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I think we have a bit of mis-understading here, I was not refering to the "performance" of the 'Brewster airplane ' but the "performance" of the "Brewster company".
I don't think either point is historically accurate.Shortround,
1. AFAIK, no USN pilot was ever "dissatified" with the performance of the Buffalo.
Upon reflection, some may have lamented the want for a different airplane, when recalling a certain situation, but I've never read any reports that ever said anything to the extent of "The Brewster Buffalo is a lousy fighter plane".
So I'm not sure where your line of thinking came from, as far as the USN being dissatisfied with the Buffalo's performance.
What happened was the advent of the F6F.
2. BTW, its my understanding that the advent of the "-3" was generated by pilot input. It seems USN pilots preferred "flying tanks" to something that could actually dogfight with the Zero.
From the horse's mouth...
http://www.warbirdforum.com/vmf221.htm
"The F2A-3 is not a combat airplane. It is inferior to the planes we were fighting in every respect. The F2A-3 has about the same speed as an Aichi 99 Dive Bomber. The Japanese Zero Fighter can run circles around the F2A-3. I estimated the top speed of a Zero Fighter, form what I saw, at better than 450 mile per hour.
It is my belief that any commander that orders pilots out for combat in a F2A-3 should consider the pilot as lost before leaving the ground."
Captain Philip Renee White
VMF-221
Since mr. White says that Zero as fast as P-51B/C/D, I'd say that his credibility is undermined a lot. No offense.
Remember - this is from the mouth of a very young marine officer in his first combat while getting shot at, so I think its safe to say we all know he exaggerated a bit.
That makes sense.
That also means his assessment of the planes from an above post are not accurate and should not be taken seriously, to say it mildly. Again, no offense.
Hi, FLYBOY,
I reckon it that he was, as a green pilot, shoot by Zero (correct me if I'm wrong about that). He states that Zero is able to do 450mph (=720 km/h).
He also states that his plane (I'll name it Buffalo, since it's easier to me) is not capable to catch Val dive bomber.
So, we should either trust both of his assessments ( of both Buffalo and Zero), or to discard both of them.
I choose to discard them.
Agree with the words you say, yet I'd add that disparity in pilot quality (in experience mostly) was what decided the outcome of the battle.
The disparity in aircraft quality comes second in our example.