bobbrunn wrote:
I think the Corsair and the Hellcat would have needed turbo superchargers to deal with the regular demands of escort altitude if you are talking missions with the 8th AF. Of course that would not have been as big a deal in 9thAF fighter bomber type missions.
Why do you think that? The F6F and F4U had two-stage superchargers that gave both aircraft a service ceiling of around 37,000 feet in the F4U-1 and the F6F-5, and over 41,000 feet in the F4U-4 and F4U-5. The R2800 was more than capable of extended high altitude flight as was demonstrated by the WWII C-46 and the post war T-29/C-131 and C-118, all of which used the R2800 and regularly flew at altitudes similar to the B-17s and B-24s.
Both aircraft escorted B-17s and B-24s in the Pacific, so why would it be a stretch to believe they couldn't do the same in Europe? The only real drawback the aircraft had over the AAF fighters was range. The Corsair only had a range of around 1100 miles even with a centerline tank, while the P-51D could make well over 1600 miles. Even the later F4U-4 couldn't get more range even with it's twin drop tank capability because they removed the wing tanks.
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