I ran across this article surfing around, the warm weather has raised hell with my allergies, and I feel like one dripping nose....gross description I know...but there it is. Well anyway after getting some "kleenex"..
Former P-40 fighter pilot John Bailey is of the opinion the P-40 ‘Kittyhawk’ was preferable to the renowned Spitfire.
It was one of the best fighters in the campaign over the skies of Papua New Guinea, he says. They were built with quality, dependability, and longevity in mind. The Spitfire wasn’t as good in that regard. Rarely could a full squadron of them be put in the air.
And he should know. His experience started at age 21 when in 1943, he flew his first sortie in the campaign. He flew 102 sorties against the Japanese while he was with 75 Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force.
He joined the RAAF when pilot trainees were being sent to fly bombers in England. However, shortly after receiving his wings, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour causing the country to change direction militarily.
RAAF Brewster Buffalo
Trained first to fly the Buffalo and the Boomerang –
which were woefully inadequate against Japanese Zero’s fighters – Bailey later trained on the Kittyhawk after being stationed at Mildura.
For six weeks he searched for the wreck of HMAS Sydney, which had been sunk off Australia’s western coast by the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran, The Standard reported.
There, he met his superior officer, Jack ‘Kongo’ Kinninmont whom Bailey describes as a wonderful man and an impressive leader. His policy was: ranks were immaterial when flying. All ranks fly, fight, and occasionally, all die together, said Bailey.
Yep, little known fact about the P-40, they WERE built to last!
ReplyDeleteNever thought about it, but I gotta wonder how easy it was to maintain Brit fighters like the Spitfire or the Hurricane. I owned a few Brit built cars in the '70s into the '80s (Triumph TR-7, MG Midget and an Austin Healey Sprite). And I always had to figure repair time into my road trips.
ReplyDeleteSomething else I read about the P-40 vs the Spitfire of 1940 or so was the P-40 being a much more solid gun platform. It pointed the guns predictably, easily and stayed aimed where the pilot put it; where the Spit was a lot more "high spirited" and took a lot more attention to keep the guns on target.
ReplyDeleteThat same treatise mentioned that this was one of the reasons the Hurricane was preferred for bombers. Being a steadier platform, it could engage bombers accurately from farther out. Doing more damage per pass and wasting less ammo doing it.
Man, the minutia one accumulates playing flight sims and building models.