drgondog
Major
Everyone likes to compare losses per enemy AC destroyed, but the Jug was blowing up bridges, strafing trains, trucks, river barges, etc.
True - but still relevant when comparing the 'mission' by which you judge losses. All 8th AF fighters were tasked similarly in that for a Fighter bomber sweep - bombs and rockets were hung from 51s just like Jugs and 38's.
None of the 8th AF fighter were really tasked to blow bridges per se - simply because reading up to date maps and ground support/tactical mission wasn't what they were trained for - but ALL attacked rail and river traffic.
I don't really count the Fw-190 as a great fighter-bomber except for the dedicated Fw-190 F version. In that case I think it suffered as a fighter because of the extra armor, bomb racks, and rockets hung all over it.
Arguably it still was a better low to medium altitude fighter than the Jug
I don't know what the F4U might have done in the ETO if given the chance. I'll admit that it was indeed better on the deck than the Bolt.
Clay - At the end of the day, the 8th AF 51's were probably (Idon't have access to statistics to prove this) doing a lot more strafing than 47's simply because they had fuel to burn on the deck after turning over escort duties... and they gradually had more 51's than 47's following D-Day so there were more opportunities based on sheer numbers after June 44.
9th AF and MTO ops were a different mix of missions. There were far more TacAir sorties by 12th and 15th AF, proportionately, than 8th becuase there was no "9th AF TAC" equivalent.