Saturday, December 5, 2009

Why were radial engined planes more popular in the Pacific Theater?

Why were the Corsair, Wildcat, and Hellcat all used extensively in the Pacific but not in Europe? Same goes for P-51 mostly in Europe but not very much so in the Pacific? Can radials tolerate the weather better (salt water conditions), is it a performance issue (both aerial and carrier)?



Why were radial engined planes more popular in the Pacific Theater?opera music



P38 Lighting, P39 Aircobra, P40 Warhawk, P51 Mustang and the P61 Black Widow were all used in the Pacific as well as being used in Europe.



Radial engines were in fact preferred by the U.S. Navy however it would seem that it may have been a ship bound storage and work space issue more that anything else.



Why were radial engined planes more popular in the Pacific Theater?opera sheet music opera theater



Its an evolution thing. Think, what came after the radial engines. I was shipboard in 1960 when we were transitioning from radials to jets. Do you know how big the radials were, 18 cylinders. The pacific theater didn't have huge radials like we did.
It's more a service thing than an engine thing. The Army Air Corps was primarily in Europe, and they used the P-47 and P-51. The Navy and Marine Corps were primarily in the Pacific, and they used the F4U, F4F and F6F.

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