The Grumman F4F was the primary fighter plane of the Navy and Marine Corps for the first year and a half of world war II. It was originally a biplane design that was redesigned because of its inferiority to monoplanes. Some of the planes produced, were purchased by the British Navy and renamed Marlet Is. They were put into service in 1940 but the folding wing version didn't enter service until early 1942. The plane carried 4 Browning 50 caliber machine guns and a large supply of ammunition. The strange thing was that the lighter version of the plane was replaced with a heavier, less nimble version because the heavy model was the one with the folding wings. We sacrificed agility for numbers in this case because more planes were able to be jammed onto the carriers.

Photo Source: US Navy

The Brewster F2A Buffalo Fighter was the first monoplane fighter in the Navy. Because of the superior performance of this plane, the Grumman F4F biplane project was dropped and this is the reason the F4F became a monoplane. The planes entered service in 1939 and the first ones went aboard the USS Saratoga. Out of an initial production run of 50 planes, the navy got only 11 with Finland receiving the rest. The plane in the hands of the Fins was very successful, first against the Soviets and then against the Germans. The plane entered combat only once with the US and showed how inferior it was to the Zero at the battle of Midway. It was armed with 4 50 caliber machine guns and could hit a top speed of 320 mph.

Photo Source: US Navy

The Douglas TBD-1 Devastator Torpedo Plane entered service with the navy in 1937. This plane was the first widely used monoplane in the navy. The navy received 129 of them but by the time world war II started there were less than 100 left in the fleet. After the Battle of Midway only 39 of these planes were left. Forty one of them attacked the Japanese fleet. They got no hits but lost 39 planes. The plane had a 3 man crew. It could carry 1 Mark XIII torpedo or up to 1500 pounds of bombs. It was armed with 2 30 caliber machine guns. One was fixed and fired forward the other was flexible and mounted in the rear. The top speed while carrying a torpedo was 207 mph.

Photo Source: US Navy

The Curtiss Scout Observation Airplane was also known as the Seagull. The plane's mission was to be launched from a battleship. It had folding wings for storage. The plane entered service in 1935. It was replaced on battleships with the Vought OS2U but was kept by the cruisers. Many models were produced of this plane with variations. It lasted until near the end of the war when Curtiss introduced the Curtiss SC which was a high performance plane. The crew consisted of 2 men. It carried 2 30 caliber machine guns, one was fixed in front and the other was flexible and mounted in the rear. Top speed was 162 mph.

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The North American P-51 Mustang. This plane was designed as a long range escort fighter for our bombers. There were no fighters at the time that could travel the length of the whole mission and back to protect the bombers. This plane accomplished the task very well. Not only did it fly the distance, but it was a superior fighter plane. The bomber crews nicknamed the planes "little friends". One model of this plane, the P-51H had 1380 hp which could be pushed to 2,220 in an emergency. Top speed for the fastest model was 487 mph. The later models had 6 50 caliber machine guns, 2 1,000 pound bombs or 10 5 inch rockets. There were about 14,469 produced if you also count the twin mustang model.

Photo Source: US Air Force

Curtiss P40s parked on air strip with a Liberator bomber flying over. The P-40 is descended directly from the P-36. This was America's foremost fighter at the start of the war. It was also used by the RAF. It had 6 fifty caliber machine guns and could carry 700 pounds of bombs. It could fly at a top speed of 363 mph but cruised at only 235 mph. Range was 850 miles and the operational ceiling was about 30,000 feet. Think of some of the planes that we use today and think of their cost. This plane only cost $45,000 as compared to upwards of $50,000,000. That means that today we pay over 1111X as much for some planes. If the average pay was about $35.00 then and it went up by the same amount, the average today would be $39,000 per week, approximately.

Photo Source: US Air Force

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. The nickname for this plane was Jug. The plane first flew in May, 1941 and entered the air force in 1942. It was both an escort fighter and fighter bomber and became so popular that over 15,600 were built. It was a very hardy plane. Some models had 6 50 caliber machine guns while others sported 8. The plane could carry 2,500 pounds of bombs or ten rockets. Maximum speed was 433 mph with a range of over 1,000 miles.

Photo Source: US Air Force.

North American P-82. This was the twin Mustang. This plane was really just 2 P-51s joined together. Because of the added stress on this plane because of its size, most of the parts that were used were different from those of the P-51. As a matter of fact, only about 20% of the parts were the same as the P-51. Not many were built and their extra range never became a factor.

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Lockheed P-38 Lightning. This plane was designed by the famous Clarence Kelly Johnson, the same man that later was in charge of the Lockheed Skunk Works where such famous planes as the SR-71 Blackbird were designed and built. The P-38 not only was armed with 4 50 caliber machine guns but also had a 20mm cannon. The plane was able to sink a ship. It was tested in 1939 and was capable of speeds over 400 mph. This plane was capable of carrying an additional 4,000 pounds of bombs or weapons and over 1,000 gallons of fuel with external tanks. It could reach a ceiling of over 40,000 feet. The planes entered service a month before we entered the war.

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Curtiss C-46. The design of this plane dates back to 1936. Over 3,000 were built and the aircraft was still in service in the 1960s. During the war the planes became famous as transport planes, ferrying supplies everywhere. They could haul 14,000 pounds at a speed of 185 mph with a range of 1,500 miles. They were pretty good on fuel and burned about 140 imperial gallons of fuel per hour.

Photo Source: US Air Force