Viking1066
Brigadier General
Wake Island Raid, October 1943. Plane handlers spot SBD for take-off from USS Yorktown (CV-10) on flight to attack Wake Island the net
Picture of the day. (73 Viewers)
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Viking1066
Brigadier General
View of the flight deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10) with aircraft of Carrier Air Group 5 (CVG-5) warming up, circa in November-December 1943 the net
FulmenTheFinn
Airman 1st Class
Only the wing was out of wood. Fully loaded the final prototype seems to have weighed 2,536 kg, lighter than a fully loaded Brewster 239 at around 2,660 kg. The Humu also had a more powerful engine, a 1,100 hp Shvetsov M-63, vs. the 1,000 hp Wright R-1820-G5 of the 239. The Finns had problems with the M-63 due to improper settings and low-octane fuel resulting from a lack of documentation. Once documentation was acquired and ethanol added to the fuel, the M-63 consistently gave more power than the G5.
A factory-new 239 with a factory-new engine had a top level-speed of around 495 kmh while for the Humu it likely would've been around 510-520 kmh.
Jukka Raunio (2017): Brewster.
Jukka Raunio (2007): Valtion Lentokonetehtaan Historia, Osa 2.
BW-366 test data 20.5.1940 (Brewster speeds spreadsheet and the sources mentioned there).
Brewster Buffalo MkI NEIAF 2 VLG-V B396 Deibel Java 1942 the net
Not a Buffalo Mk. I (339E) and not in Java in 1942, but a 339C at Roosevelt Field in New York in 1941.
Brewster Buffalo MkI NEIAF 2 VLG-V B3103 Indonesia January 1942 the net
Not a Buffalo Mk. I, but a 339C. According to Jim Maas this is from a ceremony shortly after the arrival of the first Brewsters to the Dutch East Indies in April 1941. The 24 339Cs ordered and delivered were assembled in the East Indies by the Technische Dienst-Technical Service and the first acceptance test flight took place in May. After acceptance the aircraft were turned over to Proefafdeeling Brewsters (Training Squadron Brewsters), which was established on 1 June for pilot familiarisation. On 15 June Afdeeling (Squadron) 2-Vl-G.V was established but remained assigned to Proefafdeeling Brewsters until the end of the month. On 2 July five 339Cs were transferred to 1-Vl.G.V in exchange for Curtiss CW-21Bs but were returned some time later when 1-Vl.G.V received sufficient quantitites of 339Ds. With all that in mind the photo is probably from or around June 1941, and the men in it are probably either from the training squadron or from 2-Vl.G.V.
Brewster Buffalo MkI NEIAF 2 VLG-V B3110 G Deibel Java 1942 the net
Not a Buffalo Mk. I, and not in Java, but a 339C at RAF Kallang in Singapore. The rest of the data is correct.
Richard Dann (2017): Brewster F2A Buffalo, p. 127, 129.
Jim Maas (1987): F2A Buffalo in Action, p. 35.
Nico Braas (2013): Brewster Buffalo, p. 35.
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Greg Boeser
1st Lieutenant
Following this raid, the Japanese garrison commander, expecting imminent invasion, ordered the execution of 98 US civilian workers, who had been captured in December 1941 and used as forced labor.
