F8F vs. P-63

tomo pauk · May 17, 2014

Two late comers into the piston-engined fighters' arena. Both were fighting in Indochina in the French AF; not as fighters, but as ground pounders. What one should be regarded as a better combat aircraft, while putting aside the carrier compatibility of the F8F?
The contemporaries would be the P-63C and F8F-1, and, maybe, P-63E and F8F-2. The P-63A was in service in ww2, unlike the F8F.

MikeGazdik · May 18, 2014

As much as I like the P-63 / 39 line of aircraft, I think the Grumman F8f out-classes the Bell by a wide margin. I cannot think of any scenario in which the Grumman would not be a better fighter. The Supercobra is what was needed in 1943, still without range. The F8F was icing on the cake in the Pacific.

eWildcat · May 18, 2014

Well, I can only give the opinion of most French pilots who flew in the Indochina War : their favourite fighter-bomber was actually... the Hellcat.

They liked the F8F, but they favoured the F6F because of its range.

gjs238 · May 18, 2014

eWildcat said:
Well, I can only give the opinion of most French pilots who flew in the Indochina War : their favourite fighter-bomber was actually... the Hellcat.

They liked the F8F, but they favoured the F6F because of its range.

Did the French fly the F4U?

eWildcat · May 18, 2014

gjs238 said:
Did the French fly the F4U?

Yep. The French Navy used AU-1s (in small numbers) and F4U-7s in Indochina (a version purpose-built for the French Navy). The F4U-7s were also used in Algeria.
Unfortunately, the AU-1s were worn-out from their service in the Korean War, and were given back to the US as soon as possible. The F4U-7s were brand new, but they were fitted with an R2800 version that was no longer produced (R2800-18W)... which induced reliability problems. Add to this the well-known difficulty of flying Corsairs at low speed in the carrier-landing approach, and that's why most French pilots who flew both still favoured the F6F. The Corsair was not hated either though, far from it.

gjs238 · May 18, 2014

eWildcat said:
Unfortunately, the AU-1s were worn-out from their service in the Korean War, and were given back to the US as soon as possible.

The F4U-7s were brand new, but they were fitted with an R2800 version that was no longer produced (R2800-18W)... which induced reliability problems.

Add to this the well-known difficulty of flying Corsairs at low speed in the carrier-landing approach, and that's why most French pilots who flew both still favoured the F6F. The Corsair was not hated either though, far from it.

Interesting - thanks!

tomo pauk · May 18, 2014

MikeGazdik said:
As much as I like the P-63 / 39 line of aircraft, I think the Grumman F8f out-classes the Bell by a wide margin. I cannot think of any scenario in which the Grumman would not be a better fighter. The Supercobra is what was needed in 1943, still without range. The F8F was icing on the cake in the Pacific.

The P-63 should have less trouble with a 'bomber-type' target, until F8F-2 is available, due to P-63's 37mm cannon?

F8F vs. P-63

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