GregP
Major
There has been a lot written about the best fighter but not much on circumstances. The P-51 Mustang shot down a lot of enemy aircraft but it was employed a bit differently than the F6F Hellcat.
In the case of the P-51 it largely, but not exclusively, flew over Europe where there were airfields and targets aplenty. In the case of the F6F Hellcat, it largely flew over water where enemy airfields were not abundant and where coming across the enemy was almost by providence, not by virtue of being over a well-populated enemy airspace.
I submit that the Hellcat would have done quite better than it did in real life if targets had been more plentiful and if it were primarily flying over land. The ocean is NOT a great place to find the enemy and island air bases are very few and far between.
Since the two were so close in real life accomplishments, not counting ground kills which the Hellcat had very little chance to make, I wonder how the competition would have gone if the Hellcat were primarily employed over land where targets were MUCH more plentiful. Of course, many will discount it because of numbers such as speed and climb, but it WAS the mount of the most successful Naval aviator in the USA and actually destroyed almost the same number of airborne planes in the event as the P-51.
With more targets available, I wonder if the tables might have been turned and the F6F might have come out on top. Unfortunately, the numbers don't tell the tale and we'll never know. Conventional thinking would favor the P-51 but the Hellcat was a scrapper with very good tolerance to damage and much more maneuverable in a turning fight than the P-51 was ... at least it is TODAY. It might have been interesting if the roles were similar with similar target opportunities. The F6F never did much escort duty but managed very well in spite of it. If opportunities had been similar, I wonder if the end results would have changed materially.
The theater doesn't matter; it was a great fighter that aquitted itself well whenever asked to perform. Jumping a flight of Hellcats with Bf 109's might not have been a good idea ...
Suppose Japan had been located on a continent, then the fray would probably have been laregly over land and target opportunities would have been much greater.
Whuddya' think?
In the case of the P-51 it largely, but not exclusively, flew over Europe where there were airfields and targets aplenty. In the case of the F6F Hellcat, it largely flew over water where enemy airfields were not abundant and where coming across the enemy was almost by providence, not by virtue of being over a well-populated enemy airspace.
I submit that the Hellcat would have done quite better than it did in real life if targets had been more plentiful and if it were primarily flying over land. The ocean is NOT a great place to find the enemy and island air bases are very few and far between.
Since the two were so close in real life accomplishments, not counting ground kills which the Hellcat had very little chance to make, I wonder how the competition would have gone if the Hellcat were primarily employed over land where targets were MUCH more plentiful. Of course, many will discount it because of numbers such as speed and climb, but it WAS the mount of the most successful Naval aviator in the USA and actually destroyed almost the same number of airborne planes in the event as the P-51.
With more targets available, I wonder if the tables might have been turned and the F6F might have come out on top. Unfortunately, the numbers don't tell the tale and we'll never know. Conventional thinking would favor the P-51 but the Hellcat was a scrapper with very good tolerance to damage and much more maneuverable in a turning fight than the P-51 was ... at least it is TODAY. It might have been interesting if the roles were similar with similar target opportunities. The F6F never did much escort duty but managed very well in spite of it. If opportunities had been similar, I wonder if the end results would have changed materially.
The theater doesn't matter; it was a great fighter that aquitted itself well whenever asked to perform. Jumping a flight of Hellcats with Bf 109's might not have been a good idea ...
Suppose Japan had been located on a continent, then the fray would probably have been laregly over land and target opportunities would have been much greater.
Whuddya' think?
