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I do not believe the B26 or B25 carried the Norden. The lower altitudes they operated at meant a smaller less sophisticated bomb site was used.
 
How do you know that?
 
I'm intrigued by that idea. Not knowing much about the F3F beyond its existence and cool liveries, I would think it might've been a better dogfighter than the Buffalo. Not as fast as an F2A but IJN pilots did have a reputation for dogfighting. Close in with competent USMC pilots flying a familiar plane, the Americans might have fared better.
No research has been conducted for informing my conjecture.
 
I don't think the F3F would had fared much better. The A6M were very adept to Z&B tactics.
 
Not as fast as an F2A but IJN pilots did have a reputation for dogfighting. Close in with competent USMC pilots flying a familiar plane, the Americans might have fared better.
Used the same engine as the Buffalo F2A-1.
Best speed 260mph.
Best climb 2750-2800fpm.
No protection for pilot or fuel
One slow firing.50 cal
one .30 cal through the prop.

It better be able to turn. It can't do anything else.
 
Used the same engine as the Buffalo F2A-1.
Best speed 260mph.
Best climb 2750-2800fpm.
No protection for pilot or fuel
One slow firing.50 cal
one .30 cal through the prop.

It better be able to turn. It can't do anything else.
I had later remembered that I forgot it had neither armor nor self sealing tanks. Probably wouldn't have had cool paint jobs either.
Carry on.
 
I do not believe the B26 or B25 carried the Norden. The lower altitudes they operated at meant a smaller less sophisticated bomb site was used.
In the ETO the B-26 carried the Norden, since it bombed from medium altitudes in formation. In the book by the B-26 navigator he said they went down low only once, and that was to do the very unusual, strafe. That was when the bombardier handed the navigator the Norden so he could have some fun with the .50.

The B-26 saw a little use in the Pacific, and that was all in the early days. The B-25 was used in the Pacific extensively, and eventually focused on low altitudes, including a lot of strafing and probably did not ever use the Norden. For the Doolittle Mission off the USS Hornet the Norden was replaced by an aluminum protractor. A HS teacher I knew who was on the raid recreated that bombsight for the AF Museum, and the last time I saw it, it was in the Jimmy Doolittle Building in Los Angeles (actually El Segundo).

In that B-26 head-on shot you do not see anyone in the top turret and I'd guess they were on a ferry mission. The Norden was installed only just before actual bombing missions.

As to why the B-25 had a bomb/nav and the B-26 both a bombardier and a navigator, I have no idea. In the B-25G with the 75MM cannon the navigator had the unenviable job of both navigating and loading the cannon. On one mission in the Med where they attacked an Italian base with the cannon, with no discernible effect (they got off only about 1 shot per pass) , the very irritated pilot called for a course home. The exhausted navigator, shirtless and dripping with sweat from franically trying to load the cannon, replied, "Fly west, sir." The pilot angrily replied that was not an acceptable course from a navigator. The navigator consulted his charts and replied, "Don't fly west, sir. Fly 270 degrees."
 
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Keep the cool paint jobs, maybe you can distract them
That might not have been a bad tactic. Get the Zeros to go after the F3F's so the F4F's could go after the bombers. Alert F3F pilots, working together, might not have been able to down any Zeros but would have been a very difficult target. Supposedly the F3F-3 could even outclimb a P-51 for the first 10,000 ft.
 

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