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222-587: The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War , among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed by James H. Kindelberger of North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission . The commission approached NAA to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for

444-741: A low yo-yo . Robert DeHaven describes how this tactic was used in the 49th Fighter group: USAAF and Chinese P-40 pilots performed well in this theater against many Japanese types such as the Ki-43, Nakajima Ki-44 "Tojo" and the Zero. The P-40 remained in use in the China Burma India Theater (CBI) until 1944 and was reportedly preferred over the P-51 Mustang by some US pilots flying in China. The American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers)

666-584: A by now mediocre performance. The first Eindecker victory came on 1 July 1915, when Leutnant Kurt Wintgens , of Feldflieger Abteilung 6 on the Western Front, downed a Morane-Saulnier Type L. His was one of five Fokker M.5 K/MG prototypes for the Eindecker , and was armed with a synchronized aviation version of the Parabellum MG14 machine gun. The success of the Eindecker kicked off

888-470: A cadre of exceptional pilots. In the United Kingdom, at the behest of Neville Chamberlain (more famous for his 'peace in our time' speech), the entire British aviation industry was retooled, allowing it to change quickly from fabric covered metal framed biplanes to cantilever stressed skin monoplanes in time for the war with Germany, a process that France attempted to emulate, but too late to counter

1110-666: A close relationship was developed between NAA, the RAF Air Fighting Development Unit and Rolls Royce Rolls-Royce Flight Test Establishment at Hucknall. Following extensive communication between Hitchcock (based in England), Rolls Royce engineers and Phillip Legarra at NAA regarding the promising outlook of a Merlin Mustang, along with the subsequent work in progress by Rolls Royce on the Mustang X, NAA representatives including Mustang designer Schmued visited

1332-435: A competitive cycle of improvement among the combatants, both sides striving to build ever more capable single-seat fighters. The Albatros D.I and Sopwith Pup of 1916 set the classic pattern followed by fighters for about twenty years. Most were biplanes and only rarely monoplanes or triplanes . The strong box structure of the biplane provided a rigid wing that allowed the accurate control essential for dogfighting. They had

1554-443: A difficult deflection shot. The first step in finding a real solution was to mount the weapon on the aircraft, but the propeller remained a problem since the best direction to shoot is straight ahead. Numerous solutions were tried. A second crew member behind the pilot could aim and fire a swivel-mounted machine gun at enemy airplanes; however, this limited the area of coverage chiefly to the rear hemisphere, and effective coordination of

1776-689: A dozen pilots who achieved ace status twice over while flying the P-40. A total of 46 British Commonwealth pilots became aces in P-40s, including seven double aces. The Flying Tigers , known officially as the 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG), were a unit of the Chinese Air Force , recruited from amongst U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Army aviators and ground crew. AVG leader Claire Chennault received crated Model Bs which his airmen assembled in Burma at

1998-583: A few P-40s managed to get in the air and shoot down several Japanese aircraft, most notably by George Welch and Kenneth Taylor . In the Dutch East Indies campaign , the 17th Pursuit Squadron (Provisional), formed from USAAF pilots evacuated from the Philippines, claimed 49 Japanese aircraft destroyed, for the loss of 17 P-40s The seaplane tender USS Langley was sunk by Japanese airplanes while delivering P-40s to Tjilatjap , Java . In

2220-521: A fighter. On 14 October 1938, Curtiss test pilot Edward Elliott flew the prototype XP-40 on its first flight in Buffalo. The XP-40 was the 10th production Curtiss P-36 Hawk, with its Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine replaced at the direction of Chief Engineer Don R. Berlin by a liquid-cooled, supercharged Allison V-1710 V-12 engine. The first prototype placed

2442-552: A form that would replace all others in the 1930s. As collective combat experience grew, the more successful pilots such as Oswald Boelcke , Max Immelmann , and Edward Mannock developed innovative tactical formations and maneuvers to enhance their air units' combat effectiveness. Allied and – before 1918 – German pilots of World War I were not equipped with parachutes , so in-flight fires or structural failures were often fatal. Parachutes were well-developed by 1918 having previously been used by balloonists, and were adopted by

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2664-753: A further 300 NA-73s were ordered by the MAP. To ensure uninterrupted delivery, Colonel Oliver P. Echols arranged with the Anglo-French Purchasing Commission to deliver the aircraft and NAA gave two examples (41-038 and 41-039) to the USAAC for evaluation. It is important to note that the Mustang I (NA-73 and NA-83) and the Ia (NA-91), produced for the British, were not equivalent to the P-51A which

2886-597: A good rate of serviceability. The earliest victory claims by P-40 pilots include Vichy French aircraft, during the 1941 Syria-Lebanon campaign , against Dewoitine D.520s , a type often considered to be the best French fighter of the war. The P-40 was deadly against Axis bombers in the theater, as well as against the Bf 110 twin-engine fighter. In June 1941, Caldwell, of 250 Squadron in Egypt , flying as flying Officer (F/O) Jack Hamlyn's wingman, recorded in his log book that he

3108-664: A great deal of ground-attack work. In World War II, the USAAF and RAF often favored fighters over dedicated light bombers or dive bombers , and types such as the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and Hawker Hurricane that were no longer competitive as aerial combat fighters were relegated to ground attack. Several aircraft, such as the F-111 and F-117, have received fighter designations though they had no fighter capability due to political or other reasons. The F-111B variant

3330-462: A letter of intent for an order of 320 aircraft. Curtiss engineers accused NAA of plagiarism. The British Purchasing Commission stipulated armament of four .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns (as used on the Tomahawk), a unit cost of no more than $ 40,000, and delivery of the first production aircraft by January 1941. In March 1940, 320 aircraft were ordered by Freeman, who had become the executive head of

3552-500: A little tricky. It could not by any means out-turn a Spitfire. No way. It had a good rate-of-roll, better than the Spitfire, so I would say the plusses to the Spitfire and the Mustang just about equate. If I were in a dogfight, I'd prefer to be flying the Spitfire. The problem was I wouldn't like to be in a dogfight near Berlin, because I could never get home to Britain in a Spitfire! The U.S. Air Forces, Flight Test Engineering, assessed

3774-475: A million and a half dwellings and over 105 square miles (270 km) of urban space were destroyed." In Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, "the areas leveled (almost 100 square miles (260 km)) exceeded the areas destroyed in all German cities by both the American and British air forces (about 79 square miles (200 km))." P-51s also conducted a series of independent ground-attack missions against targets in

3996-706: A multi-stage supercharger, resulting in limited high-altitude performance. The aircraft was first flown operationally and very successfully by the RAF and as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). In mid 1942, a development project known as the Rolls-Royce Mustang X , replaced the Allison engine with a Rolls-Royce Merlin 65 two-stage inter-cooled supercharged engine. During testing at Rolls-Royce's airfield at Hucknall in England , it

4218-431: A number of twin-engine fighters were built; however they were found to be outmatched against single-engine fighters and were relegated to other tasks, such as night fighters equipped with radar sets. By the end of the war, turbojet engines were replacing piston engines as the means of propulsion, further increasing aircraft speed. Since the weight of the turbojet engine was far less than a piston engine, having two engines

4440-550: A part of military nomenclature, a letter is often assigned to various types of aircraft to indicate their use, along with a number to indicate the specific aircraft. The letters used to designate a fighter differ in various countries. In the English-speaking world, "F" is often now used to indicate a fighter (e.g. Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II or Supermarine Spitfire F.22 ), though "P" used to be used in

4662-426: A postwar reputation as a mediocre design, suitable only for close air support , more recent research including scrutiny of the records of Allied squadrons indicates that this was not the case; the P-40 performed surprisingly well as an air superiority fighter, at times suffering severe losses, but also inflicting a very heavy toll on enemy aircraft. Based on war-time victory claims, over 200 Allied fighter pilots – from

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4884-467: A prisoner of war. A famous African-American unit, the 99th FS , better known as the "Tuskegee Airmen" or "Redtails", flew P-40s in stateside training and for their initial eight months in the MTO. On 9 June 1943, they became the first African-American fighter pilots to engage enemy aircraft, over Pantelleria , Italy. A single Focke-Wulf Fw 190 was reported damaged by Lieutenant Willie Ashley Jr. On 2 July

5106-553: A prominent German Experte , Erbo von Kageneck (69 kills), while flying a P-40. Caldwell's victories in North Africa included 10 Bf 109s and two Macchi C.202s. Billy Drake of 112 Squadron was the leading British P-40 ace with 13 victories. James "Stocky" Edwards (RCAF), who achieved 12 kills in the P-40 in North Africa, shot down German ace Otto Schulz (51 kills) while flying a Kittyhawk with No. 260 Squadron RAF . Caldwell, Drake, Edwards and Nicky Barr were among at least

5328-723: A radio, six .50-caliber machine guns, and auxiliary bomb racks that could hold 35-lb fragmentation bombs. Chennault's armorer added bomb racks for 570-lb Russian bombs, which the Chinese had in abundance. These planes were used in the battle of the Salween River Gorge in late May 1942, which kept the Japanese from entering China from Burma and threatening Kunming. Spare parts, however, remained in short supply. "Scores of new planes...were now in India, and there they stayed—in case

5550-638: A range of specialized aircraft types. Some of the most expensive fighters such as the US Grumman F-14 Tomcat , McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle , Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and Russian Sukhoi Su-27 were employed as all-weather interceptors as well as air superiority fighter aircraft, while commonly developing air-to-ground roles late in their careers. An interceptor is generally an aircraft intended to target (or intercept) bombers and so often trades maneuverability for climb rate. As

5772-534: A result of the crippling of the Luftwaffe fighter arm. Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring , commander of the Luftwaffe during the war, was quoted as saying, "When I saw Mustangs over Berlin, I knew the jig was up." On 15 April 1944, VIII Fighter Command began "Operation Jackpot", attacks on Luftwaffe fighter airfields. As the efficacy of these missions increased, the number of fighters at the German airbases fell to

5994-742: A result, during the early months of these campaigns, Axis air forces destroyed large numbers of Red Air Force aircraft on the ground and in one-sided dogfights. In the later stages on the Eastern Front, Soviet training and leadership improved, as did their equipment. By 1942 Soviet designs such as the Yakovlev Yak-9 and Lavochkin La-5 had performance comparable to the German Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 . Also, significant numbers of British, and later U.S., fighter aircraft were supplied to aid

6216-643: A separate (and vulnerable) radiator, but had increased drag. Inline engines often had a better power-to-weight ratio . Some air forces experimented with " heavy fighters " (called "destroyers" by the Germans). These were larger, usually twin-engined aircraft, sometimes adaptations of light or medium bomber types. Such designs typically had greater internal fuel capacity (thus longer range) and heavier armament than their single-engine counterparts. In combat, they proved vulnerable to more agile single-engine fighters. The primary driver of fighter innovation, right up to

6438-823: A service ceiling of 42,000 feet (13,000 m). Initial flights of what was known to Rolls-Royce as the Mustang X were completed at Hucknall in October 1942. The first flight of the US version, designated XP-51B took place in November 1942, but the USAAF had become so interested in the Merlin Mustang project that an initial contract for 400 aircraft was placed three months beforehand in August. The conversion led to production of

6660-420: A single operator, who flew the aircraft and also controlled its armament. They were armed with one or two Maxim or Vickers machine guns, which were easier to synchronize than other types, firing through the propeller arc. Gun breeches were in front of the pilot, with obvious implications in case of accidents, but jams could be cleared in flight, while aiming was simplified. The use of metal aircraft structures

6882-575: A slight shift of advantage in the Allies' favor. The gradual replacement of Hurricanes by the Tomahawks and Kittyhawks led to the Luftwaffe accelerating retirement of the Bf 109E and introducing the newer Bf 109F; these were to be flown by the veteran pilots of elite Luftwaffe units, such as Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG27), in North Africa. The P-40 was generally considered roughly equal or slightly superior to

North American P-51 Mustang - Misplaced Pages Continue

7104-526: A suitable wind tunnel to test this feature, it used the GALCIT 3.0 m (10 ft) wind tunnel at the California Institute of Technology . This led to some controversy over whether the Mustang's cooling system aerodynamics were developed by NAA's engineer Schmued or by Curtiss, as NAA had purchased the complete set of P-40 wind tunnel data and flight test reports. The NA-73X was also one of

7326-757: A tremendous amount of punishment, violent aerobatics as well as enemy action". Operational range was good by early war standards and was almost double that of the Supermarine Spitfire or Messerschmitt Bf 109 , although inferior to the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, Nakajima Ki-43 and Lockheed P-38 Lightning . Caldwell found the P-40C Tomahawk's armament of two .50-inch (13 mm) Browning AN/M2 "light-barrel" dorsal nose-mount synchronized machine guns and two .303-inch (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in each wing to be inadequate. This

7548-541: A variety of climates. Its semi- modular design was easy to maintain in the field. It lacked innovations such as boosted ailerons or automatic leading edge slats , but its strong structure included a five- spar wing, which enabled P-40s to pull high-G turns and survive some midair collisions. Intentional ramming attacks against enemy aircraft were occasionally recorded as victories by the Desert Air Force and Soviet Air Forces . Caldwell said P-40s "would take

7770-402: Is a fast, heavily armed and long-range type, able to act as an escort fighter protecting bombers , to carry out offensive sorties of its own as a penetration fighter and maintain standing patrols at significant distance from its home base. Bombers are vulnerable due to their low speed, large size and poor maneuvrability. The escort fighter was developed during World War II to come between

7992-549: Is able to defend itself while conducting attack sorties. The word "fighter" was first used to describe a two-seat aircraft carrying a machine gun (mounted on a pedestal) and its operator as well as the pilot . Although the term was coined in the United Kingdom, the first examples were the French Voisin pushers beginning in 1910, and a Voisin III would be the first to shoot down another aircraft, on 5 October 1914. However at

8214-623: Is known as an interceptor . Recognized classes of fighter include: Of these, the Fighter-bomber , reconnaissance fighter and strike fighter classes are dual-role, possessing qualities of the fighter alongside some other battlefield role. Some fighter designs may be developed in variants performing other roles entirely, such as ground attack or unarmed reconnaissance . This may be for political or national security reasons, for advertising purposes, or other reasons. The Sopwith Camel and other "fighting scouts" of World War I performed

8436-616: The 55th Fighter Group surprised an entire Staffel of Me 262As at takeoff and destroyed six jets. The Mustang also proved useful against the V-1s launched toward London. P-51B/Cs, using 150-octane fuel, were fast enough to catch the V-1 and operated in concert with shorter-range aircraft such as advanced marks of the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Tempest . By 8 May 1945, the 8th , 9th , and 15th Air Force 's P-51 groups claimed some 4,950 aircraft shot down (about half of all USAAF claims in

8658-562: The Combined Bomber Offensive . Unescorted Consolidated B-24 Liberators and Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, however, proved unable to fend off German interceptors (primarily Bf 109s and Fw 190s). With the later arrival of long range fighters, particularly the North American P-51 Mustang , American fighters were able to escort far into Germany on daylight raids and by ranging ahead attrited

8880-667: The Combined Chiefs of Staff issued the Pointblank Directive to destroy the Luftwaffe's capacity before the planned invasion of Europe, putting the CBO into full implementation. German daytime fighter efforts were, at that time, focused on the Eastern Front and several other distant locations. Initial efforts by the 8th met limited and unorganized resistance, but with every mission, the Luftwaffe moved more aircraft to

9102-585: The Junkers D.I , made with corrugated duralumin , all based on his experience in creating the pioneering Junkers J 1 all-metal airframe technology demonstration aircraft of late 1915. While Fokker would pursue steel tube fuselages with wooden wings until the late 1930s, and Junkers would focus on corrugated sheet metal, Dornier was the first to build a fighter (the Dornier-Zeppelin D.I ) made with pre-stressed sheet aluminum and having cantilevered wings,

North American P-51 Mustang - Misplaced Pages Continue

9324-555: The Luftwaffe 's fighters. The definitive version, the P-51D , was powered by the Packard V-1650-7 , a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage- supercharged Merlin 66 , and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns . From late 1943, P-51Bs and P-51Cs (supplemented by P-51Ds from mid-1944) were used by the USAAF's Eighth Air Force to escort bombers in raids over Germany , while

9546-507: The Medal of Honor during World War II: Chief Naval Test Pilot and C.O. Captured Enemy Aircraft Flight Capt. Eric Brown , RN , tested the Mustang at RAE Farnborough in March 1944 and noted: The Mustang was a good fighter and the best escort due to its incredible range, make no mistake about it. It was also the best American dogfighter. But the laminar-flow wing fitted to the Mustang could be

9768-484: The Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II by USAAF units, including the 33rd , 57th , 58th , 79th , 324th and 325th Fighter Groups . While the P-40 suffered heavy losses in the MTO, many USAAF P-40 units achieved high kill-to-loss ratios against Axis aircraft; the 324th FG scored better than a 2:1 ratio in the MTO. In all, 23 U.S. pilots became aces in the MTO on the P-40, most of them during

9990-655: The Mediterranean coast until mid-1944, when they were replaced by Republic P-47D Thunderbolts. In all, 18 Royal Air Force (RAF) squadrons, four Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), three South African Air Force (SAAF) and two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadrons serving with RAF formations, used P-40s. The first units to convert were Hawker Hurricane squadrons of the Desert Air Force (DAF), in early 1941. The first Tomahawks delivered came without armor, bulletproof windscreens or self-sealing fuel tanks , which were installed in subsequent shipments. Pilots used to British fighters sometimes found it difficult to adapt to

10212-464: The Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP) and the contract was promulgated on 24 April. The NA-73X , which was designed by a team led by lead engineer Edgar Schmued , followed the best conventional practice of the era, designed for ease of mass manufacturing. The design included several new features. One was a wing designed using laminar flow airfoils, which were developed co-operatively by NAA and

10434-528: The NAA/NACA 45–100 airfoils . The other feature was a new cooling arrangement positioned aft (single ducted water and oil radiators assembly) that reduced the fuselage drag and effects on the wing. Later, after much development, they discovered that the cooling assembly could take advantage of the Meredith effect , in which heated air exited the radiator with a slight amount of jet thrust . Because NAA lacked

10656-697: The Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate against it. The P-51 was a relative latecomer to the Pacific theater, due largely to the need for the aircraft in Europe, although the P-38's twin-engined design was considered a safety advantage for long, over-water flights. The first P-51s were deployed in the Far East later in 1944, operating in close-support and escort missions, as well as tactical photoreconnaissance. As

10878-601: The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). These airfoils generated low drag at high speeds. During the development of the NA-73X, a wind-tunnel test of two wings, one using NACA five-digit airfoils and the other using the new NAA/NACA 45–100 airfoils, was performed in the University of Washington Kirsten Wind Tunnel. The results of this test showed the superiority of the wing designed with

11100-405: The RAF and the USAAF against German industry intended to wear down the Luftwaffe. Axis fighter aircraft focused on defending against Allied bombers while Allied fighters' main role was as bomber escorts. The RAF raided German cities at night, and both sides developed radar-equipped night fighters for these battles. The Americans, in contrast, flew daylight bombing raids into Germany delivering

11322-456: The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51B be considered for the roles of smaller escort fighters, and in July, a report stated that the P-51B was "the most promising plane" with an endurance of 4 hours 45 minutes with the standard internal fuel of 184 gallons plus 150 gallons carried externally. In August, a P-51B was fitted with an extra internal 85-gallon tank, but problems with longitudinal stability occurred, so some compromises in performance with

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11544-400: The Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, NAA proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was completed on 9 September 1940, 102 days after contract signing, achieving its first flight on 26 October. The Mustang was designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine without an export-sensitive turbosupercharger or

11766-418: The Solomon Islands and New Guinea Campaigns and the air defence of Australia , improved tactics and training allowed the USAAF to better use the strengths of the P-40. Due to aircraft fatigue, scarcity of spare parts and replacement problems, the US Fifth Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force created a joint P-40 management and replacement pool on 30 July 1942 and many P-40s went back and forth between

11988-405: The Sopwith Tabloid and Bristol Scout . The French and the Germans didn't have an equivalent as they used two seaters for reconnaissance, such as the Morane-Saulnier L , but would later modify pre-war racing aircraft into armed single seaters. It was quickly found that these were of little use since the pilot couldn't record what he saw while also flying, while military leaders usually ignored what

12210-490: The Stangensteuerung in German, for "pushrod control system") devised by the engineers of Anthony Fokker 's firm was the first system to enter service. It would usher in what the British called the " Fokker scourge " and a period of air superiority for the German forces, making the Fokker Eindecker monoplane a feared name over the Western Front , despite its being an adaptation of an obsolete pre-war French Morane-Saulnier racing airplane, with poor flight characteristics and

12432-415: The "Checkertail Clan") flew P-40s in the MTO and was credited with at least 133 air-to-air kills from April–October 1943, of which 95 were Bf 109s and 26 were Macchi C.202s, for the loss of 17 P-40s in combat. The 325th FG historian Carol Cathcart wrote: on 30 July, 20 P-40s of the 317th [Fighter Squadron] ... took off on a fighter sweep ... over Sardinia . As they turned to fly south over the west part of

12654-411: The "Harvard") trainer to the RAF, but was otherwise underused. NAA President "Dutch" Kindelberger approached Self to sell a new medium bomber , the North American B-25 Mitchell . Instead, Self asked if NAA could manufacture P-40s under license from Curtiss. Kindelberger said NAA could have a better aircraft with the same Allison V-1710 engine in the air sooner than establishing a production line for

12876-419: The "shark mouth" logo, copying similar markings on some Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 110 twin-engine fighters. The lack of a two-speed supercharger for the P-40's Allison V-1710 engine's made it inferior to Luftwaffe fighters such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 or the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in high-altitude combat and it was rarely used in operations in Northwest Europe . However, between 1941 and 1944,

13098-403: The 357th Fighter Group of the 8th Air Force with 565 air-to-air combat victories and the 9th Air Force's 354th Fighter Group with 664, which made it one of the top-scoring fighter groups. The top Mustang ace was the USAAF's George Preddy , whose final tally stood at 26.83 victories (a number that includes shared one half- and one third victory credits), 23 of which were scored with the P-51. Preddy

13320-407: The 71st Reconnaissance Group employed them as armed forward air controllers during ground operations in the Philippines, until it received delivery of P-51s. They claimed 655 aerial victories. Contrary to conventional wisdom, with sufficient altitude, the P-40 could turn with the A6M and other Japanese fighters, using a combination of a nose-down vertical turn with a bank turn, a technique known as

13542-432: The AVG improvised by installing a fragile radio transceiver, the RCA-7-H, which had been built for a Piper Cub. Because the plane had a single-stage low-altitude supercharger, its effective ceiling was about 25,000 feet (7,600 m). The most critical problem was the lack of spare parts; the only source was from damaged aircraft. The planes were viewed as cast-offs that no one else wanted, dangerous and difficult to fly. But

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13764-432: The Americans did not suffer any losses. Osaka was bombed for the fourth time that month, on 15 June, when 444 B-29s destroyed 1.9 square miles (4.9 km) of the city and another 0.59 square miles (1.5 km) of nearby Amagasaki ; 300,000 houses were destroyed in Osaka. This attack marked the end of the first phase of XXI Bomber Command's attack on Japan's cities. During May and June, the bombers had destroyed much of

13986-506: The Assam valley of India in 1942, and they never relinquished it." The 3rd, 5th, 23rd, 51st and 80th FGs, along with the 10th TRS, operated the P-40 in the CBI. CBI P-40 pilots used the aircraft very effectively as a fighter-bomber. The 80th Fighter Group in particular used its so-called B-40 (P-40s carrying 1,000-pound high-explosive bombs) to destroy bridges and kill bridge repair crews, sometimes demolishing their target with one bomb. At least 40 U.S. pilots reached ace status while flying

14208-401: The Axis aircraft landed on the beaches around Cap Bon to avoid being shot down; six Allied fighters were lost, five of them P-40s. On 22 April, in Operation Flax , a similar force of P-40s attacked a formation of 14 Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant ("Giant") six-engine transports, covered by seven Bf 109s from II./JG 27. All the transports were shot down, for a loss of three P-40s. The 57th FG

14430-454: The Bf 109 at low altitude but inferior at high altitude, particularly against the Bf 109F. Most air combat in North Africa took place well below 16,000 ft (4,900 m), negating much of the Bf 109's superiority. The P-40 usually had an advantage over the Bf 109 in turning, dive speed and structural strength, was roughly equal in firepower but was slightly inferior in speed and outclassed in rate of climb and operational ceiling. The P-40

14652-462: The British Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force referred to them as " scouts " until the early 1920s, while the U.S. Army called them "pursuit" aircraft until the late 1940s (using the designation P, as in Curtiss P-40 Warhawk , Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and Bell P-63 Kingcobra ). The UK changed to calling them fighters in the 1920s , while the US Army did so in the 1940s. A short-range fighter designed to defend against incoming enemy aircraft

14874-410: The British government established a purchasing commission in the United States, headed by Sir Henry Self . Self was given overall responsibility for RAF production, research, and development, and also served with Sir Wilfrid Freeman , the Air Member for Development and Production. Self also sat on the British Air Council Subcommittee on Supply (or "Supply Committee"), and one of his tasks was to organize

15096-460: The British, the Americans, the Spanish (in the Spanish civil war) and the Germans. Given limited budgets, air forces were conservative in aircraft design, and biplanes remained popular with pilots for their agility, and remained in service long after they ceased to be competitive. Designs such as the Gloster Gladiator , Fiat CR.42 Falco , and Polikarpov I-15 were common even in the late 1930s, and many were still in service as late as 1942. Up until

15318-425: The Chinese had in large quantity. Units arriving in the CBI after the AVG in the 10th and 14th Air Forces continued to perform well with the P-40, claiming 973 kills in the theater, or 64.8 percent of all enemy aircraft shot down. Aviation historian Carl Molesworth stated that "...the P-40 simply dominated the skies over Burma and China. They were able to establish air superiority over free China, northern Burma and

15540-478: The DAF's air superiority fighter for the critical first few months of 1942, until " tropicalised " Supermarine Spitfires were available. DAF units received nearly 330 Packard V-1650 Merlin-powered P-40Fs, called Kittyhawk IIs, most of which went to the USAAF and the majority of the 700 "lightweight" L models, also powered by the Packard Merlin, in which the armament was reduced to four .50 in (12.7 mm) Brownings (Kittyhawk IIA). The DAF also received some 21 of

15762-413: The English out of an American mother, the Mustang has no parent in the Army Air Corps to appreciate and push its good points. It does not fully satisfy good people on both sides of the Atlantic who seem more interested in pointing with pride to the development of a 100% national product..." Nevertheless, during the British service development program of the Mustang I at Rolls-Royce's airfield at Hucknall ,

15984-590: The European battlefield, played a crucial role in the eventual defeat of the Axis, which Reichmarshal Hermann Göring , commander of the German Luftwaffe summed up when he said: "When I saw Mustangs over Berlin, I knew the jig was up." Curtiss P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter-bomber that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design

16206-438: The European theater, the most claimed by any Allied fighter in air-to-air combat) and 4,131 destroyed on the ground. Losses were about 2,520 aircraft. The 8th Air Force's 4th Fighter Group was the top-scoring fighter group in Europe, with 1,016 enemy aircraft claimed destroyed. This included 550 claimed in aerial combat and 466 on the ground. In air combat, the top-scoring P-51 units (both of which exclusively flew Mustangs) were

16428-483: The German flying services during the course of that year. The well known and feared Manfred von Richthofen , the "Red Baron", was wearing one when he was killed, but the allied command continued to oppose their use on various grounds. In April 1917, during a brief period of German aerial supremacy a British pilot's average life expectancy was calculated to average 93 flying hours, or about three weeks of active service. More than 50,000 airmen from both sides died during

16650-685: The German invasion. The period of improving the same biplane design over and over was now coming to an end, and the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire started to supplant the Gloster Gladiator and Hawker Fury biplanes but many biplanes remained in front-line service well past the start of World War II. While not a combatant in Spain, they too absorbed many of the lessons in time to use them. The Spanish Civil War also provided an opportunity for updating fighter tactics. One of

16872-648: The Italians developed several monoplanes such as the Fiat G.50 Freccia , but being short on funds, were forced to continue operating obsolete Fiat CR.42 Falco biplanes. From the early 1930s the Japanese were at war against both the Chinese Nationalists and the Russians in China, and used the experience to improve both training and aircraft, replacing biplanes with modern cantilever monoplanes and creating

17094-968: The Japanese Nakajima Ki-27 , Nakajima Ki-43 and Mitsubishi A6M Zero and the Italian Fiat G.50 Freccia and Macchi MC.200 . In contrast, designers in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Soviet Union, and the United States believed that the increased speed of fighter aircraft would create g -forces unbearable to pilots who attempted maneuvering dogfights typical of the First World War, and their fighters were instead optimized for speed and firepower. In practice, while light, highly maneuverable aircraft did possess some advantages in fighter-versus-fighter combat, those could usually be overcome by sound tactical doctrine, and

17316-492: The Japanese Army air arm's Nakajima Ki-27s and Ki-43s, nor the much more famous Zero naval fighter in slow, turning dogfights, at higher speeds the P-40s were more than a match. Chennault trained his pilots to use the P-40's particular performance advantages. The P-40 had a higher dive speed than any Japanese fighter aircraft of the early war years, for example, and could exploit so-called "boom-and-zoom" tactics. The AVG

17538-465: The Japanese decided to invade... the AVG was lucky to get a few tires and spark plugs with which to carry on its daily war." China received 27 P-40E models in early 1943. These were assigned to squadrons of the 4th Air Group. A total of 15 USAAF pursuit/fighter groups (FG), along with other pursuit/fighter squadrons and a few tactical reconnaissance (TR) units, operated the P-40 during 1941–45. As

17760-549: The Japanese fighters due to speed reduction favoring the Japanese. Allison's V-1710 engines produced 1,040 hp (780 kW) at sea level and 14,000 ft (4,300 m). This was not powerful compared with contemporary fighters, and the early P-40 variants' top speeds were only average. The single-stage, single-speed supercharger meant that the P-40 was a poor high-altitude fighter. Later versions, with 1,200 hp (890 kW) Allisons or more powerful 1,400 hp Packard Merlin engines were more capable. Climb performance

17982-448: The Luftwaffe than to the Allies and was never a serious threat. The Me 262A was a serious threat, but attacks on their airfields neutralized them. The pioneering Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow jet engines of the Me 262As needed careful nursing by their pilots, and these aircraft were particularly vulnerable during takeoff and landing. Lt. Chuck Yeager of the 357th Fighter Group was one of

18204-560: The Luftwaffe to establish control of the skies over Western Europe. By the time of Operation Overlord in June 1944, the Allies had gained near complete air superiority over the Western Front. This cleared the way both for intensified strategic bombing of German cities and industries, and for the tactical bombing of battlefield targets. With the Luftwaffe largely cleared from the skies, Allied fighters increasingly served as ground attack aircraft. Allied fighters, by gaining air superiority over

18426-512: The Luftwaffe wherever it could be found. The aim was to achieve air supremacy . Mustang groups were sent far ahead of the bombers in a "fighter sweep" to intercept German fighters. Bomber crews complained, but by June, supremacy was achieved. The Luftwaffe answered with the Gefechtsverband ("battle formation"). This consisted of a Sturmgruppe of heavily armed and armored Fw 190As escorted by two Begleitgruppen of Bf 109s, whose task

18648-724: The Luftwaffe, and while the Luftwaffe maintained a qualitative edge over the Red Air Force for much of the war, the increasing numbers and efficacy of the Soviet Air Force were critical to the Red Army's efforts at turning back and eventually annihilating the Wehrmacht . Meanwhile, air combat on the Western Front had a much different character. Much of this combat focused on the strategic bombing campaigns of

18870-563: The Merlin 61 and V-1710-39 were capable of about 1,570 horsepower (1,170 kW) war emergency power at relatively low altitudes, but the Merlin developed 1,390 horsepower (1,040 kW) at 23,500 feet (7,200 m) versus the Allison's 1,150 horsepower (860 kW) at 11,800 feet (3,600 m), delivering an increase in top speed from 390 mph (340 kn; 630 km/h) at ~15,000 feet (4,600 m) to an estimated 440 mph (380 kn; 710 km/h) at 28,100 feet (8,600 m). In

19092-442: The Merlin, enabling long flights over water at 50 ft (15 m) altitude before approaching the enemy coastline. Over land, these flights followed a zig-zag course, turning every six minutes to foil enemy attempts at plotting an interception. During the first 18 months of Rhubarb raids, RAF Mustang Mk.Is and Mk.Ias destroyed or heavily damaged 200 locomotives, over 200 canal barges, and an unknown number of enemy aircraft parked on

19314-466: The Mustang B on 24 April 1944 thus: Fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also pursuit aircraft ) are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat . In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace . Domination of the airspace above a battlefield permits bombers and attack aircraft to engage in tactical and strategic bombing of enemy targets, and helps prevent

19536-666: The P-40 and as a commander, stressed the importance of training novice pilots properly. Competent pilots who took advantage of the P-40's strengths were effective against the best of the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica . In August 1941, Caldwell was attacked by two Bf 109s, one of them piloted by German ace Werner Schröer . Although Caldwell was wounded three times and his Tomahawk was hit by more than 100 7.92 mm (0.312 in) bullets and five 20 mm cannon shells, Caldwell shot down Schröer's wingman and returned to base. Some sources also claim that in December 1941, Caldwell killed

19758-566: The P-40 ceased, 13,738 had been built, all at Curtiss-Wright Corporation 's main production facilities in Buffalo, New York . P-40 Warhawk was the name the United States Army Air Corps gave the plane, and after June 1941, the USAAF adopted the name for all models, making it the official name in the U.S. for all P-40s. The British Commonwealth and Soviet air forces used the name Tomahawk for models equivalent to

19980-579: The P-40 in the CBI. On 14 August 1942, the first confirmed victory by a USAAF unit over a German aircraft in World War II was initiated by a P-40C pilot. 2nd Lt Joseph D. Shaffer, of the 33rd Fighter Squadron, intercepted a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 C-3 maritime patrol aircraft that overflew his base at Reykjavík , Iceland . Shaffer damaged the Fw 200, which was finished off by a P-38F. Warhawks were used extensively in

20202-557: The P-40 played a critical role with Allied air forces in three major theaters: North Africa , the Southwest Pacific , and China . It also had a significant role in the Middle East , Southeast Asia , Eastern Europe , Alaska and Italy . The P-40's performance at high altitudes was not as important in those theaters, where it served as an air superiority fighter , bomber escort and fighter-bomber . Although it gained

20424-456: The P-40's rear-folding landing gear, which was more prone to collapse than the lateral-folding landing gear of the Hurricane or Supermarine Spitfire . In contrast to the "three-point landing" commonly employed with British types, P-40 pilots were obliged to use a "wheels landing": a longer, low angle approach that touched down on the main wheels first. Testing showed the aircraft did not have

20646-547: The P-40. John Attwood of NAA spent much time from January to April 1940 at the British Purchasing Commission's offices in New York discussing the British specifications of the proposed aircraft with British engineers. The discussions consisted of free-hand conceptual drawings of an aircraft with the British officials. Self was concerned that NAA had not ever designed a fighter, insisting they obtain

20868-575: The P-51 pilots only occasionally encountered Japanese fighters in the air, the airfields were protected by antiaircraft batteries and barrage balloons . By the end of the war, VII Fighter Command had conducted 51 ground-attack raids, of which 41 were considered successful. The fighter pilots claimed to have destroyed or damaged 1,062 aircraft and 254 ships, along with large numbers of buildings and railway rolling stock. American losses were 91 pilots killed and 157 Mustangs destroyed. Two P-51 pilots received

21090-562: The P-51A. The Allison engine in the Mustang I had a single-stage supercharger that caused power to drop off rapidly above 15,000 feet (4,600 m). This made it unsuitable for use at the altitudes where combat was taking place in Europe. Allison's attempts at developing a high-altitude engine were underfunded, but produced the V-1710-45, which featured a variable-speed auxiliary supercharger and developed 1,150 horsepower (860 kW) at 22,400 feet (6,800 m). In November 1941, NAA studied

21312-470: The P-51B beginning at NAA's Inglewood, California, plant in June 1943, and P-51s started to become available to the 8th and 9th air forces in the winter of 1943–1944. Conversion to the two-stage supercharged and intercooled Merlin 60 series, over 350 lb (160 kg) heavier than the single-stage Allison, driving a four-bladed Hamilton Standard propeller, required moving the wing slightly forward to correct

21534-546: The RAF's Second Tactical Air Force and the USAAF's Ninth Air Force used the Merlin-powered Mustangs as fighter-bombers, roles in which the Mustang helped ensure Allied air superiority in 1944. The P-51 was also used by Allied air forces in the North African, Mediterranean , Italian , and Pacific theaters. During World War II, Mustang pilots claimed to have destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft. At

21756-494: The Soviet Polikarpov I-16 . The later German design was earlier in its design cycle, and had more room for development and the lessons learned led to greatly improved models in World War II. The Russians failed to keep up and despite newer models coming into service, I-16s remaining the most common Soviet front-line fighter into 1942 despite being outclassed by the improved Bf 109s in World War II. For their part,

21978-598: The Soviet war effort as part of Lend-Lease , with the Bell P-39 Airacobra proving particularly effective in the lower-altitude combat typical of the Eastern Front. The Soviets were also helped indirectly by the American and British bombing campaigns, which forced the Luftwaffe to shift many of its fighters away from the Eastern Front in defense against these raids. The Soviets increasingly were able to challenge

22200-610: The Tomahawk to low-level reconnaissance with RAF Army Cooperation Command and only No. 403 Squadron RCAF was used in the fighter role for a mere 29 sorties, before being replaced by Spitfires. Air Ministry deemed the P-40 unsuitable for the theater. UK P-40 squadrons from mid-1942 re-equipped with aircraft such as Mustangs The Tomahawk was superseded in North Africa by the more powerful Kittyhawk ("D"-mark onwards) types from early 1942, though some Tomahawks remained in service until 1943. Kittyhawks included many improvements and were

22422-474: The Tomahawk was in action over Syria with No. 3 Squadron RAAF , which claimed 19 aerial victories over Vichy French aircraft during June and July 1941, for the loss of one P-40 (and one lost to ground fire). Some DAF units initially failed to use the P-40's strengths or used outdated defensive tactics such as the Lufbery circle . The superior climb rate of the Bf 109 enabled fast, swooping attacks, neutralizing

22644-713: The UK to examine and discuss the project in detail. The promising calculations and modification progress by Rolls Royce led in July 1942 to a contract being let for two NAA Merlin prototypes, briefly designated XP-78, but soon to become the XP-51B. Based on the Packard V-1650-3 duplicating the Merlin 61's performance, NAA estimated for the XP-78 a top speed of 445 mph (387 kn; 716 km/h) at 28,000 feet (8,500 m), and

22866-477: The UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, the US and the Soviet Union – became aces flying the P-40. These included at least 20 double aces, mostly over North Africa, China, Burma and India, the South West Pacific and Eastern Europe. The P-40 offered the additional advantages of low cost and durability, which kept it in production as a ground-attack aircraft long after it was obsolescent as

23088-557: The US for pursuit (e.g. Curtiss P-40 Warhawk ), a translation of the French "C" ( Dewoitine D.520 C.1 ) for Chasseur while in Russia "I" was used for Istrebitel , or exterminator ( Polikarpov I-16 ). As fighter types have proliferated, the air superiority fighter emerged as a specific role at the pinnacle of speed, maneuverability, and air-to-air weapon systems – able to hold its own against all other fighters and establish its dominance in

23310-635: The USAAF, followed by 50 P-51As used as Mustang Mk IIs. Aircraft supplied to Britain under Lend-Lease were required for accounting purposes to be on the USAAC's books before they could be supplied to Britain, but the British Aircraft Purchasing Commission signed its first contract for the North American NA-73 on 24 April 1940, before Lend-Lease was in effect. Thus, the initial order for the P-51 Mustang (as it

23532-529: The United States, Russia, India and China. The first step was to find ways to reduce the aircraft's reflectivity to radar waves by burying the engines, eliminating sharp corners and diverting any reflections away from the radar sets of opposing forces. Various materials were found to absorb the energy from radar waves, and were incorporated into special finishes that have since found widespread application. Composite structures have become widespread, including major structural components, and have helped to counterbalance

23754-529: The V-1710-39. The RAF later operated 308 P-51Bs and 636 P-51Cs, which were known in RAF service as Mustang Mk IIIs; the first units converted to the type in late 1943 and early 1944. Mustang Mk III units were operational until the end of World War II, though many units had already converted to the Mustang Mk IV (P-51D) and Mk IVa (P-51K) (828 in total, comprising 282 Mk IV and 600 Mk IVa). As all except

23976-497: The ability to gather information by reconnaissance over the battlefield. Early fighters were very small and lightly armed by later standards, and most were biplanes built with a wooden frame covered with fabric, and a maximum airspeed of about 100 mph (160 km/h). A successful German biplane, the Albatross, however, was built with a plywood shell, rather than fabric, which created a stronger, faster airplane. As control of

24198-538: The advantages of fighting above Britain's home territory allowed the RAF to deny Germany air superiority, saving the UK from possible German invasion and dealing the Axis a major defeat early in the Second World War. On the Eastern Front , Soviet fighter forces were overwhelmed during the opening phases of Operation Barbarossa . This was a result of the tactical surprise at the outset of the campaign,

24420-498: The advantages offered by conventional defensive tactics. Various new formations were tried by Tomahawk units from 1941 to 1942, including "fluid pairs" (similar to the German rotte ); the Thach Weave (one or two "weavers") at the back of a squadron in formation and whole squadrons bobbing and weaving in loose formations. Werner Schröer , who was credited with destroying 114 Allied aircraft in only 197 combat missions, referred to

24642-470: The air forces. The 49th Fighter Group was in action in the Pacific from the beginning of the war. Robert M. DeHaven scored 10 kills (of 14 overall) in the P-40 with the 49th FG. He compared the P-40 favorably with the P-38: The 8th, 15th, 18th, 24th, 49th, 343rd and 347th PGs/FGs, flew P-40s in the Pacific theaters between 1941 and 1945, with most units converting to P-38s from 1943 to 1944. In 1945,

24864-756: The aircraft were diverted to British and Commonwealth service (as the Tomahawk I), in some cases complete with metric flight instruments. In late 1942, as French forces in North Africa split from the Vichy government to side with the Allies , U.S. forces transferred P-40Fs from 33rd FG to GC II/5 , a squadron that was historically associated with the Lafayette Escadrille . GC II/5 used its P-40Fs and Ls in combat in Tunisia and later for patrol duty off

25086-421: The aircraft's center of gravity . After the USAAF, in July 1943, directed fighter aircraft manufacturers to maximize internal fuel capacity, NAA calculated the P-51B's center of gravity to be forward enough to include an additional 85 US gal (320 L; 71 imp gal) fuel tank in the fuselage behind the pilot, greatly increasing the aircraft's range over that of the earlier P-51A. NAA incorporated

25308-534: The airspace over armies became increasingly important, all of the major powers developed fighters to support their military operations. Between the wars, wood was largely replaced in part or whole by metal tubing, and finally aluminum stressed skin structures (monocoque) began to predominate. By World War II , most fighters were all-metal monoplanes armed with batteries of machine guns or cannons and some were capable of speeds approaching 400 mph (640 km/h). Most fighters up to this point had one engine, but

25530-601: The amphibious Dieppe Raid on the French coast (19 August 1942), four British and Canadian Mustang squadrons, including 26 Squadron, saw action covering the assault on the ground. By 1943–1944, British Mustangs were used extensively to seek out V-1 flying bomb sites. The last RAF Mustang Mk I and Mustang Mk II aircraft were struck off charge in 1945. Army Co-operation Command used the Mustang's superior speed and long range to conduct low-altitude " Rhubarb " raids over continental Europe, sometimes penetrating German airspace. The V-1710 engine ran smoothly at 1,100 rpm, versus 1,600 for

25752-461: The attacks in May destroyed 94 square miles (240 km) of buildings, which was equivalent to one-seventh of Japan's total urban area. The minister of home affairs , Iwao Yamazaki , concluded after these raids that Japan's civil defense arrangements were "considered to be futile". On the first day of June, 521 B-29s escorted by 148 P-51s were dispatched in a daylight raid against Osaka. While en route to

25974-502: The basis for an effective "fighter" in the modern sense of the word. It was based on small fast aircraft developed before the war for air racing such with the Gordon Bennett Cup and Schneider Trophy . The military scout airplane was not expected to carry serious armament, but rather to rely on speed to "scout" a location, and return quickly to report, making it a flying horse. British scout aircraft, in this sense, included

26196-414: The bombers and enemy attackers as a protective shield. The primary requirement was for long range, with several heavy fighters given the role. However they too proved unwieldy and vulnerable, so as the war progressed techniques such as drop tanks were developed to extend the range of more nimble conventional fighters. The penetration fighter is typically also fitted for the ground-attack role, and so

26418-522: The bombers from England to Germany and back. By the time the Pointblank offensive resumed in early 1944, matters had changed. Bomber escort defenses were initially layered, using the shorter-range P-38s and P-47s to escort the bombers during the initial stages of the raid before handing over to the P-51s when they were forced to turn for home. This provided continuous coverage during the raid. The Mustang

26640-602: The bombers proved to be easy prey for the Mustangs, and had to be quickly withdrawn from combat. The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A, already suffering from poor high-altitude performance, was outperformed by the Mustang at the B-17's altitude, and when laden with heavy bomber-hunting weapons as a replacement for the more vulnerable twin-engined Zerstörer heavy fighters, it suffered heavy losses. The Messerschmitt Bf 109 had comparable performance at high altitudes, but its lightweight airframe

26862-523: The brunt of Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica fighter attacks during the North African campaign . The P-40s were considered superior to the Hurricane, which they replaced as the primary fighter of the Desert Air Force. I would evade being shot at accurately by pulling so much g-force ...that you could feel the blood leaving the head and coming down over your eyes... And you would fly like that for as long as you could, knowing that if anyone

27084-532: The city, the Mustangs flew through thick clouds, and 27 of the fighters were destroyed in collisions. Nevertheless, 458 heavy bombers and 27 P-51s reached the city, and the bombardment killed 3,960 Japanese and destroyed 3.15 square miles (8.2 km) of buildings. On 5 June, 473 B-29s struck Kobe by day and destroyed 4.35 square miles (11.3 km) of buildings for the loss of 11 bombers. A force of 409 B-29s attacked Osaka again on 7 June; during this attack, 2.21 square miles (5.7 km) of buildings were burnt out and

27306-471: The contract, an uncommonly short development period even during the war. With test pilot Vance Breese at the controls, the prototype handled well and accommodated an impressive fuel load. The aircraft's three-section, semi-monocoque fuselage was constructed entirely of aluminum to save weight. It was armed with four .30 caliber (7.62 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns in the wings and two .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns mounted under

27528-494: The country's six largest cities, killing between 112,000 and 126,762 people and rendering millions homeless. The widespread destruction and high number of casualties from these raids caused many Japanese to realize that their country's military was no longer able to defend the home islands. American losses were low compared to Japanese casualties; 136 B-29s were downed during the campaign. In Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Yokohama, Kobe, and Kawasaki, "over 126,762 people were killed ... and

27750-610: The defense budgets of modern armed forces. The global combat aircraft market was worth $ 45.75 billion in 2017 and is projected by Frost & Sullivan at $ 47.2 billion in 2026: 35% modernization programs and 65% aircraft purchases, dominated by the Lockheed Martin F-35 with 3,000 deliveries over 20 years. A fighter aircraft is primarily designed for air-to-air combat . A given type may be designed for specific combat conditions, and in some cases for additional roles such as air-to-ground fighting. Historically

27972-668: The design approach of the Italians and Japanese made their fighters ill-suited as interceptors or attack aircraft. During the invasion of Poland and the Battle of France , Luftwaffe fighters—primarily the Messerschmitt Bf 109 —held air superiority, and the Luftwaffe played a major role in German victories in these campaigns. During the Battle of Britain , however, British Hurricanes and Spitfires proved roughly equal to Luftwaffe fighters. Additionally Britain's radar-based Dowding system directing fighters onto German attacks and

28194-468: The drawings and study the wind-tunnel test results for the P-40, before presenting them with detailed design drawings based on the agreed concept. NAA purchased the drawings and data from Curtiss for £56,000, confirming the purchase with the British Purchasing Commission. The commission approved the resulting detailed design drawings, signing the commencement of the Mustang project on 4 May 1940, and firmly ordering 320 on 29 May 1940. Prior to this, NAA only had

28416-577: The earliest aircraft were obtained under Lend-Lease, all Mustang aircraft still on RAF charge at the end of the war were either returned to the USAAF "on paper" or retained by the RAF for scrapping. The last RAF Mustangs were retired from service in 1947. Prewar doctrine was based on the idea " the bomber will always get through ". Despite RAF and Luftwaffe experience with daylight bombing, the USAAF still incorrectly believed in 1942 that tightly packed formations of bombers would have so much firepower that they could fend off fighters on their own. Fighter escort

28638-522: The early 1960s since both were believed unusable at the speeds being attained, however the Vietnam War showed that guns still had a role to play, and most fighters built since then are fitted with cannon (typically between 20 and 30 mm (0.79 and 1.18 in) in caliber) in addition to missiles. Most modern combat aircraft can carry at least a pair of air-to-air missiles. In the 1970s, turbofans replaced turbojets, improving fuel economy enough that

28860-468: The end of 1941, adding self-sealing fuel tanks and a second pair of wing guns, such that the aircraft became a hybrid of B and C models. These were not well-liked by their pilots: they lacked drop tanks for extra range, and there were no bomb racks on the wings. Chennault considered the liquid-cooled engine vulnerable in combat because a single bullet through the coolant system would cause the engine to overheat in minutes. The Tomahawks also had no radios, so

29082-477: The end the Merlin 61 was never fitted to the Mustang X, (or any other Mustang). The 65 series (a medium altitude engine) was fitted to all Mustang X prototypes. Initially, the Mustang's steadfast champion, USAAC/F Assistant Air Attaché Major Thomas Hitchcock, was concerned that the USAAF had little or no interest in the potential of the P-51A and its development with the Merlin engine. He wrote: "Its development in this theatre has suffered for various reasons. Sired by

29304-586: The enemy from doing the same. The key performance features of a fighter include not only its firepower but also its high speed and maneuverability relative to the target aircraft. The success or failure of a combatant's efforts to gain air superiority hinges on several factors including the skill of its pilots, the tactical soundness of its doctrine for deploying its fighters, and the numbers and performance of those fighters. Many modern fighter aircraft also have secondary capabilities such as ground attack and some types, such as fighter-bombers , are designed from

29526-570: The engine and firing through the propeller arc using a gun-synchronizing gear . While the USAAC could block any sales it considered detrimental to the interests of the US, the NA-73 was considered to be a special case because it had been designed at the behest of the British and all dealings were directly between the BPC and NAA, and did not involve the US Army or Wright Field in any way. In September 1940,

29748-408: The escorts, the threat of mass attacks and later the "company front" (eight abreast) assaults by armored Sturmgruppe Fw 190As brought an urgency to attacking the Luftwaffe wherever it could be found, either in the air or on the ground. Beginning in late February 1944 , 8th Air Force fighter units began systematic strafing attacks on German airfields with increasing frequency and intensity throughout

29970-513: The fighter. Rifle-caliber .30 and .303 in (7.62 and 7.70 mm) calibre guns remained the norm, with larger weapons either being too heavy and cumbersome or deemed unnecessary against such lightly built aircraft. It was not considered unreasonable to use World War I-style armament to counter enemy fighters as there was insufficient air-to-air combat during most of the period to disprove this notion. The rotary engine , popular during World War I, quickly disappeared, its development having reached

30192-535: The first American pilots to shoot down an Me 262, which he caught during its landing approach. On 7 October 1944, Lt. Urban L. Drew of the 361st Fighter Group shot down two Me 262s that were taking off, while on the same day, Lt. Col. Hubert Zemke , who had transferred to the Mustang-equipped 479th Fighter Group , shot down what he thought was a Bf 109, only to have his gun camera film reveal that it may have been an Me 262. On 25 February 1945, Mustangs of

30414-529: The first aircraft to have a fuselage lofted mathematically using conic sections ; this resulted in smooth, low-drag surfaces. To aid production, the airframe was divided into five main sections—forward, center, rear fuselage, and two wing halves— all of which were fitted with wiring and piping before being joined. The prototype NA-73X was rolled out in September 1940, just 102 days after the order had been placed; it first flew on 26 October 1940, 149 days into

30636-539: The first half of 1943. P-40 pilots from the 57th FG were the first USAAF fliers to see action in the MTO, while attached to Desert Air Force Kittyhawk squadrons, from July 1942. The 57th was also the main unit involved in the " Palm Sunday Massacre ", on 18 April 1943. Decoded Ultra signals revealed a plan for a large formation of Junkers Ju 52 transports to cross the Mediterranean, escorted by German and Italian fighters. Between 1630 and 1830 hours, all wings of

30858-526: The flight velocities they achieved. Foremost among these were the Messerschmitt Me 163 B point-defense rocket interceptors, which started their operations with JG 400 near the end of July 1944, and the longer-endurance Messerschmitt Me 262 A jet fighter, first flying with the Gruppe -strength Kommando Nowotny unit by the end of September 1944. In action, the Me 163 proved to be more dangerous to

31080-411: The full tank were made. Since the fuel from the fuselage tank was used during the initial stages of a mission, the fuel tank would be fitted in all Mustangs destined for VIII Fighter Command . The P-51 Mustang was a solution to the need for an effective bomber escort. It used a common, reliable engine and had internal space for a larger-than-average fuel load. With external fuel tanks, it could accompany

31302-404: The glycol coolant radiator in an underbelly position on the fighter, just aft of the wing's trailing edge. USAAC Fighter Projects Officer Lieutenant Benjamin S. Kelsey flew this prototype some 300 miles in 57 minutes, approximately 315 miles per hour (507 km/h). Hiding his disappointment, he told reporters that future versions would likely go 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) faster. Kelsey

31524-473: The ground, for a loss of eight Mustangs. At sea level, the Mustangs were able to outrun all enemy aircraft encountered. The RAF gained a significant performance enhancement at low altitude by removing or resetting the engine's manifold pressure regulator to allow overboosting, raising output as high as 1,780 horsepower at 70 in Hg. In December 1942, Allison approved only 1,570 horsepower at 60 in Hg manifold pressure for

31746-542: The group were engaged in an intensive effort against the enemy air transports. Of the four Kittyhawk wings, three had left the patrol area before a convoy of a 100+ enemy transports were sighted by 57th FG, which tallied 74 aircraft destroyed. The group was last in the area, and intercepted the Ju 52s escorted by large numbers of Bf 109s, Bf 110s and Macchi C.202s . The group claimed 58 Ju 52s, 14 Bf 109s and two Bf 110s destroyed, with several probables and damaged. Between 20 and 40 of

31968-406: The guns were subjected). Shooting with this traditional arrangement was also easier because the guns shot directly ahead in the direction of the aircraft's flight, up to the limit of the guns range; unlike wing-mounted guns which to be effective required to be harmonised , that is, preset to shoot at an angle by ground crews so that their bullets would converge on a target area a set distance ahead of

32190-470: The home islands. The first of these operations took place on 16 April, when 57 P-51s strafed Kanoya Air Field in Kyushu. In operations conducted between 26 April and 22 June, the American fighter pilots claimed the destruction of 64 Japanese aircraft and damage to another 180 on the ground, as well as a further 10 shot down in flight; these claims were lower than the American planners had expected, however, and

32412-433: The innovations was the development of the " finger-four " formation by the German pilot Werner Mölders . Each fighter squadron (German: Staffel ) was divided into several flights ( Schwärme ) of four aircraft. Each Schwarm was divided into two Rotten , which was a pair of aircraft. Each Rotte was composed of a leader and a wingman. This flexible formation allowed the pilots to maintain greater situational awareness, and

32634-514: The interceptor. The equipment necessary for daytime flight is inadequate when flying at night or in poor visibility. The night fighter was developed during World War I with additional equipment to aid the pilot in flying straight, navigating and finding the target. From modified variants of the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c in 1915, the night fighter has evolved into the highly capable all-weather fighter. The strategic fighter

32856-413: The island, they were attacked near Sassari ... The attacking force consisted of 25 to 30 Bf 109s and Macchi C.202s... In the brief, intense battle that occurred ... [the 317th claimed] 21 enemy aircraft. Cathcart wrote that Lt. Robert Sederberg assisted a comrade being attacked by five Bf 109s, destroyed at least one German aircraft, and may have shot down as many as five. Sederberg was shot down and became

33078-452: The landing gear doors and the exhaust manifold combined to give performance that was satisfactory to the USAAC. Without beneficial tail winds, Kelsey flew the XP-40 from Wright Field back to Curtiss's plant in Buffalo at an average speed of 354 mph (570 km/h). Further tests in December 1939 proved the fighter could reach 366 mph (589 km/h). An unusual production feature

33300-420: The last piston engine support aircraft could be replaced with jets, making multi-role combat aircraft possible. Honeycomb structures began to replace milled structures, and the first composite components began to appear on components subjected to little stress. With the steady improvements in computers, defensive systems have become increasingly efficient. To counter this, stealth technologies have been pursued by

33522-413: The later P-40K and the majority of the 600 P-40Ms built; these were known as Kittyhawk IIIs. The "lightweight" P-40Ns (Kittyhawk IV) arrived from early 1943 and were used mostly as fighter-bombers. From July 1942 until mid-1943, elements of the U.S. 57th Fighter Group (57th FG) were attached to DAF P-40 units. The British government also donated 23 P-40s to the Soviet Union. Tomahawks and Kittyhawks bore

33744-700: The latter formation as "bunches of grapes", because he found them so easy to pick off. The leading German expert in North Africa, Hans-Joachim Marseille , claimed as many as 101 P-40s during his career. From 26 May 1942, Kittyhawk units operated primarily as fighter-bomber units, giving rise to the nickname "Kittybomber". As a result of this change in role and because DAF P-40 squadrons were frequently used in bomber escort and close air support missions, they suffered relatively high losses; many Desert Air Force P-40 pilots were caught flying low and slow by marauding Bf 109s. Caldwell believed that Operational Training Units did not properly prepare pilots for air combat in

33966-584: The leadership vacuum within the Soviet military left by the Great Purge , and the general inferiority of Soviet designs at the time, such as the obsolescent Polikarpov I-15 biplane and the I-16 . More modern Soviet designs, including the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 , LaGG-3 and Yakolev Yak-1 , had not yet arrived in numbers and in any case were still inferior to the Messerschmitt Bf 109 . As

34188-493: The limited scale of operations, no conclusive evidence showed American doctrine was failing. In the 26 operations flown to the end of 1942, the loss rate had been under 2%. In January 1943, at the Casablanca Conference , the Allies formulated the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) plan for "round-the-clock" bombing – USAAF daytime operations complementing the RAF nighttime raids on industrial centers. In June 1943,

34410-491: The manufacturing and supply of American fighter aircraft for the RAF. At the time, the choice was very limited, as no U.S. aircraft then in production or flying met European standards, with only the Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk coming close. The Curtiss-Wright plant was running at capacity, so P-40s were in short supply. North American Aviation (NAA) was already supplying its T-6 Texan (known in British service as

34632-410: The mid-1930s, the majority of fighters in the US, the UK, Italy and Russia remained fabric-covered biplanes. Fighter armament eventually began to be mounted inside the wings, outside the arc of the propeller, though most designs retained two synchronized machine guns directly ahead of the pilot, where they were more accurate (that being the strongest part of the structure, reducing the vibration to which

34854-495: The most modern weapons, against an enemy in complete command of the air, fights like a savage…" Throughout the war, fighters performed their conventional role in establishing air superiority through combat with other fighters and through bomber interception, and also often performed roles such as tactical air support and reconnaissance . Fighter design varied widely among combatants. The Japanese and Italians favored lightly armed and armored but highly maneuverable designs such as

35076-404: The new, sleek, high-speed, in-line-engined fighters of the European air forces, placed the largest fighter order it had ever made for 524 P-40s. An early order came from the French Armée de l'Air , which was already operating P-36s. The Armée de l'Air ordered 100 (later the order was increased to 230) as the Hawk 81A-1 but the French were defeated before the aircraft had left the factory and

35298-607: The opposition. Subsequently, radar capabilities grew enormously and are now the primary method of target acquisition . Wings were made thinner and swept back to reduce transonic drag, which required new manufacturing methods to obtain sufficient strength. Skins were no longer sheet metal riveted to a structure, but milled from large slabs of alloy. The sound barrier was broken, and after a few false starts due to required changes in controls, speeds quickly reached Mach 2, past which aircraft cannot maneuver sufficiently to avoid attack. Air-to-air missiles largely replaced guns and rockets in

35520-442: The original P-40, P-40B, and P-40C, and the name Kittyhawk for models equivalent to the P-40D and all later variants. P-40s first saw combat with the British Commonwealth squadrons of the Desert Air Force in the Middle East and North African campaigns, during June 1941. No. 112 Squadron Royal Air Force , was among the first to operate Tomahawks in North Africa and the unit was the first Allied military aviation unit to feature

35742-488: The outbreak of World War I , front-line aircraft were mostly unarmed and used almost exclusively for reconnaissance . On 15 August 1914, Miodrag Tomić encountered an enemy airplane while on a reconnaissance flight over Austria-Hungary which fired at his aircraft with a revolver, so Tomić fired back. It was believed to be the first exchange of fire between aircraft. Within weeks, all Serbian and Austro-Hungarian aircraft were armed. Another type of military aircraft formed

35964-451: The outset for dual roles. Other fighter designs are highly specialized while still filling the main air superiority role, and these include the interceptor and, historically, the heavy fighter and night fighter . Since World War I, achieving and maintaining air superiority has been considered essential for victory in conventional warfare . Fighters continued to be developed throughout World War I, to deny enemy aircraft and dirigibles

36186-446: The performance needed for use in Northwest Europe at high-altitude, due to the service ceiling limitation. Spitfires used in the theater operated at heights around 30,000 ft (9,100 m), while the P-40's Allison engine, with its single-stage, low altitude rated supercharger, worked best at 15,000 ft (4,600 m) or lower. When the Tomahawk was used by Allied units based in the UK from February 1941, this limitation relegated

36408-421: The period of rapid re-armament in the late 1930s, were not military budgets, but civilian aircraft racing. Aircraft designed for these races introduced innovations like streamlining and more powerful engines that would find their way into the fighters of World War II. The most significant of these was the Schneider Trophy races, where competition grew so fierce, only national governments could afford to enter. At

36630-433: The period, going from a typical 180 hp (130 kW) in the 900 kg (2,000 lb) Fokker D.VII of 1918 to 900 hp (670 kW) in the 2,500 kg (5,500 lb) Curtiss P-36 of 1936. The debate between the sleek in-line engines versus the more reliable radial models continued, with naval air forces preferring the radial engines, and land-based forces often choosing inlines. Radial designs did not require

36852-406: The pilot's maneuvering with the gunner's aiming was difficult. This option was chiefly employed as a defensive measure on two-seater reconnaissance aircraft from 1915 on. Both the SPAD S.A and the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.9 added a second crewman ahead of the engine in a pod but this was both hazardous to the second crewman and limited performance. The Sopwith L.R.T.Tr. similarly added a pod on

37074-421: The pilots did appreciate some of the planes' features. There were two heavy sheets of steel behind the pilot's head and back that offered solid protection, and overall the planes were ruggedly constructed. Compared to opposing Japanese fighters, the P-40B's strengths were that it was sturdy, well armed, faster in a dive and possessed an excellent rate of roll. While the P-40s could not match the maneuverability of

37296-451: The pilots reported. Attempts were made with handheld weapons such as pistols and rifles and even light machine guns, but these were ineffective and cumbersome. The next advance came with the fixed forward-firing machine gun, so that the pilot pointed the entire aircraft at the target and fired the gun, instead of relying on a second gunner. Roland Garros bolted metal deflector plates to the propeller so that it would not shoot itself out of

37518-410: The point where rotational forces prevented more fuel and air from being delivered to the cylinders, which limited horsepower. They were replaced chiefly by the stationary radial engine though major advances led to inline engines gaining ground with several exceptional engines—including the 1,145 cu in (18,760 cm ) V-12 Curtiss D-12 . Aircraft engines increased in power several-fold over

37740-457: The point where they were no longer considered worthwhile targets. On 21 May, targets were expanded to include railways, locomotives, and other rolling stock used by the Germans to transport materiel and troops, in missions dubbed "Chattanooga". The P-51 excelled at this mission, although losses were much higher on strafing missions than in air-to-air combat, partially because the Mustang's liquid-cooled engine (particularly its liquid coolant system)

37962-496: The possibility of using it, but fitting its excessive length in the Mustang would require extensive airframe modifications and cause long production delays. In May 1942, following positive reports from the RAF on the Mustang I's performance below 15,000 ft, Ronald Harker, a test pilot for Rolls-Royce , suggested fitting a Merlin 61 , as fitted to the Spitfire Mk IX . The Merlin 61 had a two-speed, two-stage, intercooled supercharger, designed by Stanley Hooker of Rolls-Royce. Both

38184-468: The propeller arc was evident even before the outbreak of war and inventors in both France and Germany devised mechanisms that could time the firing of the individual rounds to avoid hitting the propeller blades. Franz Schneider , a Swiss engineer, had patented such a device in Germany in 1913, but his original work was not followed up. French aircraft designer Raymond Saulnier patented a practical device in April 1914, but trials were unsuccessful because of

38406-461: The propeller arc. Wing guns were tried but the unreliable weapons available required frequent clearing of jammed rounds and misfires and remained impractical until after the war. Mounting the machine gun over the top wing worked well and was used long after the ideal solution was found. The Nieuport 11 of 1916 used this system with considerable success, however, this placement made aiming and reloading difficult but would continue to be used throughout

38628-406: The propeller blades were fitted with metal wedges to protect them from ricochets . Garros' modified monoplane first flew in March 1915 and he began combat operations soon after. Garros scored three victories in three weeks before he himself was downed on 18 April and his airplane, along with its synchronization gear and propeller was captured by the Germans. Meanwhile, the synchronization gear (called

38850-426: The propensity of the machine gun employed to hang fire due to unreliable ammunition. In December 1914, French aviator Roland Garros asked Saulnier to install his synchronization gear on Garros' Morane-Saulnier Type L parasol monoplane . Unfortunately the gas-operated Hotchkiss machine gun he was provided had an erratic rate of fire and it was impossible to synchronize it with the propeller. As an interim measure,

39072-418: The radiator forward in steps. Seeing little gain, Kelsey ordered the aircraft to be evaluated in a NACA wind tunnel to identify solutions for better aerodynamic qualities. From 28 March to 11 April 1939, the prototype was studied by NACA. Based on the data obtained, Curtiss moved the glycol coolant radiator forward to the chin; its new air scoop also accommodated the oil cooler air intake. Other improvements to

39294-411: The raids were considered unsuccessful. USAAF losses were 11 P-51s to enemy action and seven to other causes. Due to the lack of Japanese air opposition to the American bomber raids, VII Fighter Command was solely tasked with ground-attack missions from July. These raids were frequently made against airfields to destroy aircraft being held in reserve to attack the expected Allied invasion fleet. While

39516-532: The skies above the battlefield. The interceptor is a fighter designed specifically to intercept and engage approaching enemy aircraft. There are two general classes of interceptor: relatively lightweight aircraft in the point-defence role, built for fast reaction, high performance and with a short range, and heavier aircraft with more comprehensive avionics and designed to fly at night or in all weathers and to operate over longer ranges . Originating during World War I, by 1929 this class of fighters had become known as

39738-417: The sky and a number of Morane-Saulnier Ns were modified. The technique proved effective, however the deflected bullets were still highly dangerous. Soon after the commencement of the war, pilots armed themselves with pistols, carbines , grenades , and an assortment of improvised weapons. Many of these proved ineffective as the pilot had to fly his airplane while attempting to aim a handheld weapon and make

39960-419: The spring, with the objective of gaining air supremacy over the Normandy battlefield. In general, these were conducted by units returning from escort missions, but beginning in March, many groups also were assigned airfield attacks instead of bomber support. The P-51, particularly with the advent of the K-14 gyro gunsight and the development of "Clobber Colleges" for the training of fighter pilots in fall 1944,

40182-420: The squadron claimed its first verified kill; a Fw 190 destroyed by Captain Charles Hall. The 99th continued to score with P-40s until February 1944, when they were assigned P-39s and P-51 Mustangs. The much-lightened P-40L was most heavily used in the MTO, primarily by U.S. pilots. Many US pilots stripped down their P-40s even further to improve performance, often removing two or more of the wing guns to improve

40404-466: The start of the Korean War, the Mustang, by then redesignated F-51 , was the main fighter of the United States until jet fighters , including North American's F-86 Sabre , took over this role; the Mustang then became a specialized fighter-bomber. Despite the advent of jet fighters, the Mustang remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s. After the Korean War, Mustangs became popular civilian warbirds and air racing aircraft. In 1938,

40626-408: The steady increases in aircraft weight—most modern fighters are larger and heavier than World War II medium bombers. Because of the importance of air superiority, since the early days of aerial combat armed forces have constantly competed to develop technologically superior fighters and to deploy these fighters in greater numbers, and fielding a viable fighter fleet consumes a substantial proportion of

40848-491: The tank in the production of the P-51B-10, and supplied kits to retrofit it to all existing P-51Bs. The Mustang was initially developed for the RAF, which was its first user. As the first Mustangs were built to British requirements, these aircraft used factory numbers and were not P-51s; the order comprised 320 NA-73s, followed by 300 NA-83s, all of which were designated Mustang Mark I by the RAF. The first RAF Mustangs supplied under Lend-Lease were 93 Mk Ia designated as P-51s by

41070-430: The top wing with no better luck. An alternative was to build a "pusher" scout such as the Airco DH.2 , with the propeller mounted behind the pilot. The main drawback was that the high drag of a pusher type's tail structure made it slower than a similar "tractor" aircraft. A better solution for a single seat scout was to mount the machine gun (rifles and pistols having been dispensed with) to fire forwards but outside

41292-411: The two Rotten could split up at any time and attack on their own. The finger-four would be widely adopted as the fundamental tactical formation during World War Two, including by the British and later the Americans. World War II featured fighter combat on a larger scale than any other conflict to date. German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel noted the effect of airpower: "Anyone who has to fight, even with

41514-422: The very end of the inter-war period in Europe came the Spanish Civil War . This was just the opportunity the German Luftwaffe , Italian Regia Aeronautica , and the Soviet Union's Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily needed to test their latest aircraft. Each party sent numerous aircraft types to support their sides in the conflict. In the dogfights over Spain, the latest Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters did well, as did

41736-422: The war as the weapons used were lighter and had a higher rate of fire than synchronized weapons. The British Foster mounting and several French mountings were specifically designed for this kind of application, fitted with either the Hotchkiss or Lewis Machine gun , which due to their design were unsuitable for synchronizing. The need to arm a tractor scout with a forward-firing gun whose bullets passed through

41958-468: The war in Europe wound down, the P-51 became more common. With the capture of Iwo Jima , USAAF P-51 Mustang fighters of the VII Fighter Command were stationed on that island starting in March 1945, being initially tasked with escorting Boeing B-29 Superfortress missions against the Japanese homeland . The command's last major raid of May was a daylight incendiary attack on Yokohama on 29 May conducted by 517 B-29s escorted by 101 P-51s. This force

42180-443: The war. Fighter development stagnated between the wars, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, where budgets were small. In France, Italy and Russia, where large budgets continued to allow major development, both monoplanes and all metal structures were common. By the end of the 1920s, however, those countries overspent themselves and were overtaken in the 1930s by those powers that hadn't been spending heavily, namely

42402-413: The west and quickly improved their battle direction. In fall 1943, the 8th Air Force's heavy bombers conducted a series of deep-penetration raids into Germany, beyond the range of escort fighters. The Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission in August lost 60 B-17s of a force of 376, the 14 October attack lost 77 of a force of 291—26% of the attacking force. For the US, the very concept of self-defending bombers

42624-459: Was a decisive element in Allied countermeasures against the Jagdverbände . The numerical superiority of the USAAF fighters, superb flying characteristics of the P-51, and pilot proficiency helped cripple the Luftwaffe ' s fighter force. As a result, the fighter threat to the US, and later British, bombers was greatly diminished by July 1944. The RAF, long proponents of night bombing for protection, were able to reopen daylight bombing in 1944 as

42846-399: Was a later model (NA-99). Two British Mustang Is were held back by the USAAF and given the provisional model number XP-51. The USAAF held back 57 Mustang Ia aircraft armed with 4 x 20mm Hispano cannon, from the third British order, converting most of them to tactical reconnaissance aircraft and designating them P-51-2/F6A. North American retained the second aircraft of this batch to help develop

43068-465: Was a low priority, but when the concept was discussed in 1941, the Lockheed P-38 Lightning was considered to be most appropriate, as it had the speed and range. Another school of thought favored a heavily up-armed "gunship" conversion of a strategic bomber . A single-engined, high-speed fighter with the range of a bomber was thought to be an engineering impossibility. The 8th Air Force started operations from Britain in August 1942. At first, because of

43290-453: Was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational service. The Warhawk was used by most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in frontline service until the end of the war. It was the third most-produced American fighter of World War II, after the North American P-51 Mustang and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt ; by November 1944, when production of

43512-457: Was a special truck rig to speed delivery at the main Curtiss plant in Buffalo, New York. The rig moved the newly built P-40s in two main components, the main wing and the fuselage, the eight miles from the plant to the airport where the two units were mated for flight and delivery. The P-40 was conceived as a pursuit aircraft and was agile at low and medium altitudes but suffered from a lack of power at higher altitudes. At medium and high speeds it

43734-430: Was adequate, although hampered by a complex windscreen frame, and completely blocked to the rear in early models by a raised turtledeck. Poor ground visibility and relatively narrow landing gear track caused many losses on the ground. Curtiss tested a follow-on design, the Curtiss XP-46 , but it offered little improvement over newer P-40 models and was cancelled. In April 1939, the U.S. Army Air Corps, having witnessed

43956-526: Was also the case with the Bell P-39 Airacobra , many USAAF officers considered the P-40 exceptional but it was gradually replaced by the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and the North American P-51 Mustang. The bulk of the fighter operations by the USAAF in 1942–43 were borne by the P-40 and the P-39. In the Pacific, these two fighters, along with the U.S. Navy Grumman F4F Wildcat , contributed more than any other U.S. types to breaking Japanese air power during this critical period. The P-40

44178-405: Was called into question, but instead of abandoning daylight raids and turning to night bombing, as the RAF suggested, they chose other paths; at first, bombers converted to gunships (the Boeing YB-40 ) were believed to be able to escort the bomber formations, but when the concept proved to be unsuccessful, thoughts then turned to the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. In early 1943, the USAAF also decided that

44400-450: Was clear the engine dramatically improved the aircraft's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft (4,600 m) without sacrificing range. Following receipt of the test results and after further flights by a number of USAAF pilots, the results were so positive that North American began work on converting several aircraft developing into the P-51B/C (Mustang Mk III) model, which became the first long range fighter to be able to compete with

44622-446: Was equipped with the Curtiss fighter until early 1944, during which time they were credited with at least 140 air-to-air kills. On 23 February 1943, during Operation Torch , the pilots of the 58th FG flew 75 P-40Ls off the aircraft carrier USS  Ranger to the newly captured Vichy French airfield, Cazas, near Casablanca , in French Morocco . The aircraft supplied the 33rd FG and the pilots were reassigned. The 325th FG (known as

44844-400: Was even more greatly affected by increases in armament. The Mustang's much lighter armament, tuned for antifighter combat, allowed it to overcome these single-engined opponents. At the start of 1944, Major General James Doolittle , the new commander of the 8th Air Force, released most fighters from the requirement of flying in close formation with the bombers, allowing them free rein to attack

45066-483: Was fair to poor, depending on the subtype. Dive acceleration was good and dive speed was excellent. The highest-scoring P-40 ace , Clive Caldwell ( RAAF ), who claimed 22 of his 28½ kills in the type, said that the P-40 had "almost no vices", although "it was a little difficult to control in terminal velocity". The P-40 had one of the fastest maximum dive speeds of any fighter of the early war period, and good high-speed handling. The P-40 tolerated harsh conditions and

45288-421: Was generally superior to early Italian fighter types, such as the Fiat G.50 Freccia and the Macchi C.200 . Its performance against the Macchi C.202 Folgore elicited varying opinions. Some observers consider the Macchi C.202 superior. Caldwell, who scored victories against them in his P-40, felt that the Folgore was superior to the P-40 and the Bf 109 except that its armament of only two or four machine guns

45510-420: Was highly successful, and its feats were widely publicized by an active cadre of international journalists to boost sagging public morale at home. According to its official records, in just 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 months, the Flying Tigers destroyed 297 enemy aircraft for the loss of just four of its own in air-to-air combat. In the spring of 1942, the AVG received a small number of Model E's. Each came equipped with

45732-516: Was improved with the P-40D (Kittyhawk I) which abandoned the synchronized gun mounts and instead had two .50-inch (13 mm) guns in each wing, although Caldwell still preferred the earlier Tomahawk in other respects. The D had armor around the engine and the cockpit, which enabled it to withstand considerable damage. This allowed Allied pilots in Asia and the Pacific to attack Japanese fighters head on, rather than try to out-turn and out-climb their opponents. Late-model P-40s were well armored. Visibility

45954-454: Was inadequate. Other observers considered the two equally matched or favored the Folgore in aerobatic performance, such as turning radius. The aviation historian Walter J. Boyne wrote that over Africa, the P-40 and the Folgore were "equivalent". Against its lack of high-altitude performance, the P-40 was considered to be a stable gun platform and its rugged construction meant that it was able to operate from rough front line airstrips with

46176-409: Was integrated into the USAAF as the 23rd Fighter Group in June 1942. The unit continued to fly newer model P-40s until 1944, achieving a high kill-to-loss ratio. In the Battle of the Salween River Gorge of May 1942 the AVG used the P-40E model equipped with wing racks that could carry six 35-pound fragmentation bombs and Chennault's armorer developed belly racks to carry Russian 570-pound bombs, which

46398-407: Was intercepted by 150 A6M Zero fighters, sparking an intense air battle in which five B-29s were shot down and another 175 damaged. In return, the P-51 pilots claimed 26 "kills" and 23 "probables" for the loss of three fighters. The 454 B-29s that reached Yokohama struck the city's main business district and destroyed 6.9 square miles (18 km) of buildings; over 1000 Japanese were killed. Overall,

46620-400: Was interested in the Allison engine because it was sturdy and dependable, and it had a smooth, predictable power curve. The V-12 engine offered as much power as a radial engine but had a smaller frontal area and allowed a more streamlined cowl than an aircraft with a radial engine, promising a theoretical 5% increase in top speed. Curtiss engineers worked to improve the XP-40's speed by moving

46842-405: Was involved in the first air combat victory for the P-40. This was a CANT Z.1007 bomber on 6 June. The claim was not officially recognized, as the crash of the CANT was not witnessed. The first official victory occurred on 8 June, when Hamlyn and Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Tom Paxton destroyed a CANT Z.1007 from 211 Squadriglia of the Regia Aeronautica , over Alexandria . Several days later,

47064-683: Was later known) was placed by the British under the " cash and carry " program, as required by the US Neutrality Acts of the 1930s. After the arrival of the initial aircraft in the UK in October 1941, the first squadron of Mustang Mk Is entered service in January 1942, the first being No. 26 Squadron RAF . Due to poor high-altitude performance, the Mustangs were used by Army Co-operation Command , rather than Fighter Command, and were used for tactical reconnaissance and ground-attack duties. On 10 May 1942, Mustangs first flew over France, near Berck-sur-Mer . On 27 July 1942, 16 RAF Mustangs undertook their first long-range reconnaissance mission over Germany. During

47286-420: Was no longer a handicap and one or two were used, depending on requirements. This in turn required the development of ejection seats so the pilot could escape, and G-suits to counter the much greater forces being applied to the pilot during maneuvers. In the 1950s, radar was fitted to day fighters, since due to ever increasing air-to-air weapon ranges, pilots could no longer see far enough ahead to prepare for

47508-422: Was one of the tightest-turning early monoplane designs of the war, and it could out turn most opponents it faced in North Africa and the Russian Front. In the Pacific Theater it was out-turned at lower speeds by the lightweight fighters Mitsubishi A6M Zero and Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (known to Allies as "Oscar"). The American Volunteer Group Commander Claire Chennault advised against prolonged dog-fighting with

47730-399: Was originally intended for a fighter role with the U.S. Navy , but it was canceled. This blurring follows the use of fighters from their earliest days for "attack" or "strike" operations against ground targets by means of strafing or dropping small bombs and incendiaries. Versatile multi role fighter-bombers such as the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet are a less expensive option than having

47952-444: Was pioneered before World War I by Breguet but would find its biggest proponent in Anthony Fokker, who used chrome-molybdenum steel tubing for the fuselage structure of all his fighter designs, while the innovative German engineer Hugo Junkers developed two all-metal, single-seat fighter monoplane designs with cantilever wings: the strictly experimental Junkers J 2 private-venture aircraft, made with steel, and some forty examples of

48174-424: Was shot down and killed by friendly fire on Christmas Day 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge . In early 1945, P-51C, D, and K variants also joined the Chinese Nationalist Air Force . These Mustangs were provided to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Fighter Groups and used to attack Japanese targets in occupied areas of China. The P-51 became the most capable fighter in China, while the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force used

48396-442: Was so clearly superior to earlier US designs that the 8th Air Force began to steadily switch its fighter groups to the Mustang, first swapping arriving P-47 groups to the 9th Air Force in exchange for those that were using P-51s, then gradually converting its Thunderbolt and Lightning groups. By the end of 1944, 14 of its 15 groups flew Mustangs. The Luftwaffe's twin-engined Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters brought up to deal with

48618-427: Was the main USAAF fighter aircraft in the South West Pacific and Pacific Ocean theaters during 1941–42. At Pearl Harbor and in the Philippines , USAAF P-40 squadrons suffered crippling losses on the ground and in the air to Japanese fighters such as the A6M Zero and Ki-43 Hayabusa respectively. During the attack on Pearl Harbor, most of the USAAF fighters were P-40Bs, the majority of which were destroyed. However,

48840-540: Was to keep the Mustangs away from the Fw 190s as they attacked the bombers. This strategy proved to be problematic, as the large German formation took a long time to assemble and was difficult to maneuver. It was often intercepted by the P-51 "fighter sweeps" before it could attack the bombers. However, German attacks against bombers could be effective when they did occur; the bomber-destroyer Fw 190As swept in from astern and often pressed their attacks to within 90 m (100 yd). While not always able to avoid contact with

49062-441: Was trying to get on your tail they were going through the same bleary vision that you had and you might get away... I had deliberately decided that any deficiency the Kittyhawk had was offset by aggression. And I'd done a little bit of boxing – I beat much better opponents simply by going for [them]. And I decided to use that in the air. And it paid off. The P-40 initially proved quite effective against Axis aircraft and contributed to

49284-428: Was vulnerable to small-arms fire, unlike the air-cooled R-2800 radials of its Republic P-47 Thunderbolt stablemates based in England, regularly tasked with ground-strafing missions. Given the overwhelming Allied air superiority , the Luftwaffe put its effort into the development of aircraft of such high performance that they could operate with impunity, but which also made bomber attack much more difficult, merely from

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