Col. Kearby's 348th Fighter Group - P-47 Thunderbolt's
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- čas přidán 10. 09. 2024
- This video tells the story of Medal of Honor recipient Col. Neel
Kearby and the 348th Fighter Group in World War II. Kearby was "The
personification of the perfect combat leader," said Gen. George
Kenney, Commander of Allied Air Forces and the 5th Air Force. "He was
short and slight, but in the air he was a giant among fighter pilots."
Under Kearby's command, the 348th became one of the most effective
fighter groups in the Southwest Pacific. Museum docent and former
flight surgeon Col. Dave Schall (USAF-ret.) tells how Kearby became
the first P-47 Thunderbolt ace in the Pacific theater, and how he set
a U.S. Army Air Forces record for most victories in a single mission.
Schall also tells how Kearby trained his P-47 pilots to win fights at
low altitudes, even though the plane had been designed to fight at
high altitudes. Following the presentation, you'll see the Museum's
big, fast, tough P-47 taxi out, take off, and fly several low passes
at the Colorado Springs Airport.
Very well done presentation fellas ❤
Nice presentation. A couple of comments: The P-47 was designed at a high altitude Inerceptor, not bomber escort. It was pressed into escort for 8th AF when the original 3 groups were sent to 12th AF/MTO for Torch. It was not designed to install combat tanks for either C/L or wing.
When deployed to ETO and SWP the only external fuel tankage delivered by Republic was the 200gal paper/plastic composite Ferry tank. Further, it did not have the standard centerline B-7 bomb shackle capable of carrying the existing 52, 60, 75 gal drop tank until the P-47D-5/-6. It had a proprietary four point mout system, and not designed to drop in flight.
The 200gal 'Brisbane' steel tank was designed and then built in Australia - and fit the rack system for P-47C/D-2 and D-4. It was far superior to the Republic tank and enabled combat ranges in the 300mi range. Kearby did not fly an hour of combat or military power at 280gal/hr when only 305gal were loaded internally and 40-50gal are required to warm up and take off. Race of Aces by Bruning is a good source for'20min' of combat on Oct 11.
The reason for the P-51in Korea was simple - there were no P-47s in Japan and Far East. Nearly all Nat'l Guard fighters on West Coast were P-51s. RAAF, RNZAF and ROKAF were flying P-51s. The loss rate of he P-51 was just slightly higher per sortie than the R2800 powered F4U;
Once again, I enjoyed your presentation.
Nice presentation! I came here from Greg's Airplanes.
So did I
Me three
Great video. Thanks for the history lesson. What a great airplane.
Oh yeah
I so glad that I shared
The question on what makes an Ace, and who decided the number? That was the French in WWI. The British and Germans both had higher numbers, but it was the French who decided in the end, that 5 was what made an Ace