Wildcats in action in Europe 1945

[yulzari]

This is an obituary of Lieutenant Ken Atkinson, a Royal Navy Sea Hurricane and Wildcat pilot and an account of actions off Norway in April 1945.

British Militaria Forums-Lt Ken Atkinson (Fleet Air Arm Fighter Pilot; Arctic Convoys)

From The Daily Telegraph. Lt Ken Atkinson, who has died aged 100, was a Fleet Air Arm fighter pilot whose Sea Hurricane gained worldwide fame as an

www.tapatalk.com

 

[Capt. Vick]

Interesting. Thanks for posting.

 

[Clayton Magnet]

I wonder if he was mistaken on the Wildcat model he transitioned into, and instead of the Wildcat IV, perhaps it was the VI?. The Martlet IV was a fairly ponderous performer, and though it was an undoubtedly better deck handling aircraft than a Sea Hurricane, I don't think it significantly outperformed it., as stated in the article.

" By late 1944, 835 NAS was due to be re-equipped with the much more capable American fighter, the Grumman Wildcat IV, which was purpose-built and carrier-borne. It was more manoeuvrable and had a better rate of climb and endurance than the Sea Hurricane, and had been designed for seaborne operations with its powered, folding wings."

 

[EwenS]

835 swapped its Sea Hurricane IIc for Wildcat VI (aka the FM-2) in Sept 1944

 

[Clayton Magnet]

835 swapped its Sea Hurricane IIc for Wildcat VI (aka the FM-2) in Sept 1944

That would make more sense. An FM-2 would certainly be an upgrade over a Sea Hurricane

 

[ThomasP]

Also, none of the F4F/FM series had "powered, folding wings".

Interesting read otherwise.

 

[yulzari]

I wonder if he was mistaken on the Wildcat model he transitioned into, and instead of the Wildcat IV, perhaps it was the VI?. The Martlet IV was a fairly ponderous performer, and though it was an undoubtedly better deck handling aircraft than a Sea Hurricane, I don't think it significantly outperformed it., as stated in the article.

" By late 1944, 835 NAS was due to be re-equipped with the much more capable American fighter, the Grumman Wildcat IV, which was purpose-built and carrier-borne. It was more manoeuvrable and had a better rate of climb and endurance than the Sea Hurricane, and had been designed for seaborne operations with its powered, folding wings."

Probably a simple transcribing error by the Daily Telegraph.IV for VI is easily done by someone who has no idea of the significance.

 

[Wild_Bill_Kelso]

This is an obituary of Lieutenant Ken Atkinson, a Royal Navy Sea Hurricane and Wildcat pilot and an account of actions off Norway in April 1945.

British Militaria Forums-Lt Ken Atkinson (Fleet Air Arm Fighter Pilot; Arctic Convoys)

From The Daily Telegraph. Lt Ken Atkinson, who has died aged 100, was a Fleet Air Arm fighter pilot whose Sea Hurricane gained worldwide fame as an

www.tapatalk.com

"In their distinctive – and unofficial – all-white camouflage, the Wildcats intercepted the enemy"

-- oooh I think I got me a white FAA Wildcat to build! That sounds cool! Anyone got a pic of one of those? My google-fu failed me.

 

[Wild_Bill_Kelso]

I wonder if he was mistaken on the Wildcat model he transitioned into, and instead of the Wildcat IV, perhaps it was the VI?. The Martlet IV was a fairly ponderous performer, and though it was an undoubtedly better deck handling aircraft than a Sea Hurricane, I don't think it significantly outperformed it., as stated in the article.

" By late 1944, 835 NAS was due to be re-equipped with the much more capable American fighter, the Grumman Wildcat IV, which was purpose-built and carrier-borne. It was more manoeuvrable and had a better rate of climb and endurance than the Sea Hurricane, and had been designed for seaborne operations with its powered, folding wings."

Any version of the Martlet / Wildcat definitely had much better endurance than any Sea Hurricane, which was key for a Naval fighter. The "armored carrier" site gets into this in a lot of detail about why this was so important.

 

[pinehilljoe]

His story reminds me of the old Douglas Reeman book, Winged Escort.

 

[ThomasP]

re the white paint scheme on the F4F

I have seen a colour picture of the SeaHurricane (in the FAA's white scheme) somewhere on the internet. Otherwise there are several B&W photos of the SeaHurricanes in the white scheme.

I do not know if the scheme is the same as used on the Wildcat.

 

[Wild_Bill_Kelso]

re the white paint scheme on the F4F

I have seen a colour picture of the SeaHurricane (in the FAA's white scheme) somewhere on the internet. Otherwise there are several B&W photos of the SeaHurricanes in the white scheme.

I do not know if the scheme is the same as used on the Wildcat.

Good tip! Definitely something to go on here.

 

[Wild_Bill_Kelso]

Wow look at this one... pretty!

 

[pinehilljoe]

re the white paint scheme on the F4F

I have seen a colour picture of the SeaHurricane (in the FAA's white scheme) somewhere on the internet. Otherwise there are several B&W photos of the SeaHurricanes in the white scheme.

I do not know if the scheme is the same as used on the Wildcat.

The white paint scheme is attributed to Patrick Blackett's Operation Research Team. Most of the cast off aircraft that Bomber Command gave to Coastal Command were painted black, and U-Boats were spotting them before the the aircraft saw the U-Boat. Painting the planes white, gave the planes a few more seconds to visually spot the U-Boat first.

Ref the Book: Blackett's War.

 

[33k in the air]

The white paint scheme is attributed to Patrick Blackett's Operation Research Team. Most of the cast off aircraft that Bomber Command gave to Coastal Command were painted black, and U-Boats were spotting them before the the aircraft saw the U-Boat. Painting the planes white, gave the planes a few more seconds to visually spot the U-Boat first.

Ref the Book: Blackett's War.

Later, it was figured out putting lights on the aircraft actually made them harder to spot until they were close.

 

[SaparotRob]

The pink tassels were an utter failure.

 

[ThomasP]

Why wear pink tassels when . . .

 

[WAFU]

Wildcats scored the last FAA kills of the ETO when 4 Wildcats escorting Avengers on an anti shipping strike off Norway were bounced by 8 BF109G.'s on 26 March 1945.
Bad day for the Luftwaffe, 4 Bf109's destroyed for no losses.

 

[RCAFson]

I wonder if he was mistaken on the Wildcat model he transitioned into, and instead of the Wildcat IV, perhaps it was the VI?. The Martlet IV was a fairly ponderous performer, and though it was an undoubtedly better deck handling aircraft than a Sea Hurricane, I don't think it significantly outperformed it., as stated in the article.

" By late 1944, 835 NAS was due to be re-equipped with the much more capable American fighter, the Grumman Wildcat IV, which was purpose-built and carrier-borne. It was more manoeuvrable and had a better rate of climb and endurance than the Sea Hurricane, and had been designed for seaborne operations with its powered, folding wings."

The nomenclature needs to be clarified. The aircraft in question is not a Wildcat IV but the VI:

835 Naval Air Squadron - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

AKA, the FM2, which was a specially lightened version of the Wildcat with a more powerful engine. It came out in late 1943 and was a close match to the SH1B in performance:

http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/f4f/wildcat-VI-ads.jpg

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/531fdb48e4b0e8fbe6259952/1445912875435-HBWIE5BF3YF3Z06CJCJM/image-asset.jpeg?format=1500w

but it's folding wings were a definite advantage.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Pic from the OP's article. Lord, that's some bobbing!