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Glider said:Fair points but the only one I would disagree with is the PR statement. The Mossie and Spit were in my mind ahead of the game in this area.
I know that after the 8th Airforce arrived in the UK one of the first things they asked for were Spitfire XI's to replace the P38 in the PR role.
Are you referring to company test pilots or people like Richard Bong who was assigned to Lockheed as a government test pilot?V-1710 said:Was it a coincidence that many of the P-80 test pilots were men with considerable P-38 time?
Glider said:The USAAF's 14th Photographic Squadron of the 8th Air Force used Spitfire Mark XIs from November 1943 to April 1945
Sorry, but Col. Homer Sanders, the CO of the 7th PG, who provided reconnaissance for the 8th AF, specifically asked Ira Eaker, the CO of the 8th AF, for Spitfire Mk. XIs, and they began to receive them in November, 1943.syscom3 said:That never happened. Only the F4 and F5 Lightnings had the performance and range to get deep into Germany. And that big nose could carry the camera's without displacing fuel tanks.
The 8th AF was always happy with the performace of these recon aircraft although the pilots froze like their fighter counterparts.
But they were only operated in one squadron in numbers. The 7th Photo recon Group consisted of 4 squadrons, 13th, 14th, 22nd, and 27th. I show the 13th operating F-5A-Es through 1945 although they did have some Spits. The 14th seemed to have most of the Spits, the 22nd and 27th had F-5A-Es but also used a few Spits. It Seems the 7th PG used these aircraft plus a few P-51s right through the end of the war....redcoat said:Sorry, but Col. Homer Sanders, the CO of the 7th PG, who provided reconnaissance for the 8th AF, specifically asked Ira Eaker, the CO of the 8th AF, for Spitfire Mk. XIs, and they began to receive them in November, 1943.
Possibly, or maybe they 7th PRG could get enough birds over to Europe. I would guess the F-5s were used for long range missions. Here's the "Little Friends" site, got some great photos...Glider said:The question that interests me, is why did he ask for them in the first place? Clearly the Spitfire had something the F4/F5 didn't or they wouldn't have been requested.
Especially in the winter months, the F4/5 had difficulty operating over 30,000ft. making them highly vulnerable to higher flying Me 109's.Glider said:The question that interests me, is why did he ask for them in the first place? Clearly the Spitfire had something the F4/F5 didn't or they wouldn't have been requested.