Cassi Creek: long, repetitious, bewildering and difficult to correlate to the
airwars we fight now
WWII Aircraft Facts
No matter how one
looks at it, these are incredible statistics. Aside from the figures on
aircraft, consider this statement from the article: On average 6600 American
service men died per MONTH, during WWII (about 220 a day). Most Americans who
were not adults during WWII have no understanding of the magnitude of it. This
listing of some of the aircraft facts gives a bit of insight to it.
276,000 aircraft manufactured
in the US .
43,000 planes lost overseas, including 23,000 in combat.
14,000 lost in the continental U.S.
The US civilian
population maintained a dedicated effort for four years, many working long
hours seven days per week and often also volunteering for other work. WWII was
the largest human effort in history.
Statistics from Flight
Journal magazine.
THE COST of DOING BUSINESS
—- The staggering cost
of war.
THE PRICE OF VICTORY
(cost of an aircraft in WWII dollars)
B-17 $204,370. P-40
$44,892.
B-24 $215,516. P-47 $85,578.
B-25 $142,194. P-51 $51,572.
B-26 $192,426. C-47 $88,574.
B-29 $605,360. PT-17 $15,052.
P-38 $97,147. AT-6 $22,952.
PLANES A DAY WORLDWIDE
From Germany ‘s
invasion of Poland Sept. 1, 1939 and ending with Japan ‘s surrender Sept. 2,
1945 — 2,433 days. From 1942 onward, America averaged 170 planes lost a day.
How many is a 1,000
planes? B-17 production (12,731) wingtip to wingtip would extend 250 miles.
1,000 B-17s carried 2.5 million gallons of high octane fuel and required 10,000
airmen to fly and fight them.
THE NUMBERS GAME
9.7 billion gallons of gasoline consumed, 1942-1945.
107.8 million hours flown, 1943-1945.
459.7 billion rounds of aircraft ammo fired overseas, 1942-1945.
7.9 million bombs dropped overseas, 1943-1945.
2.3 million combat sorties, 1941-1945 (one sortie = one takeoff).
299,230 aircraft accepted, 1940-1945.
808,471 aircraft engines accepted, 1940-1945.
799,972 propellers accepted, 1940-1945.
WWII MOST-PRODUCED COMBAT AIRCRAFT
Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik 36,183
Yakolev Yak-1,-3,-7, -9 31,000+
Messerschmitt Bf-109 30,480
Focke-Wulf Fw-190 29,001
Supermarine Spitfire/Seafire 20,351
Convair B-24/PB4Y Liberator/Privateer 18,482
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt 15,686
North American P-51 Mustang 15,875
Junkers Ju-88 15,000
Hawker Hurricane 14,533
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk 13,738
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress 12,731
Vought F4U Corsair 12,571
Grumman F6F Hellcat 12,275
Petlyakov Pe-2 11,400
Lockheed P-38 Lightning 10,037
Mitsubishi A6M Zero 10,449
North American B-25 Mitchell 9,984
Lavochkin LaGG-5 9,920
Note: The LaGG-5 was produced with both water-cooled (top) and air-cooled
(bottom) engines.
Grumman TBM Avenger 9,837
Bell P-39 Airacobra 9,584
Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar 5,919
DeHavilland Mosquito 7,780
Avro Lancaster 7,377
Heinkel He-111 6,508
Handley-Page Halifax 6,176
Messerschmitt Bf-110 6,150
Lavochkin LaGG-7 5,753
Boeing B-29 Superfortress 3,970
Short Stirling 2,383
Sources:
Rene Francillon, Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific war; Cajus Bekker, The
Luftwaffe Diaries; Ray Wagner, American Combat Planes; Wikipedia.
According to the AAF
Statistical Digest, in less than four years (December 1941- August 1945), the
US Army Air Forces lost 14,903 pilots, aircrew and assorted personnel plus
13,873 airplanes — inside the continental United States. They were the result
of 52,651 aircraft accidents (6,039 involving fatalities) in 45 months.
Think about those
numbers. They average 1,170 aircraft accidents per month—- nearly 40 a day.
(Less than one accident in four resulted in totaled aircraft, however.)
It gets worse…..
Almost 1,000 Army
planes disappeared en route from the US to foreign climes. But an eye-watering
43,581 aircraft were lost overseas including 22,948 on combat missions (18,418
against the Western Axis) and 20,633 attributed to non-combat causesoverseas.
In a single 376 plane
raid in August 1943, 60 B-17s were shot down. That was a 16 percent loss rate
and meant 600 empty bunks in England . In 1942-43 it was statistically
impossible for bomber crews to complete a 25-mission tour in Europe .
Pacific theatre losses
were far less (4,530 in combat) owing to smaller forces committed. The worst
B-29 mission, against Tokyo on May 25, 1945, cost 26 Superfortresses, 5.6
percent of the 464 dispatched from the Marianas .
On average, 6,600
American servicemen died per month during WWII, about 220 a day. By the end of
the war, over 40,000 airmen were killed in combat theatres and another 18,000
wounded. Some 12,000 missing men were declared dead, including a number
“liberated” by the Soviets but never returned. More than 41,000 were captured,
half of the 5,400 held by the Japanese died in captivity, compared with
one-tenth in German hands. Total combat casualties were pegged at 121,867.
US manpower made up
the deficit. The AAF’s peak strength was reached in 1944 with 2,372,000
personnel, nearly twice the previous year’s figure.
The losses were
huge—but so were production totals. From 1941 through 1945, American industry
delivered more than 276,000 military aircraft. That number was enough not only
for US Army, Navy and Marine Corps, but for allies as diverse as Britain ,
Australia, China and Russia . In fact, from 1943 onward, America produced more
planes than Britain and Russia combined. And more than Germany and Japan
together 1941-45.
However, our enemies
took massive losses. Through much of 1944, the Luftwaffe sustained uncontrolled
hemorrhaging, reaching 25 percent of aircrews and 40 planes a month. And in
late 1944 into 1945, nearly half the pilots in Japanese squadrons had flown
fewer than 200 hours. The disparity of two years before had been completely
reversed.
Experience Level:
Uncle Sam sent many of his sons to war with absolute minimums of training. Some
fighter pilots entered combat in 1942 with less than one hour in their assigned
aircraft.
The 357th Fighter Group (often known as The Yoxford Boys) went to England in
late 1943 having trained on P-39s. The group never saw a Mustang until shortly
before its first combat mission.
A high-time P-51 pilot
had 30 hours in type. Many had fewer than five hours. Some had one hour.
With arrival of new
aircraft, many combat units transitioned in combat. The attitude was, “They all
have a stick and a throttle. Go fly `em.” When the famed 4th Fighter Group
converted from P-47s to P-51s in February 1944, there was no time to stand down
for an orderly transition. The Group commander, Col. Donald Blakeslee, said,
“You can learn to fly `51s on the way to the target.
A future P-47 ace
said, “I was sent to England to die.” He was not alone. Some fighter pilots
tucked their wheels in the well on their first combat mission with one previous
flight in the aircraft. Meanwhile, many bomber crews were still learning their
trade: of Jimmy Doolittle’s 15 pilots on the April 1942 Tokyo raid, only five
had won their wings before 1941. All but one of the 16 copilots were less than
a year out of flight school.
In WWII flying safety
took a back seat to combat. The AAF’s worst accident rate was recorded by the
A-36 Invader version of the P-51: a staggering 274 accidents per 100,000 flying
hours. Next worst were the P-39 at 245, the P-40 at 188, and the P-38 at 139.
All were Allison powered.
Bomber wrecks were
fewer but more expensive. The B-17 and B-24 averaged 30 and 35 accidents per
100,000 flight hours, respectively– a horrific figure considering that from
1980 to 2000 the Air Force’s major mishap rate was less than 2.
The B-29 was even
worse at 40; the world’s most sophisticated, most capable and most expensive
bomber was too urgently needed to stand down for mere safety reasons. The AAF
set a reasonably high standard for B-29 pilots, but the desired figures were
seldom attained.
The original cadre of
the 58th Bomb Wing was to have 400 hours of multi-engine time, but there were
not enough experienced pilots to meet the criterion. Only ten percent had
overseas experience. Conversely, when a $2.1 billion B-2 crashed in 2008, the
Air Force initiated a two-month “safety pause” rather than declare a “stand
down”, let alone grounding.
The B-29 was no better
for maintenance. Though the R3350 was known as a complicated, troublesome
power-plant, no more than half the mechanics had previous experience with the
Duplex Cyclone. But they made it work.
Navigators:
Perhaps the greatest unsung success story of AAF training was Navigators. The
Army graduated some 50,000 during the War. And many had never flown out of
sight of land before leaving “Uncle Sugar” for a war zone. Yet the huge
majority found their way across oceans and continents without getting lost or
running out of fuel — a stirring tribute to the AAF’s educational
establishments.
Cadet To Colonel:
It was possible for a flying cadet at the time of Pearl Harbor to finish the
war with eagles on his shoulders. That was the record of John D. Landers, a
21-year-old Texan, who was commissioned a second lieutenant on December 12,
1941. He joined his combat squadron with 209 hours total flight time, including
2� in P-40s. He finished the war as a full colonel, commanding an 8th Air
Force Group — at age 24.
As the training pipeline filled up, however those low figures became
exceptions.
By early 1944, the average AAF fighter pilot entering combat had logged at
least 450 hours, usually including 250 hours in training. At the same time,
many captains and first lieutenants claimed over 600 hours.
FACT:
At its height in mid-1944, the Army Air Forces had 2.6 million people and
nearly 80,000 aircraft of all types.
Today the US Air Force employs 327,000 active personnel (plus 170,000
civilians) with 5,500+ manned and perhaps 200 unmanned aircraft.
The 2009 figures represent about 12 percent of the manpower and 7 percent of
the airplanes of the WWII peak.
IN SUMMATION:
Whether there will ever be another war like that experienced in 1940-45 is
doubtful, as fighters and bombers have given way to helicopters and
remotely-controlled drones over Afghanistan and Iraq . But within living
memory, men left the earth in 1,000-plane formations and fought major battles
five miles high, leaving a legacy that remains timeless.
Many of us grew up with family members who flew these
missions over Europe and in the PTO.
Most of also had no valid idea how bad were the odds against survival
every time they flew. These were men and
women who never applied the word “hero” to ball players (except Ted Williams).
