Best Fleet Air Arm (Royal Navy) Aircraft of WW2

[the lancaster kicks ass]

that's because we had that option, if we had needed longer range fighters and america couldn't supply any, we would have developed our own....................

 

[Lightning Guy]

But still easier said that done.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

i realise it would have taken some time and a few tries, but knowing us brits, we would have got there in the end..................

 

[plan_D]

It's hard for everyone and anyone to design a fighter. In times of war though, things happen quickly.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

it's doubtful if allot of our modern technology would have beed developed as quickly if it wasn't needed for the war effort.....................

 

[Lightning Guy]

I'm not disagreeing that things come about quickly during wartime, but things rarely work perfectly well the first time and maturing a weapon-system takes time. I would say about the quickest that could be excpected would be a year to actually develop a brand new aircraft and get it into action.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

we'll ignore the 117 days for the P-51 then shall we??

 

[Lightning Guy]

117 days for design to first flight. Include time to test the aircraft, train aircrews, deploy them overseas, and get squadrons/groups opperational, and you are talking closer to a year.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

but 117 days is pretty amazing for a design to first flight....................

 

[Lightning Guy]

I'm not denying that. But it wasn't 117 days from design to effective service.

 

[Gemhorse]

I still think the Seafire wasn't as '2nd rate' as all that...they had external fuel tanks afterall, later in the conflict, and the Griffoned Mk.XV entered service in 1944, although it didn't make a noticeable impact as the enemy was on the run by then...The Seafire's contribution was large, as far as the FAA went, coming on stream in 1942. They weren't 'ideal', but they played a significant role in all Allied amphibious landings, in fact they were the first onto the hastily-made landing strips on D-Day, only a few kms from the German positions...I think Britain 'made a silk purse out of a sour's ear' with them.....

 

[Lightning Guy]

They did make an impact and they were a good fighter . . . but I think it's significant, that when they were available, the FAA prefered to equip its squadrons with purpose built types like the Hellcat and Corsair.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

the seafire wasn't ideal for sea, it couldn't take a huge deal of damage and had very little range.....................

 

[Lightning Guy]

Plus the long nose and narrow landing gear track.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

but we came up with a way to counter the long nose, that's how the corsair problem was solved (well, the long nose part anyway)..................

 

[Lightning Guy]

Well, the Corsair had an advantage in carrier landing that the Seafire didn't and that was the high-blown canopy. Forward visibility for both types was pretty poor but I would guess that extra head room probably made things a little easier on the Corsair pilot. And in multi-role ability, the Seafire was a poor match for either American type.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

admitidly the seafire was only good for convoy defence.....................

 

[Lightning Guy]

Well, it was a fine interceptor. It was probably the finest ship-borne interceptor of the war (only competition being the -4 Corsair). It lacked, however, the durability and the versatility really needed on a ship.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

i wouldn't say it lacked durability, after all it didn't have any fighters to go up against in the atlantic..........................

 

[Lightning Guy]

Well it's liquid-cooled Merlin or Griffon wasn't nearly as resistant to groundfire as the R-2800 used in the Hellcat or Corsair.