World War II American Aircraft Quiz

Answer: Bell P-39 Airacobra

The P-39 was a great airplane at lower altitudes. Many US fighter jocks trained in them and loved them for their maneuverablility. However, at higher altitudes, the P-39 was under-powered, and in the hands of a less-experienced pilot, it had a tendency to get into a fatal spin. Also, the car-like entry/exit door into the cockpit made it hard for the pilot to bail out.

Answer: Brewster F2A-2 Buffalo

The Brewster Buffalo, the predecessor of the F4F Wildcat, was introduced into Naval squadrons in 1938. It was unstable, under-powered, under-armed, and had a very poor rate of climb and poor turning capability. The Japanese Zero completely outclassed it, except in a dive.

Answer: The Curtis P-40 Warhawk

The P-40 was a great plane in a dive: heavily armed (with six 50-caliber machine guns) and armored. It could not turn with, or out-climb, the Japanese Zero-sen. However, it could take a tremendous beating and keep flying, something that Japanese planes could never do.

The pilots of the AVG painted the nose and cowling of the P-40 with a tiger shark's eyes and mouth, including teeth. The pilots were known henceforth as "The Flying Tigers".

Answer: Lockheed P-38 Lightning

Several pilots flew (and loved) the P-38, due to its heavy armament and great speed. Its rate-of-climb was also superior to that of every German aircraft -- even the FW-190. Still, it could not out-turn either the FW-190 or even the Me-109.

Answer: Curtis-Allison V-12

The P-51's original engine was the under-powered Curtis-Allison, which performed very well at low altitudes. The US originally wanted to sell the Mustang to the RAF, but the British didn't want it -- until a brilliant RAF engineer suggested replacing the Curtis-Allison with a super-charged Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. The improvement in performance was phenomenal.

Answer: Its radiator was located in the belly.

After D-Day, the P-51 was used a lot in air-to-ground attacks. Because of the location of its radiator and coolant supply (in its belly), one bullet in the plane's radiator would cause the engine to overheat quickly, and the plane to crash. Mustang pilots hated going "down on the deck".

Answer: The Chance-Vought F4U Corsair

The Corsair, flown initially by Marine fighter squadrons in the Solomon Islands campaign, was designed to give close ground support for the Marines on the ground. However, its gull-wing design made it highly maneuverable at all altitudes. It had greater speed in level flight as well as in a dive. It outclassed the Zero in almost every regard.

Answer: Consolidated B-24 Liberator

Although the B-17 was best known for its daylight raids over Germany, the B-24 was heavier than the B-17; it could carry a slightly heavier bombload and it had slightly greater range.

Answer: Boeing B-29 Superfortress

The B-29, originally designed to complete high-altitude, precision-bombing raids over the Japanese home islands, was the only heavy US bomber to have pressurized crew quarters.

Answer: Northrop

Northrup brought the P-61 on-line in the summer of 1944. It operated as a nightfighter in both the Pacific and European Theaters. In Europe, it was often used to shoot down German V-1 buzz bombs. In the Pacific, it was used to shoot down the Japanese bombers that raided American airfields at night.

Answer: The P-47 Thunderbolt

Because of the huge Pratt and Whitney engine it contained under its rounded cowling and its ungainly appearance on the ground, the Thunderbolt received this affectionate nickname from US fighter jocks serving in England. The P-47 was a monster, by far the heaviest and most heavily armed and armored single-engine fighter in the US Army Air Corps.

She might not have been pretty on the ground, but she was feared by the Nazi ground forces, who called her the "Jabbo", a variant of the German word "Jaeger", which means "hunter" ("fighter").

Answer: Its external tanks, its range, speed and high altitude performance

The Mustang was a superior airplane in all regards.

Answer: Grumman F6F Hellcat

Initially, the Naval aviators flew the Wildcat, but it could not climb, or turn, with the Zero. The Corsair was found unsuitable for use by the US Navy carriers because of its handling characteristics. The P-38 was never flown by Naval aviators. These were land-based fighters.

In 1943, the Hellcat replaced the Wildcat, and the F6F could outclimb, outdive, and out-turn a Zero. It was also faster and more heavily armed, and armored, than the Zero. It showed this superiority during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, also known as "The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot".

Answer: FW190 (Dora)

The 109 was a good plane, but it could not out-turn, out-dive, or outrun a P-51. The Mustang was also faster and more heavily armed and armored. The Me-262 was faster, but it was not a dog-fighter. It was designed to shoot down US bombers. The Me-110 was not a good fighter aircraft.

The only German plane that was nearly equal to the P-51 was the FW-190. Why the Germans did not build more of these instead of the Me-109 is a mystery.

Answer: Peleliu

The 72-day battle for this tiny island in September-November of 1944 was, in many ways, worse than the Marines' horrible experience on Betio in the Tarawa atoll in November of 1943. Japanese soldiers had honeycombed three limestone ridges with caves and fortified bunkers. Marine Corsairs dropped jellied gasoline cannisters onto the ridges in an effort to cover the advance of Marines on foot.

They cleared these bunkers with satchel charges, liquid gasoline, grenades, and flamethrowers.

Answer: Memphis Belle

In the early days of 8th Air Force ops over Germany, planes and crew members were rotated to the States after 25 missions. However, bomber losses were so high before the introduction of long-range escort fighters, that no B-17s had reached the magic 25 until "Hell's Angels" and then "Memphis Belle" did it. Later, once P-51s began to escort the heavies to the target and back, the mission total was increase to 35, to the outrage of B-17 and B-24 crews throughout the ETO.

Answer: The Jet Stream

The 29s were flying at an altitude of between 25,000 and 30,000 feet, which is where the Jet Stream is. This air current, which moves from west to east, blows at about 150 mph. All the bombs that were dropped from that altitude were literally blown off course by the Jet Stream.

Answer: Gen. Curtis LeMay

Curtis LeMay moved from the ETO to the Pacific in the spring of 1945. He was instrumental in fixing the tactical errors that the Army Air Corps was committing in the bombing campaign over Japan.

Answer: Switched to low-level carpet bombing, using incendiaries.

Because of the inaccuracy of high altitude bombing, LeMay ordered B-29s stripped of most of their machine guns. He loaded them with extra incendiaries and high explosive bombs, sending them over Japan by the hundreds and even thousands. The effect on the wooden Japanese cities was similar to the raids on Hamburg and Dresden: firestorms and massive loss of life.

Answer: The Lockheed P-38 Lightning

Due to brilliant code breaking on the part of US Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), P-38 Lightnings based on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, attacked Admiral Yamamoto's airplane over Bougainville (the largest island in the Solomon chain), sending it down into the jungle in flames. No one survived the crash. This was a huge tactical victory for the US.