Markus
Banned
This is the true story of one of the most unusual and outstanding fighter planes of WW2. The Brewster Buffalo. But let´s start from the beginning:
1932: The Brewster Aeronautical Corporation is formed. The company build aircraft parts for the big manufacturers
1935: The USN accepts a Brewster design for a monoplane dive bomber,
1936: Brewster and Grumman make bids for the Navy´s new fighter
1937: Brewster’s fighter prototype flies in December. Production of the SBN will be done in the Naval Aircraft Factory as Brewster lacks the capability to produce the 30(!) planes the USN orders.
1938:
March: Brewster´s, Grumman´s and Sewersky´s prototypes are tested
June: The USN orders 54 Buffalos, Navy designation F2A-1
August: Brewster looks for partners. Brewster knows it lacks the capability to manufacture the fighters, while Consolidated Aircraft does not have a fighter on offer. Thus both companies merge. Production of aircraft parts remains in NYC, while Brewster’s successful design team and [edit] fighter production is moved to Buffalo(NY),
1939:
May: Delivery of the F2A-1 begins. The USN is not amused about the late delivery.
August – December: The UK, Poland, Finland and Belgium order almost 500 Buffalos
1940:
February: VF-3 on USS Saratoga is fully equipped with F2A-1 and almost immediately begins to suffer landing gear malufunctions.
March: Production of the F2A-2 starts
April: VF-3 gets it´s first F2A-3 and continues to experience landing gear troubles. BruCon´s engineers take notice and action!
December: BruCon send mod-kits for the landing gear to the USN. After the installation no more landing gear failures occur.
1941:
January: The USN orders 108 F2A-3 with self sealing fuel tanks. BruCo engineers conclude the two main 80 gallon tanks are too closely integrated into the wing structure that they are de facto unprotetable. They suggest the following stop gap measures; closing off one 80 gallon tank in a combat area, the installation of three smaller protected tanks with 80 gallons of fuel and a CO2 purging system for the remaining 80 gallon tank. USN officials appreciate the high quality of BruCon´s workmanship and especially the quick problem fixing, but they are sceptical about a total re-design of the wing structure. Until BruConn engineers tell them the fuel capacity after the re-design might be as high as 200 gallons if all five tanks are retained. At that point the USN officials almost start to drool and tell BruCon to go ahead ASAP.
May: the XF4F-4 with a folding wing is tested
June: the USN changes the specs for the F2A-4, they want the plane to have a folding wing. Since that folding mechanism sits roughly where the main fuel tanks are BruCon has to go back to square one. The engineers go to work, but not before requesting a large number of photos of the naval officers in charge of the Buffalo program. The pictures are immediately used for dart practice and other forms of aggression relief by BruCon engineers.
December 7th: The F2A-4 is not yet ready. Given the rather limited looses of naval fighters the USN does not want the production to start until all tanks are protected.
1942:
mid-January: In light of the massive setbacks in SEA the USN orders the production of the Buffalo to resume immediately. The F2A-3.5 as wiseasses call her, is basically an A-3 with the more reliable P&W-engine and it´s superior two stage supercharger, while still having the unsatisfactory fuel tank protection of the A-3. About 50 are send to units in the continental USA to free Wildcats for combat. The remaining 70 are send to Australia as Lend&Lease.
Mid-February: the first F2A-4 rolls off the production line. Due to the protective measures, the re-desinged wing and the wing folding mechanism the two main fuel tank´s capacity has dropped form 160 gallons to 100. Thus total internal fuel is 180 gallons – 36 more than a Wildcat has. The USN is still pleased.
March: The first A-3.5 fighters arrive in Australia. RAAF pilots could hardly be happier to exchange their Wirraways for a real warplane.
May: BruCon get an order for 1,000 de-navalized(=lighter) Buffalos. Internal fuel capacity of the fixed wing fighter is 200 gallons.
June: after the Battle of Midway a surviving VMF-221 pilot says: “It is my belief that any commander that orders pilots out for combat in an F2A-3 should consider the pilot as lost before leaving the ground.” RAAF pilots acidly reply: “Anybody who enters a dogfight with a Zero should be considered insane!”
July: Delivery of the P-45A to the USAAF starts. 5th AF has been utterly disappointed at the inability of the P-39 and P-40 to intercept high flxying Japanese bombers and equally impressed by the good performance of the F2A-3.5
September: The first P-45A arrive in Australia. It becomes a standing joke that a koala bear could out climb a fully loaded P-45, but the fighter get´s good ratings. The lower speed is not appreciated, the good performance over 15,000 get´s nothing but praise, firepower and protection are good, the almost bubbly canopy deeply impresses P-40 pilots, just like the excellent range(authors note: a P-40 with 161 gallons of internal fuel and a 75g drop tank had a combat radius of 300 miles, an OTL F2A-3 got 350miles with 160 gallons internal fuel only). Furthermore the P-45 still being a navy fighter needs about a third of a P-40´s take off distance, allowing the Buffalos to operate literally from half finished airfields no Army fighter could possibly use.
This and the fine range wins the still overloaded and underpowered P-45 a lot of admiration.
1943:
March: Grumman start the mass production of the F6F Hellcat
May: Production of Army and Navy Buffalos ends as more advanced fighters enter production, like the F6F, P-47 and BruCon´s F8F. The de-navalized Army version is called P-48. Both planes go by the name “Bison”.
Major technical changes to the TL:
-Brewster merging with a bigger company resulting in well made planes that are delivered on time(with the exception of the first batch) that´s sooner than in OTL.
-quick fix of landing gear failures, that remaind unfixed in OTL
-wing, fuel tank re-design
-change of engine
Please note:
My F2A-3.5 and -4 have the Wildcat´s engine and a two speed, two stage supercharger. An actual F2A-3 had a less advanced 2-speed, 1-stage supercharger. With a normal load it climbed as fast to 10 and 20,000 feet as a P-39(4.5 and 9.2 minutes) But even with 300 pounds extra weight it beat the P-39 to 25,000 feet by 2 minutes(12/14). A typical P-40 needed 12 minute to reach 20,000 feet. I can not provide data for 25,000 feet, becasue the diagramm in my book ends at 17 minutes. By that time an Allison powered P-40 has reached appx. 23,000 feet and the climb rate is pretty flat already.
A Wildcat with unprotected tanks had a fuel capcity of 160 gallons. Self-sealing decreased that by 10% to 144g. I put the decrease for the Buffalo at 37% for the folding wing version(110g) and at 25% for the fixed wing version(120g).
1932: The Brewster Aeronautical Corporation is formed. The company build aircraft parts for the big manufacturers
1935: The USN accepts a Brewster design for a monoplane dive bomber,
1936: Brewster and Grumman make bids for the Navy´s new fighter
1937: Brewster’s fighter prototype flies in December. Production of the SBN will be done in the Naval Aircraft Factory as Brewster lacks the capability to produce the 30(!) planes the USN orders.
1938:
March: Brewster´s, Grumman´s and Sewersky´s prototypes are tested
June: The USN orders 54 Buffalos, Navy designation F2A-1
August: Brewster looks for partners. Brewster knows it lacks the capability to manufacture the fighters, while Consolidated Aircraft does not have a fighter on offer. Thus both companies merge. Production of aircraft parts remains in NYC, while Brewster’s successful design team and [edit] fighter production is moved to Buffalo(NY),
1939:
May: Delivery of the F2A-1 begins. The USN is not amused about the late delivery.
August – December: The UK, Poland, Finland and Belgium order almost 500 Buffalos
1940:
February: VF-3 on USS Saratoga is fully equipped with F2A-1 and almost immediately begins to suffer landing gear malufunctions.
March: Production of the F2A-2 starts
April: VF-3 gets it´s first F2A-3 and continues to experience landing gear troubles. BruCon´s engineers take notice and action!
December: BruCon send mod-kits for the landing gear to the USN. After the installation no more landing gear failures occur.
1941:
January: The USN orders 108 F2A-3 with self sealing fuel tanks. BruCo engineers conclude the two main 80 gallon tanks are too closely integrated into the wing structure that they are de facto unprotetable. They suggest the following stop gap measures; closing off one 80 gallon tank in a combat area, the installation of three smaller protected tanks with 80 gallons of fuel and a CO2 purging system for the remaining 80 gallon tank. USN officials appreciate the high quality of BruCon´s workmanship and especially the quick problem fixing, but they are sceptical about a total re-design of the wing structure. Until BruConn engineers tell them the fuel capacity after the re-design might be as high as 200 gallons if all five tanks are retained. At that point the USN officials almost start to drool and tell BruCon to go ahead ASAP.
May: the XF4F-4 with a folding wing is tested
June: the USN changes the specs for the F2A-4, they want the plane to have a folding wing. Since that folding mechanism sits roughly where the main fuel tanks are BruCon has to go back to square one. The engineers go to work, but not before requesting a large number of photos of the naval officers in charge of the Buffalo program. The pictures are immediately used for dart practice and other forms of aggression relief by BruCon engineers.
December 7th: The F2A-4 is not yet ready. Given the rather limited looses of naval fighters the USN does not want the production to start until all tanks are protected.
1942:
mid-January: In light of the massive setbacks in SEA the USN orders the production of the Buffalo to resume immediately. The F2A-3.5 as wiseasses call her, is basically an A-3 with the more reliable P&W-engine and it´s superior two stage supercharger, while still having the unsatisfactory fuel tank protection of the A-3. About 50 are send to units in the continental USA to free Wildcats for combat. The remaining 70 are send to Australia as Lend&Lease.
Mid-February: the first F2A-4 rolls off the production line. Due to the protective measures, the re-desinged wing and the wing folding mechanism the two main fuel tank´s capacity has dropped form 160 gallons to 100. Thus total internal fuel is 180 gallons – 36 more than a Wildcat has. The USN is still pleased.
March: The first A-3.5 fighters arrive in Australia. RAAF pilots could hardly be happier to exchange their Wirraways for a real warplane.
May: BruCon get an order for 1,000 de-navalized(=lighter) Buffalos. Internal fuel capacity of the fixed wing fighter is 200 gallons.
June: after the Battle of Midway a surviving VMF-221 pilot says: “It is my belief that any commander that orders pilots out for combat in an F2A-3 should consider the pilot as lost before leaving the ground.” RAAF pilots acidly reply: “Anybody who enters a dogfight with a Zero should be considered insane!”
July: Delivery of the P-45A to the USAAF starts. 5th AF has been utterly disappointed at the inability of the P-39 and P-40 to intercept high flxying Japanese bombers and equally impressed by the good performance of the F2A-3.5
September: The first P-45A arrive in Australia. It becomes a standing joke that a koala bear could out climb a fully loaded P-45, but the fighter get´s good ratings. The lower speed is not appreciated, the good performance over 15,000 get´s nothing but praise, firepower and protection are good, the almost bubbly canopy deeply impresses P-40 pilots, just like the excellent range(authors note: a P-40 with 161 gallons of internal fuel and a 75g drop tank had a combat radius of 300 miles, an OTL F2A-3 got 350miles with 160 gallons internal fuel only). Furthermore the P-45 still being a navy fighter needs about a third of a P-40´s take off distance, allowing the Buffalos to operate literally from half finished airfields no Army fighter could possibly use.
This and the fine range wins the still overloaded and underpowered P-45 a lot of admiration.
1943:
March: Grumman start the mass production of the F6F Hellcat
May: Production of Army and Navy Buffalos ends as more advanced fighters enter production, like the F6F, P-47 and BruCon´s F8F. The de-navalized Army version is called P-48. Both planes go by the name “Bison”.
Major technical changes to the TL:
-Brewster merging with a bigger company resulting in well made planes that are delivered on time(with the exception of the first batch) that´s sooner than in OTL.
-quick fix of landing gear failures, that remaind unfixed in OTL
-wing, fuel tank re-design
-change of engine
Please note:
My F2A-3.5 and -4 have the Wildcat´s engine and a two speed, two stage supercharger. An actual F2A-3 had a less advanced 2-speed, 1-stage supercharger. With a normal load it climbed as fast to 10 and 20,000 feet as a P-39(4.5 and 9.2 minutes) But even with 300 pounds extra weight it beat the P-39 to 25,000 feet by 2 minutes(12/14). A typical P-40 needed 12 minute to reach 20,000 feet. I can not provide data for 25,000 feet, becasue the diagramm in my book ends at 17 minutes. By that time an Allison powered P-40 has reached appx. 23,000 feet and the climb rate is pretty flat already.
A Wildcat with unprotected tanks had a fuel capcity of 160 gallons. Self-sealing decreased that by 10% to 144g. I put the decrease for the Buffalo at 37% for the folding wing version(110g) and at 25% for the fixed wing version(120g).
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