The best low-flying attack aircraft of WW2.

[cheddar cheese]

And also was the first carrier fighter with tricycle undercarraige I believe.

[Gnomey]

Out of those that actually saw combat I would say the Invader; well armed with a good load. Of them all the F7F Tigercat seems (statistically) to be the best and a good package, so I would properly saw the Tigercat.

[DAVIDICUS]

I thought the Tigercat had a 2,000lb bomb load capacity and not 4,000lbs. I also seem to recall that it had a really slow cruise speed too. (Something like 225mph) Perhaps I'm mistaken.

The only combat Tigercats ever saw were as water tankers for fire suppression by the forestry service many, many years ago (unlike the A-26 which saw active combat in WWII, Korea and Vietnam in addition to current use as a water tanker today)


What ... me biased towards the A-26?

[delcyros]

But both only saw limited use in the closing months of WW 2 (the A-26 saw a little more). The P-47 would be a better choice in my eyes, it proved to be very reliable and it succed in its role (as the Il-2).

[mosquitoman]

The Tigercat say some service in Korea, the jet nighfighters were too fast to get the Po-2 biplanes known as bedcheck charlie's (they were sent over with their engine out of tune so it woke everyone up). Therefore they brought in the Tigercats to make mincemeat of them

[wmaxt]

P-38, P-47, B-25, A26 even the Tigercat and F4U are all good choices as are the Typhoon/Tempest.

[delcyros]

You are completely right, mosquitoman, but Korea is not ww2 and the Po-2 biplane (I remember 2 times such a biplane was towing my glider in the air back in the middle 90´s) was obsolete food for any prop driven plane. Shooting down a Po-2 doesn´t underline its low flying abilities or not? I stay with either P-47 oe Il-2. Both are not techically the best choice, but they did a good deal to axis forces...

[DAVIDICUS]

I stand corrected Mosquitoman.

[mosquitoman]

delcyros, I was just pointing out that the Tigercat did see active service in a major war- outlining what it did, nothing else

[delcyros]

I got it. No need to argue. -

[DAVIDICUS]

I don't think he was arguing. Now, tell him that the Mosquito sucked or that the English have bad teeth and you'll see an argument.

[Gemhorse]

As far as the ETO goes, although I would usually vote 'Mosquito' in a blink of the eyes, D-Day could not have proceeded if it wasn't for the huge sacrifice made by RAF Typhoons to clearing the French coast of German guns, aircraft, V1's, radar, shipping etc., in such a way as not to alert the Germans to the exact Invasion areas...

Out of all of RAF Fighter Command Squadrons, the Typhoons suffered substantial losses in comparison, but their contribution was huge, the Invasion would have been indefinately delayed, but for their part carried-out on schedule...

This is an aspect of WWII that not many folk realise, as it's one thing to bomb from height defended targets, but to dive from 5,000 ft to ground-level with the flak barrage these chaps faced, to aim and fire RP'S and cannon, took real balls....especially when you're flying a 7 ton beast that really was a handful to fly....

They were also a Fighter, and Britain was in a spot when the Fw-190's first appeared, and the 'Tiffy's', then the world's fastest fighter, tackled them whilst the Spitfire Mk.IX was coming-on stream to relieve the Mk.V's, this at a time when the Typhoon was sorting-out it's own teething-troubles....

I can understand choices like F7F's, A-26's, B-25's and Il-2's.... they were good scraps, but for historical fact, the 2nd TAF Wings of Typhoons performed a great feat clearing the Channel of the vast German defensive belt, in preparation for D-Day, and keeping the Invasion Forces moving forward after their initial landings with their ''cab-rank'' call-up and destroy tactics, and the only comparable situation to that of the Typhoons, may have been the B-25 and A-20 attacks, through the fierce flak defences of Rabaul and the other well-defended Pacific Islands...

I have a vested interest in the Typhoons, as one of my ancestors was killed shooting-up a giant German Radar site around Cap de La Hague / Joburg [just like the one in ''Saving Private Ryan''], a month before D-Day, and they were very well defended with multiple 20mm's, 37mm's and 40mm AA batteries, let alone the bigger guns.......

John Golley was a famous pilot who with RAF 245 Sqn., another 2nd TAF Typhoon Sqn. who wrote a book called ''Day of the Typhoon'' [Patrick Stephens, 1986], that outlined Typhoon pilot's work, and 'the day' as book title refers to, is the day in mid August 1944, when they caught the 6th SS Panzer Division occupying six miles of road in daylight, and attacked facing 88mm guns and more than a hundred 20mm's....by late afternoon they had decimated the Division....but this is one book that gives some idea of their fight & sacrifice.......

For my money [and family blood], the Typhoon was the fastest, deadliest ground-attack fighter, in the right place and at the right time of WWII.....

Originally Posted by DAVIDICUS

I thought the Tigercat had a 2,000lb bomb load capacity and not 4,000lbs. I also seem to recall that it had a really slow cruise speed too. (Something like 225mph) Perhaps I'm mistaken.

The pilots handbook shows configuration 7 as a single 2000 lbs bomb under the fuselage and a 1000 lbs bomb on each inner wing pylon. While no loading condition with 4 bombs and rockets is given, the weight addition is rather minimal. Maxium range cruise speed is very slow (180 mph), but this is at 60% NRP, so it could probably cruise faster at the expense of some range. R-2800's are R-2800's, so there is no reason it should not have been able to sustain at least 85% of NRP for extended periods.

Originally Posted by DAVIDICUS

The only combat Tigercats ever saw were as water tankers for fire suppression by the forestry service many, many years ago (unlike the A-26 which saw active combat in WWII, Korea and Vietnam in addition to current use as a water tanker today)

Actually, I have found that the F7F-3P did fly a few operational sorties (I assume these were photo recon) with the USMC in WWII. One was also used for combat trials by the 787 squadron, RAF, starting in Feb. 1945.

Also, F7F-3N's flew night interdiction missions and night target designation missions for B-29's in Korea.

=S=

Lunatic

[Udet]

Gemhorse:

6th SS Panzer Division in mid august 1944?
Where?
You are referring to France (Typhoons only in the west).

If i recall correctly no 6th SS Panzer Divison did exist at all in the German order of battle in Normandy and France; furthermore, if i continue to recall correctly the SS had no 6th panzer divison elsewhere ever.

There was a 6th SS Panzer Army, but it did not came to life until the Ardenes offensive of the winter of 1944; also it saw service near Budapest against the soviets in 1945.

Perhaps it was just a mistake in naming the panzer unit, still no German armored formation got decimated by any allied ground attack squadron.

It has been proved RAF and USAAF ground attack units overclaimed up to ten times the number of German tanks actually hit and destroyed by air attack.

Do not take me wrong, i do not put into doubt the service your relative gave to his country. That is not the point here.

I totally agree the Typhoon was a far more capable ground attack plane, along with the Fw190 F versions, since they could carry powerful armament to deliver to enemy ground positions, and once their cargo was delivered, they were very manouverable and fast to deal with enemy fighters as well.

The IL-2 after delivering its bombs or rockets had to take its nearly 1 ton of armor back to base, being a comfortable prey for enemy fighters or for flak batteries.

The IL-2 was an armored turkey capable of flying, the most overrated plane of the entire world war II. The catastrophic losses it took even during the victorious episodes of the soviet union in 1944 are clear testimony of the actual capabilties of that plane and of the pilots that flew it.

[DAVIDICUS]

Captain Lunatic,

Mosquitoman already set me straight regarding Korea.

I see several references on the web (as I'm sure you have too) listing the cruise speed as 222mph. The A-26 used R-2800's as well and its cruise speed is universally listed at about 280mph. Can you shed some light on this?

As far as seeing combat in WWII:

"Actually, I have found that the F7F-3P did fly a few operational sorties (I assume these were photo recon) with the USMC in WWII. One was also used for combat trials by the 787 squadron, RAF, starting in Feb. 1945."

"Photo recon" and one used for "combat trials" by the RAF? Hell, F7F pilots flying water tanker duty to fight fires saw more combat than that.