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WW II FIGHTERS
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I NS I D
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SPITFIRE
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EDITORIAL
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his Flight Journal special issue is more special than That being said, perhaps Corky’s most appreciated skill
any we’ve done in the past 21 years. That is because was his unique ability to spin a terrifically exciting and
we’re revisiting tales told in the pages of Flight Journal humorous flying tale and still pass along technical informa-
by people who were privy to knowledge only they, tion in a way that made sense to Everyman. When reading
4 FlightJournal.com
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CURTISS P-40
TEST PILOT RELATES A CLOSE CALL
BY CORKY MEYER
WW II Fighters 7
CURTISS P-40 WARHAWK
Without a doubt, the P-40 was the most loved and sticky day—and I was watching a Stinson
and hated fighter to serve in WW II. It was Reliant NC 17124 taxi into position at the East
the first single-seat fighter available in such Boston airport for takeoff for a three-hour, cross-
large numbers, so it was used on all fronts, and country training flight. This was an important
even though it was widely considered to be part of my government-funded, MIT-sponsored,
outmoded in comparison with the far-superior civilian pilot-training program. I should have
enemy fighters, its deficiencies were balanced by been aboard, but my trolley ride from MIT was
how easy it was for low-time pilots to transition late getting me to the airport, and my instructor
into it and its ability to absorb terrible punish- had to replace me with another student. I stood
ment and bring its pilots home. Its design was there envious of him—a few seconds later, I
structurally agreeable to modifications, which wouldn’t be.
allowed it to keep up with wartime’s changing As the Stinson was given a green light from
The P-40N I flew on June 30, requirements almost until the end of hostilities. the tower (there were no radios in towers at
1943. From this angle, it’s Between the two world wars, U.S. fighter the time), it began to roll. Out of the corner
easy to see why the aircraft
absolutely must be S-turned development fell behind the rest of the air forces of my eye, I saw a P-40B from the Army Air
both on the ground and in of the world because of the U.S. Army Air Corps’ Corps squadron start its takeoff roll from the
climbs if the pilot is to have (USAAC) overwhelming preoccupation with the other side of the field. Stunned, I watched the
clear forward vision. (Photo
courtesy of Northrop Grum-
long-range, four-engine B-17 and B-24 bombers. planes crash in the center of the field. The P-40
man History Center, via This policy devoured a large portion of the Air clawed its way through the Stinson, killing the
Corky Meyer) Corps’ limited appropriations during the 10-year instructor pilot and severely maiming two of my
Depression era. The massive defensive arma- student-pilot friends. The third student and the
ment of the four-engine bombers and the small Air Corps pilot were miraculously unhurt. Both
difference between the performance of fighters aircraft came to a stop without exploding. P-40
and bombers at the time greatly aided and abet- accidents had become all too frequent at the
ted B-17 and B-24 manufacturing. East Boston airport. During the previous three
Fortunately, by December 7, 1941, Curtiss had weeks, there had been two fatal P-40 spins to the
delivered 3,024 P-40s and Bell had delivered 939 ground shortly after takeoff. In a daze, I walked
P-39s to the USAAC. Those deliveries provided back into Wiggins Airways operations office to
more than half of the fighter strength available find out if, or when, I would fly again.
to the USAAC overseas until September 1943, My next P-40 encounter was when I worked
when the P-38 Lightning, P-47 Thunderbolt, and as a test pilot for Grumman during WW II. In
P-51 Mustang arrived in the European and Pacific June 1943, Bud Gillies, who was vice president
theaters of operation. The P-40’s length of duty of flight operations, told me that there was to be
and usefulness is acknowledged by the fact that a swapping of Army Air Corps and Navy fight-
one 91-plane fighter group existed in the overseas ers for test-pilot evaluation and familiarization
inventory until the end of the war in 1945. at the various U.S. aircraft plants. After that
announcement, we soon took delivery of the
I Meet a P-40 Warhawk latest P-51B, P-40N, P-38G, and a P-39 aircraft.
My first exposure to a Curtiss P-40 came exactly The Curtiss P-40N arrived on July 30, 1943. Bud
15 months before my career as a Grumman Gillies and chief test pilot Connie Converse
test pilot began. It was August 12, 1941—a hot checked themselves out in it before I flew it.
8 FlightJournal.com
This P-40N shows the
The Very Skimpy P-40N • The one-page dive section had absolutely 20-inch extension on the
aft fuselage; the extension
Pilots’ Handbook no airspeed versus normal acceleration (G) moved the fin and rudder far-
When it was my turn to fly my first non-Grum- data that would show the buffet boundaries or ther behind the horizontal-tail
man fighter, I thought I was fully informed G-limitation curves as these change with alti- assembly to improve direc-
tional stability and to reduce
of its quirks because I had scanned the pilots’ tude. A pilot had no way of knowing this crucial the blanking of the vertical tail
handbook once. information before going solo unless he asked during spins. Unfortunately,
To refresh my memory as I wrote this article, his instructor. With the lack of information in it was a grossly insufficient
attempt to improve the very
I had Jay Whistler, a friend of mine, send me a the handbook, he might well pull the wings off bad handling characteristics
copy of the June 1944 P-40N pilots’ handbook, in a dive recovery. in the low-speed, stall-spin
which has an introduction signed off by the regime. (Photo courtesy of
• The dive section also states: “Vertical dives the USAAC, via Corky Meyer)
chief of the Army Air Corps, Gen. “Hap” Arnold.
Reading it today was a shock to me because of from above 20,000 feet are not recommended
the dearth of information provided for pilot because of the danger of compressibility.” But
checkout. Here are a few of its revelations and there wasn’t any mention of compressibility’s
Twenty-six P-40s were
just a few examples of its deficiencies: terrible effects, e.g., that it would, at low altitude, lengthened to make room
freeze the controls and prevent the pilot from for complete instructor pilot
• It had only one picture of the pilot’s instru- pulling out. All this information was well known cockpits to accelerate the
training of wartime pilots and
ment panel—no pictures of the right- and left- at the date of publication of this handbook. to lower the airplane’s acci-
side cockpit panels. Nothing on the instrument dent rate. (Photo courtesy of
panel picture was labeled or identified. However, it did say in the stalls section, “You the USAAC ,via Corky Meyer)
WW II Fighters 9
CURTISS P-40 WARHAWK
can stall the P-40 at any speed, in any position, The view over the nose was poor, and to taxi
if you coordinate the controls properly.” It also safely, I had to use the brakes a lot and S-turn all
had a stern warning: “Do not practice stalls the way down the runway to the takeoff posi-
under 8,000 feet; you might not have room to tion and during the subsequent takeoff ground
recover.” And I had missed that part completely! run. I then clearly saw why the P-40 pilot of the
Boston accident couldn’t possibly have seen the
Flying the P-40N Stinson taking off.
I sat in the cockpit and spent 15 minutes becom- I took off amid the clatter of the mighty
ing familiar with the details; then I started the Allison V-1710-99’s 1360hp with my canopy
engine and taxied out for takeoff. While taxiing, I open (as we did in all Navy fighters). The accel-
noted that the throttle had two pieces of soft alu- eration to climb speed was considerably faster
minum safety wire across the throttle slot—one than that of the Hellcat, but because of its much
at about one inch away from and another at half higher nose angle, I had to S-turn during the
an inch from the full-throttle position. I didn’t climb because there were then very many Grum-
remember reading about that. It was another man and Republic Aviation test flights being
minor detail omitted from the handbook! conducted over Long Island. But I soon began to
10 FlightJournal.com
into the Army Air Corps 23rd Pursuit Group,
they destroyed 297 aircraft with a loss of
only 35 of their own owing to Japanese
action—a fantastic 8.5-to-1 kill-to-loss ratio
for a “second-class” fighter. Their tactic of
making only high-speed attacks on Japa-
nese Zeros and not staying to dogfight with
the nimble aircraft became the standard
U.S. fighter tactic against Japanese aircraft
for the rest of the war.
The P-40N was the last of the “ubiqui-
tous” Warhawk production line. During
August 1943, Curtiss delivered 463 P-40Ls
as the monthly record for P-40 produc-
tion. In all, 13,768 P-40s of all models had
been accepted since May 1940. Production
ended in November 1944. After winning a U.S. Army Air Corps modification contract on April 26, 1938, the Curtiss Co. modified its radial-
Because of the very high training and engine P-36 into an in-line Allison V-1710-powered fighter that became the XP-40. It first flew on October 14,
1938, with test pilot Ed Elliot at the controls. (Photo courtesy of Stan Piet)
operational stall-spin accident rates, the
P-40F-5 and subsequent models had an ex-
tension added to the rear of its fuselage and stability and greatly reduced the blanking directional stability in normal flight because
its fin and rudder were moved aft by 20 inch- out of the fin and rudder by the horizontal the rudder and fin were much farther back
es. This supposedly improved its directional tail surfaces during spins. It also improved from the aircraft’s center of gravity.
enjoy flying the Warhawk because of its startling teristics. That damn fool Army Air Corps just
performance. added acres of additional cement to its runways
I had learned that the first thing a test pilot to cope with these higher landing speeds.
does is to check out the landing-condition stall Grumman engineers just wouldn’t tolerate
carefully so that he will understand the aircraft’s such wretched handling qualities. The P-40 had
possible flight characteristics and airspeeds in talked loudly to me, but my youthful arrogance
this regime before landing. I promptly did this closed my mind and ears.
and found that the Army Air Corps’ aircraft I then tried loops and slow rolls. Loops were
showed an abrupt wing dropping on either easy because the P-40 had a lot of acceleration
side with just a little rudder angle; this would power at low altitude, and it held it well going
be accompanied by a prompt and rapid roll in over the top of the loop. My first slow roll
either direction followed by an altitude loss of should have been an eye-opener, too. The P-40
several thousand feet until a 25mph increase in snap-rolled for the last half of the supposedly
recovery airspeed had been attained. My only controlled slow roll without any intention on
thought was that this is an inferior Army Air my part for it to do so. I assumed that my con-
Corps airplane with unacceptable stall charac- trol coordination was poor. I did several more
WW II Fighters 11
CURTISS P-40 WARHAWK
slow rolls at a higher airspeed and found that I airport. During my final approach, another test
had mastered the beast. The airplane had now pilot buzzed the runway in a Hellcat going quite
shouted to me twice, but I still had not listened. quickly under me and in the same direction.
At age 23, you know more about everything This was not an unusual occurrence in those
than God himself. days. The war effort syndrome allowed test
I then checked cruise performance and found pilots to get away with murder when it came to
August 1943: P-40M-1 of
the 44th Fighter Squadron it to be about 30mph higher than the Hellcat’s; breaking the CAA (now FAA) rules.
on Munda Field, New Georgia, this furthered my delight in flying the Warhawk. Having previously determined that the
Solomon Islands. The 18th The stabilities and balance of control forces Warhawk had much better power/thrust accel-
Fighter Group arrived when
the Marines had secured this
about the aileron, rudder, and elevator axes were eration than the Hellcat, I decided to retract the
former Japanese airfield. This satisfactory, but I was still unhappy about the wheels and flaps and give it a go at a rat race
P-40 had a 75-gallon drop lack of forward visibility at cruising speeds. (also the result of the war-effort syndrome). I
tank that extended its range
I had filled my kneepad card with many pushed the throttle forward without breaking
by about 150 miles. (Photo
courtesy of the USAAF, via numbers (which is a sign of a great test pilot!), the two wires that I had previously noted, and
Corky Meyer) so I proceeded back to the Grumman Bethpage I pulled up into a steep fighter climb as the
12 FlightJournal.com
The red-spinner Death’s Head
P-40Ns of the 80th Fighter
Group all had 75-gallon
external drop tanks installed
because of the long distances
they were required to fly over
water between the Solomon
Islands. In 1944, their mission
was to locate the retreat-
ing Imperial Japanese Army.
Many P-40s later carried
three 75-gallon drop tanks for
an even longer range. (Photo
courtesy of the USAAF, via
Corky Meyer)
wheels and flaps retracted. senses, retarded the throttle, and climbed to
At about 700 feet, my exuberance ended 1,500 feet. I immediately turned back to the air-
most abruptly when the airplane stalled unex- port because the sun had almost set and it was
pectedly and violently with my controls still rapidly getting dark.
in neutral. As I tried to right the aircraft, the If I had been a test pilot of greater experi-
control stick and rudder pedals flopped loosely ence, I might have related in this reminiscence
around the cockpit, and the airplane snapped that I had been calm; had remembered all the
back and forth in a roll. Those are the last events instructions in the handbook about spins; had
I remember clearly. The airplane shook violently. jotted meaningful notes about the incident; and
It then started into a spin, still shaking like a had made a nonchalant, smooth three-point
dog after a bath. I could see the approaching landing. But I was totally without any of these
hangars with great clarity and a strange detach- movie-star proclivities. I was stupefied. I flew
ment. I was stupefied and mesmerized, and I around the airport without calling the tower Col. Bruce Holloway with his
seemed to be sitting on the sidelines and watch- and talked to myself like a Dutch uncle. I said, mechanic and his P-40E. He
ing this unbelievable panorama unfold. My “You miserable, stupid son of a bitch. You became CO of the 23rd Fighter
Group in China, where he shot
mind was now blank as to which action I should can’t land this airplane. You are running out
down 13 Japanese aircraft.
take. It just couldn’t be happening to me! of gas. It is getting dark and you have to land (Photo courtesy of the USAAF,
The next thing I remember was that I was this airplane…,” etc. My conversation was also via Corky Meyer)
level at 50 feet above the potato
fields west of the Grumman airport
and that the ground was whizzing
by at a great speed. Mentally, I was
still only riding, not flying, this
P-40. I was not flying it because
the spin it had just done was
completely out of my frame of
reference, even in nightmares. I
eventually noted that the throttle
had been pushed full forward and
had broken both aluminum wires,
and the engine was straining with
much more power than I had
heard or felt during takeoff. I was
now in War Emergency Power.
After a few seconds, I came to my
WW II Fighters 13
CURTISS P-40 WARHAWK
sprinkled with words that impugned the legality out to the total silence of the pilot mob.
of my birth and my parents’ marital status. Later, they told me that I had made a turn
After too many circuits of the field, I humbly and a half spin, gone down below the hangar
called the tower and was given landing clear- roof on the far side of the airport and then left
ance. They were charitable and didn’t give the area like a bat out of hell. I had no recollec-
an embarrassing commentary. I made a long, tion of the number of turns in that spin.
airline-style approach at a speed that was con- That flight was the most “impressive” of my
siderably higher than my flight notes indicated test-pilot career. I learned to listen carefully to
would be required, and I landed without further airplanes for everything they had to tell me. I
ado. I taxied back to the parking area where all also became a born-again Christian immediately
the pilots were gathered. They had seen my spin after that 30-second horror event before my
and wanted to see the color of my face and pants landing.
after that farce. When the propeller stopped A few weeks later, H. A. Thomas, chief test
rotating, the airplane and I continued to shake. pilot of the P-40 program at the Buffalo, New
After my shaking had ceased, I hoped that I York, Curtiss plant, called me to ask whether
would be able to stand on my own two feet. I got what he had just heard about my spin was true,
14 FlightJournal.com
and would I please explain just how I recovered FAST-FORWARD 55 YEARS
from it. I told him it was true and that 16 Grum-
man test pilots had witnessed the deed, and
totally unbeknown to me, I had used full War
Emergency Power throttle for recovery. There
was silence for several moments. Thomas then
said that this was the only episode on record of
a P-40’s spinning below 5,000 feet altitude with
its pilot living to tell the tale. He then said (as
I had learned when discussing this event with
Grumman aerodynamicists) that power is very
destabilizing and that an increase in power
should have increased the spin’s severity instead
of assisting the recovery. However wrong it may
be, I still think that the fantastic acceleration
thrust of the Allison engine at War Emergency
Power brought the airplane out of the spin. But
I’ll never know. The P-40B sits after its crash with the Stinson SR-8D. The P-40 pilot wasn’t hurt, but his propeller
I was the spin-demonstration pilot for eight blades cut the wing off the Stinson, killed the instructor, maimed two students, and left the third
Grumman fighters afterward. I treated them all student unhurt. I was scheduled to be one of the student pilots that day, but I was half an hour late;
another student pilot took my place. (Photo courtesy of Bob Fogg, via Corky Meyer)
with great respect and humility, and with both
ears wide open. The P-40 was a potent teacher.
It taught me several things that I never forgot— I received a letter dated February 10, 1998, from Bob Fogg. He says, “The
most important, to listen to an airplane “talk,” last Flight Journal was topped by your P-40 story regarding August 12, 1941,
and it made me jump the chocks! That date was my 15th birthday, and I
even though it may just whisper; no matter how
was at Boston Airport for the day to fly with my dad in a Curtiss A-12 attack
impressive your total time is, those hours give
aircraft that the Reserves were flying at that time. My father was flying with
you no license to be arrogant with something Inter City Airlines at East Boston Airport, but he also kept his time current
that has no visible means of support! with the Reserves.
Mel Gough, who was the chief test pilot at “I watched the P-40 on its takeoff that day and only saw the Stinson
NACA (now NASA) from the 1930s through the at the last moment, when they collided and the P-40 spun around and slid
1950s, came to Grumman a few weeks after the backward, leaving the Stinson completely jackknifed. Obviously, this was
incident to hear my P-40 spin story from the a great shock to me as it must have been to you and your friends. Corky, I
“horse’s ass.” After our discussion, he asked me went out to the accident site and went within 20 feet, taking photographs
how I felt flying a new fighter for the first time. of both wrecked ships.
“It is amazing how the time has flown since that day. I wanted you to
I was stating the usual test-pilot malarkey when
know that there is someone else still alive who saw your almost demise.”
he interrupted me and said, “You’re overdoing
it, Corky. On a first flight, I retract the landing Sincerely,
gear after gaining a little altitude, fly for several Bob Fogg Jr.
minutes more, roll my eyeballs, and, if noth-
ing happens, I move the stick very slowly.” I At around the same time, I received another letter from an Inter City Airline
changed my flight-evaluation program after that mechanic who was having his lunch outside and saw the crash. Maybe I do
to match his wisdom, and I stuck with it for the still remember a few “unadulterated” facts after all these years.
rest of my career.
Col. Robert Scott titled his great fighter-pilot
book, God Is My Co-pilot. In the P-40 spin, He August 12, 1941:
was my pilot. I have been fortunate since then The wingless
cabin of the SR-8D
to have Him keep His hand on the controls for Stinson Reliant that
the rest of my life. was hit by a USAAC
Curtiss P-40B dur-
ing its takeoff in the
Epilogue middle of the East
We did hear a few details of the rest of the three Boston airport. The
other well-traveled, loaned Army Air Forces P-40B’s propeller
destroyed the cabin
fighter’s travails. The P-39 Airacobra was wiped
area. (Photo cour-
out (not fatally) before it ever came to Grum- tesy of Bob Fogg,
man, and the P-38 Lightning and P-40 Warhawk via Corky Meyer)
met the same fate after they had visited us. From
the four aircraft sent out as missionaries to the
Navy’s unwashed aircraft builders, the U.S. Army
Air Corps recovered only the P-51B. It’s inter-
esting that the Hellcat, Wildcat, Avenger, and
Corsair all made the rounds and were returned
unharmed to the Navy. J
WW II Fighters 15
Flying
the
THE JUG AND I BY CORKY MEYER
P-47
16 FlightJournal.com
A restored P-47D, probably a -40, is painted to represent a -25-RA model from the 61 FS,
56 FG. The -40 model was the first to have the dorsal fin factory-fitted, while -30 models
were retrofitted with the fin in the field. (Photo by Xavier Méal)
WW II Fighters 17
FLYING THE P-47
At war’s end, my mentor, Republic chief test pilot Carl Bellinger, stands next to a P-47N-25RE. Owing to the nearness of our two flight-test operations, Carl and I
exchanged flight-test procedures, safety equipment, and instrumentation for more than 20 years. He went on to fly virtually all P/F-84 jet models, the XF-91, and
various models of the F-105. Carl was killed in an automobile accident in 1986. (Photo by Republic Aviation, courtesy of Warren Bodie and Corky Meyer)
18 FlightJournal.com
4. Under no circumstances do a split-S at less than had the same wingspan and was only 3 feet lon- Production had been given the
15,000 feet with the power on. The speed builds ger. I was soon to find out that its much greater go-ahead at Republic before
Pearl Harbor, and P-47Bs
up at a dizzying rate. If started at speeds of more weight—and consequent 130 percent higher wing
were being pushed out as
than 250mph, you can lose as much as 15,000 feet loading—would soon make me a respectful P-47B quickly as possible in 1942.
before you can complete a recovery. test pilot. But even with expansion of
These admonishments were probably written the Farmingdale, New York,
plant, P-47s also had to be
into the handbook because of the 56th Fighter Flying the Jug built in Buffalo at the Curtiss
Group’s high accident rate. It was the first USAAC The ground walk-around P-47B check was similar plant and in Evansville, Indi-
group to fly the Thunderbolt, and it lost 13 pilots to the Hellcat’s, except that you had to get down ana, in a factory specifically
built by Republic to manufac-
and 41 aircraft during training at Mitchel Field, on one knee and bend over even farther to inspect ture P-47s. A total of 15,683
New York, before leaving for Europe. the turbo-supercharger, located just ahead of the P-47s were delivered to the
The P-47 has often been written of as being “tre- tailwheel, for damage and oil leaks. USAAF. (Photo courtesy of Air
mendous” in size. True, it was considerably bigger The cockpit was quite roomy, well laid out, Age archives)
than the Bell P-39 and Curtiss P-40, but to me, it and comfortable in all seat positions. There were,
wasn’t much bigger than the Hellcat because it however, several small but unique differences.
WW II Fighters 19
FLYING THE P-47
Jug Evaluation
The first obvious difference I noted dur-
ing takeoff was the deep, muffled faraway
exhaust noise that sounded more like that of
a Cadillac than of a fighter. Compared with
that, the Hellcat’s takeoff exhaust racket —
with the exhaust stacks very near the cock-
pit—sounded like an untuned hot rod’s.
The P-47B’s additional gross weight
exceeded the Hellcat’s by 3,000 pounds and
seemed to give it an all-too-disinterested
acceleration rate when it tried to reach
its 125mph takeoff speed. I immediately
thought that Republic’s 5,000-foot runway
was much too short, especially with the
main assembly plant right at the end of
it. A few seconds later, I was pleased that
I had remembered to unlock the ground
landing-gear downlock. Had I not done
this, I would have had to look back into
the cockpit during takeoff to unlock it just
when I wanted to be sure I would clear that
onrushing factory roof. I found that P-47’s
Top: Exhaustive tests were The landing-gear handle had a locking lever that lingering takeoff impressive.
made on a new P-47D-25-RE
had to be lifted before the pilot could retract the I never did get used to the long wait for the
at the Armament Test Center,
Eglin, Florida, to determine landing gear. It was installed to prevent the gear P-47 to leave the ground. On my first of several
its performance with various from being accidentally retracted on the ground. takeoffs, I instinctively looked back at the engine
external stores. This combina- The P-47B had a multiposition lever outboard instruments several times, hoping that the throttle
tion with three 1,000-pound
bombs was one of the highest of the throttle; to avoid over- or underboosting could be pushed much farther forward. I failed to
stores loads WW II fighters the engine manifold pressure, the lever had to ask why they didn’t use partial flap deflection to
could successfully carry. be continually adjusted as altitude and aircraft shorten its ground run.
(Photo by George Calchkoff,
courtesy of Warren Bodie and
power requirements changed. I was told that The P-47’s best climb speed was 45mph higher
Corky Meyer) the proper management of these two controls than the Hellcat’s 125mph, and that added to the
required a lot of attention. The Hellcat’s mechani- long wait required to get away from the earth’s
Above: Lt. Karl Hallberg
cal supercharger handle (outboard of the throttle) crust, which seemed to scrape its fuselage bottom.
(9th Air Force) returned
from a strike mission with a had three notched positions somewhat like a car’s At 10,000 feet, I felt at home, so I moved the con-
500-pound demolition bomb stick shift. The handle’s positions were main, low trols more than I moved my eyeballs.
“hung” on his wing rack. blower, and high blower, and it was simply moved
Unbeknownst to the pilot,
when he touched down, the at 12,000 and 21,000 feet during the climb. Stall Evaluation
bomb fell off its shackles and The P-47B introduced me to the new four- Remembering the pilot’s handbook rebuke as I set
exploded. The good news was channel VHF radio. Its much higher frequencies up to do a stall, I very slowly reduced the P-47B’s
that Lt. Hallberg was saved
were a great boon to pilots because, unlike the airspeed with the flaps and landing gear retracted.
by the cockpit armor and
the P-47’s sturdy structure. Navy’s low-frequency radios, they didn’t suffer At 120mph, it started to buffet, and at 110, it
He soon returned to active from static interference during bad weather and stalled. Surprisingly, it had very little wing drop,
service. (Photo courtesy of thunderstorms. It had four preset channel buttons so I recovered and rechecked it several times with
Corky Meyer)
and did not have to be manually tuned. What a similar results. I then tried an accelerated stall at
delightful cockpit improvement! 125mph and found that even when I pulled the
Although the P-47B’s nose did not make the stick fairly hard, its stall was also preceded by a
pilot as blind when taxiing it as did the F4U-1D pronounced buffeting and very little wing drop. It
Corsair’s (which I also flew during this time), the seemed too good to be true. With the wheels and
20 FlightJournal.com
flaps down, it again stalled very
gently, and the stall was preceded
by an even stronger buffet warning
and with absolutely no wing drop.
I was amazed because its stall
characteristics were better than
the Hellcat’s, but its stall speed was
21mph higher. I was even more
impressed when I returned from
the flight and inspected the wing’s
leading edge, expecting to find stall
“fixes,” such as a cambered lead-
ing edge or leading-edge spoilers
that would give it these great stall
characteristics. There weren’t any.
The P-47 stalls’ only drawback was
that it required a more rapid and
larger throttle motion during the
recovery to minimize altitude loss. Its heavier wing excellent evasive maneuvers in combat. The first mass-production
fighter designed by Russian
loading was quite noticeable during stall recovery. With increasing confidence, I decided to make a
immigrant Alexander Kartveli
quantitative check of its longitudinal maneuvering for Seversky Aircraft in 1936
Cruise Flight Control Harmony forces to 5G at 300mph with my hand stick-force was the P-35. More than
Having acquired a more positive attitude toward indicator. In other words, I would see whether I 200 of them were exported
or sold to the USAAC. This
its landing capabilities, I went to max cruise power had to pull harder at higher speeds to get as much aircraft was the first in a
of 32 inches manifold pressure and 2,300rpm to G-force. The results showed 4 1/2 pounds per G— line of fighters designed by
check its stability about all three axes at 250mph. in the middle of the military requirement of 3 to Kartveli that spawned the
famous P-47. (Photo courtesy
I found stability in all three cases to be just what 8 pounds per G. The P-47 felt reasonably comfort- of Corky Meyer)
the doctor would have ordered for a fighter: low able for holding G in air-to-air combat-turning
but not too low for hands-off flight in moderately and bombing-pullout maneuvers. I evaluated it a
rough air. I also found that the rolling and pitching year before G-suits were issued to prevent pilots
stick forces were in the proper ratio for a fighter. from blacking out when holding higher turning G
The rudder forces, however, seemed much too high for too long.
to allow easy control coordination when turning.
Later in its production cycle, a balance tab was Altitude—The P-47’s Greatest Asset
added to the rudder to reduce forces and ensure Having previously flown the Hellcat in impromptu
comfortable aileron/rudder coordination in turns. mock dogfights against the P-47B, I knew that
As my satisfaction with this “Cadillac” increased, a Hellcat could outturn it but not outrun it. I
I tried a few mild wingovers and did slow rolls at decided to check the P-47B out at 25,000 feet to
well above 150mph! Its ailerons were much more find out why. I soon found out: The P-47B could Next in line before the P-47
came into being was the P-43,
powerful than the Hellcat’s, and it was beginning outrun a Hellcat because its turbo-supercharged
seen here flying over Wright
to feel like a fighter. Rapid rolls and/or roll reversals engine maintained its sea-level 2,000hp up to and Field before the war. (Photo
followed by tight turns were easy to do and were above 30,000 feet! The Hellcat’s mechanical super- courtesy of Stan Piet)
WW II Fighters 21
FLYING THE P-47
22 FlightJournal.com
P-47 DEVELOPMENTS
These major development changes in the P-47
fighter series increased its capabilities as fol-
lows: combat range from 575 to 2,000 miles; high
speed from 412 to 473mph; service ceiling from
38,000 to 43,000 feet; gross weight from 12,086
to 20,700 pounds; and external fuel tank and
bomb capacity from 0 to 3,000 pounds.
gave me faster acceleration, was a became faster during simulated P-47C-5: Cockpit heater finally installed
big benefit in high-altitude fighting combat, the seemingly frictionless
capability. It seemed as though the aileron and elevator controls came P-47D: Enlarged cowl flaps for engine cooling;
only way a Thunderbolt could be into their own and made wingman increased cockpit and engine armor
shot down was if its pilot were asleep formation flight easy and instinctive.
in its comfortable cockpit. P-47D-5: Water injection increased combat power
by 300hp; two-point centerline, 1,000-pound
Advanced Aerobatics bomb/fuel-tank rack installed
Formation Flight I then tried some loops and Immel-
Characteristics manns. During my first loop, I didn’t P-47D-10: Up-rated to a -63 engine with
By my third flight, my throttle/ pull enough G at the entry pull-up, 2,300hp for takeoff; two 1,000-pound wing or
supercharger coordination was and I didn’t have enough speed at fuel-tank racks; internal fuel increased from
somewhat more automatic, so I the top of the loop to continue it 207 to 375 gallons
asked another Republic production comfortably. I did have good stall-
pilot whether he would let me fly warning buffet to let me know that P-47D-22: Much simplified; larger, 13-foot 2-inch-
formation with him to see how eas- I was approaching an inverted stall, diameter Hamilton Standard propeller installed
ily a wingman would be able to fol- so I very gingerly increased back- for performance increase
low his leader as his control motions pressure and fortunately completed
P-47D-25: Bubble canopy; compressibility
increased during simulated combat. my first loop without spinning out dive-recovery flaps; lead-computing gunsight
After a few seconds of trying to see at the top. I saw the effects of the installed
the lead aircraft from a seat position higher wing loading very clearly in
that was too high and driving myself loops. They were fun, but it was clear P-47D-40: Dorsal fin; 10 HVAR wing-rocket racks
wild because my view was blocked that this fighter did not need an and -59 engine that had 2,430hp with water
by a horizontal brace in the canopy, aerobatic capability to shoot down injection installed
I lowered the seat, and formation fly- enemy aircraft. It could do it by pass-
ing became much more comfortable. ing fast and diving away to a safe P-47M: “C” engine with 2,100hp for takeoff and
The many minute control changes distance. Because spins were pro- 2,800hp with water injection installed
that are constantly required in for- hibited, I prudently decided not to
P-47N: 200 gallons internal fuel in wings and with
mation flight also show the friction try snap rolls because they are really wing strength for two external 300-gallon tanks
levels in the control systems. As my spins in level flight and can end with
leader’s rolling and pitching motions a vertical spin all too easily.
WW II Fighters 23
FLYING THE P-47
The YP-47M was a D-30 Fourth Flight—40,000 Feet with the climb until I was above 30,000 feet, at
model fitted with an
R-2800 C, rated at 2,800hp
Carl Bellinger suggested that I had enough which point I might have to level off several times
with water injection. It was low-altitude experience with turbo supercharging to cool the engine by opening the cowl flaps
the fastest production Thun- and that during my next flight, I should therefore more and picking up airspeed. At 29,000 feet, the
derbolt, with a top speed of head temperature climbed to the red line at 500°F
climb to 40,000 feet to see how delicately the
473mph. (Photo courtesy of
Warren Bodie) turbo supercharger had to be controlled when (260°C). I dutifully leveled off, opened the cowl
climbing to the service ceiling. This was to be flaps and, after several minutes, the engine had
more than an education for me; it was almost a cooled to about 428°F (220°C), so I climbed again.
calamity. The temperature soon rose to the red line, and I
Only a few months earlier, I had made my had to cool the engine again at 34,000 feet,
first—and only—flight at above 30,000 feet while 36,000 feet, 38,000 feet, and finally, with almost
climbing the Hellcat’s to its service ceiling of no rate of climb left, I made 40,000! As I had been
38,400 feet during its Navy demonstration. I had told, I did have to attend to the turbo-supercharger
done all the necessary ground pre-oxygenation lever more often at these higher altitudes. Above
to reduce the nitrogen in my body and avoid 38,000 feet, pre-stall buffeting indicated that the
the very painful body-joint “bends” experienced climbing speed was not far above stalling speed.
above 30,000 feet; I also had the pressurized I tried to look at my fingernails to see whether
breathing mask required for flights at above they were turning—the easily visible indication
30,000 feet. of oxygen starvation—but I had great difficulty
For this XP-47B flight, I had been ego-lulled into focusing on them. All of a sudden, it came to me
complacency about pre-oxygenation and the mask that I shouldn’t be there any longer without the
by those who told me that Republic test pilots go proper oxygen mask, so I immediately lowered the
to 40,000 routinely without heeding those two nose. The airspeed built up quickly to the speed
safety steps. Because the P-47 had a 350-pound limit, but I wasn’t descending very rapidly.
low-pressure system, Republic also used Mine I thought my mind was working at full tilt, but
Safety masks, which Grumman had found most I later realized that, if it had been, I would have
unreliable. I stupidly accepted the low-pressure closed the cowl flaps, retarded the throttle to idle,
system of the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF), and it and extended the landing gear to produce enough
soon taught me an invaluable lesson. drag to descend much more rapidly. By the time I
I was to climb in one of the two remaining was down to 35,000 feet, I was giddy because the
XP-47Bs. My mentor had told me that the first excitement of my stupid situation caused me to
XP-47B’s entire tail assembly had come off dur- hyperventilate. The canopy was fogging over, and
ing a high-speed dive and fatally injured test pilot I knew that this might soon make outside visibility
George Burrell. Republic was still at a loss as to impossible. Eventually, I looked at my fingernails;
explain this disaster. This was before much was they were as blue as the sky! In desperation, I
known about how high-Mach buffeting could closed the throttle to hasten my descent.
destroy aircraft tail structures. Before this flight, At 30,000 feet, the canopy had frost on it. I
Carl reminded me that I should descend from tried to scrape it off with my fingernails, but it
40,000 feet without exceeding the P-47’s limit re-formed immediately, so I stopped and tried to
speed—just in case! concentrate on getting down ASAP. Hypoxia was
I was assured that I wouldn’t have any trouble getting to me, but I didn’t seem to care.
24 FlightJournal.com
At 23,000 feet—panic! It started when I noted test pilots I didn’t know very
that the canopy had iced over completely. To be well. Grumman didn’t do the
OFFICIAL USAAF P-47
sure I was flying the aircraft right side up, I had production test firing of the six
COMBAT RECORDS—
to slow the airplane down and open the canopy .50-caliber guns in its fighters;
ALL THEATERS
slightly. In my dazed condition, it never occurred this was the Navy’s domain. Sorties flown: 545,575
to me that I could fly by instruments. I could That’s why I eagerly accepted Enemy aircraft shot down: 3,752,
now see the horizon for the first time in an all- Carl’s proposal that I do a com- with a kill-to-loss ratio of 4.6:1
too-long time. plete production test flight, Tons of bombs dropped: 132,482
At 10,000 feet—almost on the ground, rela- including test firing the P-47B’s
tively speaking—I slowed the aircraft to 150mph, eight .50-caliber guns. DESTROYED OR DAMAGED
opened the canopy fully to melt the inside frost, While I was dressing for that Locomotives: 9,000
took off my soaking-wet mask, breathed fresh air, flight, two Jug test pilots who Rail cars: 86,000
and checked my fingernails. They were still blue! I knew about my mission gave Trucks: 68,000
immediately put my mask back on and turned the me several seemingly good sug- Armored tanks or cars: 6,000
Horse-drawn vehicles: 60,000
valve to 100 percent oxygen. I then realized—all gestions. They said that, before
too late—that I should simply have increased oxy- shooting all eight guns, I should
gen flow at 30,000 feet in the climb! remove my earphones because
What really got my full attention was the they would be shaken off my head by the violence
low-fuel indicator’s flashing red light, which of the firing and that I should have the canopy
must have been on for some time because the open to prevent toxic cordite gun gases from
fuel indicator showed only 15 gallons of fuel building up in the cockpit and gagging me. Being
left. Having flown with fuel gauges that weren’t a gun-firing neophyte, I thanked them. Carl, who
accurate at low-fuel readings, I voted to land this would also be flying at the same time to test-fire
heavy monster as soon as I could. Fortunately, his guns, asked me whether I had been given any
the landing was the easiest part of this abortive advice by other Republic test pilots. When I nod-
flight, and it saved me from looking as stupid as I ded, he laughed and strongly suggested that I keep
felt for making the flight in the first place. When the canopy closed, keep my earphones on, and
I shut down the engine, the fuel gauge registered put as much cotton in my ears as I could before Only two factory-built P-47
less than 5 gallons. firing. Carl was my true mentor! G-15s were produced, and
Reviewing the flight while still shaking and We fired in a 10-degree dive at a small island tar- they were used as two-seat
trainer aircraft for the P-47.
sweating in the cockpit, I realized that my get in the Atlantic Ocean from an altitude of about For reasons unknown to the
guardian angel had worked overtime. My blue 400 feet. I watched Carl fire, and I followed him a author, almost no single-seat
fingernails were still a great reminder of my idi- few minutes later. The unbelievable racket of eight fighter had a two-place variant
otic trip to 40,000 feet without adequate prepa- guns firing scared the hell out of me, and I was for training. I’m sure that train-
ing in two-place fighters would
ration. This wisdom remained with me for the glad that I had only 20 rounds per gun because I have lowered the accident rate
rest of my career. didn’t release the trigger until long after I pulled of single-seat fighters, but I
out of the dive! I was also amazed that the P-47 remember that getting fight-
ers to the combat areas took
Gunnery airspeed was slowed as much as 30mph by the top priority over everything
My last P-47B flight at Republic taught me not gun-recoil forces when they were fired—so much else at Grumman. (Photo
to take serious suggestions from straight-faced for almost heeding unsolicited advice. courtesy of Air Age archives)
WW II Fighters 25
FLYING THE P-47
26 FlightJournal.com
on the ground and especially in air combat.
A Republic test pilot warned me that the
bubble canopy had one unacceptable characteristic
they had not yet cured: If the pilot pushed the rud-
der over to half deflection with the landing gear
and flaps down, the rudder forces would decrease
to zero, and without further pilot input, the rudder
would go to full deflection and make the aircraft
fly very much sideways. It also took a very power-
ful push on the opposite rudder pedal to get the
aircraft back to a straight flight path. I was most
interested in this phenomenon. We had noted
the same problem in the XF8F-1 Bearcat in early
flights, but we hadn’t found the solution for it. In
a carrier aircraft, such a lack of rudder control is
absolutely unacceptable. My check demonstrated
this yaw phenomenon very clearly.
I learned a lot from this flight, but I was to
learn the solution to the bubble-canopy directional
problem during my next flight in the P-51D Mus-
tang with its new bubble canopy. North American
engineers had installed a fairly large triangular
dorsal fin on the top of the rear fuselage and the
fin leading edge; this eliminated the yaw problem
from the bubble canopy completely.
As soon as I had flown it back from the Con-
ference, we installed a dorsal fin on the XF8F-1
Bearcat and achieved similar results.
pertinent. He relates: “The black dots in the cruelly
black sky were Thunderbolts. The Thunderbolts— Conclusions
American fighters we learned to fear because of The Thunderbolt was available in large numbers
their extraordinary ability to attack in a nose dive— from 1942 until 1945. It had very few drawbacks.
had spotted easy prey, as they promptly pointed Its heavy wing loading meant that pilots needed
their noses to the ground. Fahrmann [Steinhoff’s more flight hours to understand its effects on flight
wingman] tried to get his aircraft into the shelter of characteristics, but it offered superb evasive diving
the cloud cover that spread out below him.” Even tactics after dive-recovery flaps had been installed.
in his much faster jet fighter, Fahrmann was shot It was continually developed with improvements
down by the Thunderbolts. to its turbo control and its performance, and its
Another of Steinhoff’s comments: “The Light- external store-carrying capability was increased. Its
nings made for the ground in tight spirals. No structure had a highly respected history of bring-
use trying to follow them; the Messerschmitt 262 ing back its pilots and a much lower combat loss
didn’t have dive brakes. It was agony every time; rate per sortie than the P-38 and P-51. Its flight
losing height without picking up so much speed, characteristics—trainerlike stall characteristics in
my aircraft became uncontrollable.” the combat and landing configurations—gave its
My dive-recovery-flaps evaluation reports in pilots early confidence. It handled many roles and
the P-47M and the P-38L Lightning (which I also missions with fabulous destructive capability. Its
flew at the Conference) inspired Grumman engi- combat record was superb.
neers to install dive-recovery brakes on the XF8F-1
Bearcat and XF7F-1 Tigercat. I have always won- Epilogue
dered why the Navy refused to install them on the Because of the wartime pressure to get the Hellcat
Hellcat to reduce the accident rate caused by that into mass production, the XF6F-2 turbo-super-
fighter’s being so easily dived into compressibility. charged Hellcat did not fly until January 1944.
Too many Navy pilots were fatally injured diving By this time, the Navy had realized that it didn’t
the Hellcat beyond its Mach-number limit. need a very high-altitude fighter in the Pacific.
Therefore, the XF6F-2 was reworked and delivered
The Pilot Sits “Outside” as a standard F6F-3.
in the P-47M
The bubble canopy was the greatest improvement Author’s note: I was assisted with this article by avia-
for a fighter pilot since the invention of the syn- tion historian Warren Bodie’s book, Republic’s P-47
chronized, forward-firing machine gun in WW I. Thunderbolt. I recommend this excellent book for
Its unlimited visibility, especially to the rear, was further information on the P-47’s impressive participa-
unbelievable. One could get used to it immediately tion in all theaters of WW II. J
WW II Fighters 27
Whenever Navy and Marine Corps aviators who flew and fought in
propeller-driven fighters gather, there is always the argument about which
was the better airplane: the “bent-wing bastard,” as we lovingly dubbed
the Chance Vought F4U-lD Corsair, or the Grumman Hellcat? I am sure that
many beers have been consumed and many loud, emotional discussions
have taken place on this subject.
28 FlightJournal.com
Navy Taste Test …
Hellcat vs.
Corsair
GRUMMAN TEST PILOT
FLIES THE COMPETITION
BY CORKY MEYER
WW II Fighters 29
NAVY TASTE TEST … HELLCAT VS. CORSAIR
An early production F4U-1 In the desperate climate of WW II, the Navy ing” instead of “ugly” to describe it.
with the fuselage fuel-tank
decided that the easiest, quickest, and least We were sure that Vought would have a dif-
extension. It is easy to see
the great loss of forward costly way to tweak the utmost performance out ficult time meeting the Navy’s demands, as most
visibility for the pilot in the of its fighter planes would be to let rival manu- of the Corsair’s deficiencies would require major
three-point-landing position. facturers test the latest versions of one another’s changes in configuration. We were also steeped
The test pilot in the picture
is Boone Guyton, who did all products. So, in the summer of 1943, the Navy in the tradition that Grummanites could always
of the early testing and Navy delivered into Grumman hands the newest Cor- make better Navy fighters than Connecticut clam
demonstrations in most of sair (F4U-lD Buno 17781). I was privileged to be diggers; thus, our tasks would be accomplished
the Corsair development pro-
grams during and after WW II.
the project engineering test pilot for the F6F-3 in a trice. Our performance-improvement chal-
(Photo courtesy of Vought) Hellcat at the time. lenge turned out to be much easier than we ever
Grumman’s specific orders from the Navy were hoped, but the aileron problem turned out to be
to improve the Hellcat’s speed by 20 knots and nearly impossible.
put better ailerons on it so that it would compare
favorably with the incomparable Corsair. We The Navy Was Right
were motivated by the strongly implied “or else” As long as we had the enemy in our hangar, we
in between the lines. decided to conduct a witch hunt into its entrails.
We were also pleased to learn that we had not In my first flight, I discovered the Corsair did
been singled out for harassment of our sterling indeed indicate 20 knots faster and did have
product when we heard that Chance Vought, really smooth and powerful ailerons compared
our friendly competitor from the other side of with our Hellcat’s. But as we had heard and
Long Island Sound, was sent an F6F-3 Hellcat and as was completely obvious, the cockpit was
ordered to improve the Corsair’s visibility, cock- wretched from many standpoints. The most glar-
pit internal layout, and stall characteristics and ing deficiency was the absence of a cockpit floor!
to redesign the landing-gear Oleos (the Corsair Behind the rudder pedals, only two small heel
bounced badly on landing). In other words, make panels offered any protection against dropping a
the Corsair fly as well as its friendly competitor, pencil, a chart, or earphones, etc., into a 3-foot-
the Grumman Hellcat. deep, yawning black hole. Consider the havoc
If the contest between the two airplanes had this would cause if the pilot’s relief tube dropped
been for beauty of design, we would have given down there on a very, very long mission!
in immediately. Our baby, the Hellcat, was beau- To simplify the evaluation and reduce data,
tiful to us, but in comparison with the graceful we decided to test-fly the Hellcat and the Corsair
lines of the Corsair, the Hellcat looked more like in close formation. Instead of comparing com-
the box it came in than a new Navy fighter. We plex calculations, performance could then be
always used the euphemism “functional look- compared directly at the critical altitudes of the
30 FlightJournal.com
main stage, high and low blower altitudes of the with the Corsair when they were in formation.
engine’s superchargers, and from cruise to high- We had taken a lot of flak from all who had
speed level flight with water injection. We also flown both airplanes (but not in formation), and
included some formation dives to learn which therefore, everybody “knew” that the Hellcat
airplane was the slickest. was inferior in high-speed performance. We
liked our simple and less complicated airspeed
Performance Almost Equal system with the static and dynamic orifices on
Except for the Corsair being 20 knots faster than the same boom, but we decided to go whole hog
the Hellcat in the main, sea-level, supercharger and put the static orifice on the fuselage (like
stage, both fighters had almost exactly the the Corsair) to tailor the system to read 20 knots
same speed at the low and high blower stages higher. We tried several orifice locations to get
from 5,000 feet altitude up to service ceiling! In the required reading. After I had done a thor-
essence, they had the same performance. Our for- ough testing of the final system over the entire
mation flights showed that both airplanes (with flight envelope—or so I thought—I proudly
similar power settings) were in closely stabilized flew the airplane to the Naval Air Test Center at
formation at all altitudes tested above 5,000 feet. Patuxent, Maryland, for an evaluation. We soon
Sometimes, the Corsair would slowly gain a lead found out that we had not purloined the Corsair
of 100 to 200 feet after five minutes of stabilized airspeed system design thoroughly enough.
power flight, and sometimes, the Hellcat would We soon received the Navy’s glowing report
do the same. Considering that both airplanes had of the new system; it went on to say that the Air
the same engine, propeller, gross weight, wing- Test Center had never tested an airplane with
span, etc., they should have had about the same such remarkable low-speed performance in its
performance. We did notice that during these entire history. They found that in a left side slip
runs, the Corsair always had about a 20-knot
indicated airspeed (IAS) advantage! We didn’t
realize just how embarrassing it would be to solve
that dilemma.
The reason the Corsair was faster in the main
stage blower was that its engine and carburetor
were provided with ram air coming in directly
from the forward-facing wing duct, whereas the
Hellcat had the carburetor air coming in from
the accessory compartment of the fuselage just
behind the engine, with no ram air effect. Our
airplane was getting carburetor air at the same
pressure as it would have were it motionless on
the ground, and the Corsair was getting carbure-
tor air supercharged by the speed of the airplane The Grumman XF6F-6 that caused such a furor in Grumman management circles in late 1944.
giving it more power (speed) in the main stage This airplane was a competitor of both the Corsair XF4U-4 and the Grumman XF8F-l Bearcat.
blower. In both aircraft, however, the designs They had the same engine and propeller, and that made them about equal in performance. (Photo
courtesy of Grumman History Center)
were similar in that they provided ram air to the
low and high blower stages. Our engineering
department defended its position because taking
The hellcaT/corsair fracas
the warmer air for the main stage blower would
conTinued in Grumman
The F4U-4 was blessed with the more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800-34W,
prevent inadvertent carburetor-icing engine fail-
which gave it a great boost in high-speed performance. This provided the neces-
ures. Many Wildcats that had ram air in the main sary edge over the newer Japanese fighters that were coming into squadrons
stage like the Corsair were lost because pilots when the F4U-4 arrived in the Pacific Theater.
failed to take precautions in time to avert this Grumman also had a version of the Hellcat, the XF6F-6, with the same engine,
type of disaster. The Hellcat design was reviewed and from what we learned in our 1943 evaluation, it demonstrated a comparable
and approved by the Navy. I had had a carbure- high-speed performance to the F4U-4 model Corsair’s.
tor-icing accident during final approach on my The F6F-6 Hellcat caused an interesting internal fracas on “mahogany row” in
first flight in a Wildcat a few months previously; Grumman headquarters. Our very capable director of production, George Titter-
it resulted in my first deadstick landing and a ton, wanted to put the F6F-6 into production. Bob Hall, director of experimental,
who had flown the Focke-Wulf 190 in 1943 and was very impressed with that air-
vertical ground loop. I therefore heartily agreed
plane, wanted to put the 445mph XF8F-1 Bearcat into production. The brouhaha
with the Navy’s decision.
went up the line to Mr. Grumman (he was the only person in Grumman who wasn’t
called by his first name or a nickname), and he took it up with the Navy. The deci-
IAS Performance Equalized, sion, as we all know, was made for F8F-1 production. Although the XF6F-6 was
the Hard Way abandoned, the F6F-5 Hellcat continued in production throughout the remainder
After noting the 20 knots IAS difference that of the war. The Navy made a wise decision by having both the F6F-5 continue
had caused all the “lower performance” ruckus production and the F4U-4 start squadrons operations as a backup for the yet
for our Hellcat, we eagerly decided to change unproven Bearcat—the Navy’s third option.
the airspeed system so that it would read evenly
WW II Fighters 31
NAVY TASTE TEST … HELLCAT VS. CORSAIR
with the wheels and flaps extended, the Hellcat an exact set of molded plywood ailerons to the
could fly at zero airspeed. Wonder of wonders— Corsair’s contours, but we met with zero success.
Grumman led the industry again! Upon re-evalu- The very low lateral stability that we measured
ation, we found that the engineers, inexperienced in the Corsair gave its ailerons great power and
with flush static airspeed systems, had designed produced the fabulous rolling rate. They were
ours with only one orifice on the left side of the simply not fighting as much inherent lateral
airplane, and it was very unbalanced with the stability as we were. We finally incorporated the
flaps down. As the senior engineering test pilot, I newly invented NACA spring tab for the aileron;
was in deep doo-doo for not testing the new sys- it did the trick by lowering the aileron stick
tem in all side-slip conditions. A dual-orifice sys- forces over 50 percent, thus allowing the pilot to
tem way behind the lowered flaps (similar to the get full aileron deflections at speeds of 100 knots
Corsair’s) finally provided a satisfactory means to faster than he could before. Navy pilots agreed
give the Hellcat a cockpit IAS reading comparable that the spring-tab ailerons did close the rolling
to the vaunted Corsair’s. That was the last we performance gap of the two competitors.
heard of the Hellcat’s performance gap with the To everybody’s happiness (except that of the
Corsair. Performance case closed. Japanese), these ailerons were introduced on the
F6F-5 early in 1944. To further increase Japanese
Hellcat Ailerons Improved— joy, we retrofitted many of the 3,000-plus F6F-3s
The NACA Way that had been delivered to the Navy without
During this time, our flight-control engineers spring-tab ailerons with spring tabs.
designed all kinds of aileron contours and shapes. On one flight during full-power performance
We tested them to their limits but to no avail. We testing at 25,000 feet, I had the chance to see just
just could not get the same delightful low forces what the practical benefits of the Corsair’s low
and high rolling performance as the Corsair had lateral stability would be in an emergency. Pat
This Hellcat F6F-3 Bu. No.
25881 was the prototype so ably demonstrated. We eventually realized that Gallo, one of our other experimental test pilots,
F6F-5 that Grumman flew for the high dihedral angle of the Hellcat’s wing pro- was flying the Corsair; I was flying the Hellcat.
many performance tests and duced exceptionally high lateral stability, which We were at full power heading toward Bermuda
to which it made numerous
aileron changes to improve was the cause of the low rolling rate of our aile- when I noticed that Pat no longer answered
roll performance. You can see rons. To change the dihedral of the wing meant my radio calls. I was trying to remind him to
the full-vision sliding canopy completely redesigning the complicated wing- check his estimate of the differences between
and windshield that were part
fold mechanism where the dihedral angle of the our speeds. When I finally passed his Corsair, I
of the improvement program.
The author is in the cockpit. wing was formed. That was a real no-no in war- saw him peering at me very glassy-eyed, in a real
(Photo courtesy of Grumman) time production. We even went as far as making daze. I also noted that he was wearing one of the
32 FlightJournal.com
The greaT hellcaT/corsair
producTion race
B
oth Chance Vought and Grumman were
given many Navy E (for “Excellence”) cita-
tions for production during WW II. And,
indeed, they both did produce a large quantity of
excellent Navy fighters.
Ten Hellcats were delivered in 1942, just six
months after the first flight of the XF6F-3. Grum-
man delivered 2,547 Hellcats in 1943—enough to
fill the needs of all the fast-attack carrier task
forces. Grumman set the record for the great-
est number of aircraft delivered by one company
when it delivered 664 aircraft during March 1944.
This beat North American, which had led the pack
the month before with its P-51 production record.
In total, Grumman delivered 12,275 aircraft by
November 1945, when the line was shut down.
The XF4U-1 flew on May 29, 1940. Because of
its carrier problems, the first Corsairs arrived
at Guadalcanal in February 1943 as land-based
Marine squadron aircraft. Vought, with the help of
Brewster and Goodyear, delivered 11,418 Corsairs
during that same period in WW II. Corsair produc-
tion continued through the Korean War. The last
Corsair, an F4U-7, was delivered on Christmas Eve
of 1952, completing a total of 12,571 aircraft.
One should look into the differences in the
production background of the two organizations
to see why Grumman, as one company producing
four other types of aircraft, could outdeliver—both
in production rate and quantity—a combination of
three other capable aircraft manufacturers con- The F4U-1 production line on December 23, 1942. The Hellcat had approximately twice as many aircraft on
its production line on this date, even though the first experimental Hellcat flew two years and one month
centrating on only one design. later than the first experimental Corsair. The Hellcat was a much simpler airplane to manufacture than the
The Corsair series had a much more sophis- Corsair. (Photo courtesy of Vought)
ticated structure than the Hellcat. It had a very
complicated, double-dihedral gull-wing center section and a Co., however, was able to gear up and deliver 4,006 Corsairs
fuselage that had many more bulkheads than the Hellcat. It had before the end of the war.
a double-compound-curve fuselage and wing skins that were It took the three companies of the Vought team seven months
much more expensive and time-consuming to manufacture and longer to deliver 11,418 Corsairs than it took Grumman to build
install than flat skins. 12,275 Hellcats. To give one an appreciation of the rate of pro-
The entire structure was flush-riveted throughout. The Hellcat duction per month in 1944, all three companies that produced
had flat skins everywhere except for the engine cowl. It had round- Corsairs delivered an average of 448 per month. Grumman deliv-
head rivets, which took half the time to install and buck smoothly, ered an average of 511 per month—still, a lot of great airplanes
and a very simple wing and fuel tank/wing center section. just when needed.
The real reason Grumman was able to deliver 2,547 airplanes Adm. Metzger, the director of the fighter desk at the Navy
in 1943 after delivering only 10 airplanes in 1942 was that, in Bureau of Aeronautics during the war, was quoted as saying that
1941 and 1942, it was building the Wildcat and Avenger designed the production capability of Grumman and the practical simplic-
to the same structural philosophy as the oncoming Hellcat. ity of the Hellcat’s construction allowed the Navy to purchase
Those planes also used the same wing-fold design. Together, Hellcats at a rate of five for the same price as three Corsairs.
the Avenger and the Wildcat were built at a rate of over 400 per That the Grumman portion of the airplane cost the Navy only
month at Grumman as the Hellcat was coming up to speed on $35,000 is impressive in today’s context because that money
the same production line. To get the necessary production floor probably wouldn’t buy a page change in a pilot’s flight manual for
space, both the Wildcat and the Avenger programs were in a the F-18 Hornet!
planned phaseout from Grumman Bethpage to General Motors at In spite of the production rates, prices, flight characteris-
Linden and Trenton, New Jersey, respectively. Having that highly tics, etc., there are two statistics in the final tally that tell an
skilled workforce at Grumman was indispensable in reducing interesting story: the number of enemy aircraft shot down and
the production learning curve as fast as Grumman did to ensure the kill-to-loss ratio in combat. Navy records show that Hellcats
such speedy delivery of Hellcats to the Fleet. shot down 5,155 Japanese aircraft and had a kill-to-loss ratio
By contrast, Vought had no previous production experience in of 19 to one. The same records show that Corsairs shot down
the highly sophisticated design philosophy of the complicated 2,140 Japanese aircraft and had a kill-to-loss ratio of 11 to one.
F4U-1 structure, let alone the coming buildup of the high rates of These statistics, however, do not reflect the fabulous success of
production that were required for the Pacific War. the Corsair in its ground-support role during the island-hopping
The Brewster Co. was a disaster as a producer and was closed mopping-up required by the Army, Navy, and Marines in conquer-
down in 1944, after delivering only 738 Corsairs. The Goodyear ing the chain of islands leading to Japan.
WW II Fighters 33
NAVY TASTE TEST … HELLCAT VS. CORSAIR
EnginE supErcharging
T
he non-supercharged
engines used in
fighters in the late
’20s had induction air
flowing directly from a
duct in the nose of the air-
craft into the carburetor.
When an aircraft gained
altitude, the thinner air
was insufficient to main-
tain the sea-level-rated
horsepower of these
engines, so performance
decreased as the altitude
increased. The aircraft
had a service ceiling of
14,000 to 18,000 feet
(depending on the air den-
sity), and level-flight high
speeds decreased propor-
tionally with altitude.
Because the attain-
ment of a high altitude is
so important to fighter
aircraft, superchargers
were added to engine
induction systems in
the mid- to late ’30s.
These were single-stage
compressors geared to
the engine crankshaft; Plane handlers hook a catapult harness up to an F4U-1D Corsair aircraft aboard the Cape Gloucester escort carrier during operations off
they rotated at high rpm the coast of Japan on September 8, l945. (Photo courtesy of USMC)
and provided the engine
carburetor with greater than sea-level pressures. This produced a altitudes to over 30,000 feet while increasing level-flight per-
marked increase in performance (compared with standard aircraft formance to 325mph. Because the fuel/air mixture was so highly
engines of the day). These installations were dependent on the care- compressed when the two stages (high and low) were added to the
ful control of the allowable carburetor air temperatures, which were main stage, large radiators/intercoolers were needed to cool the
higher because of the heated compressed air. They also depended air going into the carburetor; this prevented detonation and pre-
on increases in fuel-octane levels. Superchargers allowed military ignition, which would ruin an engine rapidly. Octane limits were now
aircraft of the late ’30s to have a service ceiling of around required to be as high as 145. Fortunately, the United States was
23,000 feet and commensurate increases in level-flight speed way ahead of its enemies in developing octane ratings over 100. This
(compared with non-supercharged aircraft). new supercharger now required a three-position handle next to the
As supercharging came of age, engineers decided to put a gear- throttle. The handle had “Main,” “Low,” and “High” inscribed on it and
shift arrangement on them; it was actuated similarly to a gear shift was shifted as the altitude requirements dictated.
in an automobile. This gave two increases in compressor speeds to The Hellcat and Corsair were both equipped with the same
the supercharger and thereby increased aircraft operating service- R-2800 engines. Their level-flight performance now exceeded
ceiling altitudes to 20,000 to 24,000 feet. Level-flight speeds 400mph, and they had service ceilings of 38,000 feet. This gave
increased as altitude increased. This became known as the “two- them a considerable advantage over the Zero, which did not have
speed” supercharger. Its handle was next to the throttle and was octane ratings available beyond 90 to 95. By the end of the war,
inscribed with its two positions: “Low” and “High.” The pilot shifted Japanese engine manufacturers had higher-octane fuel and better
the handle at the altitude suggested in the operating handbook to superchargers in their development fighter aircraft.
obtain a surge of manifold pressure that indicated increased power. The P-47 Thunderbolt and the Lockheed P-38 had turbo super-
The new superchargers also required more carburetor air cooling charging that gave them service ceilings of 40,000 feet and a
and higher fuel-octane ratings to make them compatible with the 460mph level performance. These aircraft and engine combinations
increased power. At the beginning of WW II, the Japanese Zero, the did, however, take much longer to develop; they were much heavier;
Curtiss P-40, and the Bell P-39 were the only production fighters and they required long, complicated ducting to maintain proper
equipped with two-speed superchargers. weight and balance. An airplane had to be designed especially for
The Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat was one of the first production such installations. The P-38, for instance, took five years to reach
military aircraft to have the new two-stage supercharger, which combat. The Grumman F6F-3 only took two years and one month to
was considerably more complicated than the earlier version. The become combat ready.
two-stage supercharger was configured with a very large compres- In squadron service near the end of the air war, the Grumman
sor that was mechanically geared to the crankshaft. This gave the F8F-1 Bearcat, because of its 3,000-pounds-lighter structure,
engine its rated power at sea level. The two-speed supercharger reverted to the simple two-speed supercharger. It had a 38,000-foot
was geared to the crankshaft and attached to the rear of the service ceiling and a level-flight speed of 460mph. Aircraft design
engine; it augmented the main stage and boosted service-ceiling had grown along with engine supercharging development.
34 FlightJournal.com
unsafe, light gray Mine Safety oxygen masks. I until, at about 9,000 feet, he started talking to The number-six production
thought we had destroyed those masks many me in a most querulous and angry tone inquir- F6F-3 Hellcat displays its
camouflage paint job in early
months before, after having serious problems ing which damn maneuver we were going to do
1943. It was a very plain but
with them at high altitude. We were now using next. Using my most diplomatic tone, I told him effective scheme that gave
the dark green Navy-issue masks with the balloon that we were very low on fuel and that he should the pilot his greatest protec-
bag under the pilot’s chin; the bag clearly showed reduce power from full throttle to cruise and tion from enemy detection.
(Photo courtesy of Grumman
the oxygen flow by its expansion and contraction return to base with me. His regular fiery tempera- History Center)
with each breath. ment seemed all too docile until he said that he
I immediately realized that I was faced with wasn’t feeling too well and suggested that I talk
making one of the most critical decisions I would him through his landing. On the ground, he con-
ever have to make for a fellow test pilot. I was fessed that he didn’t remember anything about
unable to communicate with Pat and I knew that the flight from climbing through 10,000 feet to
in another 10 minutes at full power he would awaking at 9,000 feet before we landed. Need-
be halfway to Bermuda. He would then run out less to say, I now had great comments about the
of gasoline over a very cold and unwelcoming Corsair’s weak lateral stability and many more
winter Atlantic Ocean. It became quite clear what foul ones about the Mine Safety masks still in our
I had to do, but I worried that my actions could ready-room lockers.
have dire consequences.
I slowed to formation speed on his left side A Very Jumpy Takeoff
and closed in to him until my right wingtip Before measuring Corsair takeoff performance,
was just under his left wingtip. I then gave a I performed the usual required stalls in all con-
strong left push to my stick and rolled him into figurations. This model of the Corsair had the
a 30-degree right bank. His Corsair started down new and improved stall tripper wedge on the
in a long, slow spiral with me in trail. I did not right wing to improve stalls. It was quite clear to
know whether my actions would lead to a steep me that the Hellcat was much more docile and
dive to the water or not, but I knew I had to do controllable during and after stalls, especially
something. With the luck of the century, the in the landing-condition accelerated stalls. The
Corsair’s very weak pitch and roll stability slowly Corsair had more of an abrupt wing drop in the
took over, and we leveled out heading back to normal stalls and was more difficult to un-stall
Long Island at about 19,000 feet. Much less than the Hellcat. Even worse, the Corsair did a
hesitantly, I then repeated the maneuver twice totally unexpected double snap roll when per-
WW II Fighters 35
NAVY TASTE TEST … HELLCAT VS. CORSAIR
On F4U-1D Bu. No. 17781, you forming a 5G accelerated stall in the clean condi- forward and waited until the airspeed indicated
can see the stall tripper strip
tion. During these tests, I should have been more 66 knots; then I slammed the tail down onto the
on the leading edge of the
right wing just outboard of the impressed with the Corsair’s reactions than I was. runway as I had many, many times in the Hell-
linen patch that covers the gun The Corsair was really talking to me. cat. Lo and behold! As the tailwheel went down
ports. This improved the stall We had found that the Hellcat could shorten on the runway, I got a very strong wind from the
characteristics of the F4U-1D
compared with the XF4U, but its takeoff roll by about 100 feet in a calm wind left side of the cockpit because the airplane pre-
the stall characteristics were if the tail was raised to level-flight position dur- maturely left the ground, instantly yawed
still well below the minimums ing the first part of the roll and then slammed 30 degrees left, stalled, dropped the left wing,
that Grumman would have
allowed for one of its airplanes
down at minimum takeoff speed. We named fell to the ground, and departed the runway
to be delivered to the Navy. this a “jump takeoff” (versus the normal three- promptly to the left without any help from
(Photo courtesy of Grumman) point type). This became the standard way to me. We were headed at full power straight into
make a short takeoff in the Hellcat—not so in a batch of Hellcats on the delivery line. Navy
The F4U-1D Bu. No. 17781
used in the comparative the mighty Corsair. delivery pilots who have flown from Grumman’s
evaluation. Even with the My Army doctor brother was visiting me at Bethpage airport know there isn’t much empty
raised tailwheel and cockpit Grumman on the day we were to perform space there, and they would thus understand the
enclosure, visibility over the
nose was very bad when the minimum-distance measured takeoffs in the interesting but unplanned path the Corsair was
airplane was in the three- Corsair, and he was out on the runway to watch grinding out for me.
point landing position. The the proceedings. The Corsair’s action was so precipitate that it
airplane’s trim lines are quite
apparent here. It looked fast
After making 10 measured three-point takeoffs seemed as if it took me way too much time to
even on the ground. (Photo in the Corsair, I told the engineers that I was start taking prudent defensive actions. I finally
courtesy of Grumman) going to start jump takeoffs. I pushed the stick yanked the throttle back, raised the tail so that I
36 FlightJournal.com
could see what the near future held for me, and pilot lead estimation capabilities in deflection
began a frantic braking on what happily proved gunnery runs. The long nose was as endemic
to be hard-packed, dry ground. I stopped about to poor visibility in the Corsair as the design of
50 feet from the nearest Hellcat in the delivery- the wing dihedral was to the low rolling perfor-
line area! I sat there for a while until the earth mance in the Hellcat.
stopped trembling, then I slowly taxied back to The Hellcat, with its straight wing center sec-
our experimental flightline and decided to call it tion, could be designed with all of the fuel on
a day for jump takeoffs. the CG. Thus, the cockpit could be positioned
While we were having cocktails that evening, just behind the engine to provide excellent
my brother hesitantly asked me if I did that for a forward visibility for aerial gunnery, carrier
living every day. approach, and even after flare-out on landing. It
was also attached to so much structure around
Epilogue the CG that it gave the pilot excellent crash pro-
The Corsair’s production line benefited in many tection. Hellcat pilots gave Grumman its nick-
ways from its Hellcat evaluation. Reducing the name “the Grumman Ironworks.”
oleo bounce, making further improvements to The lack of satisfactory forward visibility
its harsh stall characteristics, and enhancing the caused many carrier-landing accidents in the
forward visibility by extending the tailwheel early Corsair series until the F4U-4 came into
and raising the seat were easy ones to incor- squadrons late in the war. Because of high acci-
porate into the production line. But several of dent rates, Corsairs were pulled from carrier
the needed fixes were impossible to insert into operations three times during the war. In land-
the production line until the major changeover based operations, where higher-speed wheel
of the F4U-4 model in late 1944. The Corsair’s landings could be used to improve forward vis-
cockpit internal layout, for instance, required a ibility, the Corsair had a very good safety record.
complete redesign, and that was impossible to In summary, any objective analysis must F6F-3 Bu. No. 08867 was
do with the high wartime production rate that acknowledge that the United States and the one of the test airplanes used
to check production fixes
Vought was striving for in 1943. U.S. Navy were fortunate indeed to have Grum- that would go into future
Forward visibility for the Corsair was never as man and Vought to produce the “Fustess with production. You can see the
good as the Hellcat’s because of the design of its the mostess” so soon after Pearl Harbor. Part of very good visibility over the
nose compared to that of the
wing center section. In a fighter, fuel is usually the heat in the discussion to decide which was
F4U-1D. The pilot could see
required to be on its center of gravity (CG) to the better airplane was generated by the fact the runway 100 yards directly
keep the flight characteristics within satisfac- that both planes met the requirements for car- in front of the airplane while
tory limits. The Corsair was originally designed rier and land-based uses extremely well. taxiing. (Photo courtesy of
Grumman)
to have the fuel in the wing center section, and This writer just might have been a little less
the first few prototypes did have it there. But the biased if the Chance Vought Corp. was sending
inverted-gull-wing design was so complicated to him a monthly retirement check of the same
manufacture that those tanks had to be removed size as Grumman has been doing for the last
and a fuel tank had to be placed on top of the 17 years. If, however, the late Boone Guyton,
wing in a fuselage extension—where the cockpit who was the project test pilot for all models of
had been. Placing the cockpit 4 feet farther aft the Corsair (and was an old friend) was buying
gave the Corsair its very impaired forward vis- the beer, I would agree heartily with him that the
ibility, especially in the landing configuration. “bent-wing bastard” was the “greatest fighter in
This poor forward visibility also greatly reduced aviation history!” J
WW II Fighters 37
Elliptical
Elegance
FLYING AND EVALUATING THE SEAFIRE MARK III
BY CORKY MEYER
check pilots but also most helpful in getting me engine, its big wing area, and immediate power-
off the ground and back to the flightline. ful rudder, its wheel-brake problem was soon out
On the flight before mine, the pilot reported of my thoughts. The terrific, full-power takeoff
that the brakes failed after landing. Inspection acceleration of this light interceptor-fighter was
showed that the engine-driven air compressor that thrilling. By raising the tail immediately, I could
provided power for the wheel brakes had some- easily see ahead. The Seafire left the ground after
how leaked air, and the brakes failed while taxiing less than 500 feet of roll into a 20-knot wind
with the engine at low rpm. Twiss confidently and climbed like a homesick angel. For the rest
asserted that they had filled the air accumulator of the flight, I mentally blotted out all problems
and that it would provide enough braking to get
airborne but that it might fail after landing. He
further stated that if I made a “docile” landing and
taxied “peacefully” off the runway into the grass,
they would come out with a tug and retrieve the
aircraft. With such professional encouragement, I
decided to give it a go. Evaluating the Spitfire was
on the top of my need-to-do list at the Joint Army/
Navy Fighter Conference in October 1944.
Because of the thrust of its 1340hp Merlin
WW II Fighters 41
ELLIPTICAL ELEGANCE
Tony Smith taxies his pink with this airplane. Straight stalls and turning a pleasure. The airplane responded right after the
photorecon Spitfire PR Mk
PL 965 at the Leeward Air
stalls were friendly with very little wing drop- thought of any aerobatic maneuver came into
Ranch. He flew his “airshow” ping and at an unheard speed of 66mph! (The my mind, seemingly without effort. It was easy
on most weekends in a Hellcat had an 85mph stall speed.) to see how a low-time pilot would easily be able
Spitfire that flew many mis-
I did spins as though I was in a training air- to master this aircraft with confidence.
sions over Europe during the
last year of the WW II. (Photo craft, with instant recovery as soon as I released The Seafire had delightful upright flying quali-
courtesy of Corky Meyer) the controls. Even if I could have found the trim- ties. Knowing that it had an inverted fuel and oil
tab controls (and I couldn’t), I had little need system, I decided to try inverted figure-8s. They
for them. The stability about the airplane’s three were as easy as pie, even though I hung from the
axes was low enough to make it a fighter pilot’s complicated, but comfortable, British pilot-restraint
dream and high enough to fly hands-off in tur- harness. I was surprised to hear myself laughing
bulent air—a great combination. Aerobatics were as if I were crazy. I have never enjoyed a flight in
A LITTLE SPITFIRE HISTORY when they shot down two German Heinkel 111 bombers over the
Firth of Forth. This was only a prelude.
I
n 1934, the Royal Air Force put out specification F.5/34 for a Spitfire airframes incorporated two developments that greatly
fighter with all of the design features that Reginald Mitchell aided pilots. The original ailerons were fabric covered and gave
had told the RAF that he could put into a fighter: It would be a poor rate of roll at combat speeds. On the Mk V model, they
a monoplane instead of a biplane and would have an enclosed were modified: A redesigned aerodynamic balance tab and metal
cockpit, retractable landing gear, and eight machine guns. Mitchell covering greatly reduced stick forces and gave it a superb roll rate
had good credentials: In 1931, he had redefined the concept of of more than 140 degrees per second—one of the highest rolling
“speed” with his earlier Schneider Cup Racers (406.99mph). Also, capabilities among WW II fighters.
in 1934, the Rolls-Royce Corp. had promised that it would make a The Malcolm partial-bubble canopy from the Mk I Spitfire
1,000hp version of its new 12-cylinder PV-12 liquid-cooled engine provided good all-around visibility for five years and then, in 1944,
for this aircraft. Based on this engine, Mitchell’s design, with eight the full-bubble American canopies were available. The British,
.30-caliber wing guns, went far beyond the requirements of the however, delayed their installation until just after the war’s end,
F.5/34 specification. When it was submitted to the Air Ministry probably to avoid delaying the sorely needed Spitfire deliveries.
in January 1935, this aircraft specification was just changed to Another Spitfire asset of which its wartime pilots were probably
F-.37/34 for the purpose of signing the Spitfire contract. The RAF ignorant was its 11.5-percent-of-chord main-wing thickness; this
approved a Spitfire mock-up at the Wollaston plant in March 1935. gave the Spit a critical dive Mach number of about 0.84—a higher
One year later, on March 5, 1936, at Eastleigh Airport in dive speed than any other fighter used in the war.
Hampshire, chief test pilot “Mutt” Summers of the Vickers and Most WW II fighters that had wing thicknesses of 15 to
Supermarine companies successfully flew the first Spitfire to have 16 percent of chord had a 0.76 top Mach number; this greatly
the PV-12 engine—by then known as the Rolls-Royce Merlin C. This limited their ability to enter evasive dives and often caused
engine propelled the Spitfire at 349.5mph—a 100mph increase them instant and difficult recovery-from-compressibility
in fighter speeds. The RAF had used the Hawker Fury, Gloster (transonic) control problems. On April 27, 1944, one RAF
Gamecock, Bristol Bulldog, etc., since the end of WW I, but this photorecon P.R. XI did a planned, instrument-recorded vertical
new Spit ended the era of British biplane fighters. dive to 0.92 Mach and returned to base without its propeller
and engine gearbox. I am sure that the test pilot was pulling on
Deliveries Begin his control stick—“frozen” by compressibility shock waves—with
The Spitfire’s guns were first fired in anger on October 9, 1939, both hands when his Spitfire decelerated through 0.84 Mach
42 FlightJournal.com
IT’S A SERIOUS CONTENDER FOR THE CLAIM OF BEING THE MOST COMBAT-
DEVELOPED AND MOST PROLIFICALLY MANUFACTURED WW II FIGHTER.
a fighter so much—before or since—or felt com- forces. It’s a serious contender for the claim of The last batch of Spitfires
fortable so readily in any aircraft and in any flight being the most combat-developed and most prolif- manufactured at the end of
WW II were Mk XIVs; they had
condition. It was now clear to me why so few ically manufactured WW II fighter. After the war, the clear-view bubble canopy
exhausted, hastily trained Battle of Britain pilots another batch of 2,500 Spitfires was constructed and were essentially Mk IXs
were able to fight off Hitler’s hordes for so long and for the Swedish, Egyptian, Israeli, Burmese, Dutch, with a U.S.-built Packard Mer-
so successfully. I eventually learned the meaning Palestinian, Norwegian, Danish, Greek, and Syrian lin 266 engine in place of the
Rolls Merlin 66. They entered
of Winston Churchill’s famous phrase honoring air forces. With the advent of the Gloster Meteor service in large numbers in
those overworked Royal Air Force (RAF) heroes. and the de Havilland Vampire jet, the military autumn 1944 and were more
Alas, the gauge on my Seafire’s one-and-only, Spitfires lasted into the late 1950s—not bad for a than a match for the Luft-
waffe. (Photo courtesy of the
all-too-small, 122-gallon fuel system beckoned Johnny-come-lately to WW II. RAF, via Corky Meyer)
me to attempt a brakeless, “docile” landing with- The Spitfire’s flight handling characteristics are
out a ground loop. Like a martini high and by described by all pilots who evaluated it as being
landing in the same 20-knot wind, it seemed as akin to those of a highly bred, swift Arabian
easy as everything else had been during the last steed. In comparison, the United States built
delightful hour and a half. After a gentle landing, only plodding, workhorse fighters.
I gently and civilly nudged the rudder of my new
Seafire Mk III friend and taxied off the
runway. It stopped peacefully as I had
been told it would. I called the tower,
notified them of my predicament and
awaited my very kind English test-pilot
friend’s arrival with a tow tug.
During the war, 19,372 Supermarine
Spitfires, including the Mk XVI model,
and 1,622 Navy Seafires up to the
Mk III model were delivered in 25 dif-
ferent models to British, Canadian,
Australian, New Zealand, and U.S. fighter
WW II Fighters 43
FLYING THE
Bf 109
TWO PILOTS GIVE THEIR REPORTS
BY MARK HANNA & CAPT. ERIC BROWN PHOTOS BY JOHN DIBBS
44 FlightJournal.com
A MODERN VIEW
OF AN ICON
BY MARK HANNA
WW II Fighters 45
FLYING THE BF 109
One of the few remaining To enter the cockpit, you climb onboard and all grouped on the right-hand side. This aircraft’s
airworthy Bf 109s in the world
gently lower yourself downward and forward while instrumentation is all German apart from the
is D-FEHD, a G-10 model that
belongs to The Old Flying holding onto the windscreen. Once inside, you altimeter.
Machine Co.; it was restored are almost lying down as you would be if driving The center console under the main instrument
by Hans Dittes. a racecar. The cockpit is narrow, and if you have panel consists of a 720-channel radio, VOR, ADF,
broad shoulders (don’t all fighter pilots?), it is a and E2B compass. Just to the left of the center con-
tight squeeze. Once strapped in—itself a knuckle- sole, close to your left knee, is the undercarriage
rapping affair—you can take stock. up/down selector and the mechanical and electri-
First impressions are of its simplicity. From left cal undercarriage position indicator. On D-FEHD,
to right, the co-located elevator-trim and flap-trim this is a two-button selector. Select the undercar-
wheels fall easily to hand. You need several turns to riage up or down position by lifting the guard and
get the flaps fully down to 10 degrees, and the idea simply pushing the relevant button. Radiator flaps
is that you can crank both together. In practice, are controlled by a four-position selector—“Zu,”
this is a little difficult, and I tend to operate them “Auf,” “Auto,” and “Ruhe” (rest).
independently. The right side of the cockpit has the electrical
Coming forward, you see the tailwheel locking switches, battery master, boost pumps, pitot heat,
lever. This either allows the tailwheel to caster or it and that’s it! There is no rudder trim or rudder-
locks it dead ahead. Next is the throttle quadrant, pedal adjust; also, the seat can be adjusted only
which consists of a huge throttle handle and the during preflight and offers a choice of only three
manual propeller-pitch control. Forward and down settings. If you are any bigger than me (6 feet tall),
on the floor is an enormous and very effective ki- it all starts to get a bit confined. Once you are
gas primer with a T-shaped handle. Directly above strapped in and comfortable, close the canopy to
this and in line with the canopy seal is the red check your seating position. If you haven’t flown
hood-jettison lever. Pulling this releases two very the 109 before, you usually get a clout on the head
strong springs in the rear part of the canopy and as you swing the heavy lid over and down. Nobody
causes the rear section to come loose, and there- sits that low in a fighter!
fore, the whole main part of the hood is unhinged D-FEHD has a beautiful “Galland hood” that
and can be pushed away into the airflow. Looking offers a much improved view compared with the
directly forward, you see, clustered together, the earlier, heavier-frame canopy.
standard instrument panel with the vertical-select
magnetos on the left, starter and booster coil Up, Up, and Away—Almost
slightly right of center, and engine instruments It’s getting close to going flying now! OK; open the
46 FlightJournal.com
hood again (in case you have to get out in a hurry). Forward view is appalling, and because of
To start, power ON, boost pumps ON. Five good the tail/brake arrangement, this makes weaving
shots on the primer. Set the throttle to IDLE. Ener- more difficult than on other, similar types. By the
gize the starter; when the pitch of its noise reaches time you are at the end of the strip, the aircraft is
its apex, press the starter button. It’s a good starter, already starting to get hot. So, quickly on with the
and with a brief snort of flame, the 109 fires up run-up.
immediately. I’m sitting as high as I can, and my head is
Check the oil pressure right away to ensure that touching the canopy. I am not wearing goggles, as
it is rising, idle initially at 700rpm, then gently go they scratch and catch the hood if they are up on
up to 1,000rpm, and the whole aeroplane starts to your head. A large bone dome is out of the ques-
rock from side to side on the gear with some sort of tion and, in my opinion, is a flight-safety hazard in
harmonic. This is a most unusual sensation and it this aircraft.
is good fun! Hood positively locked; push up on it to check.
After the start, you are immediately aware Oil temperature is 50 degrees, coolant temperature
that the airplane rattles. The engine canopy and is greater than or at 70 degrees. Brakes ON (there
reduction gear all give off little vibrations and is no parking brake), stick back, and power gently
shakes that transmit directly to the pilot. Check up to 30 inches and 2,100rpm. Exercise the prop at
the red flaps control to “Zu.” Check that they least twice, with the rpm falling back to 1,800 each
close together. Reopen them now to delay the time; keep an eye on the oil pressure. The noise
coolant temperature rise. The 109 needs a lot of and vibration levels have now increased dramati-
power to get moving, so you need to allow the cally. Power back to 1,800rpm and check the mags.
engine to warm up a little before you pile on the Insignificant drop on each side. You must hurry,
power. Throttle up to 1,800rpm and suddenly, as the coolant temperature is at 98 degrees C and
you’re rolling; power back. To turn while taxiing, going up; you have to get rolling to get some cool-
push the stick forward against the instrument ing air through the radiators. Pre-takeoff checks:
panel to lighten the tail, add some throttle and elevator trim set to +1 degree, no rudder trim,
a jab of brake (do this in a Spitfire and you’re on throttle friction tight. This is vital, as you will need
your nose!). The 109, however, is very tail-heavy your left hand for various services immediately
and is reluctant to turn; you can very easily lock after takeoff. Mixture is automatic, pitch to fine.
up a wheel. If you do not use the above tech- Fuel cock is ON, both boost pumps are ON, pres-
nique, you will charge off across the airfield in a sure is good, primer is locked. Flaps crank down to
straight line! 20 degrees for takeoff. Radiator flaps checked at full
WW II Fighters 47
FLYING THE BF 109
open; if you take off with them closed, you will Airborne
certainly boil the engine and are guaranteed to Power gently up and keep it coming smoothly up
crack a head. Gyros set to Duxford’s runway. to 40 inches. Keep the tail down initially, and keep
Instruments: temps and pressures all in the it straight by feel rather than any positive tech-
green for takeoff. Radiator is now 102 degrees. nique. Tail is coming up now, and the rudder is
Oxygen, you don’t have; hood rechecked down becoming effective. I’m subconsciously correcting
and locked; harness tight and secure; hydrau- the rudder all the time. It’s incredibly entertaining
lics—no check. Controls full and free, tailwheel to watch the 109 lift off the ground; the rudder
locked. Got to go—105 degrees. literally flashes around!
There’s no time to hang around and worry This little fighter is now bucketing along, accel-
about the takeoff. Here you go! erating rapidly. As the tail lifts, there is a positive
48 FlightJournal.com
tendency to swing left. This can easily be checked; carriage selector. The mechanical indicators motor
however, if you are really aggressive in lifting the up very quickly, and you feel and hear a “clonk,
tail, the left swing tendency is difficult to stop and clonk” as the gear comes home. A quick look
happens very quickly. Now the tail is up, and you out at the wings, and you can see that the slats—
can vaguely see where you are going. It’s a wild, fully out—are starting to creep in as the airspeed
rough ride on grass, and with all the noise and the increases and the angle of attack is reduced. With
smoke from the stacks, it’s exciting. 230km/h and an immediate climbing turn-up, you
Quick glance at the airspeed indicator (ASI): enter the downwind leg just in case you need to
160km/h, a light pull-back on the stick, and you’re put the airplane down in a hurry. The Old Flying
flying! Machine Company’s SOP is always to fly an orbit
Hand off the throttle, select FLUG on the under- overhead of the field to allow everything to stabi-
WW II Fighters 49
FLYING THE BF 109
lize before venturing off; this has saved at least one but the foot loads are light, and it’s no prob-
of our airplanes. lem. Level off and power back to 30 inches and
Start to frantically crank up the flaps and 2,100rpm. The speed has picked up to the 109’s
increase the airspeed through 250km/h; power cruise of about 400km/h, and now the ball is right
back to 33 inches and 2,300rpm for the climb. in the middle, and no rudder input is necessary.
Plenty of airflow through the narrow radiators
now, so close them and remember to keep a watch- Handling
ful eye on the coolant gauge for the next few min- Once settled down, with your adrenaline level back
utes until the temperature has settled down. With down to just plain high, you can take stock of the
the radiator flaps closed, the aeroplane accelerates situation. The initial reaction is of delight to be
positively. As you climb, you’re aware of holding in flying a classic airplane, and the next is the realiza-
a little right rudder to keep the ball in the middle, tion that this is a real fighter. You feel aggressive
50 FlightJournal.com
flying it. The urge is to go looking for something to airframe is buffeting quite hard. A little more and
bounce and shoot down! you will drop a wing, but you have to be crass to
The roll rate is very good and very positive below do it unintentionally.
about 400 km/h, and the amount of effort needed Pitch tends to be heavy above 400km/h, but it
to produce the relevant nose movement seems is still easy to manage up to 500km/h, and the air-
exactly right. As the stall is reached, the leading- craft is perfectly happy carrying out low-level loop-
edge slats deploy—together, if the ball is in the ing maneuvers from 550km/h and below. Above
middle; slightly asymmetrically, if you have any 550km/h, one peculiarity is a slight nose-down
slip on. The aircraft delights in being pulled into trim change as you accelerate. This means that
hard maneuvering turns at these slower speeds. As when you run in for an airshow above 500km/h,
the slats pop out, you feel a slight “notching” on the airplane has a slight tucking sensation—a sort
the stick, and you can pull more until the whole of desire to get down to ground level. This is easily
MESSERSCHMITT BF 109E
Wingspan: 32 ft. 4 in.
Length: 28 ft. 4 in.
Maximum speed: 359mph at 12,000 ft.
Powerplant: One 1,100hp Daimler-Benz
DB 601A
Armament: One 20mm MG-FF/M cannon;
four 7.9mm MG-17 machine guns
Messerschmitt Bf 109E
ing machine and taken in the ment and was heavily padded
context of its time scale. It was (obviously, for safety). The for-
the Luftwaffe’s first-generation ward view on the ground was
monoplane fighter, and to any terrible, so on takeoff, I was
pilot weaned on highly maneuver- advised to raise the tail as
able but rather slow biplanes such quickly as possible. This could
as the Hawker Fury and Gloster be done fairly abruptly without
Gladiator, it was a revelation in fear of the airscrew hitting
speed and rate of climb and an the airfield surface because
exciting handling experience. The the inverted-vee engine’s
roll rate and acceleration in the high thrust line gave ample
dive were notable for that era, clearance. The airplane had to
and the power and flexibility of be flown off, as any attempt
the direct-injection engine were to pull it off early resulted in
truly exhilarating, particularly in aileron snatching because the
aerobatics. wing slats opened unevenly.
However, all was not sugar For this reason, to shorten the
and spice. The cockpit was takeoff run, 15 degrees of flap
claustrophobic in the extreme, were recommended.
as it was small and narrow, and Once the Bf was airborne, The climb was at a steep angle; An airplane’s stalling charac-
it was enclosed by a cumber- the main wheels retracted quickly, stability proved excellent in the teristics tell a lot about its “inner
some hood, which was quite but the electrically actuated longitudinal and lateral planes self,” and the 109 was no excep-
difficult to open from the inside. airscrew pitch changing was and was almost neutral direction- tion. At about 20mph (30km/h)
Once settled in the cockpit, I slow. The flaps were raised manu- ally. Control harmony was poor above stall speed and with the
became very aware of the char- ally by means of the outer of two because the rudder was light, the aircraft “clean,” the stall was pre-
acteristic smell that pervaded concentrically mounted wheels ailerons moderately light, and the ceded by elevator stick buffeting
all German aircraft; it somehow to the pilot’s left; the inner wheel elevators extremely heavy. Con- and the opening of the slats; this
reminded me of almonds and adjusted tailplane incidence. trol harmony in a fighter should was accompanied by unpleasant
was strong but not sickly. Thus, the wheels could be moved be achieved with light ailerons, aileron snatching as the slats
The reflector gunsight was very simultaneously to counteract the slightly heavier elevator, and the opened unevenly. The stall itself
intrusive in that cramped environ- trim change as the flaps came up. rudder heaviest. was fairly gentle: The nose fell off,
WW II Fighters 51
FLYING THE BF 109
held on the stick, or it can be trimmed out, but it is lem for the 109, and I feel it is a superior close-in
slightly surprising initially. fighter. Having said that, the aircraft are closely
When you maneuver above 500km/h, two matched that pilot ability would probably be the
hands are required for a more aggressive perfor- deciding factor.
mance. Either that or get on the trimmer to help. At higher speeds, the P-51 is definitely superior,
Despite this heavying up, it is still quite easy to get and provided the Mustang kept its energy up and
5G at these speeds. refused to dogfight, it would be relatively safe
The rudder is effective and of medium feel up to against the 109.
500km/h. It becomes heavier above this speed, but Other factors affecting the 109 as a combat
regardless, the lack of rudder trim is not a problem aircraft include the cramped cockpit. Although
for the type of operations we carry out with this the view out (in flight) is better than you might
airplane. Initial acceleration is rapid up to about expect, this is quite a tiring working environment.
560km/h—particularly with nose down. After that, The profusion of canopy struts is not a problem.
the 109 starts to become a little reluctant, and you In addition, the small cockpit makes you feel more
have to be fairly determined to get over 600 km/h. a part of the airplane, and the overall smaller
dimensions make you more difficult to spot.
Contemporary Comparisons There’s no doubt that when you are flying the
First, let me say that all my comments are based 109 and you see the crosses on the wings, you feel
on operations below 10,000 feet and at power aggressive. If you are in an Allied fighter, it is very
settings not exceeding 40 inches and 2,600rpm. intimidating to see this dangerous little airplane
I like the airplane, and with familiarity, I think it turning in on you!
will give most of the Allied fighters I have flown a
hard time—particularly in a close, hard-turning, Landing
low-speed dogfight. It will definitely outmaneu- Returning to the circuit, it is almost essential to
ver a P-51 in this type of fight because its roll rate join for a run and break. Over the field, break
and slow-speed characteristics are much better. from 50 feet, up and over with 4G onto the down-
The Spitfire, on the other hand, is more of a prob- wind leg. Speed at 250km/h or less, gear select
52 FlightJournal.com
to DOWN, activate the button, and feel the gear problem is getting too slow. If this happens, you
come down asymmetrically. Check the mechanical very quickly end up with a high sink rate and with
indicators (ignore the electric position indicators), absolutely no ability to check or flare to round out.
set the pitch to 11:30; fuel, both boost pumps ON. It literally falls out of your hands!
If you have less than half a tank of fuel and the Once down on three points, it tends to stay
rear pump is not on, the engine may stop in the down, but be careful; the forward view has gone to
three-point attitude. hell, and you cannot allow any swing to develop.
Radiator flaps to full open, and wing flaps to 10 Initial detection is more difficult—the aircraft
or 15 degrees. As the wing passes the threshold being completely unpredictable—and can diverge
downwind, take all the power off and roll into the in any direction. Sometimes, the most immaculate
final turn, cranking the flap like mad as you go. It three-pointer will turn into a potential disaster
is important to set up a high rate of descent and a halfway through the landing roll. Other times, a
curved approach. ropy landing will roll as straight as an arrow!
The aircraft is reluctant to lose speed around When we started flying the 109, both my father
finals, so ideally, you should initiate the turn quite and I did a lot of practice circuits on the grass
slowly at about 190 to 200km/h. Slats normally before we tried a paved strip. Operating off grass is
deploy halfway around the final, but you, the pilot, preferred. Although it is a much smoother ride on
are not aware that they have come out. The idea the hard surface—directionally—the aircraft is defi-
is to keep turning with the speed slowly bleeding nitely more sensitive. Without doubt, you cannot
and roll the wings level at about 10 feet at the right afford to relax until you are stationary. You would
speed and just starting to transition to the three- never make a rolling exit from a runway in the 109.
point attitude. The last speed I usually see is just To summarize, I like the airplane very much,
about 180; I’m normally too busy after that! and I can understand why many Luftwaffe aces
The 109 is one of the most controllable aircraft had such a high regard and preference for it. Hans
that I have flown at slow speed around finals, and Dittes has completed a fantastic restoration and
provided you don’t get too slow, it is one of the should be complimented on returning “Black 2” to
easiest to three-point. It just feels right. The only the air. J
WW II Fighters 53
Flying the
Me 262
WILLY MESSERSCHMITT’S MASTERPIECE
BY CAPT. ERIC BROWN
Both the RAF and USAAF brought Me 262s home and put them through extensive test programs.
Many secrets of swept-wing design came from these aircraft.
After the war, Germany was awash with Schwalbes that the Luftwaffe had tried to hide
but finally abandoned. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
When RAF Pilot Officer Frank Whittle patented the first practical turbojet
engine in 1930, it marked the advent of the Jet Age. The Germans embraced
the new idea so enthusiastically that the first test runs of the British Whittle
Unit and the German Heinkel S2 (both centrifugal compressor-type engines)
took place in 1937. Thereafter, the Germans raced ahead and, on August 27,
1939, flew the world’s first true jet airplane: the Heinkel 178. On April 2, 1941,
the world’s first twinjet airplane—the Heinkel 280—flew.
Initial German jet-propulsion activity was wing panels. It was thus that sweepback was
mainly undertaken by the Heinkel company, introduced fortuitously into the 262 rather than
but interest soon spread, and in the fall of deliberately, but the Germans were already well
1938, Willy Messerschmitt initiated design aware of the advantage it offered.
studies for an airframe to be powered by the By early 1941, the three prototypes of the
revolutionary new axial-flow gas turbines being 262 were ready to fly, but no jet engines were
developed by the Bayerische Motoren Werke available, so Messerschmitt decided to fit the
(BMW). The Messerschmitt team favored a first prototype with a 1200hp Junkers Jumo
single-engine layout but realized that a long 21OG piston-engine and propeller for its first
intake duct would degrade engine performance, flight test. In this form, on April 18, 1941, the
so it opted for a twin-engine design. At first, it tailwheel-equipped Me 262 made its first
planned to install the engines inside the wing flight. Subsequent tests proved encouraging,
roots so that various engine designs could and in February 1942, two BMW 003 turbojets
be more easily arranged to get the correct were fitted, and on March 30, 1942, the first
center of gravity (CG) position, but to simplify flight test powered by both jets and the piston
spar design, that was changed to underwing engine was made by the Messerschmitt chief
mounting. test pilot Fritz Wendel. This flight could have
BMW then informed Messerschmitt that easily ended in disaster, as the jet engines
its engines would be larger and heavier than failed at 165 feet on takeoff, but the pilot was
originally predicted, so to resolve the resulting able to struggle back to a safe landing on the
CG difficulties, the team added swept outer- power of the piston engine.
FLYING THE ME 262
Although history books On July 18, 1942, the third 262 prototype airflow breakaway along the center section.
claim that 10.NJG 11 used the
with two 1,848-pound, static-thrust preproduc- On April 22, 1943, the 262 was flown by Luft-
two-seat, radar-equipped Me
262B-1a/U1 as night fighter tion Jumo 004A-O engines and Wendel again at waffe Gen. Adolf Galland, who was so impressed
in the defense of Berlin, some the controls achieved all-jet flight. that he persuaded the Air Ministry to transfer
ex-Luftwaffe pilots remember Previously, taxiing trials on the tailwheel- most of Messerschmitt’s production from the
them only being used as train-
ers for new 262 pilots. (Photo equipped prototype had shown that the tail was Bf 109 to the Me 262. Although the aircraft was
courtesy of Stan Piet) being blanked off by the fuselage, and thus, el- ordered into production on June 5, 1943, the Al-
evator and rudder control were ineffective up to lied bombing on August 17, 1943, of the Mess-
takeoff speed. To overcome this drawback, Wen- erschmitt factory at Regensburg caused delays.
del had to tap the brakes at takeoff speed to raise Another factor was the fixation of Field Marshal
the tail and lift off. After the first all-jet flights, Milch (head of the German Air Ministry) on
the team replaced the tailwheel with tricycle increasing the production figures for older and
landing gear and enlarged the wing because of simpler aircraft to impress Hitler and his apathy
One Me 262A-2a survivor that escaped the scrap pile resides at the Aerospace Museum in Cosford, United Kingdom. (Photo courtesy of Eric Brown)
toward the more complex jet aircraft. Regensburg factory caused further setbacks. Small, tight fitting, yet com-
In June 1943, the first Me 262 with tricycle fortable, the Me 262’s most
unique cockpit feature was
landing gear was flown, and on November 26, No Aircraft Is Perfect the control column. Equipped
a flying demonstration of the 262 was made be- I made my first flight in a 262 at Schleswig-Jagel with several controls, the
fore Hitler at Insterburg. He immediately seized in a captured Me 262B-1a/U1 two-seat night- column proved to be the
precursor to the modern jet
on the idea of using it to carry a 1,100-pound fighter fitted with SN-2 Lichtenstein radar. This control column. (Photo by Dan
(500kg) bomb load against England, and so pro- was not by choice; I would have preferred to Patterson)
duction was divided between the fighter version start with the single-seat fighter, but I knew
and the fighter-bomber version. This fateful de- that it might be my only chance to fly the rare
cision cost Germany dearly because the war had two-seater, so I took it. Having subsequently
progressed to a stage where the Luftwaffe needed flown only the single-seater, I realized that the
a massive fighter force if the Third Reich was night-fighter version must have been difficult to
to survive the onslaught of Allied airpower. In cope with because it had a 200mph (322km/h)
February 1944, another heavy Allied raid on the safety speed on takeoff, a reduced rate of climb,
WW II Fighters 57
FLYING THE ME 262
a reduction of some 37mph (60km/h) in cruise The 262’s lack of an ejection seat hardly
speed owing to the antler-type antenna on contributed to its pilot’s peace of mind, and
its nose, and the Luftwaffe pilots were flying a the cockpit tended to overheat even when the
development aircraft of limited endurance on temperature-control lever was in the “off” posi-
dark strips lit only by searchlights and fires from tion. The heated windscreen was prone to crack-
bombed German cities. ing, and this usually occurred just a few minutes
In general, the Me 262 was a superb machine after the heat was switched off.
but not without its shortcomings. Basically, Other annoyances included the nosewheel’s
the airplane was underpowered, and this was tendency to swivel broadside during takeoffs
reflected in its slow acceleration on takeoff; and landings unless the plane was fitted with a
low-pressure tires for operation from grass air- modified Kroefte wheel fork. A much more seri-
fields compounded the problem. The Jumo 004 ous problem was the matter of an emergency
engines required slow throttle movements to landing with only one engine operating. So
avoid compressor stalls, especially when above many fatal crashes resulted from the 262’s lack
20,000 feet. No speed brakes were fitted, and the of power and pilot inexperience that the air staff
throttling restrictions made formation-flying ordered that single-engine emergency landings
imprecise and made the airplane difficult to be made without lowering the landing gear.
decelerate. Such belly landings reduced the fatalities, but
FLYING THE 262 nose-heavy and setting the flaps at 20 degrees as indicated on
When the swept-wing Me 262 fighter arrived on the scene in Octo- each flap’s upper surface. There was an elevator-trim gearing lever
ber 1944, it was in a class of its own. As a British test pilot, I con- mounted on the control column, and it had a coarse setting for
sider it the most formidable aircraft of WW II, and I was fortunate takeoff and landing and a fine setting for high-speed flight.
enough to fly it in postwar Germany and at test facilities in England. After lining up the aircraft on the runway (brakes on), I opened
Before I made my first flight in the 262, I gathered some factual up the engines to 8,500rpm and made sure that the Zwiebel
information from Messerschmitt’s chief test pilot. I learned that the (onion)—as the exhaust cone had been dubbed—protruded from
axial-flow Jumo 004 Jet engines ran on 87-octane gasoline with each orifice. I then applied full power (8,700rpm) and checked
a 5 percent mix of lubricating oil, and they were very sensitive to the jet-pipe temperature, burner pressure, and fuel pressure. A 5
throttle movement. They had a periodic inspection life of 10 hours percent drop in fuel pressure meant that takeoff would be aborted.
and a scrap life of a mere 25 hours. Single-engine safety speed At full power, fumes or smoke invariably penetrated the cockpit,
was high, and an engine failure below that speed meant a very and as the canopy had to be closed for takeoff, the polluted
rapid loss of control and a certain flamer crash. I also learned that environment was somewhat disturbing. The nosewheel was raised
the basic aircraft flew well, and that high Mach number flight had at 100mph (160km/h), and the aircraft pulled off gently at 124mph
not really been extensively researched, owing to the time pressure (200km/h). Once airborne, I raised the landing gear, reduced flap
to get the fighter to the production acceptance stage and a deflection by 10 degrees, and immediately eased the stick forward
shortage of experienced test pilots. until momentum built up to that all-important single-engine safety
To my eye, the 262 had exciting yet sinister lines that reminded speed of 180mph (290km/h). The flaps could then be fully raised.
me of a shark. Once in the cockpit, the layout struck me as neat The safety speed must surely have been engraved on every
and orderly, but starting the Riedel two-stroke starter motor 262 pilot’s heart. The takeoff run was long and felt as though the
required considerable ambidexterity. Taxiing called for restrained airplane were underpowered. Acceleration to safety speed was
movement of the throttles to ensure that the jet-pipe temperature slow, so there were some nail-biting moments. One of the main
did not exceed 1202°F (650°C), but once 6,000rpm was reached, causes of engine failure was the Zwiebel detaching itself from its
the governor cut in and throttle movement could be accelerated. mounting, sealing off the exhaust orifice and producing a flameout.
As on all German aircraft, the main wheel brakes were operated This created tremendous asymmetric drag that invariably resulted
by toe action, and a hand-operated nosewheel brake lever was on in the aircraft skidding sideways. with the tailplane blanked by the
the main instrument panel’s left side. fuselage. The resulting violent diving turn required full rudder to
The takeoff preparations simply involved trimming the elevators counteract the swing and roll, and backward stick pressure had to
58 FlightJournal.com
IT WAS UNDOUBTEDLY HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL AGAINST ALLIED BOMBERS BUT
LESS SO AGAINST ENEMY FIGHTERS BECAUSE OF ITS HIGH-SPEED SIGHTING
PROBLEMS, WHICH WERE EXACERBATED BY ITS LACK OF SPEED BRAKES.
fire often broke out from ruptured fuel tanks or These units were more numerous than the pure
the Riedel starter-engine fuel container. fighter units by the beginning of 1945, but their
lack of effective bomb-sight systems diminished
Into Action their capabilities. By far, the most successful use
The first semi-operational Me 262 fighter unit of the 262 was short-range photographic recon-
was Trials Unit 262 (EK 262), and in September naissance, and in December 1944, a special unit
1944, it completed its evaluation work; on Octo- made up of unarmed Me 262A-1a/U3 aircraft
ber 3, 1944, the first accredited fighter wing was equipped with two vertical Rb 50130 cameras
formed by two squadrons of about 20 Me 262A- was formed. The jet’s speed made it virtually
1a aircraft and became operational. Initially, the impossible to catch.
pilots had problems with scoring hits at high To increase hits in high-speed fighter attacks The initial 262 prototypes
were tail-draggers, but the
speeds, so they slowed down and lost their main the 262 was fitted with 12 devastatingly lethal
plane was quickly redesigned
advantage. The low-muzzle velocity of the can- 55mm unguided rocket projectiles under each for a nose wheel. (Photo cour-
non exacerbated the problem. On November 8, wing. This version was designated “Me 262A- tesy of Peter Bowers)
1944, wing commander Maj. Walter
Nowotny, a highly decorated, 258-kill
national hero, was apparently shot
down by a British Tempest squadron,
and the wing was disbanded having
made 22 kills for the loss of 17 Me
262s. Some of Nowotny’s pilots went
to a new fighter wing (JG 7), but others
formed a new fighter training unit with
Me 262B-1a two-seat trainers.
In September 1944, in accordance
with Hitler’s edict, the first Me 262A-
2a fighter-bomber units were formed,
and they had their own training unit.
WW II Fighters 59
FLYING THE ME 262
1b” but did not enter squadron service pilots from disbanded units flew their ability during takeoffs and landings, by
until March 11, 1945. By that time, the aircraft to join JV 44. its temperamental engines, and by its
writing was on the wall for the Third In the final analysis, how did the Me lack of experienced fighter pilots. But
Reich, and as one of its final despairing 262 fare in combat? It was undoubtedly when flown by experienced pilots, the
gestures, on February 5, 1945, it formed highly successful against Allied bomb- Germans scored 45 kills in just over a
JV 44—an elite squadron of its leading ers but less so against enemy fighters month of operations with a 33 percent
fighter aces under Lt. Gen. Adolf Gal- because of its high-speed sighting loss of aircraft in combat and normal
land. It began with 16 Me 262s and 15 problems, which were exacerbated by operations.
pilots, but the numbers increased as its lack of speed brakes, by its vulner-
60 FlightJournal.com
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WE FLY THE
FW 190
BY CAPT. ERIC BROWN
62 FlightJournal.com
In the fall of 1937, the Technical Department of the German Air Ministry
decided to develop a replacement for the Messerschmitt 109. At the end of
the year, after discussions with Focke-Wulf’s chief designer Kurt Tank, the Air
Ministry awarded a contract to the company. The Ministry specified the need
for a fighter whose performance would be significantly better than that of
both the 109 and the British Spitfire.
WW II Fighters 63
PORTRAIT OF A WINNER
A captured G-3 model is Tank realized that he would require the most The Focke-Wulf design team began with
test-flown. (Photo courtesy powerful engine available to him, and this certain definite ideas: They would need a strong,
of Peter M. Bowers)
requirement clearly pointed him toward the wide-track landing gear, both to withstand the
18-cylinder, two-row radial BMW 139, which vertical velocity required of the new fighter/
offered 325 more horsepower than its nearest rival, bomber and also to avoid the severe directional
control problems that plagued the 109 during
AS THE FW 190 CONSOLIDATED ITS SUPERI- takeoffs and landings. Tank also declared that
when he was a soldier in WW I, he had learned
ORITY OVER ITS RAF CONTEMPORARIES, THE that military equipment must be simple, robust,
MORALE OF SPITFIRE V SQUADRON PILOTS reliable, and easy to maintain. He was determined
WAS INEVITABLY AFFECTED. to apply those standards to the new aircraft—
designation “FW 190.”
the 12-cylinder, in-line, liquid-cooled DB 601. It is interesting that Tank, who was also a
Although the FW 190 V1 pro-
totype’s flight characteristics This decision surprised Luftwaffe officials but was director of Focke-Wulf, was a famous test pilot
were favorably regarded, its accepted because of the uncertainty of the future of his aircraft during WW II. Throughout this
pilots suffered from exhaust supply of the Daimler-Benz engine (which had article, you’ll notice where his understanding of
fumes and very high tempera-
previously been projected as the powerplant for the real-life requirements of hard-pressed combat
tures in the cockpit. (Photo
courtesy of Peter M. Bowers) the 109 fighter, the twin-engine Me 110, Arado pilots produced superior designs of cockpits,
240 fighter, and several other combat aircraft). visibility from the cockpit, landing gear, control
harmonies, and automatic systems—to name just
a few areas in which he excelled. With all of his
designs, his test-pilot experience allowed him to
work toward the reduction of the combat pilot’s
load as far as possible.
Powered by a fan-cooled 1,550hp BMW 139,
the prototype’s first flight took place at Bremen
airfield on June 1, 1939. It had a special ducted
spinner to reduce drag, but its engine was soon
found to be prone to overheating, so the ducted
spinner was replaced by a new—and unique—
snugly fitting NACA cowl with a cooling fan
geared to the propeller in the front of the cowl.
BMW was already test-running a new engine—
64 FlightJournal.com
the 14-cylinder BMW 801—that was some
20 inches (50cm) longer and 180 pounds heavier,
and produced 100hp more than the BMW 139.
At this point, Focke-Wulf decided to concentrate
on this newer engine.
The installation of the BMW 801 required
some considerable modifications to the FW 190’s
basic airframe. The cockpit had to be moved
farther aft to compensate for the forward shift
in the center of gravity. Although this shrank
the cockpit, it provided more space up front for
fuselage armament. The increase in weight also
had to be compensated for by an increase in Another problem with the prototype’s large ducted spinner was that the rear row of the engine’s
wingspan and wing area. This change cost only cylinders overheated. Fitting an orthodox spinner helped solve this problem. (Photo courtesy of
Peter M. Bowers)
a 6mph (10km/h) loss in speed, but it improved
the rate of climb and reduced the turning circle.
After successful flights at Rechlin Test Center, the
German Air Ministry ordered 100 production
FW 190A-1s.
The FW 190A-1 was a small, low-wing mono-
plane powered by a 1,660hp BMW 801C-1
radial neatly faired into its slim fuselage, and its
extensively glazed cockpit canopy afforded an
excellent all-around view. The aircraft was built
of metal, had a stressed Duralumin skin, and was
armed with four .30-caliber (7.9mm) machine
guns. It was introduced to full-squadron service
in March 1941, and on September 27, it clashed
with Spitfire Vs for the first time and showed its
superiority in all respects except turning combat. The FW 190A-0 V7 was the first BMW 801-powered aircraft to have armament: two 7.9mm Rhein-
In January 1942, the FW 190A-2 became metall Borsig MG 17 machine guns in the upper deck and two in the wing roots. (Photo courtesy of
Peter M. Bowers)
operational with the improved BMW 801C-2
engine, two .30-caliber (7.9mm) machine guns
cowled above the engine, and two 20mm cannon
in the wing roots. Two more .30-caliber (7.9mm)
machine guns were often carried in the outboard
wing panels.
The first major production variant was the A-3;
it was powered by the 1,700hp BMW 801D-2,
and the 20mm MG FF cannon that had been in
the wing root was replaced by the much faster
firing MG 151/20mm cannon, which was moved
outboard of the propeller arc. The pilot had
more armor protection, and the cockpit canopy There were a couple of minor differences between the A-0 and the A-1 models. The A-1 had heavier
toggle latches to lock the cowl in place, and it also had a cartridge system to help jettison the canopy
could be jettisoned while in flight with the aid when flying at more than 250mph. (Photo courtesy of Peter M. Bowers)
of explosive bolts. The A-3 was a multipurpose
aircraft and was produced in fighter, fighter/
bomber, reconnaissance, torpedo/bomber, and
ground-attack variants. It entered service in
March 1942, by which time more than
250 FW 190s were being produced monthly.
From October 1942 to March 1943, 72 A-3s
were handed over to Turkey.
As the FW 190 consolidated its superiority
over its Royal Air Force (RAF) contemporaries, the
morale of Spitfire V squadron pilots was inevitably
affected. The British Air Ministry’s concern about
the situation soon bordered on desperation, and it
planned a commando raid on a Luftwaffe fighter
base in France to hijack a FW 190. Then fortune
favored the Allies when, at 2035 hours on June 23,
1942, a Luftwaffe pilot—after a brief encounter On June 23, 1942, the Allies had their first look at an FW 190A-3 when Arnim Faber mistakenly
landed his plane at RAF Pembrey, Wales, after battling the RAF. (Photo courtesy of Peter M. Bowers)
WW II Fighters 65
PORTRAIT OF A WINNER
The wide stance of the landing with Spitfires over the English Channel—became
gear made the FW’s ground disoriented and landed his FW 190A-3 at RAF
handling, takeoffs, and land-
ings much easier and safer
Pembrey in South Wales and not on what he
than those of the Messer- assumed was a German airfield on the Cherbourg
schmitt 109. (Photo courtesy peninsula. Owing to the RAF Air Traffic Control’s
of Peter M. Bowers)
smart thinking, the pilot was left undisturbed to
taxi in and stop his engine before a controller
leapt onto the FW’s wing and held a flare pistol to
his head. Unbelievably, an intact example of the
enemy’s latest fighter was in RAF hands.
The R6 version of the A-4 had
two Wfr.Gr.21 mortars at- The A-3 was transported to the Royal Aircraft The FW 190A-5/U12 was one of two prototypes for the
tached to its wing; they were Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough, where both A-7/R1 version that had twin MG 151 cannon trays under each
used to combat Allied bomber wing. (Photo courtesy of Peter M. Bowers)
the airframe and the engine were dismantled and
formations. (Photo courtesy
of Peter M. Bowers) thoroughly analyzed before being reassembled for
10 days of flight testing, starting on July 3. The flight tests confirmed that the FW 190 was a truly
outstanding combat aircraft with a very high rate
of roll and impressive acceleration in the dive. Its
Achilles’ heel was in its violent accelerated stall
that could lead to a spin if it tried to outturn the
Spitfire. The tests also revealed that, above
25,000 feet, the newer Spitfire IX could outperform
the FW 190. This information was, of course,
rapidly transmitted to all Allied operational
fighter units; it was evident that the FW 190 pilots
preferred to fight by climbing and diving while the
Allied fighters were well advised to stick to level
turning combat.
In late summer 1942, the FW 190A-4 appeared
66 FlightJournal.com
equipped with the MW-50 water/methanol injec- that greatly relieved the pilot’s responsibility to
tion system that could boost the BMW 801D-2 control airscrew pitch (rpm), fuel mixture, and
engine to 2,100hp for short periods. This was engine boost (throttle) in combat. In addition,
two years before production U.S. fighters had the engine’s two-speed supercharger shifted
water-injection systems. This variant also had automatically at about 21,000 feet, and control
better radio equipment, which necessitated the of the important oil-cooler flaps was automatic,
installation of a short radio mast on top of the fin. thus relieving the pilot of two more major cockpit
duties. The pilot needed only to keep his hand on
My Flight Testing of the the throttle and his eye on his assailant. In the Another variant of the A-5,
the U14, carried an LTF 5b
FW 190A-4 Begins heat of combat, it was easy for an Allied fighter torpedo on an adapted ETC
In the months of April, May, and June 1943, pilot to forget to move one or both of the other 501 fuselage rack. The fin was
during night operations, three more FW 190A-4s two required controls if he needed immediate full enlarged, and the tailwheel
gear was elongated to com-
landed at airfields in southeast England, and it power to beat his opponent. pensate for the torpedo’s
was in one of these that I did most of the flight The FW 190 also had electrically controlled oil- length. (Photo courtesy of
testing of this type at RAE Farnborough. I clearly cooler flaps, which had to be operated manually Peter M. Bowers)
recall the excitement with which I first examined
Kurt Tank’s masterpiece, which he himself called
the Würger (“butcher bird”); its functional yet
pleasing lines exuded an elegant lethality. It sat
high on the ground, and although the landing
gear appeared to be extraordinarily long, the
forward view was still rather better than that from
contemporary fighters. The somewhat narrow
cockpit had a semi-reclining seat—ideal for high-G
maneuvers—and the controls fell easily to hand.
In general, the cockpit layout was good. The
engine was controlled by an ingenious, advanced
Kommandogerät—a sort of electronic brain box
WW II Fighters 67
PORTRAIT OF A WINNER
68 FlightJournal.com
(565km/h), when they became heavy enough MEETING THE LEGENDARY
KURT TANK
to impose a tactical restriction with regard to
pullout from low-level dives. This heaviness was
accentuated because of the nose-down pitch
T
that was evident at high speeds when trimmed he FW 190 was truly one of the
for low speeds. The critical speed at which this world’s greatest aircraft designs,
change of trim happened was around 220mph but what of the man responsible
(355km/h), and it could easily be gauged in turns. for it? I had the good fortune to
Below that speed, the FW 190 had a tendency to interrogate Kurt Tank when he was captured
tighten up in a turn, but above 220mph, some and taken to London at the end of the
backward stick pressure was required to hold the war, and he proved to be very interesting.
turn. Thus, in combat, the pilot had to be aware I was already aware of his particularly
that if he dived on the enemy to get enough high standing in the upper echelons of the
speed to follow him into a steep turn, he had to German Air Ministry. In 1938, because of his
ensure that he didn’t lighten his initial pull force test-flying ability, they gave him the coveted
by using the trimmer. As speed fell off in the title of Flugkapitän, and in January 1943, they
turn, he would have a sudden reversal of stick designated him “Professor” because of his
force that could tighten the turn so much that technical prowess.
the plane would depart dramatically into a spin. Since we were both test pilots and because I spoke to him only in
Most of the early FW 190 pilots were, however, German, I felt we established a good rapport and he conversed freely.
too well trained to lose their cool to that extent He obviously had no great love of politics and was totally immersed in
in battle. military aviation; in fact, he asked me as many questions as I asked him.
Rudder control proved positive and effective I was surprised by how active he had been in flight testing his designs,
at low speeds, and I found it satisfactory at high and I shared his conviction that this gave him an edge over other German
speeds; I seldom had to use it for any normal designers.
maneuver. It was when I assessed the three I asked him how the Focke-Wulf company would have been affected if he
controls together rather than in isolation that I had been killed on a test flight. He said his team was strong enough to ensure
appreciated the FW 190’s magic as a fighter lay the continuity of his standards, and he was particularly emphatic in his praise
in its superb control harmony. A good dogfighter of his young aerodynamicist Hans Multhopp. Multhopp had a short postwar
and a good gun platform called for just the tenure with the scientific staff at RAE Farnborough, who were designing the
characteristics that the German fighter had in first supersonic jet-powered aircraft for the British to flight-test—months
all important aspects of stability and control. At before the Bell X-1; but this was canceled owing to massive postwar military-
the normal cruise speed of 330 mph (530km/h) budget reductions.
at 8,000 feet (2,440m), stability was very good Tank was keen to know what I thought of his special baby, the FW 190,
directionally, but it was unstable laterally and and was delighted by my assessment; he heartily agreed that the Dora
neutral longitudinally—all very fine for a fighter, 9 was the pick of the bunch. He also asked many questions about the
but it was not easy to fly on instruments; indeed, Spitfire and Mustang—obviously interested to see whether the reports of
the all-weather variants needed were fitted with Luftwaffe test pilots at Rechlin on them were correct. Finally, he gave me
the Patin PKS 12 course-steering autopilot. some insight into his future design thinking and was enthusiastic about
For landing, I reduced the speed to below his ideas for a jet superiority fighter that he designated the “Ta 183 Flitzer”
155mph (250km/h) and then applied 10 degrees (“whizzer”) and for a turboprop strike fighter. I was impressed.
of flap before lowering the landing gear. After
turning on to the final approach, I applied full flap
at 150mph (240km/h) and gradually eased the
Flown by Lt. Heinz Sach speed as I crossed the airfield boundary at 125mph cessfully. I flew the conversion trainer from
senberg for JV 44, this (200km/h). The view on the approach was the rear seat, where the instructor had only
FW 190D9 served as an
decidedly poor because the attitude with power rudimentary controls, but the view was certainly
airfield protection aircraft
for the unit’s Me 262s when on was flat, and unlike most of its contemporaries, an improvement on that of its 109 two-seat trainer
they took off and landed. The its cockpit canopy could not be opened because counterpart’s.
inscription reads “Sell my of the risk of contamination from engine exhaust A drawback of the A-series was that the power
clothes. I’m going to heaven.”
(Illustration by Tom Tullis) fumes. Unless you made a perfect three-point of the BMW 801 engine tended to drop off at
touchdown, you’d have a somewhat bouncy altitudes above 23,000 feet (7,000m). In an attempt
arrival on the non-resilient landing gear. to redress that situation, a few B- and C-series
aircraft were experimented with: the 190B had a
Variants of the FW 190A Series BMW 801D-2 engine and a pressurized cabin, and
Early in 1943, the FW 190A-5 appeared. It was the 190C was powered by a 1,750hp Daimler-Benz
essentially similar to the A-4, but its revised engine DB 603 engine with an annular radiator, a Hirth
mounting moved the engine 6 inches (15cm) turbo-supercharger, and a 4-blade airscrew. This C
farther forward. This opened up the area behind version had a pressurized cabin and larger vertical
the engine, and allowed the cooling air to exit the tail surfaces, but it was eventually abandoned
engine faster and leave through the cooling gills when the turbo-supercharger was found to be too
on the side of the fuselage. The A-6 followed with unreliable for service use.
a redesigned wing that was lighter and could take
four 20mm cannon. In December 1943 came the The Fabulous D-Series
A-7 with a slightly uprated engine, and this was During the spring of 1944, the D—Dora—series
followed by A-8 to A-10. Although many models was introduced; each had a 1,776hp Junkers
and versions were designed, most of the FW 190s Jumo 213A-1 12-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine.
produced were A-3, A-4, and A-5 models. To compensate for the fuselage’s long nose, the
There were many variants of the last six A-series vertical tail surfaces were larger, and the aircraft
190s. Their differences were mainly in engine, was an immediate success. The first production
armament, and radio equipment, but there were model was designated “FW 190D-9,” as it was
three unusual variants. In late 1943, a unit was intended to be a replacement for the A-8 on
equipped with specially armored FW 190A-6s assembly lines. It was fitted with two 20mm
that could ram enemy bombers; the A-8/U1 was a cannon in the wings and two .50-caliber (13mm)
two-seat conversion trainer; and the A-8/U3 was machine guns mounted above the engine—a first
adapted as the upper component fighter of the for the .50-caliber guns and a big step forward in
Mistel piggyback fighter/bomber combination. armament output. Provision was made for an
The Mistel’s lower component—a Ju 88 bomber— MW-50 water/methanol injection system that
was flown by the pilot in the FW 190 as a large would boost the power of the Jumo 213A to
attached bomb until it was launched as a pilotless 2,240hp for short periods. For D-series pilots,
missile over the target. This combination was another important device was its automatic
designed for the invasion of France, and it was shifting at two scheduled altitudes to ensure that
later used in the Soviet Union but not very suc- the two-stage supercharger would maintain the
PHOTO COURTESY OF STAN PIET
70 FlightJournal.com
correct engine power as altitude increased.
The Dora 9 was one of the finest piston-engine
fighters I have ever flown; it ranks among my top
five with the Spitfire XIV, the Grumman Bearcat,
the Hawker Sea Fury, and the North American
P-51D Mustang IV. It had all the handling quali-
ties of the A-series, and its performance was out-
standing. Top speed was 426mph (685km/h) at
21,500 feet (6,500m) and 357mph (574km/h) at
sea level. Initial rate of climb was 3,500 feet per
minute, and its service ceiling was 40,000 feet.
To train former Ju 87 pilots, two-seat versions of the 190 were built—designated “A-8/U1.” (Photo
With an MW-50 water/methanol injection, it courtesy of Peter M. Bowers)
reached a speed of 453mph (730km/h). Seven
hundred Doras were produced, but a shortage of
pilots and aviation fuel during this period (the
fall of 1944) meant that the Dora’s full military
potential was never utilized.
WW II Fighters 71
PORTRAIT OF A WINNER
Focke-Wulf Revisited
My association with Focke-Wulf did not end with
the demise of the Third Reich; in 1958, I was
appointed head of the British Naval Air Mission
to Germany, where I trained and advised the new
Marineflieger (Naval Air Arm). During my two and
a half years in that post, I was seconded to Focke-
Wulf in Bremen to test-fly the British Hawker Sea
Hawk jet fighter and the twin turboprop Fairey
Gannet antisubmarine hunter/killer, which
Focke-Wulf was building under license for the
Marineflieger. It was a strange feeling to arrive at
Bremen’s war-damaged airfield, whose buildings
The Champlin Museum’s into its own at above 35,000 feet. Using GM-1 looked almost as I had last seen them in 1945;
uncowled Focke-Wulf shows nitrous-oxide injection, it was claimed by the but in my frequent visits over the next two years,
the size of the Jumo 213A
engine. Note the massive Germans to have a service ceiling of 48,500 feet a great transformation took place, and the Focke-
mount that was designed to and a top speed of 472mph (760km/h) at Wulf headquarters were completely rebuilt. Most
keep it securely attached to 41,000 feet. Rate of roll was noticeably less, of the old archives were restored to their former
the airframe during high-G
combat maneuvers. (Photo
and maneuvering stick force per G was greater home, and I spent many fascinating hours reading
courtesy of Corky Meyer) than that of earlier 190s; although longitudinal through these historic files to glean information
stability had improved, an autopilot was fitted, on the development of the various versions of the
as the Ta 152H had a range of 755 miles at magnificent FW 190 Butcher Bird.
these special
Helmet not
included
issues, as told by
those who were
there, and are
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74 FlightJournal.com
A TEST PILOT COMPARES THE
A6M5 ZERO TO U.S. FIGHTERS
Anyone who grew up in the 1920s and ’30s learned
quickly that “Made in Japan” meant cheap price and poor
quality. Almost everything bought in the five-and-dime
stores had that tag. It seemed impossible to purchase
anything imported from Japan that would not wear out or
break after a short, useful life.
For the first six months of WW II in the Pacific, the Zero’s range and maneuverability let it dominate
the theater. Its success, however, blinded Japanese leadership to the need for follow-on designs to
counter the second-generation fighters that were bound to be fielded by the Allies. (Photo by John
Dibbs/planepicture.com)
WW II Fighters 75
ZERO—MYTH, MYSTERY, AND TRUTH
76 FlightJournal.com
rarity, Cmdr. Andrews, the Navy project pilot, An Interesting Cockpit for
would not let a pilot start the engine until he a Six-Foot-Three Pilot
was satisfied with his competence. During the cockpit checkout, I noted that all
We started our cockpit checkout in the cool the engine instruments and several of the flight
hangar. As we were talking, the airplane was instruments were calibrated in metrics, like
dragged out into the hot sun. I had previously kilograms/square centimeters (oil pressure) and
noted that the fabric was drooped between meters (altimeter). I asked Cmdr. Andrews to
the ribs of the ailerons but had forgotten to make pencil marks where the respective needles
ask Cmdr. Andrews about it. Soon there were a were supposed to be in flight so that I would not
lot of audible, metallic scraping noises. Cmdr. have to remember so many unfamiliar readings.
Andrews then suggested that the fabric would To my surprise, I found that the cockpit was
become taut and the metallic working would large enough to make my six-foot-three body
stop after the airplane had become acclimated feel comfortable from the seat bottom to the
to the higher temperature outside the hangar. canopy. My feet, however, seemed tucked under
That is the only time I have ever “heard” an me, even with the rudder pedals full forward.
engineering weight savings. This was uncomfortable but certainly not unfly-
This Type 52a Zero did not have self-sealing able. Even though visibility on the ground was
fuel tanks and pilot armor protection. That only fair over the nose, the seat could be raised
was to cost them 145 pounds in the Type 52c, so that my eyes were several inches above the
which was just being delivered to Japanese top of the open canopy, for superb taxi vis-
squadrons when the Fighter Conference was ibility. Fighter-required visibility in the air was
going on. That weight penalty, plus others to excellent, especially to the rear.
come—without an increase in horsepower— Another non-American feature that must
started an inevitable decline in the Zero’s com- have given the Japanese pilots mixed emotions
bat agility. was the protrusion of the two 7.7mm type 97
Its 8G maneuvering limit was the same as our (.30-caliber) gun butts 6 inches into the cock-
fighters, but the maximum diving speed of our pit on either side of the instrument panel. I’m
Zero 52a was only 355 knots. The reduced air- sure these gave a macho feeling to the pilots
frame material sizes resulting from lower dive- when firing with the racket, the nearness of
speed loads reduced the gross weight by several the action, and the ability to clear gun jams.
hundred pounds. That lower gross weight With all the cordite fumes, I do hope that Japa-
accounted for much of the Zero’s outstanding nese pilots had good, 100-percent-flow oxygen
dogfight-maneuvering performance. In com- masks. The gun butts must have been most dis-
parison, the Wildcat had a 400-knot dive-speed concerting and disfiguring in a crash. The rest
limit. The F6F-3 Hellcat had a 420-knot speed, of the cockpit interior was reasonably well laid
which was subsequently raised to 455 knots in out and easily adaptable. However, I had just
the F6F-5. flown in the messy Seafire cockpit, so any other
Workmanship on the Zero was superb and cockpit looked great.
comparable to American quality. This was Engine operation throughout the flight was
most amazing to us in light of the prewar similar to American engines, as one might
Japanese products with which we all had come expect with the “engine label” attached. A clipped-wing version of an
in contact. A6M Zeke 32. (Photo courtesy
of Peter M. Bowers collection)
WW II Fighters 77
ZERO—MYTH, MYSTERY, AND TRUTH
78 FlightJournal.com
F4F Wildcat vs. Zero 21
Airacobra P-39D-1 vs. Zero 21 The Zero was superior at all altitudes above 1,000 feet in speed,
In a formation takeoff climbing to 5,000 feet, the Zero was at climb, service ceiling and range. Sea-level speeds were the same
4,000 feet when the Airacobra reached 5,000 feet. In level flight for both aircraft. In a dive, both airplanes were the same except
starting at 230mph at 5,000 feet, the Airacobra had a marked that the Zero’s engine cut out during pushovers. There was no
acceleration away from the Zero. Climbing from 5,000 to comparison between the turning circles of the two aircraft due
10,000 feet, the Airacobra reached 10,000 six seconds ahead to the relative wing loadings and the resultant low stalling speed
of the Zero. Starting from 220mph level at 10,000, the Airaco- of the Zero. In view of the foregoing, the F4F in combat with the
bra again accelerated markedly away from the Zero. Climbing Zero must be dependent on mutual support, internal protection
from 10,000 feet to 15,000, the Zero gained an advantage from and pullouts or turns at high speeds where the minimum radius is
12,500 feet and began to pull away from the Airacobra. Climbing limited by structural or physiological effects of acceleration (as-
from 15,000 feet to 20,000 feet, the Zero took immediate advan- suming that the allowable acceleration of the F4F is greater than
tage and walked away from the Airacobra. The climb was discon- the Zero’s). However, advantage should be taken where possible
tinued as the Airacobra was running low on fuel. On a straight of the F4F’s superiority in pushovers and rolls at high speeds, or
climb from takeoff to 25,000 feet, the Airacobra maintained the any combination of the two. (This may sound bad, but the 1,200hp
advantage until 14,800 feet and from then on, the Zero pulled Wildcat had a kill-to-loss ratio in the Pacific war of 9 to 1. The
ahead reaching 25,000 feet five minutes ahead of the Aircobra. 2,000hp Corsair had only an 11 to 1 kill-to-loss ratio.)
WW II Fighters 79
ZERO—MYTH, MYSTERY, AND TRUTH
80 FlightJournal.com
more aircraft airborne in less time than the Japa- THE ARROGANT
nese because more aircraft could be on the launch
deck at one time. The value of greater numbers of
JAPANESE
available aircraft from the tight Grumman wing- ADMIRALS AND
fold system paid off in spades in all the air battles GENERALS HAD
of WW II despite the 170-pound weight penalty. CONVINCED
The Leash Shortens Yet Again: THEMSELVES
Sam Stumbles THAT THEY DID
Zeros stayed in production for the entire war, NOT NEED AN
even when they were outclassed well before the
pilots learned that the Zero could not be maneu- war ended. From an American viewpoint, this is
IMPROVEMENT
vered when diving at over 250 knots. difficult to understand. We were continuously TO THE ZERO,
In comparison, both the Wildcat and the Hell- developing airplanes without the distraction of EVEN THOUGH
cat had much more manageable stick forces up to a war going on around us. We also did not share THE HAND-
their higher dive-speed limits. The Type 52c Zero the fixed conviction of our enemies that the war
had heavier wing skins and structure to permit would be a short one. Also, we had a much larger
WRITING WAS
a dive speed of 400 knots. Unless the control manpower and material base for research and ON THE WALL,
forces had also been decreased by a large fac- development. Having been in the aircraft- BIG TIME!
tor, it is difficult to see how this increase in dive manufacturing business during WW II, Korea,
speed would have assisted Zero pilots even during and Vietnam, it was stunning to me that the
kamikaze attacks. Japanese and Germans produced as many aircraft
Test pilots and engineers had worked hard to developments and had such amazing rates of
make the Zero’s flight-handling characteristics production in the last years of WW II despite the
user-friendly in the dogfighting regime. I imme- devastating 1,000-plane Allied bomber raids.
diately felt as though I had flown the Zero many In early 1942, Mitsubishi engineers proposed
times before. The balance of the controls, the a great follow-on for the Zero. It was an airplane
cockpit visibility, the smoothness of the engine, with the general planform of the Zero but sized
the location of all the instruments, and the up to fit the new 2,200hp Homare 43 engine. It
gentle stall characteristics made this one of the was fitted with all the armor plate, etc., that the
few fighter airplanes I had evaluated that dem- war had eventually convinced them to be neces-
onstrated almost all of the required qualities for sary. This airplane was known as the Mitsubishi
successfully putting a low-time pilot into combat A7M2 Reppu—code-named “Sam” by the U.S.
with the needed confidence to survive. forces. Japanese Navy brass immediately dictated
that it be redesigned to use a smaller engine.
The Leash Shortens Again: They then reversed their decision in late 1943
Insufficient Wing Fold with the full-speed go-ahead it should have been
Another less obvious—but major—Zero defi- given when it was first presented. Because of
ciency was that its wing-fold span decreased its this strange delay in the development program,
total span by only 6 feet. This allowed only one only a few Homare 43-powered Sams appeared
Zero at a time to be on the elevator from the by the war’s end. Had the Sam been pushed as it
hangar deck to the flight deck for launch. The should have been, the Hellcat, Corsair, P-51, and
number of Zeros on a carrier were accordingly P-47 would have met their match long before the
limited by its 36-foot folded wingspan both on end of the war. Because the Sam was hopelessly
the hangar and launch decks. Having the wing delayed, the only other option was to continue
fold at the tip saved a lot of weight over having the overworked Zero production line until the
it fold at the wing root, but it was to prove too end of the war. A total of 10,499 Zeros of all mod-
great a sacrifice for weight savings/performance els were constructed—more than 80 percent of
increase versus numbers of aircraft available per all the fighters available to the Japanese Air Force
carrier during the critical battles of the Coral Sea during the entire war.
and Midway. The Zero was a fabulous fighter from 1938 to
Both the Hellcat and the Wildcat had folding 1942, when dogfighting prevailed in combat.
wings that decreased their spans to 17 feet— When its weaknesses were finally understood
enough to allow five aircraft with wings folded by Allied fighter pilots, they should have been
to occupy the same area as two aircraft without most grateful that the arrogant Japanese admi-
wing-folding capability! This permitted a 150 per- rals and generals had convinced themselves that
cent increase in the numbers of aircraft on the they did not need an improvement to the Zero,
hangar or flight decks for the same-size carrier even though the handwriting was on the wall,
and made deck elevators much more efficient by big time! The kamikaze mission was the Zero’s
being able to handle two aircraft at a time. The last effort, and it regained its usefulness as a
folding wings also permitted U.S. carriers to get weapon—fortunately, for only a short time. J
WW II Fighters 81
TAILVIEW
In a Lifetime of Flight
BY BUDD DAVISSON
82 FlightJournal.com
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