The Brewster Buffalo

[jackpreacher]

A bit sombre..but..

I find it hard to understand how 'proper' designs from large manufacturers who sell military airplanes to large, 'responsible' governments can be so flawed. How many lives were cut short because of factory based politics and one-upmanship resulting in....well.........read below....



..extract from http://www.amazon.com/Sorry-Saga-Bre...pr_product_top

There was also a significant design flaw in the Brewster airframe. If the pilot set it down hard – and hard landings are the norm on an aircraft carrier – the main wheel strut sometimes buckled, two inches below its pivot point on the wing. U.S. Navy fighter pilot Gordon Firebaugh explained the failure this way: “The struts had a tendency to move forward. When you retracted the gear on the next flight, the box strut scraped on the wheel well [preventing it from closing fully]. You couldn't have that happen, the gear not retracting, so the mechanics would file some [metal] off and get closer to the rivets.” Finally, on an especially hard landing, the gear would collapse.

[B4D2USA]

The Brewster was a transitional aircraft at best. It was one of the earliest mono-wing fighters as the US tried to modernize it's lacking air power. When you read of the growing threat from Japan at the onset of WWII, the Brewster was decimated by the faster and more nimble Zero. When you consider the early F4 Wildcat was a superior airframe that actually held a chance against the Zeros, is it any wonder the Brewster was also know as a "Peashooter?"

[jackpreacher]

And this was actually christened a Peashooter
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...arp.750pix.jpg

Didn't the Flying Tigers take on the Zero 2 years before Dec 7th and beat it with a combination of better tactics and pilot quality?

[B4D2USA]

Didn't the Flying Tigers take on the Zero 2 years before Dec 7th and beat it with a combination of better tactics and pilot quality?

Yes they did, but that was after the Brewster was proven to be such a lackluster performer. It was in the Indochina theater prior to the USA involvement in the war. The Brewster was in several foreign arsenals. There were still some in use that the USA tried in vain to defend with as the Japanese onslaught was in full tilt. They were brushed aside and shot out of the skies. Remember, the USA was initially committed to the European theater of was while maintaining a holding pattern in the far east. Thus most of the USA state-of-the-art aircraft were sent to Africa and the UK. Not until later in the war effort were P-38s, F6 Hellcats and F4U Corsairs sent there. The Flying Tigers were a volunteer organization of pilots for the US flying the P-40s. Although they were not as maneuverable as Zeros, they had better firepower and were quite more capable of taking battle damage. The tactics exploited the diving abilities of the P 40. Another wasted airplane was the P-36 Airacobra. That was quickly dealt a hard lesson and relegated to ground support, a task it was better suited for.

[jackpreacher]

. The tactics exploited the diving abilities of the P 40. Another wasted airplane was the P-36 Airacobra. That was quickly dealt a hard lesson and relegated to ground support, a task it was better suited for.

Another plane that fancy design cost the lives of aircrew- the engine was mounted in the centre of the fuselage with an extended propshaft running through the cockpit to the propellor. Didn't the US send most of these, er, planes, to the Russians? No wonder Stalin didn't trust the West!

[B4D2USA]

Another plane that fancy design cost the lives of aircrew- the engine was mounted in the centre of the fuselage with an extended propshaft running through the cockpit to the propellor. Didn't the US send most of these, er, planes, to the Russians? No wonder Stalin didn't trust the West!

LOL, yeah well, when the world gives you lemons, you make Lenin-aide. Actually, the US did keep some and used them in the island campaign as ground support. The cannon being particularly effective on tanks and ground emplacements. They tried to fix things with the P-63 King Cobra. Throw more money at the problem to fix it. It didn't work.

Correction, In my haste to type, I became dyslexic and typed a "6" instead of a "9" thus the proper designation is P-39 Airacobra.

[Muz]

That must have been a bit hair raising with a shaft spinning at 'x' rpm between the cheeks of yor ass .. if it all went tits up ?

[jackpreacher]

That must have been a bit hair raising with a shaft spinning at 'x' rpm between the cheeks of yor ass .. if it all went tits up ?

It gets worse.......there was also a massive cannon....