mh9162013
Well-Known Member
I just finished watching/listening to this informative Youtube video:
I had always wondered why the P-47 wasn't used earlier in the WW 2 ETO as an escort fighter. Conventional wisdom says it was b/c it didn't have the range to do so, but the P-51B/C/D did.
Ok, but the P-47 could use drop tanks, right? Well, I assumed that didn't help because the tanks would only work in theory. What I mean is that once the German planes were spotted, the P-47 pilots would drop their drop tanks even though they were still fairly full of fuel. So this meant the P-47 had to rely on internal fuel to finish the battle and get home. But the P-47 didn't have the internal fuel load and/or fuel efficiency the P-51s had. QED: a P-47 with drop tanks wouldn't work for escort missions. Looks like my assumption was wrong.
After watching that above video, it seems like the simple answer was that the "Bomber Mafia" wanted to save face. Specifically, they could have used P-47 fighter escorts for the B-17s all along. But they chose not to because they felt it wasn't necessary b/c the bombers could fly high and fast enough to handle things on their own. Once the Bomber Mafia realized they were wrong and needed escort fighters, they needed a reason to explain why they waited so long to request them. This "excuse" ended up being the P-51 Mustang's long range ability that only suddenly appeared later in WW 2.
I had always wondered why the P-47 wasn't used earlier in the WW 2 ETO as an escort fighter. Conventional wisdom says it was b/c it didn't have the range to do so, but the P-51B/C/D did.
Ok, but the P-47 could use drop tanks, right? Well, I assumed that didn't help because the tanks would only work in theory. What I mean is that once the German planes were spotted, the P-47 pilots would drop their drop tanks even though they were still fairly full of fuel. So this meant the P-47 had to rely on internal fuel to finish the battle and get home. But the P-47 didn't have the internal fuel load and/or fuel efficiency the P-51s had. QED: a P-47 with drop tanks wouldn't work for escort missions. Looks like my assumption was wrong.
After watching that above video, it seems like the simple answer was that the "Bomber Mafia" wanted to save face. Specifically, they could have used P-47 fighter escorts for the B-17s all along. But they chose not to because they felt it wasn't necessary b/c the bombers could fly high and fast enough to handle things on their own. Once the Bomber Mafia realized they were wrong and needed escort fighters, they needed a reason to explain why they waited so long to request them. This "excuse" ended up being the P-51 Mustang's long range ability that only suddenly appeared later in WW 2.
