Combat Aircraft of the United States Air Force

260 Pages·2016·45.41 MB·English

by  Michael Green

First published in Great Britain in 2016 by
PEN & SWORD AVIATION
An imprint of
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Copyright © Michael Green, 2016
ISBN 978-1-47383-475-0
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Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Notes to the Reader
Chapter One
The Beginning (1903–1918)
Chapter Two
Interwar Aircraft (1919–1938)
Chapter Three
Second World War (1939–1945)
Chapter Four
Early Cold War (1946–1961)
Chapter Five
Late Cold War (1962–1991)
Chapter Six
Post-Cold War (1992–2015)
Dedication
This book is dedicated to fighter pilot Major George A. Davis of the
USAF. A decorated veteran, an ace of the Second World War and
already an ace in the Korean War, he and wingman Second Lieutenant
William W. Littlefield were flying F-86 Sabre jets on patrol. Spotting
twelve MiG-15 fighters closing on friendly fighter-bombers, he
immediately engaged. Rapidly shooting down two MiGs, he was
engaging a third when he was shot down and killed. For his fearless
assault and selfless actions against a much larger enemy force,
permitting the fighter-bombers to complete their mission, Major Davis
was awarded the Medal of Honor.
Foreword
B
efore the development of the modern electronics industry in the
late 1950s, almost no industry ever grew at the speed of the
aviation industry or made such rapid advances in technology.
Driven by two world wars spaced only twenty-five years apart and also by
rapid expansion of commercial aviation in the same time period, the first
primitive aircraft introduced by the Wright brothers at the opening of the
twentieth century swiftly moved from wood frames covered with fabric to
more and more sophisticated machines that became larger and more
powerful at a mindboggling pace.
Telling the story of even one phase of that worldwide story is a
monumental task that would give pause to any writer. Author Michael
Green has done a commendable job of reducing more than a century of
this activity into a condensed presentation of the history of nearly
countless combat aircraft that were models produced in quantity and that
were the backbone of air operations from the early days of aviation
through the First World War, the interwar years, the Second World War,
the Cold War years and up to the present.
The result is a compact but detailed book for aviation enthusiasts and
those associated with the industries of flight to use as a quick reference
for key facts and illustrations of this myriad of military machines that have
led the aerial arms race for the last 112 years.
Bill Callahan
USAF B-36 Peacekeeper Radio-Electronic Operator
T
Acknowledgements he bulk
of the historical photographs
in this work were acquired
from the US Air Force Museum.
Others came from The National
Archives. For brevity’s sake the
picture credits for the US Air
Force Museum are shortened to
‘AF Museum’ and those for The
National Archives as ‘TNA’.
Credits for modern images from the US Air Force website and Defense
Imagery Management Operations Center (DIMOC), both operated by the
Department of Defense, are shortened to ‘DOD’. Some contemporary
pictures of current and preserved historical US Air Force aircraft were
supplied by friends whose names will be found in the photo credits.
As with all published works, authors often depend on friends for
assistance in reviewing their work. The author would therefore like to
thank both Norman Graf and Peter Shyvers for their valuable input.
Notes to the Reader
1. This book offers a very broad overview of the series production
combat aircraft in operational service with the aviation element of the
US army, which became the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1947.
Not covered are helicopters, unmanned aircraft or any experimental
combat aircraft that did not enter into series production.
2. Aircraft are generally assigned to chapters on the basis of the timing
of their introduction into operational service and not by when they
were authorized (ordered) or their first flight. The chapter heading for
the Second World War reflects the official beginning of the conflict in
September 1939 and not the date of America’s entry into the
worldwide fighting in December 1941.
3. In Chapters 4 and 5 an aircraft’s time in service may include it serving
with the US Air Force Reserve or US Air National Guard. Both
organizations date from the forming of the USAF in 1947.
4. Many of the aircraft that appear in this work had both official names
given at various times in their service careers as well as popular
unofficial nicknames. The author will use the official names of the
aircraft, with some mention of the unofficial nicknames where space
allows. Some nicknames have been applied to more than one aircraft.
The meanings of the nicknames are often self-evident and can apply
to some feature of the aircraft’s construction or handling
characteristics.
5. Sources may differ on many of the details concerning the various
aircraft mentioned in the book, be it the number built, their speed,
range, weight, etc.
6. The quality of some of the pictures is affected by age but such photos
have still been included because of their historical rarity.
Chapter One
The Beginning (1903–1918)
T
he American Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, made their first
sustained powered flight of a biplane (a two-winged aircraft) on 17
December 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. As businessmen,
they saw opportunity in their accomplishment and continued refining the
design of their plane until such time as it could become a marketable
product.
By early 1905 the Wrights were sufficiently confident in their design to
approach the United States government to see if there was any interest
for military use. Much to their dismay, none was expressed and they
gave up after three attempts.
The US army has a change of heart
Things began to look up for the Wrights when President Theodore
Roosevelt received a newspaper clipping on their activities in the spring
of 1907. The president directed the Secretary of War to look into testing
the Wrights’ plane. To oversee this new technology, in 1907 the War
Department established the ‘Aeronautical Division of the US Army Signal
Corps’.
In 1908 the Wrights brought one of their biplanes to Fort Meyers,
Virginia for testing. The trials went well enough, despite a serious
accident that injured Orville Wright and killed a US army officer along for
the ride. Despite this unfortunate event, the Signal Corps was still
convinced that their aircraft had great potential.
In August 1909 the Wrights were awarded a $25,000 contract to build
the US army’s first aircraft. The biplane was delivered later that year and
designated ‘Signal Corps No. 1’. It was more commonly referred to as the
‘Wright Military Flyer’ and was the world’s first dedicated military aircraft.
However, the Signal Corps saw it as an observation plane, not as a
combat aircraft.
US army aviation did not progress much after the acquisition of the
Wright Military Flyer. It took until early 1911 before the American
Congress began to authorize the funding needed to purchase additional
aircraft for the Signal Corps. By the end of 1913, the Signal Corps had
nineteen unarmed biplanes.
War breaks out
The US did not become a participant in the First World War until April
1917. Shortly before the outbreak of the conflict in July 1914, the
Aeronautical Division of the Signal Corps was renamed the ‘Aviation
Section, US Army Signal Corps’.
Desperately short of the trappings of a modern army, whether rifles or
artillery pieces, the US army had little other than bodies to contribute to
the war effort in 1917. The Aviation Section had by this time amassed
approximately 250 aircraft, all unarmed biplanes.
Upon its official entry into the First World War, American Congress
authorized $640 million to fund the development and building of
American aircraft suitable for combat. However, despite its best efforts,
American industry was not up to the task. The Aviation Section would be
forced to employ aircraft supplied by its allies or have modified licence-
built copies of foreign-designed planes constructed in the US.
By the summer of 1917, the Aviation Section name was unofficially
replaced by the title ‘Air Service’. On 20 May 1918 it became the ‘Division
of Military Aeronautics’. This new name lasted for only three days before
another was adopted on 24 May: the ‘Air Service, US Army’. The Signal
Corps was removed from its oversight; the Air Service was now a
separate entity within the US army but not on equal terms with the
infantry, cavalry or artillery.
American-flown fighters
The biplane fighters employed by the Aviation Section during the First
World War were of French and British manufacture. Primarily intended for
the role of air superiority, they would also be employed in a secondary
role as fighter-bombers.