What's the best end-of-WW2 propeller fighter?

**Tin Man** · 02 Jun 07,, 22:04

Hi all! The Mustang for it`s range and power, the Spitfire for it`s aesthetics, a beautiful killer..

**captain** · 19 Jun 07,, 17:12

For those fighters that did make it into service in numbers, the bearcat and sea fury would get my vote but there were a number of aircraft that would have been even more spectacular if they were not beaten by the jet age.

One of those was designed and built in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft factory.
It was called the Kangaroo or CA-15.

Only one was ever built and flown.
During its development in the war years it suffered major engine changes because of lack of supply and was meant to fly with a radial R-2800-57W which was going to give it a top speed at sea level of 400 mph and better than 480 mph at 28000 feet.
Its rate of climb at sea level was 4200 feet per minute and 5700 feet per minute on war emergency power.
By way of comparison the fastest fighter at sea level in 1944 was the Hawker Tempest MK.V at 392 mph while at 28000 ft the spitfire MK XIV could reach 443 mph, the Mustang P51D 434 mph and the P-47 Thunderbolt 402 mph. The Tempest V could reach 437 mph at a much lower altitude of 18500 ft.
The fastest climbers of the time were the Griffon powered Spitfire Mk XIV at 5000 ft per minute and the Tempest at 4700 ft per minute.

Due to government vacillation and supply problems for the radial engine, the CA-15 was redesigned to fly with with a Griffon 125 which would have performed better at lower altitudes with at top speed of 495 mph at 26500 ft.

Still more government **** ups and it eventually flew with a Griffon 61 engine in March 1946, two years after it was intended to.

Armament was 2 x 50cal and 2 x 20mm cannon together with provision for 10 rocket rails or 2 x 1000lb bombs.

In May 1948 Flt Lt J.A. Archer of the Royal Australian Airforce flew the Ca-15 over Melbourne at 502.2 mph at 4000 feet after coming out of a very shallow dive.

Due to almost criminal stupidity by the government at the time, the Ca-15 was scrapped in May 1950 therefore leaving Australia without the only example of this gem of an aircraft.
All that is left is the book I am quoting from and 70 odd pages of details, photos and test pilot reports.

For more info, google CA 15

Cheers

**~~Feanor~~** · 19 Jun 07,, 21:18

All of these what's the best threads make one huge mistake. Instead of comparing the TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS of the combat vehicle they compare the APPLICATION of the combat vehicle. Sorry the best tank in the world when driven by a monkey will perform horribly.

**Tasman** · 19 Jun 07,, 22:49

Originally Posted by captain

For those fighters that did make it into service in numbers, the bearcat and sea fury would get my vote but there were a number of aircraft that would have been even more spectacular if they were not beaten by the jet age.

One of those was designed and built in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft factory.
It was called the Kangaroo or CA-15.

Due to almost criminal stupidity by the government at the time, the Ca-15 was scrapped in May 1950 therefore leaving Australia without the only example of this gem of an aircraft.
All that is left is the book I am quoting from and 70 odd pages of details, photos and test pilot reports.

Cheers

Very sad indeed that the CA-15 prototype was not preserved as it was an outstanding performer and a wonderful example of what the Australian aircraft industry was capable of producing. In combat it probably would have held its own against the early jets but the advent of the jet meant that its development, once the war was over, was doomed.

Cheers

**~~FiRepower~~** · 23 Jun 07,, 23:23

My vote goes on mustang , spitfire was also very dangerous , but the most damage making plane is zero for sure , kamikazeeeeee

**Aranthus** · 29 Jun 07,, 16:21

If we're limited to planes that actually saw combat, I'd have to go with the P-51D. Most of the other hot planes (Do-335, Ta-152, P-51H, P-47N?, F8F) didn't actually see combat that I know of. That leaves the Fw-190D, Spitfire XIV, and the better Soviet fighters. The P-51 is faster than an Fw-190D, and has longer range. If we're looking at any late war aircraft, then the P-51H is still the fastest, and one of the longest ranged.

**hello** · 30 Jun 07,, 08:15

A Do 335 supposedly got pursued by some Tempests and outran them. I suppose that's combat... almost. Kurt Tank's Ta 152 also outran some Mustangs while he was flying it to a meeting.

However, the Mustangs may or may not have even seen the Ta 152, so that's not really combat. 555 P-51Hs entered service before the war's end and probably flew some escort missions with B-29s, where it is likely that they met the J2M Raiden and Ki-84 Hayate, and probably shot them down. So that's combat... possibly.

However, such few encounters probably didn't have the slightest effect on the war, so I guess it's safe to say that these later planes didn't see combat.

**starwarsgeek12** · 15 Aug 07,, 22:42

well, seeing as the Corsair went on to serve in Korea and somewhat in Vietnam, and had both the longest production run of any WW2 fighter (1940-1953) and also served in OUR AF until the 60's, it was a pretty darn good plane. Also, it had (in my opinion) 2 of the most suprising combat victories:

1. One particularly interesting kill was scored by a Marine Lieutenant R.R. Klingman of VMF-312 Checkerboards, over Okinawa. According to the story, he was in pursuit of a Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu ("Nick") twin engine fighter at extremely high altitude when his guns jammed due to the gun lubrication thickening from the extreme cold. He simply flew up and chopped off the Ki-45's tail with the big propeller of the Corsair.

AND

2. when the enemy introduced the fast Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 jet fighter the Corsair was outmatched, though one Marine pilot did get lucky. On 10 September 1952, a MiG-15 made the mistake of getting into a turning contest with a Corsair piloted by Captain Jesse G. Folmar, with Folmar shooting the MiG down with his four 20 millimeter cannon.

That's pretty damn impressive 2 me!

Also, it was one of the fastest fighters of it's time, despite it's enormous weight.

Starwarsgeek12

**glyn** · 15 Aug 07,, 22:52

[QUOTE=starwarsgeek12;398185]well, seeing as the Corsair went on to serve in Korea and somewhat in Vietnam, and had both the longest production run of any WW2 fighter (1940-1953) and also served in OUR AF until the 60's, it was a pretty darn good plane. Also, it had (in my opinion) 2 of the most suprising combat victories:

Served in Vietnam? Also in the US Air Force until the 1960s? Tell us about it, AFTER you have completed your public profile and introduced yourself to the membership.

**starwarsgeek12** · 16 Aug 07,, 17:04

My bad, i just registered yesterday, and i admit i was a bit 2 eager to start duscussing stuff 2 write my profile (all my personal info is now updated), so i'm sorry if i was biting at the bit way too early, may i talk about it now?

seeing as only one of my friends can actually hold an intelligent conversation about this kind of stuff, i was kind of anxious to be accepted and integrated into the community.

Starwarsgeek12

**wabpilot** · 16 Aug 07,, 21:51

Originally Posted by glyn

[FONT="Garamond"]Served in Vietnam?

With the Aeronavale. 14F finally withdrew its Corsairs October 1964. They were replaced by F-8s at the same time. The Corsairs flew combat missions for the Aeronavale in Vietnam and Tunisia.

**Parihaka** · 17 Aug 07,, 00:09

Originally Posted by starwarsgeek12

My bad, i just registered yesterday, and i admit i was a bit 2 eager to start duscussing stuff 2 write my profile (all my personal info is now updated), so i'm sorry if i was biting at the bit way too early, may i talk about it now?

seeing as only one of my friends can actually hold an intelligent conversation about this kind of stuff, i was kind of anxious to be accepted and integrated into the community.

Starwarsgeek12

Welcome to the board, and don't be put off by the curmudgeons, they're as soft as marshmellows really

**Repatriated Canuck** · 17 Aug 07,, 04:53

Originally Posted by glyn

The F6F Hellcat was a much nicer machine to fly, and it took a greater toll of enemy aircraft than the Hognose. The Corsair was faster but it took a long time and certain updates and modifications before it was routinely operating from carriers. The view for landing and take-off was horrible and like all the single-engined piston fighters of the time its heavy engine / propellor combination gave torque problems at high power settings. Just what you don't want if you are undershooting the carrier and have to apply power! The Sea Fury was the same, and some of the more successful overshoots were accompanied by erratic uncontrolable upward rolls which frightened the life out of the poor old airframe driver.

Most fighters had the long nose issue. The Spitfire is a prime example of that.

Those Piston fighters where ideal for carrier operations. Sure they could be a ***** like the Corsair but with no liquid cooling system they could take way more punishment.

I'm siding with the Corsair for the amount of Japanese they shot down. For the amount of punishment they could take and for the simple fact that when every single other prop driven fighter created in the Second World War where all in museums and private collectors the Corsair was still in active service.

Oh that and Pappy Boyington was my childhood hero, the number 86 features in my email address which was on the Lucy Bell. His aircraft in a propaganda photo.

I love the Corsair but in a beauty contest the Spitfire wins hands down.

**glyn** · 17 Aug 07,, 09:02

Originally Posted by wabpilot

With the Aeronavale. 14F finally withdrew its Corsairs October 1964. They were replaced by F-8s at the same time. The Corsairs flew combat missions for the Aeronavale in Vietnam and Tunisia.

You've got me there as I assumed the poster meant US service employment. In fact 14F did not take their F4U-7s with them to Vietnam. The unit was posted there at the time of Dien Bien Phu and used 25 AU-1 attack versions of the Corsair for the closing months of the war. The French Navy used the Hellcat and their Air Force the Bearcat, so American built aircraft were well to the fore.

**zraver** · 18 Aug 07,, 01:49

While returning to the States, Lindbergh stopped off in the Marshall Islands to visit Marine Corsair squadrons engaged in bombing and strafing by-passed *** garrisons. During the first of his six missions in the Marshalls he dropped one 1000 lb. bomb. The next day he carried and dropped three 1000 lb. bombs. After several days spent devising a method of hanging a 2000 lb. bomb under the fuselage of a Corsair he then dropped the bomb, the heaviest ever carried by a fighter, on ***-held Wotje Island. On his final two combat missions, flown September 12 and 13, 1944, Lindbergh carried one 2000 lb. bomb plus a 1000 lb. bomb under each wing—probably the heaviest bomb load ever attached to a Corsair!

Lindbergh In World War II

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