Was it easier for fighters to find each other in the Pacific
Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:06 pm
I'm not sure how to phrase this in a way that makes sense, but here goes:
It seems as if the air war in Europe was so much more spread out that it made it moredifficult for pilots to find targets. Unless there was a particular battle going on, such as the Battle Of Britain, piots seem to have spent more time patrolling in the hope of catching the enemy than their pacific counterparts. The Pcific pilots were pretty much eitehr carrier based and therefore limited to ranging around their mbile base, or concerntrated around an island or archepelago, which meant the routs to and from a target site were limited. This woudl allow fighters to conduct smaller sweeps and have a better chance of finding prey.
Abviously this "hypothesis" doesn't hold much water in many cases and for many reasons--even during the BoB British piots were guided to targets by radar, because the Germans had plenty of choices as to how they were going to get to their own targets. In Russia, the germans didn't seem to have troouble finding prey either (target rich environment spread out over a hugs map, but limited roadways forced the Russians to guard them more and thus drew more German fighters.
But it seems as if Pacific pilots stood a better chance of actually making contact with the enemy, if only because all te aircraft had to more or less stay within range of an idland landing field or hop between them if they had the range to get there.
Am I mistaken? Did this matter at all?
It seems as if the air war in Europe was so much more spread out that it made it moredifficult for pilots to find targets. Unless there was a particular battle going on, such as the Battle Of Britain, piots seem to have spent more time patrolling in the hope of catching the enemy than their pacific counterparts. The Pcific pilots were pretty much eitehr carrier based and therefore limited to ranging around their mbile base, or concerntrated around an island or archepelago, which meant the routs to and from a target site were limited. This woudl allow fighters to conduct smaller sweeps and have a better chance of finding prey.
Abviously this "hypothesis" doesn't hold much water in many cases and for many reasons--even during the BoB British piots were guided to targets by radar, because the Germans had plenty of choices as to how they were going to get to their own targets. In Russia, the germans didn't seem to have troouble finding prey either (target rich environment spread out over a hugs map, but limited roadways forced the Russians to guard them more and thus drew more German fighters.
But it seems as if Pacific pilots stood a better chance of actually making contact with the enemy, if only because all te aircraft had to more or less stay within range of an idland landing field or hop between them if they had the range to get there.
Am I mistaken? Did this matter at all?
??????
Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:29 pm
I don't know about that.
13th AF P-38 were escorting B-24s from the PI to Boreno which was a 11+ hour mission. They also flew missions from Guadalcanal to Rabaul which were 6-7 hour missions. The 318th FG flew P-38s from Saipan to Iwo Jima 8+ hours has were the P-51s escorting B-29s over Japan.
In the ETO units based in France were flying 2-3 or more missions a day.
13th AF P-38 were escorting B-24s from the PI to Boreno which was a 11+ hour mission. They also flew missions from Guadalcanal to Rabaul which were 6-7 hour missions. The 318th FG flew P-38s from Saipan to Iwo Jima 8+ hours has were the P-51s escorting B-29s over Japan.
In the ETO units based in France were flying 2-3 or more missions a day.
Re: ??????
Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:39 pm
Jack Cook wrote:I don't know about that.
13th AF P-38 were escorting B-24s from the PI to Boreno which was a 11+ hour mission. They also flew missions from Guadalcanal to Rabaul which were 6-7 hour missions. The 318th FG flew P-38s from Saipan to Iwo Jima 8+ hours has were the P-51s escorting B-29s over Japan.
In the ETO units based in France were flying 2-3 or more missions a day.
Well FINE. Bust my theory all to heck then
I guess Pacific theatre I was thinking omre of the fact that on each mission, because you had to stay in a pretty confined area for fuel and navigation reasons, each mission had a higher probability of finding someone to shoot at...Not so?
Finding each other
Fri Jul 18, 2008 10:46 pm
You've got it all wrong. You couldn't throw a rock without hitting a chow hall in the ETO. As long as a pilot has a place to sit and tell war stories, he'll find another pilot. Then, they'll have to go out and try to prove what they were bullS#(tting over, and they'd find the enemy, who of course was closer to the front lines and was just trying to defend HIS chow hall.
All the Japanese chow halls were empty because we had bombed them and they were out in the swamps chasing monkeys and digging up roots to eat. So they were harder to find. Just remember, the #10 can and K-rations were what shortened the war and ended it sooner in the ETO.
All the Japanese chow halls were empty because we had bombed them and they were out in the swamps chasing monkeys and digging up roots to eat. So they were harder to find. Just remember, the #10 can and K-rations were what shortened the war and ended it sooner in the ETO.