Performance wise the Seafire 24 was the best Prop
plane in the Korean War.
Rate of Climb exceeded 5500ft/min, claimed 495mph
top speed.
The Fury was the next best. Some books say it top
speed was 505mph.
Which leads me to what was actual and what was
Advertised.
All the Canadians Military Pilots I talked to
said they loved the plane
but never got above 430mph ever.
Unless in a dive.
So Stated Specs sure seem different then what the
pilots said
thier planes actually did.
Same thing with the A10.. Top speed stated is
450mph.
But the pilots say they have never hit much above
350mph in level flight.
Which leads me to believe the specs on the P51,
F86's, Corsairs and
so forth were possibly bogus
numbers.
Need a little factual help here..
Dan Fahey
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2003 4:58
PM
Subject: Friendly Fire in Korea
Might be interesting, there were two
cases I know of friendly fire on British aircraft in Korea, though
neither had the tragic result on the recent one:
July 28 1950: A Seafire 47 (carrier version of
Spitfire, this model with distinctive counterrotating propellors) of 800 Sq.
from HMS Triumph was shot down by B-29's of the 22nd BG after a routine CAP
interception to identify them. The pilot suffered burns on bailout but was
rescued.
April 10, 1951: a pair of Sea Furies (radial
engine fighters) of
817 Sq from HMS Theseus on an armed recon
mission were jumped by a pair of Corsairs. One was hit in the right wing
fuel tank and set afire, but the fire went out and it made it back to the
carrier with 21 holes. The other pilot said he was able to outturn the
Corsairs and avoid being hit. British accounts say USMC Corsairs from
VMF-312 claimed 2 La-9's in this engagement. In Marine records the
incident is almost completely self censored, there are only vague
references in higher level reports to an unfotunate incident with RN
a/c that day to be avoided in future with better id training. VMF-312 was
not the guilty unit but it's not clear which one was.
Joe