FLYING AMERICAN COMBAT AIRCRAFT OF WWII The Stackpole Military History Series THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR Cavalry Raids of the Civil War Ghost, Thunderbolt, and Wizard Pickett’s Charge Witness to Gettysburg WORLD WAR I Doughboy War WORLD WAR II Armor Battles of the Waffen-SS, 1943–45 Armoured Guardsmen Army of the West Australian Commandos The B-24 in China Backwater War The Battle of Sicily Beyond the Beachhead The Brandenburger Commandos The Brigade Bringing the Thunder Coast Watching in World War II Colossal Cracks A Dangerous Assignment D-Day Deception D-Day to Berlin Destination Normandy Dive Bomber! A Drop Too Many Eagles of the Third Reich Eastern Front Combat Exit Rommel Fist from the Sky Flying American Combat Aircraft of World War II Forging the Thunderbolt Fortress France The German Defeat in the East, 1944–45 German Order of Battle, Vol. 1 German Order of Battle, Vol. 2 German Order of Battle, Vol. 3 The Germans in Normandy Germany’s Panzer Arm in World War II GI Ingenuity Goodwood The Great Ships Grenadiers Hitler’s Nemesis Infantry Aces Iron Arm Iron Knights Kampfgruppe Peiper at the Battle of the Bulge Kursk Luftwaffe Aces Massacre at Tobruk Mechanized Juggernaut or Military Anachronism? Messerschmitts over Sicily Michael Wittmann, Vol. 1 Michael Wittmann, Vol. 2 Mountain Warriors The Nazi Rocketeers On the Canal Operation Mercury Packs On! Panzer Aces Panzer Aces II Panzer Commanders of the Western Front The Panzer Legions Panzers in Normandy Panzers in Winter The Path to Blitzkrieg Penalty Strike Red Star under the Baltic Retreat to the Reich Rommel’s Desert Commanders Rommel’s Desert War Rommel’s Lieutenants The Savage Sky A Soldier in the Cockpit Soviet Blitzkrieg Stalin’s Keys to Victory Surviving Bataan and Beyond T-34 in Action Tank Tactics Tigers in the Mud Triumphant Fox The 12th SS, Vol. 1 The 12th SS, Vol. 2 The War against Rommel’s Supply Lines War in the Aegean Wolfpack Warriors THE COLD WAR / VIETNAM Cyclops in the Jungle Expendable Warriors Flying American Combat Aircraft: The Cold War Here There Are Tigers Land with No Sun Phantom Reflections Street without Joy Through the Valley WARS OF THE MIDDLE EAST Never-Ending Conflict GENERAL MILITARY HISTORY Carriers in Combat Desert Battles Guerrilla Warfare FLYING AMERICAN COMBAT AIRCRAFT OF WWII 1939–45 Edited by Robin Higham STACKPOLE BOOKS Copyright © 2004 by Sunflower University Press Published by STACKPOLE BOOKS 5067 Ritter Road Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 www.stackpolebooks.com All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Stackpole Books. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 FIRST EDITION Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Flying American combat aircraft of WWII: 1939–45 / edited by Robin Higham.— 1st ed. p. cm.—(Stackpole Military history series) Articles taken from volumes of Flying combat aircraft of the USAAF-USAF. Includes index. ISBN 0-8117-3124-3 1. Airplanes, Military—United States—History—20th century. 2. World War, 1939–1945—Aerial operations, American. 3. Air pilots, Military—United States—Biography. 4. World War, 1939–1945— Personal narratives, American. I. Higham, Robin D. S. II. Flying combat aircraft of the USAAF-USAF. III. Series. UG1243 .F53 2004 940.54'4973'0922—dc22 2003023081 ISBN 978-0-8117-3124-9 eISBN: 9780811746083 Table of Contents Preface vii Introduction Robin Higham and Charles ix D. Bright The Forty, The Spit, and The Jug John A. C. Andrews 1 B-17 Flying Fortress James V. Edmundson 17 B-25 Mitchell Keith R. Matzinger 31 P-26 Peashooter Ross G. Hoyt 39 Flying the North American O-47 and theRick Glasebrook 47 Curtiss-Wright O-52 P-38 Lightning Royal D. Frey 61 The Vultee BT-13A Al Strunk with Robin 75 Higham B-24 Liberator Carl H. Fritsche 87 The P-39 Airacobra in Europe James J. Hudson 105 The B-18—A Reminiscence Winton R. Close 117 C-54 Skymaster John F. Ohlinger 125 P-51 Mustang John A. De Vries 135 P-47 Thunderbolt Mark E. Bradley with 147 Helen Porter CG-4A Glider Arthur J. Thomas 167 The P-40 Bruce K. Holloway 183 B-26 Marauder Douglas C. Conley 197 The Flying Fortress and the Liberator Ira C. Eaker 207 The XP-40 Mark E. Bradley 213 The AT-6 Wayne S. Cole 225 B-25 Mitchell Arthur J. Thomas 233 C-47 Dakota Robin Higham 241 The Martin Bomber B-10, B-12, B-10B Edward W. Virgin 251 P-39 Airacobra Richard D. Kent 259 South Atlantic Express Winton R. Close 267 P-40 Kittyhawk Donald M. Marks 279 B-26 Invader William Carigan 289 C-46 Commando William S. Woznek 301 Spitfire VIII vs P-51 Mustang Charles M. McCorkle 309