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OK - the 475th FG started operations May, 1943, Amberley Field Australia. It conducted training until August when at that time it was fully operational. Now you mentioned Boyington - he was a Marine, never involved with any AAF units ASAIK. Do you mean McGuire?I believe that was the 475th FG
Agreed on the F4U production figures and 1943 F6F ones. Grumman produced its last F4F-4 in December 1942, then 100 F4F-3 January to May 1943. Eastern Aircraft started FM-1 production in September 1942.Grumman produced it's last F4F-4 in May of 1943. Grumman produced 100 F4F-4s in 1943.
They also produced a batch of 100 F4F-3 to be used as trainers but that was before the last F4F-4s were built.
Eastern Aircraft was tooling up to make the FM-1s in late 1942.
Only in the first few months of 1943 did the combined total of F4F-4s and FM-1s exceed the production of F6Fs.
By the end of 1943 Grumman had built about 1000 more F6Fs than Grumman and Easter Aircraft combined built F4F/FMs.
Australian Beaufighter production began in May 1944. The RAAF Cyclone Beaufighter was mark Ic A19-2 ex T4921, arrived on 20 April 1942, saw service with 30 squadron, to Department of Aircraft Production 5 February 1943. Used as test machine. Aircraft was fitted with American Wright Cyclone GR-2600-A5B 14 cylinder dual row radial engines with superchargers in case the supply of Hercules engines from Great Britain was interrupted. As this never occurred no other Beaufighters were so converted. Its performance was slightly below the standard Hercules XVII and the bigger American engine required a new slightly larger nacelle which extended past the wing trailing edge.The Australians built a lot of Beaufighters but in late 1941 they were still struggling to get the Bfort into production plus the Herc engines had to come from Britain and that was never going to happen before late 42 at the earliest. There was a Cyclone Bfighter but as far as I know it was a one off and had problems. I am sure that others will be able to expand on that.
OK - the 475th FG started operations May, 1943, Amberley Field Australia. It conducted training until August when at that time it was fully operational. Now you mentioned Boyington - he was a Marine, never involved with any AAF units ASAIK. Do you mean McGuire?
Yes sorry McGuire, i was also thinking about the early Corsair units and scrambled that
Now the 475th was a result of General Kenny finally getting P-38s in numbers and when the unit was formed it kind of became an "all star" team and it drew experienced pilots from other V Fighter Command units. Of course McGuire was in the mix as well as Charles MacDonald and Danny Roberts who, IMO could have been the top scoring fighter pilot in the PTO had he not been KIA.Yes sorry McGuire, i was also thinking about the early Corsair units and scrambled that
I don't think Bong ever flew P-40s. I do know McGuire flew P-39s before he was deployed the the SWP.Correction again: Looking back at what I actually wrote, I meant to say Bong and McGuire, and I scrambled Boyington with Bong. Both Bong and McGuire started out with the 49th FG flying P-40s (I think) and ended up in the 475th for a while, which is where the P-38 really came into it's own. This was in part due to the obsessive / compulsive nature of McGuire who really leaned on the armorers and mechanics to get as many of the small issues sorted out as possible - often it takes units months to adjust to all the needs and teething issues which make the difference sometimes between success and failure. They went through the same things with the F4U in the Solomons. They had the same issues with P-40s in Darwin and New Guinea (and in the Western Desert). And with Spitfires in Darwin too of course.
McGrath annoyed some people and no doubt would have been hard to work with, but he pushed himself just as hard, and it seems like his attention to detail paid dividends. I suspect he accelerated the overall success of the P-38 somewhat, given the relatively small numbers operational in the Pacific in the mid-war and the many issues they needed to figure out.
I don't think Bong ever flew P-40s. I do know McGuire flew P-39s before he was deployed the the SWP.
He might have flown a P-40 but AFAIK all of this SWP combat time was in P-38s.Would Major Bong have trained on P-40s?
He might have flown a P-40 but AFAIK all of this SWP combat time was in P-38s.
Major Bong has a very impressive record (understatement) but I'm really impressed now that he differentiated between a Zero and an Oscar.I said that because 49th FG was a P-40 unit, which (very gradually) shifted over to P-38s, starting with the 9th FS which Bong was in.
From the wiki (for what it's worth)
"On September 10, 1942, Lt. Bong was assigned to the 9th Fighter Squadron, which was flying P-40 Warhawks, based at Darwin, Australia. In November, while the squadron waited for delivery of the scarce P-38s, Bong and other 9th FS pilots were reassigned temporarily to fly missions and gain combat experience with the 39th Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Group, based in Port Moresby, New Guinea. On December 27, Bong claimed his initial aerial victory, shooting down a Mitsubishi A6M "Zero", and a Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscar" over Buna (during the Battle of Buna-Gona).[7] For this action, Bong was awarded the Silver Star."
So it sounds like he did fly P-40s but probably only for a short time. McGuire was also in the 9th FS, 49th FG, but he got there later, in March 1943, and I think they may have had P-38s by then. Prior to that he flew P-39s with the 54th FG in the Aleutians. Anyway it sounds like McGuire was with the 49th FG for only for two months before he went to the 475th.
This is correct but as you know, you really have to double check Wiki - I don't believe Bong ever flew the P-40 in combat. All of his claims were scored in the P-38 and he was flying the P-38 stateside as well.I said that because 49th FG was a P-40 unit, which (very gradually) shifted over to P-38s, starting with the 9th FS which Bong was in.
From the wiki (for what it's worth)
"On September 10, 1942, Lt. Bong was assigned to the 9th Fighter Squadron, which was flying P-40 Warhawks, based at Darwin, Australia. In November, while the squadron waited for delivery of the scarce P-38s, Bong and other 9th FS pilots were reassigned temporarily to fly missions and gain combat experience with the 39th Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Group, based in Port Moresby, New Guinea. On December 27, Bong claimed his initial aerial victory, shooting down a Mitsubishi A6M "Zero", and a Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscar" over Buna (during the Battle of Buna-Gona).[7] For this action, Bong was awarded the Silver Star."
So it sounds like he did fly P-40s but probably only for a short time. McGuire was also in the 9th FS, 49th FG, but he got there later, in March 1943, and I think they may have had P-38s by then. Prior to that he flew P-39s with the 54th FG in the Aleutians. Anyway it sounds like McGuire was with the 49th FG for only for two months before he went to the 475th.
Not a bad way to go. I think there is little doubt more Beaufighters would be useful, as every one in the Theater seemed to leave a dent on the Japanese. Plus the Aussies were building Beauforts so in theory the Beaufighter shouldn't a huge difference in terms of production (I'm sure someone can chime in on that one!)
Hawk would still arguably be better than a Boomerang IMO, and Gloster could have been produced, in theory, though it might have been a nightmare for Australian industry to figure it out.
Depends on how you interpret my rather ambiguous phrase "on it's way out" to mean. I was merely implying that by early 1943 the role of the Wildcat as the prime fighter in the US Navy's inventory was on the decline, though it was certainly in use during period of transition from F4F to F6F. And as others have already stated, production shifted dramatically by this time, with Grumman eventually deciding to ONLY concentrate on Hellcats and out-source all Wildcats and Avengers to General Motors.While it may be true from one perspective, (as the replacement was certainly in the pipeline) and you have an ineresting point about the victory claims, this doesn't make sense to me overall, since there were no Hellcats in action on carriers until mid 1943 at the earliest, right? So Wildcat wasn't "on it's way out" in early 1943 since nothing else was in place.
And the decision to outsource the F4F was made in early 1942?with Grumman eventually deciding to ONLY concentrate on Hellcats and out-source all Wildcats and Avengers to General Motors.
This is correct but as you know, you really have to double check Wiki - I don't believe Bong ever flew the P-40 in combat. All of his claims were scored in the P-38 and he was flying the P-38 stateside as well.