Marines bring in his Wildcat

Daily Iberian ^ | June 7, 2007 | Alicia Duplessis

[dr_lew]

The events described in this post are featured in History Channel DOGFIGHTS episode, along with commentary by DeBlanc.

[Marine_Uncle]

HONOR BOUND. May the good Lord give him in his remaining years only the pleasures of good health and the love of family and friends, and a reminder every now and then. WE DO NOT FORGET WHAT THEY DID.

[Daaave]

Jeff DeBlanc, 9 Victories, VMF-112 MOH USMC

[GATOR NAVY]

It was slow and underpowered and couldn’t climb or turn with the Zero and Oscars but the pilots came through and killed many enemy planes with the F4F wildcat until better planes came into play.

On the other hand, the Wildcat dived better than the Zero, was better armed, and could take far more punishment and still return home.

[eeman]

Ironically, Marine Corps Pilot Jeff Deblanc was featured tonight on "dogfights" on the History Channel. I presume everyone who is reading this thread is familiar with the show, "dogfights." If you have not seen it, however, you need to watch it. Tonight's episode detailing the air battles over Guadalcanal will be repeated on June 29. Here is a brief description of the show from the History Channel website.

August 1942... the Solomon Islands. Heroic, die-hard American pilots of the tiny Cactus Air Force match skills and instincts against top Japanese aces as they battle in the skies above Guadalcanal. Legendary Marine Capt. John Smith and Medal of Honor recipients Jeff De Blanc and Jim Swett pit their tough 4F4 Wildcats against the relentless Japanese Zeros. At stake--the fate of the Pacific War.

[semaj]

Saw the show. Great stuff!

[kms61]

I know, that’s what made me google him. I had read about Col Deblanc, but didn’t know all the details. I may have gone to college with his grandson—a Jeff Deblanc from the New Iberia-St Martinville area. If not his grandson, I’m sure they’re related somehow.

[MoralSense]

Saw one of those yesterday landing a Lawrence (Mass.) airport.

[FreedomPoster]

I can well believe that a Marine Wildcat flying out of Henderson Field might well have been painted OD green. It might not have come from the factory like that, but I doubt that would have stopped the crew chief from making some field appearance modifications for better camouflage against enemy air attacks while parked.

[Vision]

Great story, but if I remember correctly, didn't the Hellcat have that awesome upgrade with the new engine? That was a mean and lean fighter.

[TomMix]

Great story, but if I remember correctly, didn't the Hellcat have that awesome upgrade with the new engine? That was a mean and lean fighter.

Yep, when the Wildcat was upgraded to the Hellcat, it could out climb and outrun the Zero. It also had the same long range as the Zero - from 760 miles to 1150 or thereabouts. The US pilots cleared the Pacific skies of the Zero with the Hellcat. I think the Hellcat shot down somewhere around 6,000 Zeros.

This also makes the actions of Lt.DeBlanc even more heroic since he was fighting a superior plane in the Zero.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Highly unlikely. What is plausible is that the reporter is either color blind or just plain confused. The Cavanaugh Flight Museum's FM-2 that is the subject of the article doesn't sport the same paint job that VMF-112's Wildcats did.

Cavanaugh Flight Museum's FM-2

VMF-112 Wolfpack

[Calvin Locke]

Was there any particular reason that the Japanese only put a machine gun or two in a lot of their planes? (leaving out the cannon equipped models...)

Did they go for more ammo storage instead? Less weight, greater range?

[glorgau]

If anyone wants to see a Wildcat, there is one on display in the concourse O’Hare airport in Chicago.

[Vision]

I don’t know if the Zero was superior to the Wildcat, but who wants to fight an even matchup?

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

According the History Channel's Dogfights the Zero outclassed the Wildcat in every category except "Durability". The Zeke did not have self sealing fuel tanks and could not take much punishment.

Wildcats would try to engage Zeros nose on where their advantage showed. "Don't dogfight a Zero" was the motto.

The Hellcat ("Zero killer") outclassed the Zero in every category except turn radius. The Hellcat had a 19 to 1 kill ratio highest of any aircraft in history. It shot down 12,000 enemy aircraft, the most of any U.S. model.

[Vision]

As far as I know, the Hellcat’s only upgrade was the engine.

The Wildcat had better armor than the Zero(who would explode if you shot it’s fuselage), hydraulic controls, self sealing gas tanks, and lots of firepower.

[gura]

No idea. As an armchair expert who flys these planes online, I’ll take a P-47 with 8 50 cals set to converge at 900ft. :-)

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

The Zero had a twin 20mm cannon and twin 13.7mm MGs, which, imho, gave it a fire power advantage over both the Wildcat and the Hellcat’s six 0.50 Cal. The Hellcat was an entirely new airframe.

[donmeaker]

Only 6? The Jug had 8, but that belonged to a military organization.