REPORT OF JOINT FIGHTER CONFERENCE

[lesofprimus]

; as escort - poor - 1.

- 1. An excellent escort fighter.

Huh???

 

[Magister]

The pilots all bring their own set of biases, possible agendas and past experiences that dictate their "comfort zone" as far as what they like or dislike in a plane.

Contractors and Navy pilots were over represented.

 

[Squeelig]

This book souunds really interesting. I'm going to buy it this weekend.

 

[PipsPriller]

At nearly 500 pages the Report takes a lot of reading. And to do it justice should be read several times to get the overall feeling of it. It is a gem of information, putting the emphasis on actual performance of aircraft rather than the simple 'numbers' analysis so favoured by many.

Also bear in mind that the whole object of the Conference was to identify what characteristics need to be included in future fighter design. And in fact whether or not one or two designs were capable of fulfilling the whole range of roles that fighters found themselves carrying out. To that end current aircraft were studied and critiqued in perhaps a more 'nit picky' fashion than would normally be the case.

It certainly made for honesty and frankness.

Here's a link for the report. http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer/book_template.php?isbn=0764304046

 

[Jank]

Pips, you never responded to my coment in response to yours on the "Spitfire MK.XIV and La-7" thread.

I have the impression that you have read the report and am puzzled by the roll rate ranking that you cited in the report.

I too have the report and can find no such ranking of roll rates.

 

[Aggie08]

I'll buy it tomorrow.

Who wants to lend me $35 tomorrow to buy it??

 

[lesofprimus]

Get a job u leech....

 

[Soundbreaker Welch?]

The report seems to like the P-47 more than the others.....

 

[Erich]

it would be better to take the hierarchy's grading syustem with a grain of salt instead of first hand accts in published US fighter group histories....this is the only plae to go to see how the fighters and the pilots faired and were thought of not some silly testing. This is one of the major reasons I do not take the English test man E. Browns word for the Luftw a/c he tested after-war. How would he know except to take it through zooms and descnets probably not alike a

 

[Jank]

soundbreaker welch - No it doesn't. As Magister indicated, the P-47M was treated very unkindly even though it was superior to the P-51 in almost every category. Overall, the report appears to favor the F4U-1, F4U-4 and P-51 actually.

 

[Jank]

I forgot to mention the plane that was drooled over the most. Grumman F8 Bearcat. I don't recall anything negative about that plane.

 

[lesofprimus]

Maybe its short legs???

 

[Freebird]

REPORT OF JOINT FIGHTER CONFERENCE
U.S. Naval Air Station
Patuxent River, MD
16-23 October 1944
-----------------------

This joint confererence involved representatives of aircraft manufacturers, NACA test pilots, representatives of the U.S.A.A.F., U.S. Navy, U.S. Marines, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force and fighter pilots from all the aforementioned services.

The Conference was held to evaluate several aircraft and understand their relative strengths and weaknesses and to distill desireable characteristics for future fighter aircraft. The Report is a running transcript of much of the 7 day Conference.

Aircraft included: FM-2, F6F-5, F7F-1, XF8F-1, F4U-1C, XF4U-4, FG-1, P-38L, P-47D, P-47M, P-51D, YP-59A, P-61, P-63, Firefly, Seafire, Mosquito, Zeke 52

On this thread, I will share some interesting views that were presented.

Apologies for bringing up such and old thread....


Reading the write up on the Fairey Firefly on Armoured Carriers, it quotes a rather stunning observation from the JFC tests - the Firefly could out-turn the Zero! Presumably the only Allied fighter that could in 42-43, except supposedly the Seafire could above 200mph

Under combat conditions, the (retractable) flaps could be deployed to "Cruise" to give the Firefly an outstanding turning circle. Testing showed it was more than capable of turning inside contemporary interceptors. It was this manoeuvrability that gave the multi-role fighter its ability to defend itself.

One early Firefly F1 was sent to the United States for tests at a Joint Fighter Conference. Here it was pitted against a variety of US and RN naval fighters, including a captured Japanese A6M2. With its flaps part-way deployed, the Firefly impressed all involved by repeatedly turning inside the legendary Zero

Armoured Aircraft Carriers

 

[drgondog]

Contractor mix interesting - Curtiss Wright (23), Chance Vought (16), Grumman (8), Republic (5), Lockheed (2), NAA (2).

the P-51D-15-NA had 1650-7, Might have been interesting in High Altitude Poll with P-51B/C with 1650-3 and critical altitude at 29000 feet.