Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
P-51 had a bad reputation for vulnerability to ground fire. If the TBF cannot do better then why bother bringing the aircraft to Europe?The P-47 had only armor on the pilots seatback and it did OK. The same for the P-51.
P-47 couldn't dive bomb accurately.
Those were no SBD.The TBF/TBM was not stressed for high G manoeuvres, and couldn't divebomb safely.
You don't seem to realized that saying 25% hit within 30 yards of the target is the same as saying that 25% of the bombs dropped within a 60 yard circle. But i'd bet the Luftwaffe's test were in meters, not yards.Ju-87B.
Average pilots.
25% hit within 30 yards of target.
Not sure where Chris Bellamy is getting his data but it doesn't agree with German accuracy tests.
Poor accuracy is only part of the P-47 problem. The aircraft apparently couldn't carry a 2,000lb bomb as the Ju-87 routinely did. Nor was P-47 protection against ground fire anywhere near as good as proper CAS aircraft such as Il-2 and Ju-87D.
If U.S. Army Air Corps desire to make TBF into a CAS aircraft they need to compare with proper CAS aircraft rather then high altitude fighter aircraft jury rigged for ground attack.
What if...
The Army tried Dauntlesses and Helldivers but not Avengers.
Think of a Grumman Avenger with an R-2800 instead of R-2600 plus its armament of 4 500 pounders, 8 rockets and two 20mm in the wings like the TBF-1C and consider the power operated .50 turret.
What if the 9th AF had them for supporting the advance across Europe in '44 and '45?
Rugged landing gear for rough fields, already in mass production - Grumman had no trouble setting GM up in the airplane biz.
Hmmm?
Ju-87B.
Average pilots.
25% hit within 30 yards of target.
"was to prove effective in the hands of expert pilots, who, in dives of eighty degrees to within 2,300 feet from the ground, could deliver a bomb with an accuracy of less than thirty yards. Even average pilots could achieve a twenty-five percent success rate in hitting their targets"