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From "Aircraft of WW2" by Kenneth Munson
Page 147 Supermarine Seafire (F.MkIII)-Max speed-352 mph at 12250 feet, service ceiling 33800 feet, normal range 465 miles, armament two 20mm cannon and four 303 Mgs, one 500 pound bomb or two 250 pound bombs optional
Page 50 F4U4 Corsair- Max speed 447 mph at 26000 feet, service ceiling 41000 feet, max range 1562 miles( normal from me, 1000miles), armament, six 50 cal Mgs, two 1000 pound bombs or eight RPs.
The F4U4 could do 380 mph at SL so was almost 30 mph faster at SL than was the Seafire at it's best altitude. The F4U had one of the best roll rates of any fighter in WW2, much better than any Spit or Seafire. The F4U carried enough ammo for 26.7 seconds of firing time, probably twice the firing time of the Seafire. One can argue all day about which plane was most heavily armed but the six fifties was more than adequate against Japanese fighters, bombers and kamakazes and the longer firing time was indispensable. So the Corsair in action during the last months of the war in the Pacific was almost 100 mph faster than the Seafire at best altitude and was faster at SL than the Seafire was at best altitude. It could fly higher and that Corsair could climb to 20000 feet in 6.8 minutes and had an initial rate of climb of 3870 fpm. The initial rate of climb of the Seafire IIC was 2950 fpm. I can't find the ROC of the III C.
So the Corsair could climb faster, was much faster in level speed, could get higher, carry a lot more bombs, a lot more ammo, roll better, was a lot more rugged( it could not be brought down by a single rifle caliber bullet in the cooling system) was built for carrier use at the outset and was more survivable in a ditching.
The only reason the RN continued to use Seafires after WW2 was that the Corsairs and Hellcats they had needed to be returned since they were lend leased.
Don't let nationalism stand in the way of common sense.
The fact remains though that the Allies achieved air supremacy in WW2 over Germany and Japan, predominately with US fighters armed with the 50 BMG.
Just been reading the performance chart posted by RCAFson very interesting but I am probably being stupid what does the acronym ACA mean
page 4 (1) Normal rated power
(a) max speed in level flight
(1) At ACA High blower
I don't care what you call me, just as long as you call me
Page 595, Dean, "America's Hundred Thousand" Graph 78B, F4U4 at 12420 pounds-380 mph TAS at SL at combat power.
Pge 594-"At very low altitudes the early Corsair was fastest at about 340 to 350 mph." That would be at military power. So the F4U1 was as fast or faster at SL as the later Seafire was at best altitude.
Page 596, Dean, and this is wise for all of us to understand:"One has to be very specific in talking about fighter maximum speed, being careful to define aircraft configuration, specific variant, altitude, weight condition and engine power setting as well as the condition of both airplane and engine."
Page 187, "Whistling Death," by Boone Guyton, main test pilot for the Corsair, " We began a series of engine cooling and carburetor tests, finally inching up to an incredible 75 inches MP. I approched this awesome power with due apprehension and vivid remembrance. The violence of those overheated, disintegrating engines, the crashes and the long hospital days were stark reminders of an earlier unpleasantness."" The trepidation was unwarranted. The new engine ran with satisfying smoothness at all power conditions-cause for celebration. Along with the second F4U-4X, No. 50301, which was soon ready for tests, performance data were obtained that exceeded estimates. Top speed was now 450 mph at 26600 feet, versus the F4U1D's 425 mph at 20000 feet. Rate of climb was extended to almost 4000 feet per minute from 3100 feet per minute."
The Corsair was also an excellent diving airplane and very stable in dive, undoubtedly a better diver than any Spitfire variant. The interesting thing about the Corsair was that as the airplane evolved each new model was a nicer handling airplane. This was not often true with other WW2 fighters. An example would be the P51, where the early Allison powered model was considered a much nicer handling aiplane than the later P51D.
Back to the armament issue. If the 20 mms are the determinant, the F4U1C and the F4U4B were armed with four 20 mms with 225 rounds of ammo for each gun. The later F4U5 was exclusively armed with the four 20 mms and it could reach 465 to 470 mph at critical altitude.
The fact remains though that the Allies achieved air supremacy in WW2 over Germany and Japan, predominately with US fighters armed with the 50 BMG.
It took significant changes to the landing gear struts to make the Seafire acceptable - just barely - for carrier operations
In what respects was it "just barely" adequate. What is your basis for a statement like that. Please table information that shows it to be "Just barely" adequate. In fact, if you research the issue even a little, you will find the British viewed it as essential in their integrated defence arrangements. It was by far the best CAP aircraft that they possessed below 5000 feet, which is where it mattered against the Kamikazes, and by far the most important weapon system available to the BPF in its battle against this threat.
In what respects was the Corsair "not in the same league?"
In the sense of having far superior climb , far heavier and effective armament (20mm are acknowledged by all except those diehard Americans who think 6x 50s are better than anything except 8 x 50s) higher accelaration and better speed below 5000 ft. Turn radius was better as well. "Not in the same league" is not the same as trying to say "superior to"...more "better at certtain things"....
Speed, turn performance, range, armament, combat load?
Sppeed below 5000 ft was superiuor in the Seafire, turn performance far superior in the Seafire, armament was far heavier in the Seafire (though I will never have that acknowledged I know, but its a fact, I assure you) , range was superior in the Corsair, but not greatly so, if effctive combat radii are being talked about, combat load, well, the Corsair had it all over the Seafire in that regard.
Spitfires were significantly bettered by the Zero over Darwin... losing out at a rate of about 3:1
And this is different to the Corsair in what respects????? In their first encounters with zeroes they lost about twice as many of their number as the zeroes lost. The Spits over Darwin used the wrong tacticws, lost more aircraft to running out of fuel, and overall were poorly used. their combat records are not that much worse than other types like the P-40 at the time and in any event, the defence at Darwin was a difficult target to defend. To say nothing of comparing apples to oranges
I have reported on this before so will not bother to copy the entire quote from Boone Guyton's book. During the Fighter Conference in January, 1944, Guyton did a simulated-combat against Ken Walsh, a Marine Ace in the Corsair. Guyton was in the latest production F4U1 with a 60 GALLON WING WATER TANK(my caps) and Walsh was in a brand new F3A with a tank of only 10.3 gallons. So you see there were some Corsairs with more than ten gallons of water. Incidently, Guyton with more hours in a Corsair than anyone in the world and a former Navy pilot was strummed by Walsh three times.
Diving ability refers to the ability of the airplane to go into a dive quickly and pick up speed quickly, not the limiting Mach number. Bob Johnson in his book mentions in his mock dogfights with Spitfires that the Spitfire could not dive quickly or fast compared to his Thunderbolt and he used that to win those exercises. His tactics were, if a Spit was on his tail, to begin to roll violently left and right. The Spit could not stay in the same plane with him while rolling. Then he would roll into a dive and the P47 would rapidly pull away from the Spit. The Spit from level flight could outclimb the early P47 but after picking up much speed in a dive the P47 would zoom climb and leave the Spit far behind, stuggling to catch up. At the top of the P47's zoom climb, Johnson would hammerhead stall the Jug and suddenly the Spit would find himself confronting head on a P47 with eight fifties pointing at him. The Corsair could almost pick up speed in a dive as fast as the Jug and was very stable in that dive(no constant retrimming.)
The fact remains though that no WW2 Seafire was as fast or faster than even the F6F3 or especially the F6F5. Speed was important when acting as a CAP for the fleet, expecially against Kamikazes. Many Kamikazes were fighters with a bomb attached and they could get to the target a lot faster than VBs or VTs so the CAP needed to have all the speed they could muster. That is why the USN issued the mandate to replace all VFs in the fleet with the Corsair because it had a significant edge in Vmax over the Hellcats. Range was important in a CAP as well as ammo capacity. The CAP being refueled or rearmed on the deck was not doing any good. The IJN experienced this at Midway because the cannon in the A6Ms at that time only carried 90 rounds per gun and the rifle caliber weapons mounted over the engine were not very effective against the US attackers. Consequently the A6Ms kept the flight decks of the IJN carriers tied up during the US attacks being rearmed even though the IJN VFs had very good endurance. The Seafires had good climb and good firepower but not good endurance, not a lot of firing time and were a little deficient in Vmax, much like the Hellcat. The Spitfire was, in 1940 and even later, a fine interceptor, especially against he LW and in ACM at least held it's own against the BF109. The Spit and BF109 were similar AC, small, short ranged, maneuverable, good firepower for that time, fast climbers but not particularly resistant to battle damage. Neither were designed as shipboard aircraft though. As great a design as the P51 was it would not have made a good shipboard fighter. It probably would have been better than the F4F if it had been adapted for shipboard use but would have been lacking compared to the Hellcat and Corsair.