Best Fleet Air Arm (Royal Navy) Aircraft of WW2

[the lancaster kicks ass]

problems both sorted by the brittish..............

 

[cheddar cheese]

......as established several times before.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

how much is five knots in mph??

 

[Lightning Guy]

About 6.25 mph. And actually, the British never solved the issue of visibility (unless you can find evidence of the British raising the cockpit or shortening the nose).

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

we developed a way of coming in at an angle so you could see the whole arrier, then straightening up at the end..............

 

[Lightning Guy]

I'm not sure who developed that, but that was actually common practice by WWII. The Japanese even built their initial carriers (Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, Soryu) with islands on opposite sides with one carrier using a right turn landing pattern and the adjacent carrier using a left turn landing pattern.

 

[Gemhorse]

The Corsairs were usually happy to do three-point landings as they were a delight to fly, just that nasty stall to watch-out for....the landing approach by curving around and down was used since the first 'long-nosed breeds', Hurri's n' Spit's, came onto the scene...simply the easiest way to land, as it gave one visual right-up until you were lined-up to touch-down...just like they 'snake' left to right up to the flight-line to take-off, so they get to see what's in front...Corsairs had quite a short take-off for their size, and if they 'bounced' on landing, you weren't doing it right;- they had a tendency to nose-over, hence the emphasis on buzz break three-point landings, where the tail wheel was locked in place to give directional stability...Apart from this , Corsairs were pretty 'viceless' aircraft...

 

[Lightning Guy]

But those were pretty serious vices. It was far more difficult to fly than its USN stablemate the Hellcat and wasn't called the 'Ensign Eliminator' without reason.

 

[Lightning Guy]

But those were pretty serious vices. It was far more difficult to fly than its USN stablemate the Hellcat and wasn't called the 'Ensign Eliminator' without reason.

 

[Gemhorse]

Yeah, yeah, got that twice....But it was still a deadly fighter, with great all-round capabilities, and it was really a case of aircrew becoming totally familiar and at home with them, vices all, that made them a great asset in the PTO. - The FAA made the best of them, as did US Marines and us 'Colonials'....The 'Black Sheep' made them famous, the Colonials were great support to Ground Forces, especially 'Daisy-cutting' the jungle....that left the Hellcats free for Carrier Defence....

 

[Lightning Guy]

Sorry about the double post. I had trouble with my internet service last night and I think that might have been responsible.

I am not denying the abilities of the Corsair. Properly handled I believe it was the best carrier fighter of the war easily. But you described it as being "pretty viceless." A pilot familiar with it could handle the quirks of a Corsair but it was pretty quick to kill anyone (pilot or foe) who didn't respect it. On the otherhand, nearly anyone could fly a Hellcat. That was a plane that was "pretty viceless."

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

i agree with LG on this one, the hellcat was the easier to fly..........

one question, when a carrier plane was lost, when/how would they replace it?? i mean in the western pacific they wouldn't be ably to fly a new one out from the mainland, were they brought on supply ships or smaller carriers?? how ofetn could they do this??

 

[Lightning Guy]

Not very often. Which is why every Essex class carried was required to carry spare parts equivalent to 25% of its air group. In other words, if the ship was carrying 100 planes, it was supposed to basically be carrying enough spare parts to build another 25. As far as replacements, the carrier was unlikely to get any for its entire patrol (possibly several months) but I imagine replacements could be taken on every time the fleet set into Ulithi or wherever for refit.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

so they couldn't bring any on ships?? how did they replace the ships after midway??

 

[Lightning Guy]

I haven't seen anything about resupply ships bringing more aircraft. The Japanese had the idea of a replenishment carrier. They converted the third Yamato class BB into the (at that time) largest carrier in the world, the Shinano. They decided it would be used to carry replenishment aircraft to the carrier and also carry more complete repair facilities so that damaged but airworthy aircraft could be flown back to her and repaired. They never got to test the idea because an American submarine sank her as she was moving to another port to be fully fitted out.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

how would a resupply carrier differ from a normal one??

 

[Lightning Guy]

It wasn't intended to see combat and carried a very small compliment of aircraft for its size (a planned 45 or so). Instead it would ferry new aircraft and aircraft related supplies between the home islands and wherever the fleet was operating.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

would it carry and defensive armourment for the event of a suprise attack??

 

[Lightning Guy]

The Shinano was intended to carry a very heavy AA armament including 16 5"/40 guns and 145 25mm. Additionally, it was supposed to carry a small airgroup of 45-50 planes (small considering 120 could probably have been carried) for self-defense.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

they'd be pretty pissed off if they lost those planes in dogfights then had to go back to get more......................