Bearcat Vs Seafury

[comiso90]

Bearcat:


General characteristics

* Length: 28 ft 3 in (8.61 m)
* Wingspan: 35 ft 10 in (10.92 m)
* Height: 13 ft 10 in (4.21 m)
* Empty weight: 7,650 lb (3,207 kg)
* Loaded weight: 10,200 lb (4,627 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 13,460 lb (6,105 kg)

Performance

* Maximum speed: 455 mph (405 kn, 750 km/h)
* Range: 1,105 mi (1,778 km)
* Service ceiling: 40,800 ft (12,436 m)
* Rate of climb: 6,300 ft/min (32.0 m/s)

Armament

* Guns: 4 × 20 mm (.79 in) M3 cannon
* Rockets: 4× 5 in (127 mm) unguided rockets
* Bombs: 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs


Seafury


General characteristics

* Crew: One
* Length: 34 ft 8 in (10.6 m)
* Wingspan: 38 ft 4¾ in (11.7 m)
* Height: 16 ft 1 in (4.9 m)
* Wing area: 280 ft² (26 m²)
* Empty weight: 9,240 lb (4,190 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 12,500 lb (5,670 kg)
* Powerplant: 1× Bristol Centaurus XVIIC 18-cylinder twin-row radial engine, 2,480 hp (1,850 kW)

Performance

* Maximum speed: 460 mph (740 km/h) at 18,000 ft (5,500 m)
* Cruise speed: 390 mph (625 km/h)
* Range: 700 mi (1,127 km) with internal fuel; 1,040 mi (1,675 km) with two drop tanks
* Service ceiling: 35,800 ft (10,900 m)
* Rate of climb: 30,000 ft (9,200 m) in 10.8 minutes
* Wing loading: 44.6 lb/ft² (161.2 kg/m²)
* Power/mass: 0.198 hp/lb (441 W/kg)



Armament

* Guns: 4 × 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano Mk V cannon
* Rockets: 12× 3 in (76.2 mm) rockets or
* Bombs: 2,000 lb (907 kg) of bombs

info from wiki

.

[renrich]

Comis, Those are interesting figures you posted on the Sea Fury and Bearcat. What is also interesting is that if you compare those numbers with those of the F4U5, the last version of a design going back to 1938, the numbers of the Fury and Bearcat are mostly eclipsed.

[comiso90]

They're just from wiki... if you have better figures... please post.

I think the 2 planes look similar. it is interesting about the corsair but I'm not trying to determine the best piston engine fighter...

.

[renrich]

Comis, just like with all AC discussed on this forum, I am sure there are all kinds of numbers that can be quoted on both Bearcat and Sea Fury. It seems clear though from the ones you quoted that both planes were optimised for lower level performance. I do know that the Bearcat was designed as a fleet defense fighter to operate off of small carriers. I only brought up the F4U5 because I think it is remarkable that it's performance numbers, given the age of it's initial design, compare favorably to two late war designs that are cutting edge prop plane models.

[comiso90]

Yeah... the corsair was amazing but the lines of the sea fury and bearcat looked "next generation".

for me, as far as looks go, the difference between the Corsair and the Bearcat is a leap tantamount to the F-15 and F-22.

.

[vikingBerserker]

IMHO if you are looking for pure fighter, I would say Bearcat. If you are looking for a fighter/bomber, then Sea Fury

[renrich]

Well, they are "next generation" and both beautiful air planes. I do have a book written by a naval aviator who flew Bearcats operationally and he loved the airplane for it's "hot rod" qualities but admitted that the Corsair was a better gunnery airplane because of better control harmony. If you ever have a chance to pick up "80 Knots to Mach Two" by Richard Linnekin, do yourself a favor and get it. Anyone who enjoys this forum will like the book and learn something too.

[comiso90]

Neither the Bearcat or Seafury had a service life long enough to expose many warts... or am I wrong?


I'm a big fan of the Corsair but it's glass jaw... oil cooler... is more than an operational idiosyncrasy. It was a real weakness.

I wonder what true pacific combat would have told us about the BC?

.

[mlsco]

Neither the Bearcat or Seafury had a service life long enough to expose many warts... or am I wrong?


I'm a big fan of the Corsair but it's glass jaw... oil cooler... is more than an operational idiosyncrasy. It was a real weakness.

I wonder what true pacific combat would have told us about the BC?

.

How to define "true" Pacific combat seems tough to me. If the Bearcat was deployed 6-12 months earlier, it still would have faced a depleted Japanese pilot corps and a significant number of outdated (A6M) opponents. And it was not much configured for ground support a la Corsair, was it?

[comiso90]

How to define "true" Pacific combat seems tough to me. If the Bearcat was deployed 6-12 months earlier, it still would have faced a depleted Japanese pilot corps and a significant number of outdated (A6M) opponents. And it was not much configured for ground support a la Corsair, was it?

Two muscle bitches struggling for power!

If u had to buy 1000, which would u buy?

[Marcel]

Neither the Bearcat or Seafury had a service life long enough to expose many warts... or am I wrong?


I'm a big fan of the Corsair but it's glass jaw... oil cooler... is more than an operational idiosyncrasy. It was a real weakness.

I wonder what true pacific combat would have told us about the BC?

.

We had the seafury flying of our carrier Karel Doorman from 1949 to 1956.

[Glider]

Two muscle bitches struggling for power!

If u had to buy 1000, which would u buy?

If only for the flexibility, the Sea Fury

[mlsco]

Two muscle bitches struggling for power!

If u had to buy 1000, which would u buy?

Just replace every FM2 and F6F order with a Bearcat and keep the same number of Corsairs for ground attack. It seems fair to say that there were enough resources to support having two airplanes.

Now if you limit me to one, that's tough. The Sea Fury idea sounds good for flexibility, since it way oversteps my knowledge of the F8F airframe to say it could have been hardened to carry the extra ordinance for ground attack and been as survivable.

History shows the latter idea wouldn't have lasted anyway, though: the AD-1 wasn't far behind and hung around considerably longer than either...

[renrich]

The Bearcat and Corsair fought for the French in Indo-China and the Corsair fought in Algeria and Suez, I believe. The last Corsairs manufactured were F4U7s for the French Navy. I may be wrong but the infamous oil cooler in the Corsair was either protected or relocated in the F4U7. Did the Sea Fury ever have any significant service in wartime? I believe it would have been a better air to ground performer than the Bearcat. The time for piston engine fighters was pretty much over by the time these two were operational. An interesting point about Bearcat was that, to save weight, the brakes were so small that the engine could not be run up to full power on the ground, before takeoff.

[comiso90]

We had the seafury flying of our carrier Karel Doorman from 1949 to 1956.

I didn't know the Dutch ever had a carrier...

great photo