[ARC5] [Milsurplus] Brewster F-2

[Kenneth G. Gordon]

On 12 Aug 2016 at 18:33, Glen Zook via ARC5 wrote:

> Against Russian aircraft, the Finns had fantastic results.  Which asks the
> question as to if the tactics, used by United States forces, were inferior or to
> just what the success of the Finns, with the Buffalo, can be attributed.  

A big part of that was that the version the Finns were using was the F-2A1, 
not the later and much heavier ones.  And then they installed 1000 HP 
engines in theirs.

The F-2A1 was noticeably lighter than the later models, even with the 850 
HP engine. When the 1000 HP engine was used, they were an even better 
airplane.

Lastly, the Finn pilots were not only very, very aggressive, but their gunnery 
training and practice included hitting a specific part of an enemy airplane, not 
just the entire plane. One of their better aces routinely fired at a distance of 
50 yards, and often much closer.

Even Pappy Boyington liked the Buffalo (the later model) He said something 
like, "They were easy to fly, and although not particularly fast, you could roll 
or loop one in a phone booth."

Another odd thing I learned today was that the Wright engines had big 
problems with over-heating. The Finn mechanics discovered that if they 
turned one of the piston rings on each piston upside down and reinstalled it, 
the overheating problems were reduced, and reliability of the engines 
improved dramatically.

I would dearly love to know what the reason was for this.

Ken W7EKB