Posted on 01/24/2009 9:25:30 AM PST by Dysart
I thought that for awhile, but the air intake just behind the props isn't right for the Grumman.
tanknetter set me straight that the SB2C-1 version had a three-blade prop.
That looks like the front half of a P-47 Thunderbolt.
Similar design constraints. The supercharger ductwork required a relatively large fuselage and cowling.
“I also learned this week that the F-4U is the only piston-engined fighter to shoot down a jet fighter. It happened against a Mig-15 during the Korean War.”
P-51’s recorded kills against German ME 262s several years earlier.
Ivan Kozhedub of the USSR seems to have had an Me-262 kill in a Lavochkin-7 as well.
Yeah, the long nose obstructed the pilot’s view of the carrier deck and the Landing Signal Officer, so Corsair pilots had to adopt the tactic of approaching the carrier immediately behind the flight deck from the port side and at a 45 degree angle, then banking hard and flaring for a blind slam down. Small wonder they were reassigned to land-based duty!
I remember reading about how the guys who were test flying the Akutan Zero in San Diego were a little surprised (and maybe disappointed) that no citizen recognized the distinctive profile of the zero and reported it.
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