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Compared to the A6M, the F4F was short ranged, did not climb as well, not as maneuverable except at higher speeds but it was more heavily armed and more rugged. The F4F was relatively hard to shoot down with only rifle caliber ammunition.
Was the Wildcat a world beater? Absolutely not! Was it more effective overall as a ship board fighter than the Fullmar, Sea Gladiator, Sea Hurricane, or Seafire. Probably.
what you guys are saying about wildcat are pefectly valid, but are equally so for the Fulmar. The Fulmar made possible some rather desperate battles which, had they not been fought, may well have changed the war.
More effective than a Fulmar or Sea Gladiator? Yes
Sea Hurricane? Probably.
Seafire? Debatable, but of course the Martlet (wildcat) was available earlier
though I wonder why the Seafire is often criticised for its narrow track undercarriage, and the F4F never gets such criticism for its similarly configured undercart.
"The soft narrow tread gear made the aircraft susceptible to ground looping One Navy Commander said "The F4F- has long been known as the best ground looping plane we have. They say there are only two kinds of F4F- pilots, those who have ground looped, and those who are going to". The British pilots had similar problems at times. During the landing run the aircraft could sway on its gear. Some pilots got into PIO (pilot-induced oscillations) in attempting to make corrections, which could worsen the situation. After the landing runout the tail wheel was unlocked to allow turning during taxi."
Dean, AHT, p491.
Figured I'd do up a little graph.
blue = Fulmar II
red = F4F-4
Result: aircraft equal in speed at SL, Zero superior at all other altitudes. This report also tested the Zero against the P39 and it reported the use of WEP and military power for the P39, so it is reasonable to assume the same for the F4F-4.
A6M speeds:
SL: 270 mph
5000 ft: 287 mph
10000 ft: 305 mph
http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/japan/intelsum85-dec42.pdf
To me, it is debatable about whether four 20 mms would overall be more effective against Kamikazes than four fifties with much larger ammo capacity, firing time, but that is really irrelevant because the Seafire in 1941, 42, which is when I was referring to the Wildcat as probably the best overall carrier borne Allied fighter, was armed with eight 303s.
Comparison of the 1941-42 Seafire and the Wildcat seems to me to be a fairly straightforward exercise, going by Brown's numbers:
Seafire IIC was somewhat faster by 365 mph versus 328 mph.
Wildcat II was much easier and safer to land.
Wildcat II was more heavily armed
Wildcat II had around twice the range, 1150 miles versus 493 miles
Wildcat II was undoubtedlty more resistant to battle damage, mainly because of air cooled engine
Wildcat II was much more likely to save it's pilot's life in a ditching
I just don't believe those speeds for the F4F-4 at 7900lbs.
To begin with I qualified my post by saying I am going by Brown,(Eric). All I am doing is quoting him and he said that the Seafire IIC was armed with eight 303s.
The figures on the Wildcat II also came from Brown and he said the Wildcat had a rate of climb of 3300 FPM. To me, that sounds better than the Seafire II but I do not know where he got those numbers and which Wildcat it was or what load it had so I initially did not quote them.
We have had discussions, debates, arguments, ad nauseum about the F4F and it's performance. There are a lot of conflicting data out there and I am weary of quoting them and reading about them. .
Interesting thread. I had always thought that the Americans had rather cornered the market where carrier borne aircraft were concerned by making them tough, reliable and, with the exception of the Corsair, easy to land on a moving piece of metal.
WW2 US Navy Aircraft
And, much as I admire the Spitfire I would not begin to suggest that the SeaFire was a truly succcessfull carrier borne fighter.
I'll have to go and sit down now having typed the last sentence through gritted teeth....
Hi John
Overall, US types were better, but the differences are less pronounced than you think. For the Seafire, it has some unfortunate experiences, but once these were ironed out the type actually did some good work. At the other end of the spectrum, the comparison of the Fulmar v Wildcat fails to take into account the time difference....the Fulmar was operational whailst the Wildcat was still working out some issues. Its the same argument that bedevils this Seafire v Wildcat discussion
The pinnacle of British propellor driven carrier aircraft is surely represented by the Sea Fury, the Seafire 47 and the Firefly FB6. These types are considerably superior to the USN propellor driven types, including the Corsair.
The British were not that far behind the USN. It was just that they were a bit busy winning the war.....