Navalwarrior
Staff Sergeant
- 764
- Jun 17, 2018
Resp:With out drop tanks the fighters had no hope of escorting the bombers all the way to the target. Even with drop tanks most WW II fighters could not match the range of the bombers. This is one reason the long range escort mission was not a high priority at the beginning of the war.
One of my favorite examples is the RAF bombing Genoa Italy using Whitley bombers in 1940. Granted it was done at night with a bomber that had no hope of surviving in daylight but I believe the straight line distance from Brighton to Genoa is 612 miles one way. There were few (if any) 1000-1200hp fighters in 1940 even with drop tanks that could attempt such a flight. This is one of the reasons for some of the twin engine fighters of the late 30s. They were willing to sacrifice some performance in return for longer range. There was no way a 1000-1200hp fighter could be built to have the same range as a B-17 or B-24. The B-17C ordered in 1939 was supposed have a range of 2400miles with 4,000lb bomb load. You could make a single engine plane with about the same range but it would useless as a fighter at any range.
Once more powerful engines became available (for little more weight) or very powerful engines became available for more weight the possibility for long range fighters became much greater.
Even if you had a forward thinker who didn't believe "the bomber will always get through" the long range escort fighter was a technical impossibility in 1939-40. It would not be in another 4 years but it needed better aerodynamics, better engines and better fuel. Better fuel allowed for higher cruise power settings (or higher compression/ more fuel efficient engines) and/or more take-off power for little more weight.
Actually, the A6M Zero could fly well over 1,000 miles with one drop tank in 1940. Gen Chennault sent a detailed report to either Gen Marshall in late 1940 or early 1941, which covered the fighter's range. He saw that it was written by Chennault, and tossed it in a drawer . . . never to be seen. Chennault traveled to Hawaii in mid 1941 to give a 3 hrs lecture on the Zero to AAF pilots (not sure if any Navy pilots attended). Since 1939, the USAAC had a restriction against manufacturers incorporating plumbing for external fuel stores on fighters destined for their service. The USAAF test pilot assigned to Lockheed convinced the engineers to make the P-38 drop tank capable, even though the contract forbid it. They were coming off the production line at the time of Pearl Harbor. Thank God.
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