WW2 NAVY Spitfires

[Malo83]

Didn't know the NAVY flew spits in ww2 :icon_smil what other forgotten foreign aircraft did the NAVY fly?
http://spitfiresite.com/history/articles/2008/01/spitfires-in-us-navy.htm

 

[NozeMan]

Wow, didn't know that one happened.

Definitely the most beautiful fighter ever built.

 

[nittany03]

Random factoids: Supposedly, during the Battle of Britain, the Hurricane was considered a better gun platform than the Spit because it had all of its guns in one block versus the Spitfire's being spread out along the length of the wing.

Once it got in their recce repertoire, the Germans started calling out Achtung! Schpitfeuer! when they saw one to distinguish it. Brit Hurricane pilots tried to use this to determine if they were the ones being engaged by listening in on German freqs. The problem was, enough knuckleheads on the German side called it out willy-nilly that the Schpitfeuer would often turn out to be a Hurricane anyway.

 

[Mumbles]

I think the USN or Army Air Corps flew a few Bristol Beaufighters or Moskeeters as well....

 

[A4sForever]

Random factoids: Supposedly, during the Battle of Britain, the Hurricane was considered a better gun platform than the Spit because it had all of its guns in one block versus the Spitfire's being spread out along the length of the wing.....

Never heard that one -- they both had 8 X .303 cal. Brownings when originally designed until the Spit moved up to 2 X 20mm Hispano's and 4 X Brownings (20 mm more effective against Jerry bombers) ... you're only talking a few feet in the "spread" of the Brownings in Spitfire vs Hurricane -- sooooooooooooo ... if you are a good shot, you're a good shot.

Not sayin' it's not true -- just never heard that particular preference in the Brit fighters. Most first-person histories I've studied preferred the Spitfire for it's performance ... but there was the occasional die hard who liked the Hurricane. And the A-4 ....

*edit* I DID read that US and USN designs favored the wing mounting of most of the air-to-air armament over the European/Oriental proclivity to put much of it in the fuselage. Some think it was radial vs liquid cooled engines that drove the armament arrangement, but the Mustang (amongst others) would put that hypothesis to rest. The US feedback was "better spread" when shooting 6 X .50 cal Brownings from the wings vice the fuselage for an "average" air-to-air marksman ....

 

[A4sForever]

Didn't know the NAVY flew spits in ww2 :icon_smil what other forgotten foreign aircraft did the NAVY fly?
http://spitfiresite.com/history/articles/2008/01/spitfires-in-us-navy.htm

Good find.

And it addresses that age old question: "Let's see now ... would I rather fly a Seagull or a Kingfisher .... or a Spitfire"?? Hmmmmm .... let me think about that one .....

Does anyone know when the Spitfire flew from the decks of a USN carrier???

 

[Hozer]

USS Wasp, 1942, two RAF Spitfire squadrons were transported from England to relieve Malta. The Spits were covered by Wasp's Wildcats while they launched. There is some evidence that the Spits flew combat missions directly from the Wasp and recovered on Malta.

 

[A4sForever]

USS Wasp, 1942, two RAF Spitfire squadrons were transported from England to relieve Malta. The Spits were covered by Wasp's Wildcats while they launched. There is some evidence that the Spits flew combat missions directly from the Wasp and recovered on Malta.

Right on all counts, G.I.

Malta's an amazing place -- GREAT liberty port (at least it WAS in the late 60's). Valetta Harbor was a OOD's nightmare --- several of the city blocks were STILL rubble from the siege and bombardment during WW2....

 

[Hozer]

My first P-3 "deployment" to Sig, a Mission Commander got drunk and hurled at a diplomatic function hosted by the Maltese. He and his crew were invited to leave the island. Great people though.
Good times.

 

[A4sForever]

.... what other forgotten foreign aircraft did the NAVY fly?

I heard we flew at least one Zero

 

[nittany03]

Never heard that one -- they both had 8 X .303 cal. Brownings when originally designed until the Spit moved up to 2 X 20mm Hispano's and 4 X Brownings (20 mm more effective against Jerry bombers) ... you're only talking a few feet in the "spread" of the Brownings in Spitfire vs Hurricane -- sooooooooooooo ... if you are a good shot, you're a good shot.

Not sayin' it's not true -- just never heard that particular preference in the Brit fighters. Most first-person histories I've studied preferred the Spitfire for it's performance ... but there was the occasional die hard who liked the Hurricane. And the A-4 ....

The reference was Sir Douglas Bader, who flew them both, in his book Fight for the Sky. Also, apparently the 20mms had jamming problems when they first came out, too. Though they eventually did make both Spits and Hurricanes with 4x20mm loadouts. Bader's book recounts a kill by the latter as essentially causing the German to just disintegrate in midair . . .

Although for sheer WWII firepower, I'd take a P-47 and 8 Ma Deuces any day . . .

Edit: There's an interesting concept in the Wikipedia article on Group Captain Bader. For those who didn't know, he lost his legs in a crash pre-WWII and had to fight to get back on active duty with artificial ones. Apparently, some people are making the claim that this gave him an advantage in a fight. In other words, Gs pull blood down into your legs. Being as he had no legs to begin with, his G-tolerance was thus increased over his more able bodied brethren.

Let's hope NAMI doesn't get any ideas . . .

 

[HAL Pilot]

Random factoids: Supposedly, during the Battle of Britain, the Hurricane was considered a better gun platform than the Spit .....

Hurricane Vs. Spitfire - from the latest Air & Space Smithsonian:

Aircraft available on a weekly average basis during the Battle of Britain
Hurricane: 674
Spitfire: 394

Kills during the Battle of Britain:
Hurricane: 656
Spitfire: 529

Lost during the Battle of Britain:
Hurricane: 317
Spitfire: 497

Lifetime total built:
Hurricane: 14,074
Spitfire: 22,129

The article basically says the Hurricane was easier to maintain and repair, and that it had a better combat record than the Spitfire.

 

[Tex_Hill]

I watched a documentary on the Battle of Britain, and in it they interviewed a WWII Spitfire ace. He said that overall the Hurricane was a more stable gun platform than the Spit, but that it didn't really matter as long as you made sure your enemy filled your windscreen when you pushed the trigger.

 

[Hozer]

ME 262 at Pax River circa '45, interesting times...

 

[skidz]

Although for sheer WWII firepower, I'd take a P-47 and 8 Ma Deuces any day . . .

If firepower is what you want, I'd go after the P-61 black widow.

Didn't the Navy get their hands on a few BF-109's? I know the AAC got a hold of a few Fw-190's, by far my favorite prop a/c of the war.