33k in the air
Staff Sergeant
- 1,354
- Jan 31, 2021
This presentation is excellent- particularly nailing awful examples of Masters of Air.
That is typical of the channel, with ample citing of primary source historical documents in the subjects it explores. I've been subscribed to it for awhile.
The late block D-20s had zero launch stubs as a production article, arriving in ETO December 1944. The 8th AF never performed a rocket mission and I'm pretty sure that the 15th did not with P-51s. 9th AF inP-47 but P-51D?, maybe but if so, only in March/April 1945.
According to the 9AF ordnance expenditure summary reports Geoffrey Sinclair had posted in another thread, from 18 October 1943 through 8 May 1945, its fighters fired a total of 14,402 rockets in combat. No breakdown was given as to how many of those rockets were the M8, the FFAR, or the HVAR. The vast majority of rockets (98%) were launched by P-47s, the remainder from P-61s.
In contrast, 9AF fighters dropped 14,464 of the 20-lb fragmentation bomb alone. By far the most frequently used bomb was the 500-lb GP which comprised 64% of all bombs dropped. The 260-lb frag bomb was second at 9% while the 1,000-lb GP was third at 8%.