Favorite Attack Airplane in the Pacific

[Thunderstruck]

I think someone is confusing the P40 Tomahawk for the P47 Thunderbolt.

The best ALL AROUND attack aircraft in the Pacific theatre is the F4U-4 Corsair. Able to sink ships, strafe troops, destroy tanks, bunkers and pillboxes, then fly up and take on the Zero and waste it too. You will not find a better all around attack aircraft in the Pacific. Not to mention it is faster and has better armament and a farther range than most of it's competitors.

Specifications:
Vought F4U-4 Corsair
Dimensions:
Wing span: 41 ft (12.5 m)
Length: 33 ft 8 in (10.3 m)
Height: 16 ft 1 in (4.90 m)
Wing Area: 314 sq ft (29.17 sq m)
Weights:
Empty: 9,205 lb (4,175.3 kg)
Gross: 12,420 lb (5,633.6 kg)
Maximum Take-Off: 14,670 (6,654.2 kg)
Performance:
Maximum Speed: 446 mph (717.75 kph) @ 26,200 ft (7,985.8 m)
Cruise Speed: 000 mph (000 km/h)
Service Ceiling: 41,500 ft (12,649.2 m)
Normal Range: 0,000 miles (0,000 km)
Maximum Range: 1,560 mi (2,510.5 km)
Powerplant:
One Pratt-Whitney R-2800-18W Double Wasp eighteen-cylinder radial
engine, developing 2,100 hp (1,567 kW) for take-off, 1,950 hp (1,455 kW)
@ 23,300 ft (7,101.8 m), 2,450 hp (1,828.4 kW) for "War Emergency".
Armament:
Six .50 cal (12.7 mm) Colt-Browning M2 machine guns (some variants had four 20mm cannon)
and two 1,000 lb (453.6 kg) bombs or eight 5 in (127 mm) rockets.


Specifications:
Republic P-47D-25-RE Thunderbolt
Dimensions:
Wing span: 40 ft. 9.25 in (12.43 m)
Length: 36 ft. 1.25 in. (11.01 m)
Height: 14 ft 2 in (4.32 m)
Wing Area: 300 sq ft (91 sq m)
Weights:
Empty: 10,700 lb. (4,858 kg)
Operational: 19,400 lb (8,807 kg)
Performance:
Maximum Speed: 428 mph (689 km/h)
Service Ceiling: 42,000 ft. (12,810 m)
Range: 925 miles (1,488 km)
Powerplant:
One Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp , XR-2800-21 eighteen-cylinder two-row radial engine developing
2,000 h.p. for take-off and 2,300 h.p. at 31,000 ft. with turbo-supercharging.
Armament:
Six or eight 0.5-in. wing-mounted Browning machine-guns with 267 or 425 rounds per gun and up
to 2,500 lb. of bombs or ten 5-in. HVAR missiles.


Specifications:
North American P-51D Mustang
Dimensions:
Wing span: 37 ft .5 in (11.3 m)
Length: 32 ft 2.5 in (9.82 m)
Height: 13 ft 8 in (4.17 m)
Weights:
Empty: 7,125 lb. (3,232 kg)
Operational: 11,600 lb (5,266 kg)
Performance:
Maximum Speed: 437 mph (703 km/h)
Service Ceiling: 41,900 ft. (12,780 m)
Range: 1,300 miles (2,092 km)
Powerplant:
Rolls Royce - Packard-built V-1650-7 Merlin 1,590 hp
12 cylinder Vee engine.
Armament:
Six .50 calibre machine guns, external bomb load of 2,000 lbs. (908 kg.)
or drop tanks.


All info courtesy of http://www.aviation-history.com/index-aircraft.htm

Look at the Val specs, I wouldn't want to be in that one myself.

Steve

[Logan Hartke]

I think someone is confusing the P40 Tomahawk for the P47 Thunderbolt.

The best ALL AROUND attack aircraft in the Pacific theatre is the F4U-4 Corsair. Able to sink ships, strafe troops, destroy tanks, bunkers and pillboxes, then fly up and take on the Zero and waste it too. You will not find a better all around attack aircraft in the Pacific. Not to mention it is faster and has better armament and a farther range than most of it's competitors.

Who are you talking about and why?

Also, the question was favorite, not best.

Logan Hartke

[Thunderstruck]

Victor's comment about P47's in Burma led me to think maybe he was thinking about the Flying Tiger's P40's instead.

Steve

[Logan Hartke]

No, he knows what he's talking about.

By late 1944 the British fighter force comprised some 24 squadrons, a formidable force indeed; 9 of Thunderbolts and 7 of Hurricanes for general duties, plus eight of Spitfire VIIs for air superiority tasks. Although the Japanese Army Air Force could never be eliminated entirely over Burma, by this time it was of "serious nuisance" value only, and the Allied fighters concentrated on the job of assisting the Army as it moved towards Rangoon down the big river valleys which split Burma from north to south. As in so many other theatres at the end of the war, the Allied fighters were serving as fighter bombers against tactical targets and strafers of a defeated army in full retreat. Such were the rewards of almost total air superiority.

Far more planes than the Flying Tigers ever had.

I think that he knows what he's talking about.

Logan Hartke

[Mark C. Yerger]

Corsair for troop support
B-25 for merchant anti-shipping
Midway alone gets SBD an award for warship attacking

Mark

[john39]

Members,

This aircraft is not American so that probably disqualifies it, but how about the Bristol 'Beaufighter'?

John.

[Logan Hartke]

Being British doesn't disqualify it other than the fact that it didn't serve nearly as much as other planes in the Pacific (I suggested the addition of the Hurricane). To say that the Beaufighter didn't serve would be just plain wrong. To say that it diddn't have a significant outcome on the effect of the Pacific front would be accurate. The planes listed all had a sizeable impact on the war (excluding maybe the Thunderbolt and the Aircobra, but I didn't advocate them being put on). The Beaufighter was a good weapon that served with destinction, but its impact on the war and the fact that there were far better attack planes in the Pacific took it out of this vote. Still, if it is your favorite...

Logan Hartke

[Victor]

I have added the Hurricane.

Logan is right I wasn't thinking at the Flying Tigers. If you would read carefully you will see that I said RAF P-47s.

The P-39 it's in the list because of its use at Guadalcanal.

[Logan Hartke]

Yes, but the P-39 went down in infamy for what it did there. It was incapable of defending itself as it had no defensive armament and couldn't compete with the high-maneuverability Zero. The Catalina is far more deserving of a slot, and as little of a job as the Beaufighter might've done, at least it did it well (something that cannot be said about the Aircobra). I don't mean to say that this is the fighter's fault; the Aircobra was a good plane; it just wasn't well-suited to the role that USAAC wanted it to have in the Pacific.

Logan Hartke

[IIJG26]

Greetings:

In my opinion the best attack aircraft would have to be the B-25 for it's range and tactical capabilities. Let's face it with 8 .50s, bombs, and some with a 75mm cannon it could do anything from maritime patrols (it's main function) to close air support to interdiction.

I almost went for the Corsair, but as I lived near Indian dunes (where the Black Sheep series was filmed) and saw F4Us all the time it is more my favorite.

Kurt

[philodraco]

SBD, the great attack aircraft that stopped the terrible Japanese tide.

[Percy Mandible]

Were there only US and Japanese aircraft operating in the Pacific area then?

[Logan Hartke]

No, the Chinese, the Dutch, the Aussies, and the British had aircraft in the Pacific during all of WWII, but during most of the war, their impact was minimal. For the first two years, the Dutch East Indies aircraft probably contributed more than Bitish Air Force in the attack role. The British provided about as many captured aircraft to the Japanese as they shot down. So, to answer your question, yes the Brits had attack aircraft in the Pacific in late '41 and '42, but I'm not about to nominate the Westland Wapiti or the Vickers Vildebeest.

Logan Hartke

[Percy Mandible]

You say the British and Australian aircraft used in the Pacific were no good. I hadn't heard that before.

[Logan Hartke]

Out of Australian designs, the Commonwealth CA-12 Boomerang was good, but didn't compare to American designs. THe Hurricane, the Beaufort, the Beaufighter, and the Mosquito did well in the Pacific, but most of them just didn't do a whole lot. The Beaufighter did a bit and so did the Hurricane, but their contributions dwarf in comparison to that of the Dauntless, the Helldiver, the Avenger, the Corsair, the Hellcat, the Thunderbolt, the Lightning, the Mitchell, the Catalina, the Zero, the Val, the Kate, and many other Japanese and American aircraft.

Logan Hartke