Most Overrated aircraft of WWII.....?

[Thumpalumpacus]

Only place it was really used was in England, every other theatre it was surpassed by the B-24.

Italy.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

It should be noted that most aircrew preferred the -17 to the -24. I suppose their considered opinion doesn't much matter, though. I mean, they only flew and fought the damned things.

 

[SaparotRob]

F6F Hellcat vs A6M Zero-Sen (Young) mirrors similar statistics. It further adds that 48 Hellcats from VF-5, VF-9, VF-16, and VF-25 claimed 30 "Zekes" in the early morning attack on October 5th.

The book also mentions encounters between the A6M and F6Fs on both the 6th and 14th of September 1943, with Ensign James A. Warren of VF-33 becoming the first Hellcat pilot to claim a Zero-Sen in aerial combat on September 6th.

I hit reply in error. Good post though!

 

[SaparotRob]

The most over rated aircraft has to be the B-17.

Only place it was really used was in England, every other theatre it was surpassed by the B-24.

The B-17 was designed as a 4-engine medium bomber (they used 4-engines to get the speed required for the AAC competition).

If WWII was started one year earlier, the B-17C/D was the front line variation and would have been dropped faster then the TBD-1.

If WWII was started 1-year later, the B-17 would have been out of production (as obsolete) and Douglas and Vega would have been already building B-24's and Boeing gearing-up for the B-29.

The only place the B-17 is the hero is in the movies because England during WWII was the vacation spot for war correspondents and Bassingbourne was the country club of WWII airfields.

The next most over rated design has to be the Bf 109 - again, a cheap design, poor armament, poor handling, pretty much obsolete in 1943

Thank you Tervuren. I now know what to use as my avatar. If I can only get it right.

 

[SaparotRob]

Any thoughts on the Buffalo?

 

[BiffF15]

Any thoughts on the Buffalo?

Please, nobody ask him about the P-39!

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Please, nobody ask him about the P-39!

Oh, what harm could come from that?

 

[Ovod]

Any thoughts on the Buffalo?

The Brewster Buffalo - an overrated aircraft? I wouldn't have thought so, but maybe in Finland?

 

[GrauGeist]

Oh, what harm could come from that?

Surely it's discussion would only warrant a thread of five or six pages at best?

 

[Schweik]

F6F Hellcat vs A6M Zero-Sen (Young) mirrors similar statistics. It further adds that 48 Hellcats from VF-5, VF-9, VF-16, and VF-25 claimed 30 "Zekes" in the early morning attack on October 5th.

The book also mentions encounters between the A6M and F6Fs on both the 6th and 14th of September 1943, with Ensign James A. Warren of VF-33 becoming the first Hellcat pilot to claim a Zero-Sen in aerial combat on September 6th.

Hi, can you expand on this a little bit? It looks like Hellcats were deployed in the South Pacific since April or May 1943, and in significant numbers since August. Are you sure the first Hellcat claim against an A6M was in September?

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Hi, can you expand on this a little bit? It looks like Hellcats were deployed in the South Pacific since April or May 1943, and in significant numbers since August. Are you sure the first Hellcat claim against an A6M was in September?

From wiki - "The Hellcat first saw action against the Japanese on 1 September 1943, when fighters off USS Independence shot down a Kawanishi H8K "Emily" flying boat."

First Zero Claim;

"Warren was credited with the first official Hellcat aerial victory in the South Pacific, shooting down an enemy fighter on September 6, 1943 near the Shortland Islands."

Pacific Wrecks - F6F-3 Hellcat Bureau Number 25801

On December 23, 1943 took off from Torokina Airfield piloted by Ensign James A. Warren on a mission to escort B-24s over Rabaul and was shot down and taken prisoner.

pacificwrecks.com

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

The most over rated aircraft has to be the B-17.

Only place it was really used was in England, every other theatre it was surpassed by the B-24.

The B-17 was designed as a 4-engine medium bomber (they used 4-engines to get the speed required for the AAC competition).

If WWII was started one year earlier, the B-17C/D was the front line variation and would have been dropped faster then the TBD-1.

If WWII was started 1-year later, the B-17 would have been out of production (as obsolete) and Douglas and Vega would have been already building B-24's and Boeing gearing-up for the B-29.

The only place the B-17 is the hero is in the movies because England during WWII was the vacation spot for war correspondents and Bassingbourne was the country club of WWII airfields.

The next most over rated design has to be the Bf 109 - again, a cheap design, poor armament, poor handling, pretty much obsolete in 1943

Funniest post of the century!

 

[Schweik]

From wiki - "The Hellcat first saw action against the Japanese on 1 September 1943, when fighters off USS Independence shot down a Kawanishi H8K "Emily" flying boat."

First Zero Claim;

"Warren was credited with the first official Hellcat aerial victory in the South Pacific, shooting down an enemy fighter on September 6, 1943 near the Shortland Islands."

Pacific Wrecks - F6F-3 Hellcat Bureau Number 25801

On December 23, 1943 took off from Torokina Airfield piloted by Ensign James A. Warren on a mission to escort B-24s over Rabaul and was shot down and taken prisoner.

pacificwrecks.com

Yeah, interesting... the magnificent database on the other thread indicates F6F were in the Pacific Theater as early as April and in some numbers already by June. But looking closely, it seems that the carriers with F6F squadrons seemed to be sticking around Pearl Harbor until August. I guess they were working up on the new type.

 

[DarrenW]

Hi, can you expand on this a little bit? It looks like Hellcats were deployed in the South Pacific since April or May 1943, and in significant numbers since August. Are you sure the first Hellcat claim against an A6M was in September?

Although there were fighter units fully equipped with the F6F as early as May 1943, the carriers they were assigned to were not deployed to the South Pacific until late August/early September. And as Flyboy stated the first aerial claim by Hellcat pilots occurred on September 1st of that year. The first A6M to be claimed by a Hellcat pilot was over the Solomon Islands by VF-33, which was a land based unit at Munda. VF-38 and VF-40 were also stationed there.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Are you a professional - or amateur - Troll? If professional, please register for limited access via Joe or Chris? If amateur, bless your heart.

I'm going with troll, because no one with a clue would actually say think any of this.

 

[DarrenW]

Yeah, interesting... the magnificent database on the other thread indicates F6F were in the Pacific Theater as early as April and in some numbers already by June. But looking closely, it seems that the carriers with F6F squadrons seemed to be sticking around Pearl Harbor until August. I guess they were working up on the new type.

Looks like you figured it out on your own! Also it can be a bit tricky to look at locations in the database because often when a ship left on deployment it still may show it at Hawaii or somewhere else as it might take a month or two for the reports to catch up and show "At sea", "SoPac","Fwd Pacific" ect.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Surely it's discussion would only warrant a thread of five or six pages at best?

Like the plane, that thread should have short legs.

 

[pbehn]

The Gloster Gamecock was the most overrated fighter in my war starting in 1927. But the Finns made good use of it.
Pic from wiki. Gloster Gamecock - Wikipedia

 

[SaparotRob]

The most over rated aircraft has to be the B-17.

Only place it was really used was in England, every other theatre it was surpassed by the B-24.

The B-17 was designed as a 4-engine medium bomber (they used 4-engines to get the speed required for the AAC competition).

If WWII was started one year earlier, the B-17C/D was the front line variation and would have been dropped faster then the TBD-1.

If WWII was started 1-year later, the B-17 would have been out of production (as obsolete) and Douglas and Vega would have been already building B-24's and Boeing gearing-up for the B-29.

The only place the B-17 is the hero is in the movies because England during WWII was the vacation spot for war correspondents and Bassingbourne was the country club of WWII airfields.

The next most over rated design has to be the Bf 109 - again, a cheap design, poor armament, poor handling, pretty much obsolete in 1943

I gave you a winner for having the funniest post of the century.

 

[Schweik]

The Gloster Gamecock was the most overrated fighter in my war starting in 1927. But the Finns made good use of it.
Pic from wiki. Gloster Gamecock - Wikipedia
View attachment 646623

With the proper tactics, I feel that the gamecock could easily defeat both the B-17 and Bf 109 in a single mission. It had a good power to mass ratio and excellent wing loading.