evangilder
"Shooter"
The F4U was a great plane, BUT you talk about a real bear to land! The cockpit was too far back to make it easy to land on a base, much less a carrier. Because of that and the stability as a gun platform, the Hellcat was chosen to be the Pacific night fighter.
At low speeds, the Zero could out-turn anything. At high speeds, it was not as manueverable. The key was big ailerons, the ones on the Zero are really big. Joel Paris, who flew P-40s said that the ailerons on the Zero were "big as barn doors". But those ailerons did not have the strength at high speed to make high speed rolls. Most pilots agreed that over 275 MPH, anything could out-turn a zero.
One more thing, the AVG NEVER flew the P-51 or P-47. They were disbanded on July 4, 1942 and absorbed into the Army. The Army unit that replaced the AVG, the 23rd FG, also called the China Air Task Force did fly the P-51 and 47.
Eric
At low speeds, the Zero could out-turn anything. At high speeds, it was not as manueverable. The key was big ailerons, the ones on the Zero are really big. Joel Paris, who flew P-40s said that the ailerons on the Zero were "big as barn doors". But those ailerons did not have the strength at high speed to make high speed rolls. Most pilots agreed that over 275 MPH, anything could out-turn a zero.
One more thing, the AVG NEVER flew the P-51 or P-47. They were disbanded on July 4, 1942 and absorbed into the Army. The Army unit that replaced the AVG, the 23rd FG, also called the China Air Task Force did fly the P-51 and 47.
Eric
