16.2 m/s)

Armament

• Guns:
  • 4× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns, 400 rounds per gun
  • 2× 0.50 in Browning M2 machine guns, 375 rounds per gun
• Rockets: 4× 5 in (12.7 cm) High Velocity Aircraft Rockets and/or
• Bombs: 2,000 lb (910 kg)

[edit] F4U-4

Data from Aeroweb[74]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1 pilot
• Length: 33 ft 8 in (10.2 m)
• Wingspan: 41 ft 0 in (12.5 m)
• Height: 14 ft 9 in (4.50 m)
• Empty weight: 9,205 lb (4,174 kg)
• Loaded weight: 14,669 lb (6,653 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney R-2800-18W radial engine, 2,450 hp (1,827 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 446 mph (388 knots, 718 km/h)
• Range: 1,005 mi (873 nm, 1,618 km)
• Service ceiling 41,500 ft (12,649 m)
• Rate of climb: 3,870 ft/min (19.7 m/s)

Armament

• Guns:
  • 6× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns, 400 rounds per gun or
  • 4× 20 mm AN/M2 cannons
• Rockets: 8× 5 in (12.7 cm) High Velocity Aircraft Rockets and/or
• Bombs: 4,000 lb (1820 kg)