Higham Robin - Flying American combat aircraft of World War II : vol 1 1939-1945

FLYING
AMERICAN
COMBAT AIRCRAFT
OF WWII

The Stackpole Military History Series

THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Cavalry Raids of the Civil War

Ghost, Thunderbolt, and Wizard

Picketts Charge

Witness to Gettysburg

WORLD WAR I

Doughboy War

WORLD WAR II

Armor Battles of the Waffen-SS, 194345

Armoured Guardsmen

Army of the West

Australian Commandos

The B-24 in China

Backwater War

The Battle of Sicily

Beyond the Beachhead

The Brandenburger Commandos

The Brigade

Bringing the Thunder

Coast Watching in World War II

Colossal Cracks

A Dangerous Assignment

D-Day Deception

D-Day to Berlin

Destination Normandy

Dive Bomber!

A Drop Too Many

Eagles of the Third Reich

Eastern Front Combat

Exit Rommel

Fist from the Sky

Flying American Combat Aircraft of World War II

Forging the Thunderbolt

Fortress France

The German Defeat in the East, 194445

German Order of Battle, Vol. 1

German Order of Battle, Vol. 2

German Order of Battle, Vol. 3

The Germans in Normandy

Germanys Panzer Arm in World War II

GI Ingenuity

Goodwood

The Great Ships Grenadiers

Hitlers Nemesis

Infantry Aces

Iron Arm

Iron Knights

Kampfgruppe Peiper at the Battle of the Bulge

Kursk

Luftwaffe Aces

Massacre at Tobruk

Mechanized Juggernaut or Military Anachronism?

Messerschmitts over Sicily

Michael Wittmann, Vol. 1

Michael Wittmann, Vol. 2

Mountain Warriors

The Nazi Rocketeers

On the Canal

Operation Mercury

Packs On!

Panzer Aces

Panzer Aces II

Panzer Commanders of the Western Front

The Panzer Legions

Panzers in Normandy

Panzers in Winter

The Path to Blitzkrieg

Penalty Strike

Red Star under the Baltic

Retreat to the Reich

Rommels Desert Commanders

Rommels Desert War

Rommels Lieutenants

The Savage Sky

A Soldier in the Cockpit

Soviet Blitzkrieg

Stalins Keys to Victory

Surviving Bataan and Beyond

T-34 in Action

Tank Tactics

Tigers in the Mud

Triumphant Fox

The 12th SS, Vol. 1

The 12th SS, Vol. 2

The War against Rommels Supply Lines

War in the Aegean

Wolfpack Warriors

THE COLD WAR / VIETNAM

Cyclops in the Jungle

Expendable Warriors

Flying American Combat Aircraft: The Cold War

Here There Are Tigers

Land with No Sun

Phantom Reflections

Street without Joy

Through the Valley

WARS OF THE MIDDLE EAST

Never-Ending Conflict

GENERAL MILITARY HISTORY

Carriers in Combat

Desert Battles

Guerrilla Warfare

FLYING
AMERICAN

COMBAT AIRCRAFT
OF WWII

193945

Edited by Robin Higham

STACKPOLE
BOOKS

Copyright 2004 by Sunflower University Press

Published by

STACKPOLE BOOKS

5067 Ritter Road

Mechanicsburg, PA 17055

www.stackpolebooks.com

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Stackpole Books.

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4

FIRST EDITION

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Flying American combat aircraft of WWII: 193945 / edited by Robin Higham. 1st ed.

p. cm.(Stackpole Military history series)

Articles taken from volumes of Flying combat aircraft of the USAAF-USAF.

Includes index.

ISBN 0-8117-3124-3

1. Airplanes, MilitaryUnited StatesHistory20th century. 2. World War, 19391945Aerial operations, American. 3. Air pilots, MilitaryUnited StatesBiography. 4. World War, 19391945Personal narratives, American. I. Higham, Robin D. S. II. Flying combat aircraft of the USAAF-USAF. III. Series.

UG1243 .F53 2004

940.54'4973'0922dc22

2003023081

ISBN 978-0-8117-3124-9

eISBN: 9780811746083

Table of Contents

vii
Robin Higham and Charles D. Bright	ix
John A. C. Andrews
James V. Edmundson
Keith R. Matzinger
Ross G. Hoyt
Rick Glasebrook
Royal D. Frey
Al Strunk with Robin Higham
Carl H. Fritsche
James J. Hudson
Winton R. Close
John F. Ohlinger
John A. De Vries
Mark E. Bradley with Helen Porter
Arthur J. Thomas
Bruce K. Holloway
Douglas C. Conley
Ira C. Eaker
Mark E. Bradley
Wayne S. Cole
Arthur J. Thomas
Robin Higham
Edward W. Virgin
Richard D. Kent
Winton R. Close
Donald M. Marks
William Carigan
William S. Woznek
Charles M. McCorkle
Haywood S. Hansell, Jr.

Preface

The informative and entertaining pieces presented here are both original documents and fallible memoirs. It is admitted at once that they represent one school of thought only as to the proper way to handle a particular plane. Another pilot in another war theater may have flown the craft quite differently (or thought he did), so no claim is made that these chapters are absolutely reliable guides. We do say each has been prepared both conscientiously and lovingly and has, whenever possible, been checked against an appropriate authoritative manual.

We acknowledge also that an ingredient of flying life is the tendency to shoot a line. Thus, even though the authors believe some of the stories related here to be completely accurate, they may not be. In any event, we hope readers will find these accounts enlightening, stimulating, and sometimes amusingall to be recalled, in the case of veterans at least, with fond memories, if not complete agreement.

To include chapters on all combat aircraft was, of course, impossible because of lack of space and the difficulty of finding authors.

Unless otherwise indicated, all photographs are courtesy of the United States Air Force.

R. H. and A. T. S.

Introduction

Robin Higham and Charles D. Bright

A quarter of a century ago, I decided that one of my missions as Editor of the Air Force Historical Foundations magazine Aerospace Historian was to preserve knowledge of how World War II aircraft, as well as others, were flown. I contacted a number of former pilots and asked them to write a piece as if they were talking to me. To help them I sent along this checklist:

For your contribution to our combat aircraft books would you please try to cover the following points where appropriate: 1. First impression 2. Getting into the cockpit 3. Pilots and other manuals 4. Putting equipment online 5. Starting up 6. Taxiing 7. Pre-take-off drill 8. Take-off technique and characteristics, climbing out 9. Handling in the air 10. Combat handling and idiosyncracies 11. Range, endurance, speed 12. Bailing out 13. Landing procedures and techniques 14. Personal experience with the aircraftlove or hate relationship? 15. Brief comparison with some other similar type you also flew, either or both contemporary or a piston-jet comparison 16. Any other comment that will help the reader understand or appreciate the aircraft; including the effect of special equipment 17. Refueling on the ground and in the air
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