[BITList] WWII Aircraft Facts
franka
franka at iinet.net.au
Mon Jun 13 11:30:54 BST 2011
**Amazing WWII Aircraft Facts**
*- - - - - -*
*Most Americans who were not adults during WWII have no understanding of
the magnitude of it. This listing of some of the aircraft facts gives a
bit of insight to it. *
*
276,000 aircraft manufactured in theUS.*
*43,000 planes lost overseas, including 23,000 in combat. *
*14,000 lost in the continentalU.S. *
*
**TheUScivilian population maintained a dedicated effort for four years,
many working long hours seven days per week and often also volunteering
for other work. WWII was the largest human effort in history.*
*Statistics from Flight Journal magazine.
*
*THE COST of DOING BUSINESS*
----*The staggering cost of war*.
*THE PRICE OF VICTORY (cost of an aircraft in WWII dollars)*
B-17 $204,370. P-40 $44,892.
B-24 $215,516. P-47 $85,578.
B-25 $142,194. P-51 $51,572.
B-26 $192,426. C-47 $88,574.
B-29 $605,360. PT-17 $15,052.
P-38 $97,147. AT-6 $22,952.
*PLANES A DAY WORLDWIDE*
FromGermany 's invasion of Poland Sept. 1, 1939 and ending withJapan's
surrender Sept. 2, 1945 --- 2,433 days. *From 1942
onward,Americaaveraged 170 planes lost a day.
*
How many is a 1,000 planes? B-17 production (12,731) wingtip to
wingtip would extend 250 miles. 1,000 B-17s carried 2.5 million gallons
of high octane fuel and required 10,000 airmen to fly and fight them.
*THE NUMBERS GAME*
9.7 billion gallons of gasoline consumed, 1942-1945.
107.8 million hours flown, 1943-1945.
459.7 billion rounds of aircraft ammo fired overseas, 1942-1945.
7.9 million bombs dropped overseas, 1943-1945.
2.3 million combat sorties, 1941-1945 (one sortie = one takeoff).
299,230 aircraft accepted, 1940-1945.
808,471 aircraft engines accepted, 1940-1945.
799,972 propellers accepted, 1940-1945.
*WWII MOST-PRODUCED COMBAT AIRCRAFT*
Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik 36,183
Yakolev Yak-1,-3,-7, -9 31,000+
Messerschmitt Bf-109 30,480
Focke-Wulf Fw-190 29,001
Supermarine Spitfire/Seafire 20,351
Convair B-24/PB4Y Liberator/Privateer 18,482
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt 15,686
North American P-51 Mustang 15,875
Junkers Ju-88 15,000
Hawker Hurricane 14,533
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk 13,738
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress 12,731
Vought F4U Corsair 12,571
Grumman F6F Hellcat 12,275
Petlyakov Pe-2 11,400
Lockheed P-38 Lightning 10,037
Mitsubishi A6M Zero 10,449
North American B-25 Mitchell 9,984
Lavochkin LaGG-5 9,920
//Note: The LaGG-5 was produced with both water-cooled (top) and
air-cooled (bottom) engines.//
Grumman TBM Avenger 9,837
Bell P-39 Airacobra 9,584
Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar 5,919
DeHavilland Mosquito 7,780
Avro Lancaster 7,377
Heinkel He-111 6,508
Handley-PageHalifax 6,176
Messerschmitt Bf-110 6,150
Lavochkin LaGG-7 5,753
Boeing B-29 Superfortress 3,970
Short Stirling 2,383
Sources: Rene Francillon, Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific war; Cajus
Bekker, The Luftwaffe Diaries; Ray Wagner, American Combat Planes;
Wikipedia.
According to the AAF Statistical Digest, in less than four years
(December 1941- August 1945), the US Army Air Forces lost 14,903 pilots,
aircrew and assorted personnel plus 13,873 airplanes ---*/_inside the
continentalUnited States_/*/./ They were the result of 52,651 aircraft
accidents (6,039 involving fatalities) in 45 months.
Think about those numbers. They average 1,170 aircraft accidents per
month---- nearly 40 a day. (Less than one accident in four resulted in
totaled aircraft, however.)
It gets worse.....
Almost 1,000 Army planes disappeared en route from theUSto foreign
climes. But an eye-watering 43,581 aircraft were lost overseas
including 22,948 on combat missions (18,418 against the Western Axis)
and 20,633 attributed tonon-combat causesoverseas.
In a single 376 plane raid in August 1943, 60 B-17s were shot down. That
was a 16 percent loss rate and meant 600 empty bunks inEngland . In
1942-43 it was statistically impossible for bomber crews to complete a
25-mission tour inEurope .
Pacific theater losses were far less (4,530 in combat) owing to smaller
forces committed. The worst B-29 mission, againstTokyoon May 25, 1945,
cost 26 Superfortresses, 5.6 percent of the 464 dispatched from
theMarianas .
*/_On average, 6,600 American servicemen died per month during WWII,
about 220 a day_/**/./*By the end of the war, over 40,000 airmen were
killed in combat theaters and another 18,000 wounded. Some 12,000
missing men were declared dead, including a number "liberated" by the
Soviets but never returned. More than 41,000 were captured, half of the
5,400 held by the Japanese died in captivity, compared with one-tenth in
German hands. Total combat casualties were pegged at 121,867.
USmanpower made up the deficit. The AAF's peak strength was reached in
1944 with 2,372,000 personnel, nearly twice the previous year's figure.
The losses were huge---but so were production totals. From 1941 through
1945, American industry delivered more than 276,000 military aircraft.
That number was enough not only for US Army, Navy and Marine Corps, but
for allies as diverse asBritain ,Australia ,ChinaandRussia . In fact,
from 1943 onward,Americaproduced more planes
thanBritainandRussiacombined. And more thanGermanyandJapantogether 1941-45.
However, our enemies took massive losses. Through much of 1944, the
Luftwaffe sustained uncontrolled hemorrhaging, reaching 25 percent of
aircrews and 40 planes a month. And in late 1944 into 1945, nearly half
the pilots in Japanese squadrons had flown fewer than 200 hours. The
disparity of two years before had been completely reversed.
*Experience Level:
*Uncle Sam sent many of his sons to war with absolute minimums of
training. Some fighter pilots entered combat in 1942 with less than one
hour in their assigned aircraft.
The 357th Fighter Group (often known as The Yoxford Boys) went
toEnglandin late 1943 having trained on P-39s. The group never saw a
Mustang until shortly before its first combat mission.
A high-time P-51 pilot had 30 hours in type. Many had fewer than five
hours.*Some had one hour.*
With arrival of new aircraft, many combat units transitioned in combat.
The attitude was,*"They all have a stick and a throttle. Go fly
`em."*When the famed 4th Fighter Group converted from P-47s to P-51s in
February 1944, there was no time to stand down for an orderly
transition. The Group commander, Col. Donald Blakeslee, said,*"You can
learn to fly `51s on the way to the target*.
A future P-47 ace said,*"I was sent toEnglandto die."* He was not
alone. Some fighter pilots tucked their wheels in the well on their
first combat mission with one previous flight in the aircraft.
Meanwhile, many bomber crews were still learning their trade:of Jimmy
Doolittle's 15 pilots on the April 1942Tokyoraid, only five had won
their wings before 1941. All but one of the 16 copilots were less than a
year out of flight school.
In WWII flying safety took a back seat to combat. The AAF's worst
accident rate was recorded by the A-36 Invader version of the P-51: a
staggering 274 accidents per 100,000 flying hours. Next worst were the
P-39 at 245, the P-40 at 188, and the P-38 at 139. All were Allison
powered.
Bomber wrecks were fewer but more expensive. The B-17 and B-24 averaged
30 and 35 accidents per 100,000 flight hours, respectively--a horrific
figure considering that from 1980 to 2000 the Air Force's major mishap
rate was less than 2.
The B-29 was even worse at 40; the world's most sophisticated, most
capable and most expensive bomber was too urgently needed to stand down
for mere safety reasons. The AAF set a reasonably high standard for B-29
pilots, but the desired figures were seldom attained.
The original cadre of the 58th Bomb Wing was to have 400 hours of
multi-engine time, but there were not enough experienced pilots to meet
the criterion. Only ten percent had overseas experience. Conversely,
when a $2.1 billion B-2 crashed in 2008, the Air Force initiated a
two-month "safety pause" rather than declare a "stand down", let alone
grounding.
The B-29 was no better for maintenance. Though the R3350 was known as a
complicated, troublesome power-plant, no more than half the mechanics
had previous experience with the Duplex Cyclone. But they made it work.
*Navigators*:
Perhaps the greatest unsung success story of AAF training was
Navigators. The Army graduated some 50,000 during the War. And many
had never flown out of sight of land before leaving "Uncle Sugar" for a
war zone. Yet the huge majority found their way across oceans and
continents without getting lost or running out of fuel --- a stirring
tribute to the AAF's educational establishments.
*Cadet To Colonel:
*It was possible for a flying cadet at the time ofPearl Harborto finish
the war with eagles on his shoulders. That was the record of John D.
Landers, a 21-year-old Texan, who was commissioned a second lieutenant
on December 12, 1941. He joined his combat squadron with 209 hours
total flight time, including 2? in P-40s. He finished the war as a full
colonel, commanding an 8th Air Force Group --- at age 24.
As the training pipeline filled up, however those low figures became
exceptions.
By early 1944, the average AAF fighter pilot entering combat had logged
at least 450 hours, usually including 250 hours in training. At the
same time, many captains and first lieutenants claimed over 600 hours.
*FACT:*
At its height in mid-1944, the Army Air Forces had 2.6 million people
and nearly 80,000 aircraft of all types.
Today the US Air Force employs 327,000 active personnel (plus 170,000
civilians) with 5,500+ manned and perhaps 200 unmanned aircraft.
The 2009 figures represent about 12 percent of the manpower and 7
percent of the airplanes of the WWII peak.
*IN SUMMATION:*
Whether there will ever be another war like that experienced in 1940-45
is doubtful, as fighters and bombers have given way to helicopters and
remotely-controlled drones overAfghanistanandIraq . But within living
memory, men left the earth*/in 1,000-plane formations/*and fought major
battles five miles high, leaving a legacy that remains timeless.
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