Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum  

Go Back   Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum > Discussion > Allied and Soviet Air Forces

Allied and Soviet Air Forces Please use this forum to discuss the Air Forces of the Western Allies and the Soviet Union.

 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
  #22  
Old 27th July 2015, 16:35
drgondog's Avatar
drgondog drgondog is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 910
drgondog is on a distinguished road
Re: Allied air superiority in 1944: P-47 D Razorback decided it?

Thanks for the 332nd operational statistics Paul. The July statistics do reflect the single group (A) policies that existed at that time (with exceptions for occasional A and B with perhaps 28-30 apiece). In the fall of 1944 in both 8th and 15th AF the two force Group had enough pilots and aircraft in the TO&E to fly them frequently. You might look at the 332nd mission numbers for comparison.

It does strike me as 'odd' that with approximately 100-120 (and approx. 120 pilots) Mustangs in the July timeframe (estimated based on standard squadron TO&E at that time), that only a typical strength mission based on three squadrons would be flown.

The only documents that might provide insight would be the squadron Engineering daily status logs recasting availability based on inventory, battle damage, engine changes, etc. One other thought is that the 332nd may have flown a non-typical 12 Mustang squadron in three flights rather than four flights of four. Perhaps the policy of maintaining 100% Black American pilots placed a 'supply' problem for replacement pilots.. more likely, and less likely is a maintenance issue in which a lot of a/c were grounded for lack of crews.

Yes the task of copying USAF 85 line by line was arduous - and done before USAF populated database at USAFHRC at Maxwell AFB. Equally challenging was pinpointing change of equipment (i.e from P-47 to P-51) to perform the distribution analysis of victory credits.

As to the P-38 being able to perform adequate escort for 8th AF? I agree, given a priority of stripping PTO to replace P-47s in ETO that the escort population would have enabled the 8th AF to continue deep raids after March 1944 when the supply of P-38J-15s arrived with 110 gallons in LE of wing and improved intercooler. The J-25s arrived after D-Day so the dive flaps and boosted ailerons would not be present to extend the P-38 performance envelope.

IMO, since the P-38 was a marginal performer air to air (~2:1 over LW with barely parity through D-Day) the P-38/P-47 combination would have resulted in 500+ more LW pilots and many more fighters available for Invasion Front on June 7.. The AAF/RAF would still have major numerical superiority but a lot more LW bomber and fighter bomber sorties would have been successful against shipping.
__________________
" The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
Reply With Quote
 

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Air Allied mission on Courtalain (France) 6 August 1944 canonne Allied and Soviet Air Forces 2 5th March 2014 12:44
Allied air victory over North Italy : 14 February 1944 canonne Allied and Soviet Air Forces 0 3rd December 2013 22:50
Luftwaffe Aces KIA in Normandy in 1944 Christer Bergström Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces 35 13th August 2005 22:10
The Effect of Numerical Superiority in the Air War Christer Bergström Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces 11 3rd March 2005 09:39
Eastern vs Western Front (was: La-7 vs ???) Christer Bergström Allied and Soviet Air Forces 66 1st March 2005 20:44


All times are GMT +2. The time now is 11:57.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2018, 12oclockhigh.net