Corsair vs. Hellcat

[IdahoNYer]

Even with DBB-C mod, Hellcat seems to underperform. Still seems to do well against the various Zero models, but not as well as I "think" it should, based on its history. But then again, in the actual war, the Hellcat was up against a much depleted pilot pool - poorly trained for the most part. In WiTP, the pilots the Hellcats face in the game are usually equal to their opponents.

Still, Corsair is superior, and its a good day when the -1A appears to be able to get it on CVs! 36 Hellcats with 12 Corsairs is mighty fine mix for US CVs in '44!!

[HansBolter]

36 of each is an even better mix in '45.

[Anachro]

@Big B Does you mod attempt to address the under-powered nature of the Hellcat in stock/DBB-C?

[Big B]

ORIGINAL: Anachro

@Big B Does you mod attempt to address the under-powered nature of the Hellcat in stock/DBB-C?

Yes, it's faster than stock (speeds taken from US Navy performance tests here) and more maneuverable - but still based on the same universal maneuver formulas for all aircraft in the game.

[Saturn V]

In terms of the performance characteristics in-game, below are some figures from the game, if I'm remembering them correctly. These may not quite be the right models for the time period given in the opening post, but hopefully the comparison might still be helpful.

F6F-5 Hellcat
Max. speed: 380 mph
Cruise speed: 200 mph
Ceiling: 37,300 ft
Climb: 2,980 ft/min
Radius: 255 nm
Extended radius: 320 nm
Range: 820 nm
Maneuver rating by altitude band:
below 10,000 ft: 19
10,000–15,000 ft: 19
16,000–20,000 ft: 19
21,000–31,000 ft: 19
above 32,000 ft: 16

F4U-1D Corsair
Max. speed: 425 mph
Cruise speed: 182 mph
Ceiling: 39,300 ft
Climb: 3,120 ft/min
Radius: 220 nm
Extended radius: 275 nm
Range: 705 nm
Maneuver rating by altitude band:
below 10,000 ft: 19
10,000–15,000 ft: 19
16,000–20,000 ft: 19
21,000–31,000 ft: 17
above 32,000 ft: 13

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

Wasn't it primarily deck performance issues that caused the Navy to choose the Hellcat over the Corsair?

The large prop, effecting the angle at which the aircraft sat at on deck, and the far to the rear set cockpit of the Corsair made pilot visibility while maneuvering on deck a challenge.

As I recall, there were three main issues: (1) poor visibility over the nose during carrier landing approaches; (2) too much bounce in the gear upon landing; (3) a propensity to enter a spin when stalling at low speed. All of these issues were eventually rectified and the fighter entered service on USN carriers. (The RN had already been using it successfully aboard its carriers for some time before that.)

[AndrewNguyen1984]

Were there any database updates in the game to try and address the issue and put a better match on the Hellcat's performance. If so, can these be used for the standard databases for the stock scenarios.