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Read an account years ago of a Spitfire pilot who shot down the first (I believe) ME 262. It had been damaged and was ground hugging; the Spitfire saw him from on high and dived. Fired a burst before pulling up and happened to hit the 262, which crashed. He made it down but the plane was a right off. Speed was off the dial and it evidently exhibited all of the damage characteristics mentioned in that article.
He told me that he had gone supersonic in one. As the story goes, the sonic boom did a LOT of damage to the plane, ripping half the tail off, and he barely limped home.
I read an account of that as a kid in a book called "The Big Show" by Pierre Closterman of 122 Squadron, He was talking about the introduction of the Tempest - and that the Spitty that shot the ME262 down had reachedSubsonic speeds and came back with twisted wings and rivets popped - barely flyable. I think he saw the Spitty if Iremember it right, he was between tours, working in adminas a break from flying ops and about to retrain on Typhoonsand Tempests.Maurie.
Bear in mind that the Corsair had fabric control surfaces! Not surprised that the canvas might depart at transonic speed. The immediate increase in drag might have saved the pilot's life.The Corsair design is an interesting case. At this point, piston engine power (P&W R2800) had reached about 2000hp and propellers had to grow accordingly. The Corsair eventually used a 13-foot prop. For ground clearance it would have needed really long spindly landing gear legs, deemed unsuitable for carrier landings. So the wing was cranked downward to keep the gear legs short.
One wonders if the ME-262 had more development time, testing, and tactics refinement, and numbers what impact on the air war
I believe all the WW2 combat fighters when manufactured had some or all control surfaces covered in fabric.
The muscle car of fighter planes. Everything about the design is to support this insanely massive motor.
Hellcat used the same engine. Thunderbolt used the same engine with a turbocharger. 2800 hp.
The real peculiarity of the Corsair is that it's the only US fighter that really took advantage of the relatively small frontal area of the P&W R2800.
That's a really good point. It strikes me that the most gorgeous airplanes were all designed on this principle. Think of the Mustang and Spitfire, which hid behind the Merlin, and the Tempest, which managed the same trick with a variety of engines.
That Lavochkin is a great-looking plane too. I have a soft spot for the Yak 3.
The goodyear F2G had a 4360 ci P&W (1945)4 row radial, many were raced after the war by Cook Cleland, naval aviator!! (only 400 or so were built.)