Guy Alcala wrote:
Peter Stickney wrote:

In article ,
Guy Alcala
writes:
John Carrier wrote:

Excellent post. I particularly liked the
link to the USN tests. As the
Corsair's opponent was almost exclusively
Japanese, it must have been a
revelation to find there was an airplane
it could outturn (okay, there was
the P-47).

The impact of a weapon system with an effective
range of perhaps 1500 feet
skews the weighting of A/C performance
characteristics quite a bit when
compared to modern machinery. But then
as now, speed was life.

In fairness I should mention that Eric Brown,
who'd flown all three
extensively, reached a different conclusion
than this USN comparison. Re the
Corsair II (F4U-1A with clipped wingtips)
vs. the FW-190A-4, he wrote:

"This would be a contest between a heavyweight
and a lightweight fighter, with
virtually all the advantages on the side
of the latter. Having flown both a/c
a lot, I have no doubt as to which I would
rather fly. The FW-190A-4 could
not be bested by the Corsair.

"Verdict: The FW-190A-4 was arguably the
best piston-engine fighter of World
War II [Note: he probably means the FW-190
series. Later in the book, when
rating the best performing piston-fighters
of WW2 , he rates the Spit XIV
number one with the inline-engined FW-190D-9
just a nose behind, and the P-51D
(Mustang IV) a tad behind that, deliberately
ignoring operational issues such
as range]. It is a clear winner in combat
with the Corsair."

F6F-3 vs. FW-190A-4:

"This would be a showdown between two classic
fighters. The German had a
speed advantage of 30 mph, the American
a slight advantage in climb. Both
were very maneuverable* and both had heavy
firepower. By 1944 the FW-190 was
a little long in the tooth, while the Hellcat
was a relative newcomer; still,
the superb technology built into the German
fighter by Kurt Tank was not
outmoded. The Hellcat had broken the iron
grip of the Zeke in the Far East,
but the FW-190A-4 was a far tougher opponent.

"Verdict: This was a contest so finely
balanced that the skill of the pilot
would probably be the deciding factor."

*A somewhat odd statement, as the Hellcat
had the typically mushy Grumman
ailerons. But it could certainly out-turn
the 190.

Some of that may, repeat _may_ be personal
preference sneaking in.

I tend to agree, although I've also talked to
a navy pilot who had considerable time
in both who said that the Hellcat was superior.
But like the pilot ratings at the
fighter meets, subjectivity does creep in, which
allows the same a/c's features to
be rated both best of and worst of, with numerous
pilots in each group. Still,
Brown was a test pilot, and presumably a bit
more objective than a line pilot, at
least as far as flight characteristics went.

Cdr Brown just plain didn't like the Corsair
much at all, in any
version.

I agree, although I don't remember if he ever
flew the ones with water injection
etc. He certainly must have flown the ones
with the improved oleos, raised seat,
and stall strip.

Reading his reports, I get the feeling that
the Spitfire fit
him just right, and that's what he was measuring
against.

He is a little guy, whereas Boone Guyton (Vought
Corsair project pilot) was 6'4".

(But not
teh Seafire, particularly, he rates it last
in "Duels in the Sky" for
carrier-based fighters, due to its poor behavior
around the boat.
It would be interesting to see what his opinion
was of the P-47,
which was pretty similar to the Corsair in
size & performance, albeit
with better control harmony.

While he certainly is Very British, he's not
a blind chauvanist.

Defintely not, when you consider his appreciation
for Grumman products. And when he
puts the Spit XIV and Mustang IV head to head,
he rates them essentially equal in
the air, with the Spit having a slight advantage
if he was forced to chose. I do
think he underrates the Mustang's affect on
the European air war compared to the
Hellcat's effect on the Pacific air war, in
arriving at his final ranking.

Guy

Weren't the USN tests of the captured 190 in anticipation that the 190
had been sold to Japan and that Corsair and Hellcat pilots would encounter
them in the Pacific? The 190 would have been a good carrier fighter had the
Germans ever finished the Graf Zeppelin CV instead of listening to the Fat
Boy and taking naval air from the Navy to the Luftwaffe.

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