Best mass produced postwar single engine piston fighter?

[Old Crow]

The 1650-9 was experiencing major issues in producing more that 75" MP until late 1946. The SAC tables were assembled from both NAA 1947 and Eglin testing in 1948.

So in your opinion the P-51H was capable of 487 mph later on and would be able to compete with the F4U-5 more effectively than Dawncaster stated, correct?
North American was probably more interested in developing the F-86 and looking toward the future than trying to quickly fix problems with the P-51H, as well as the role of the fighter changing post WW2 as mentioned earlier. We still lost a lot of Corsairs in Korea though.

 

[drgondog]

So in your opinion the P-51H was capable of 487 mph later on and would be able to compete with the F4U-5 more effectively than Dawncaster stated, correct?
North American was probably more interested in developing the F-86 and looking toward the future than trying to quickly fix problems with the P-51H, as well as the role of the fighter changing post WW2 as mentioned earlier. We still lost a lot of Corsairs in Korea though.

Simply - yes. The P-51H never had problems per se but the Packard 1650-9 had issues for about a year after production problems, particularly with attaining 90" MP.

The 'problem' with statistics pulled from various organizations (AAF, USN) is that the conditions are occasionally imprecise with respect to gross weight at take off, conditions (bomb racks installed?, any special treatments, fuel type, etc.

The P-51H was Capable of 490+ the day it rolled out of the factory in February, 1945.

 

[Old Crow]

Simply - yes. The P-51H never had problems per se but the Packard 1650-9 had issues for about a year after production problems, particularly with attaining 90" MP.

The 'problem' with statistics pulled from various organizations (AAF, USN) is that the conditions are occasionally imprecise with respect to gross weight at take off, conditions (bomb racks installed?, any special treatments, fuel type, etc.

The P-51H was Capable of 490+ the day it rolled out of the factory in February, 1945.

Great! Thanks.

 

[drgondog]

Great! Thanks.

Remember that the XP-51G with Merlin 100 equivalent (and 1650-9 equivalent) engine clocked 495+ repeatedly without external racks and had >45000 ceiling.
.

 

[Peter Gunn]

Great! Thanks.

Welcome aboard, here's a good primer on early Mustangs:

Amazon product ASIN 1472839668

 

[Old Crow]

Welcome aboard, here's a good primer on early Mustangs:

Amazon product ASIN 1472839668

Yes it is and thanks. I forgot to tell Bill how much I enjoyed his book.
It was a definite must have when I heard it was coming out.
A great addition to my aviation library.

 

[space dodo]

P-51H

 

[SaparotRob]

P-51H

I like your reply.
I'm wondering, though, were any of the "Super Props" considered mass produced?

 

[space dodo]

I like your reply.
I'm wondering, though, were any of the "Super Props" considered mass produced?

well what amount can be considered mas produced?

 

[GrauGeist]

I like your reply.
I'm wondering, though, were any of the "Super Props" considered mass produced?

The Spitfire was produced for three years after the war.
The F4U was produced until 1953.
The La-7 was produced until 1946 and it's follow-on, the La-9 was produced between 1946 and 1948.
The Yak-9 was produced for three years after the war.
The S-199 was produced from 1947 to 1949.

 

[buffnut453]

Sea Fury was produced from 1947 to 1952 with a total of 864 manufactured...not a huge production run but hardly "cottage-level" manufacturing, particularly in a fiscally-constrained time period.

 

[SaparotRob]

The Spitfire was produced for three years after the war.
The F4U was produced until 1953.
The La-7 was produced until 1946 and it's follow-on, the La-9 was produced between 1946 and 1948.
The Yak-9 was produced for three years after the war.
The S-199 was produced from 1947 to 1949.

oops

I was wondering that after stupendous numbers produced of various fighters, do the the post war numbers of the post war marques

 

[SaparotRob]

I know these planes were in production (through multiple variants) during and after the war. Are the numbers produced of the strictly post war models count as mass produced or were they just keeping the factories open for the upcoming jets?

 

[GrauGeist]

I know these planes were in production (through multiple variants) during and after the war. Are the numbers produced of the strictly post war models count as mass produced or were they just keeping the factories open for the upcoming jets?

Many were kept in production because they were proven platforms and had the advantage or range over the first generation jets.
Until jet technology matured to the point of reliability and range, it was best not to put all your eggs in one basket.

 

[wuzak]

The Spitfire was produced for three years after the war.
The F4U was produced until 1953.
The La-7 was produced until 1946 and it's follow-on, the La-9 was produced between 1946 and 1948.
The Yak-9 was produced for three years after the war.
The S-199 was produced from 1947 to 1949.

And 1,200+ La-11s were built from 1947 to 1951.

 

[Peter Gunn]

And 1,200+ La-11s were built from 1947 to 1951.

Seems like a wise investment considering what those silly capitalists were doing...

 

[fastmongrel]

Certainly in Britain and possibly other countries obsolescent piston engine designs were kept in production to keep the skilled workforce. If you're factory isn't ready to build jets and you let the workers go it will be very difficult in a full employment economy to rehire those people a year or so later.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Seems like a wise investment considering what those silly capitalists were doing...


View attachment 640964

To be fair, this was about as good as the British got in the same period.

Against a La 11 I'd not give an Attacker, Vampire or Meteor a great advantage.

 

[Shortround6]

Against a La 11 I'd not give an Attacker, Vampire or Meteor a great advantage.

Might depend on the version of each.

Chances of an La 11 against a MK IV Meteor are not good regardless of how the La 11 would have done against a MK I.

By 1948 the Vampire was into the F.B. 5 version. Not as high performing as the Meteor but certainly superior to the LA 11.

 

[fastmongrel]

To be fair, this was about as good as the British got in the same period.

View attachment 641190

Against a La 11 I'd not give an Attacker, Vampire or Meteor a great advantage.

Going by the specs in wiki the La11 wasn't a hot ship. Max speed 419mph Max altitude 33,630 ft and max climb 2,486 feet per minute Lavochkin La-11 - Wikipedia

It's going to be matched by a Spitfire MkIX never mind a Supermarine Attacker that was 170mph faster unless I am missing something.