Aircraft and Vehicle Update #4

[Arlo]

But we can limit weapon options to show earlier variants back to 1936 for the Spanish Civil war.

 

[Karnak]

May was the first flight for it, but I would look for a service entry date or a date of first action.  Spitfire: The History didn't provide that in detail.  It does support that at least by October they were in active service, though only 50 had been built.

Keep in mind, not that many Seafire Mk II were built, only 200-250 as I recall, before the Seafire Mk III with folding wings came into production, of which more than 1200 were built.

[Arlo]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for everyone's help with recently added planes and vehicles to update our Aircraft and Vehicle Service Dates which SEA and AvA admins use to create our historical setups.  I've added the new aircraft we don't have any service date information. The only caviet we ask is to provide an official source to your information.  Unreferenced service dates cannot be used.   Also, if you know their entry to various theatres as well it would be appreciated.

Aircraft with missing dates are listed below and again thank-you for your assistance.

Aircraft and Vehcile Service Dates
LAST Updated: July 12, 2012

Aircraft
USA
Bomber
B-29 : 5 June 1944 - first combat mission flown from Kharagpur, India to Bangkok. 15 June - first raids on Japan. (Encyclopedia of Aircraft of WWII - General Editor, Paul Eden

Fighter
P-40C:

The initial P-40 order was finally completed with 193 P-40Cs (company designation H81-B). Serials were 41-13328/13520 (c/n 16104/16296). The first flight of a P-40C was made on April 10, 1941.
The P-40C retained the 1150 hp Allison V-1710-33 engine, but was fitted with a new fuel system with 134 gallons in new tanks with improved self sealing. In addition, provisions were made for a 52-gallon drop tank carried below the fuselage. The P-40C had a SCR-247N radio instead of the SCR-283.

These additions produced yet another upward crawl in the weight--the weights for the P-40C were 5812 pounds empty, 7459 pounds gross, and 8058 pounds maximum loaded. Consequently, the performance continued to degrade. Maximum speed was 345 mph at 15,000 feet. Normal and maximum ranges were 730 and 945 miles respectively. Service ceiling was 29,500 feet, and initial climb rate was 2650 feet per minute. Dimensions were wingspan 27 feet 3 1/2 inches, length 31 feet 8 1/2 inches, height 10 feet 7 inches, wing area 236 square feet.

During 1941, a substantial number of P-40Bs and Cs were shipped to USAAC bases overseas, including the 15th and 18th Pursuit Groups at Wheeler Field, Hawaii and the 20th Pursuit Squadron of the 24th Pursuit Group at Clark Field in the Philippines. In addition, a dozen P-40Cs had been delivered to the 18th Pursuit Group's 44th Pursuit Squadron at Bellows Field, Hawaii. Over 60 P-40Cs were destroyed on the ground at Wheeler during the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. Only a few were able to get airborne, and were quickly shot down by Zeros. A few others from Haleiwa airfield and four planes from the 47th Pursuit Group managed to make some attacks on the Japanese formation, claiming 5 kills. However, at the end of the Pearl Harbor attack, only 25 P-40s remained airworthy.

A similar scenario took place in he Philippines, where many P-40s were destroyed on the ground.

The export equivalent of the P-40C was the Tomahawk IIB (Model H81-A2). A total of 930 were built. RAF serials were AH991/999 (all to USSR), AK100/570 (36 to China), AM370/519 (64 to China), and AN218/517.

23 of these Tomahawk IIBs went to the USSR, and unspecified numbers went to Turkey and Egypt. The rest were used extensively by the RAF and South African Air Force in the North African theatre.

Sources:

War Planes of the Second World War, Fighters, Volume Four, William Green, Doubleday, 1964.

The American Fighter, Enzo Anguluci and Peter Bowers, Orion Books, 1987.

United States Military Aircraft since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989.

Curtiss Aircraft, 1907-1947, Peter M. Bowers, Naval Institute Press, 1979. http://www.p40warhawk.com/Variants/P-40C.htm

Britain
Fighter

Sea Hurricane MkI: "The type first took off from a carrier during the height of the Norwegian Campaign in May, 1940 ..." Encyclopedia of Aircraft of World War II pg. 236 - General Editor Paul Eden

Seafire MkII: "The first Seafires entered service in June 1942 ..." "It was the Seafire F Mk IIC that bore the brunt of early encounters with Axis aircraft [for the British Navy] ...' Encyclopedia of Aircraft of World War II pg. 477 General Editor Paul Eden


Germany
Bomber

He-111H: "By the beginning of the Battle of Britiain the He 111H had almost entirely replaced the He 111P" - Encyclopedia of Aircraft of World War II pg. 248 - General Editor Paul Eden "A count on 2 September 1939 revealed that the Luftwaffe had a total of 787 He 111s in service, with 705 combat ready, including 400 H-1 and H-2s that had been produced in a mere four months." - Dressel and Griehl 1994, p. 36. [via Wikipedia]

Vehicle
Panzer IV F: "In April 1941 production of the Panzer IV Ausf. F started. It featured 50 mm (1.97 in) single-plate armor on the turret and hull, as opposed to the appliqué armor added to the Ausf. E,[17] and a further increase in side armor to 30 mm (1.18 in).[19] The weight of the vehicle was now 22.3 tonnes (24.6 short tons), which required a corresponding modification of track width from 380 to 400 mm (14.96 to 15.75 in) to reduce ground pressure. The wider tracks also facilitated the fitting of ice sprags, and the rear idler wheel and front sprocket were modified.[20] The designation Ausf. F was changed in the meantime to Ausf. F1, after the distinct new model, the Ausf. F2, appeared. A total of 464 Ausf. F (later F1) tanks were produced from April 1941 to March 1942,[citation needed] of which 25 were converted to the F2 on the production line." - Perrett (1999), p. 6 [17], Caballero & Molina (2006), p. 31 [19], Spielberger (1972), p. 71 [20] (via Wikipedia)

Japan
Fighter

Ki-43-II: "The Ki-43 was the most widely-used Army fighter, and equipped 30 sentai (groups) and 12 chutais (independent squadrons). The first version, Ki-43-I, entered service in 1941, the Ki-43-II in December 1942, the Ki-43-II-Kai in June 1943, and the Ki-43-IIIa in summer 1944. The aircraft fought in China, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, New Guinea, the Philippines, South Pacific islands and the Japanese home islands.[5]" - Glancey 2006, p. 173 (via Wikipedia)

[BaldEagl]

I wish for world peace.



Except in AH.

[Arlo]

More ....

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_P-40_development.html

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_B-29_units.html

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_he111H.html

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_nakajima_ki-43.html

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_panzer_IV_ausf_F.html

[Mister Fork]

Awesome Arlo - thanks for the info and references. Karnak - thanks for clarifying the Seafire.

 I'll post the updated A&V S.Date list soon.