US military airplanes in 1936?

[+Stratos]

I'm planning a fictional intervention of the US in Central America during 1936. Can someone tell me which planes were in use by the

 

USAAC

USN

USM

 

Please? I know USN used some colorful schemes but don't know on which planes.

Thanks

[eraser_tr]

Hrm lets see. The P-35 and P-36 weren't introduced til a year or two later, so for fighters that would leave them primarily with the P-26. A few other odd types were around, but barely saw any use if at all.

 

The P-12 was still used probably, and was used by the navy as the F4B. The navy also used the Curtiss Hawk as the F11C/BF2C and Grumman FF-1 F2F and F3F biplanes.

 

For dive bombers, the Curtiss A-12 and Northrop A-17 were in service with the USAAC. the heavier bomber used would have been the B-10 Bolo.

 

Not exactly the most exciting group of planes.

[Lexx_Luthor]

P-26 and B~10 are two very cool planes, although possibly because I never studied this era much. If I did, I would almost certainly have lesser known planes as my period faves. As it stands now, until I study this era, these two are exciting planes indeed.

 

 

Stratos, I suggest an idea I've always had in the back of my mind: Some kind of intervention in North Africa desert, with other Euro powers involved. This era gives possibility of Zeppelins, as well as some Spanish Civil War stuff. Bf-109B and Ju-86 comes to mind.

[eraser_tr]

 

Stratos, I suggest an idea I've always had in the back of my mind: Some kind of intervention in North Africa desert, with other Euro powers involved. This era gives possibility of Zeppelins, as well as some Spanish Civil War stuff. Bf-109B and Ju-86 comes to mind.

 

When Italy invaded Ethiopia and Hailey Sellasie however its spelled goes to the league of nations and they actually do something.

 

I like between this period and the start of WW2, the 36-40 range, lots of prototypes and designs that were used in WW2, but rarely get seen in flight sims, even as AI only.

[+Wrench]

90% of those aircraft are missing. We're talking about the age of biplanes, with the beginnings of the transitions to monoplanes

 

The USN had fascinating color schemes (chrome yellow wings, NM or doped silver fueselage, fues band, tail surfaces, cowl rings), all done for certain reasons, and all color keyed to:

 

a) ship the air group was attached to

b) flight within the squadron

c) aircraft position within each flight (all based on a 3-plane section, hence squadrons with a 15 or 18 base allotment)

 

The info is readily available, you just have to look for it. My suggestions would be several Squadron/Signal books on the period. If one can find the 1940 movie "Dive Bomber" with Errol Flynn, it's worth watching cause its in Technicolor -very rare for the time.

 

BF2Cs were, iirc, only deployed to only one squadron, and quickly removed from service due to wing failures (the export Hawk III did great in China, however!)

 

The Army, too had some interesting ideas about color. (blue fuselages???)

 

wrench

kevin stein

[+JediMaster]

In the sky, blue wasn't a bad idea if you were above your adversaries.

Anyway, while the Central America idea is interesting, I'd think a fictional US intervention in the Spanish Civil War would be more so. At the time we weren't really friendly with Germany or Russia, which is why we didn't get involved, but if there was some early rapprochement with Russia pre-Barbarossa I could see the US fighting alongside them against the fascists.

[+Stratos]

The idea of a US intervention on the SCW is interesting, but their planes will be a bit outdated on it. What do you think?

[+JediMaster]

US planes were behind the times then, that's the truth. Europe was rearming itself far sooner and Germany made good use of the conflict to refine equipment and tactics. Had the US been involved it's fair to say those lessons would've been applied sooner than they were historically and US planes at the start of WWII would've been better.

 

 

[Capitaine Vengeur]

What about an early war against Japan in 1938 (facing A5M, Ki-27, Ki-21... models existing in Il-2), from the hypothesis of a bilateral non-appeasement policy after the USS Panay Incident in China?

[shotdown]

Hrm lets see. The P-35 and P-36 weren't introduced til a year or two later, so for fighters that would leave them primarily with the P-26. A few other odd types were around, but barely saw any use if at all.

 

The P-12 was still used probably, and was used by the navy as the F4B. The navy also used the Curtiss Hawk as the F11C/BF2C and Grumman FF-1 F2F and F3F biplanes.

 

For dive bombers, the Curtiss A-12 and Northrop A-17 were in service with the USAAC. the heavier bomber used would have been the B-10 Bolo.

 

Not exactly the most exciting group of planes.

 

I thought Bolo was the Douglas B-18 (the bomber DC-3).

Edited July 30, 2010 by shotdown

[shotdown]

I'd think a fictional US intervention in the Spanish Civil War would be more so. At the time we weren't really friendly with Germany or Russia, which is why we didn't get involved, but if there was some early rapprochement with Russia pre-Barbarossa I could see the US fighting alongside them against the fascists.

 

I think the real reason for US to stay away was that Roosevelt was a simpathizer of the spanish government, but supporting them was a very risky move for FDR, since 1936 was a presidential ellection year and by helping an openly anti-catholic government (thousand were killed just for being catholic) would make him lose a lot of support (american catholics were mostly democrat-supporters, so there were a lot of votes to lose). I also think american planes were not as far behind those of other countries as has been said here; remember the german mainn fighter at the beginning of the Spanish civil war was the Heinkel 51, and most countries still used biplane fighters while the USAAC already had the Boeing P-26 monoplane fighter.

Edited July 30, 2010 by shotdown

[Lexx_Luthor]

Some American volunteers flew Polikarpovs, the biplanes and I-16 I think. One or more downed a -109Bertha, the first of many US pilots to down Messers in later years. One was later a Tuskeegee fella, another, ex-NAVY, committed suicide the story goes he was depressed over lack of US support for the Republicans. I forgot the site with all the SCW pilots.

[eraser_tr]

The B-18 may have been a later model Bolo, but the 10 certainly was. I've liked the idea of a WW2 sparked early in both the pacific and Europe. It would have been really interesting to see how some of the US fighters like the P-35 and P-36 would have done had they served more. I remember reading that an American became an ace piloting a P-35 in the phillipines that managed to take down zeroes. It and the P-43 were the direct ancestors of the mighty jug afterall. Similarly read the P-36 was quite maneuverable and gave a good accounting of itself in France as one of their better fighters.

[Shaolin]

The B-18 may have been a later model Bolo, but the 10 certainly was. I've liked the idea of a WW2 sparked early in both the pacific and Europe. It would have been really interesting to see how some of the US fighters like the P-35 and P-36 would have done had they served more. I remember reading that an American became an ace piloting a P-35 in the phillipines that managed to take down zeroes. It and the P-43 were the direct ancestors of the mighty jug afterall. Similarly read the P-36 was quite maneuverable and gave a good accounting of itself in France as one of their better fighters.

 

As far as I know the B-18 was the Bolo, and the replacement for the B-10 (don't know the B-10 name...).

[+JediMaster]

It apparently never got one. There were barely over 100 built in an age when planes were produced by the hundreds if they were successful.

[eraser_tr]

yeah, my mistake, the B-18 was the bolo. I admittedly don't pay nearly as much attention to bombers as fighters.

 

Well if you look at the numbers for any American pre-war plane, they were all in small numbers, even fewer than today's production numbers. We weren't looking for war and stayed out as long as possible at the time.

[shotdown]

Well if you look at the numbers for any American pre-war plane, they were all in small numbers, even fewer than today's production numbers. We weren't looking for war and stayed out as long as possible at the time.

 

 

Also, there were no strategic bombers, so the army air force only needed to think of defending USA from neighbour countries (Canada, Mexico) that lacked air power. More powerful enemies were far away and in case war started they had to deal with a very powerful US Navy