Best fighter aircraft...P51..F4U...Sea Fury ? (1 Viewer)

[TomB]

Has anyone seen any articles regards friendly dog fights between....P51...F4u and the Sea Fury ?......I have always been very curious of how a F4u would stack against a Sea Fury as these are both navy fighter /bombers...and...how would these two heavier fighters perform against a P51......I know a Sea Fury shot down a Mig 15 in Korea...probably a bit of a fluke but it happened.......all three old fashion prop aircraft performed with great credit in Korea.....the Sea Fury would be familiar with some American's at air shows and the Nevada air race's.........cheers TomB

 

[ivanmoe]

Has anyone seen any articles regards friendly dog fights between....P51...F4u and the Sea Fury ?......I have always been very curious of how a F4u would stack against a Sea Fury as these are both navy fighter /bombers...and...how would these two heavier fighters perform against a P51......I know a Sea Fury shot down a Mig 15 in Korea...probably a bit of a fluke but it happened.......all three old fashion prop aircraft performed with great credit in Korea.....the Sea Fury would be familiar with some American's at air shows and the Nevada air race's.........cheers TomB

Hi Tom,

The aircraft that you cite are all very late model piston-driven fighters. Each has flight characteristics that will give it a relative advantage over the others in certain situations, a part of "the envelope" where a good pilot wants the engagement to occur. For that matter, all three of the aircraft in question were vulnerable to far less capable types when/if they could be suckered into the sweet-spot, performance-wise, of an opponents plane. Because of what I'm suggesting, the pilot becomes the critical factor in determining the outcome of a more-or-less balanced encounter. The best pilots exploited the strengths of their aircraft and sought to neutralize those of the enemy. Which one of the aircraft on your list was the best overall machine? Well, I'd put my $$$ on the one with the best trained and most experienced pilot.

BTW, you mention that the Sea Fury shot down a Mig-15 during the Korean War. Did you know that Douglas Skyraiders shot down a couple of Mig-17 over Vietnam? Here's a pilot's recollection of one such encounter:

http://www.vnafmamn.com/Skyraider_vs_MIG17.html

Obviously, that was some pretty good flying!

 

[TomB]

Hi Tom,

The aircraft that you cite are all very late model piston-driven fighters. Each has flight characteristics that will give it a relative advantage over the others in certain situations, a part of "the envelope" where a good pilot wants the engagement to occur. For that matter, all three of the aircraft in question were vulnerable to far less capable types when/if they could be suckered into the sweet-spot, performance-wise, of an opponents plane. Because of what I'm suggesting, the pilot becomes the critical factor in determining the outcome of a more-or-less balanced encounter. The best pilots exploited the strengths of their aircraft and sought to neutralize those of the enemy. Which one of the aircraft on your list was the best overall machine? Well, I'd put my $$$ on the one with the best trained and most experienced pilot.

BTW, you mention that the Sea Fury shot down a Mig-15 during the Korean War. Did you know that Douglas Skyraiders shot down a couple of Mig-17 over Vietnam? Here's a pilot's recollection of one such encounter:

http://www.vnafmamn.com/Skyraider_vs_MIG17.html

Obviously, that was some pretty good flying!

Thank you for the Skyraider article....The Sea Fury in Korea and the Skyraider in Vietnam.....amazing really.......Pilot ability certainly counts...regardless of which type of aircraft being flown.....Douglas designed some darn good aircraft.......reckon if I was a prop era pilot I'd be happy to fly a Douglas.....their Dc5 was way ahead of it time and I think the A20 was a Douglas aircraft, I know the SBD was.....thanks for the informative reply...cheers TomB

 

[Jack]

Has anyone seen any articles regards friendly dog fights between....P51...F4u and the Sea Fury ?......I have always been very curious of how a F4u would stack against a Sea Fury as these are both navy fighter /bombers...and...how would these two heavier fighters perform against a P51......I know a Sea Fury shot down a Mig 15 in Korea...probably a bit of a fluke but it happened.......all three old fashion prop aircraft performed with great credit in Korea.....the Sea Fury would be familiar with some American's at air shows and the Nevada air race's.........cheers TomB

Tom

A couple of interesting takes on the Mig kill. Not as clear cut as it seems.


http://britains-smallwars.com/korea/seafurydogfight.html

http://www.royalnavyhistoricflight.org.uk/aircraft/seafury.htm

 

[larso]

Wow - good story Jack!

 

[TomB]

Tom

A couple of interesting takes on the Mig kill. Not as clear cut as it seems.


http://britains-smallwars.com/korea/seafurydogfight.html

http://www.royalnavyhistoricflight.org.uk/aircraft/seafury.htm

Thanks you for that info on the Korean Mig kill...Sour grape's or what ?....I do know from, persona experience and sometimes, hear say, that what is reported is not what necessity happened...In Carmichael's defense,he did say it was a team effort..... Sometimes it is better to let sleeping dogs lie....That book on the Buccaneer mission looks interesting....from memory that ac was under rated and served for quite a long time....Merry Xmas....TomB

 

[Jack]

Hi Tom,

The aircraft that you cite are all very late model piston-driven fighters. Each has flight characteristics that will give it a relative advantage over the others in certain situations, a part of "the envelope" where a good pilot wants the engagement to occur. For that matter, all three of the aircraft in question were vulnerable to far less capable types when/if they could be suckered into the sweet-spot, performance-wise, of an opponents plane. Because of what I'm suggesting, the pilot becomes the critical factor in determining the outcome of a more-or-less balanced encounter. The best pilots exploited the strengths of their aircraft and sought to neutralize those of the enemy. Which one of the aircraft on your list was the best overall machine? Well, I'd put my $$$ on the one with the best trained and most experienced pilot.

BTW, you mention that the Sea Fury shot down a Mig-15 during the Korean War. Did you know that Douglas Skyraiders shot down a couple of Mig-17 over Vietnam? Here's a pilot's recollection of one such encounter:

http://www.vnafmamn.com/Skyraider_vs_MIG17.html

Obviously, that was some pretty good flying!

On 26th December 1942 a Wirraway A20 – 103 flown by Pilot Officer J. Archer saw an aircraft 1,000 feet below him over Gona. As he said later “it had red dots on its wings” so he dived on it and attacked with his twin .303s sending the aircraft into the sea. When he landed he said he thought he had shot down a Zero. He was told “don’t be silly, Wirraways do not shoot down Zeros.” Later 10 confirmations came in and he was given a Silver Star from the American and a DFC from us. The Wirraway now hangs in the Australian War Memorial I read somewhere that he knew what would happen if he missed on the first pass. The picture is not of his plane but you get the idea!

 

[lancer]

On 26th December 1942 a Wirraway A20 – 103 flown by Pilot Officer J. Archer saw an aircraft 1,000 feet below him over Gona. As he said later “it had red dots on its wings” so he dived on it and attacked with his twin .303s sending the aircraft into the sea. When he landed he said he thought he had shot down a Zero. He was told “don’t be silly, Wirraways do not shoot down Zeros.” Later 10 confirmations came in and he was given a Silver Star from the American and a DFC from us. The Wirraway now hangs in the Australian War Memorial I read somewhere that he knew what would happen if he missed on the first pass. The picture is not of his plane but you get the idea!

View attachment 141791

Salute! It takes giant ones to attack a far superior aircraft knowing that a miss means death. It is people like Archer that made victory possible. :salute:: -- Al