drgondog
Major
GregP "As an aside, the Hellcat had the best kill ratio of nay WWII fighter, and that was not by accident. It had world-class credentials in at least some areas or it would NOT have had the success it had. Corsairs and Hellcats came into service at almost the same time ... perhaps 1 month apart, and Hellcats shot down about twice as many Japanese aircraft as Corsairs. The Axis were lucky it wasn't used very much in the ETO. "
The Hellcat had far more air combat opportinities as the carrier task forces were the point of the spear... it is impossible to state that the Hellcat for example is 2x better because it had 2x more scores during the approximate same time.
As for terrorizing the Axis that is another claim difficult to substantiate given the lack of turbosupercharger for high altitude performance a la P-47 for ETO level escort duties? It might out turn an Fw 190 or 109 but would not have the tactical speed advantage to engage/withdraw that the 51 and 47 had - or the range of the 51, or the dive speed or the roll rates IIRC so where in your mind does the F6f suddenly bring to the ETO a capability not possessed by say the P-51B?
Put in TAC role and I buy your thesis.
The Hellcat had far more air combat opportinities as the carrier task forces were the point of the spear... it is impossible to state that the Hellcat for example is 2x better because it had 2x more scores during the approximate same time.
As for terrorizing the Axis that is another claim difficult to substantiate given the lack of turbosupercharger for high altitude performance a la P-47 for ETO level escort duties? It might out turn an Fw 190 or 109 but would not have the tactical speed advantage to engage/withdraw that the 51 and 47 had - or the range of the 51, or the dive speed or the roll rates IIRC so where in your mind does the F6f suddenly bring to the ETO a capability not possessed by say the P-51B?
Put in TAC role and I buy your thesis.