The year is 1942 and the US is in dire straits against the Imperial Japanese military. June 7^th and all bets are on the table. Only two American carrier groups will face off against 4 Imperial Japanese carriers, all of which were the platforms used against Pearl Harbor just 7 months earlier. The US Naval air group is not only outnumbered in terms of aircraft, but the Japanese are poised to land troops on the Island of Midway should the sea battle end badly for the US. As far as air defenses the US has only the much-maligned Brewster Buffalo fighter and several F-4 Wildcat fighters who are totally out matched by the incoming Zero AGM fighters spearheading the bombers to wreck the US Marine outpost. Although two waves are planned, only one wave will be launched as confusion over where attacking US air squadrons are discovered to be from as US carriers are hiding northeast of Midway that the Japanese have been surprised by.

In the brief air battle over Midway, in the hands of US pilots, the Brewster Buffalo is not as nimble as the Japanese Zero and not armed well enough! The aircraft along with several others perform so badly that they are taken out of frontline service and relegated as trainers for cadets to put in flight hours with. Due to their heavy losses. Along with the Brewster Buffalo are two other obsolete aircraft considered to be failures due to heavy losses and failing to score hits on the Japanese. Those are the US marine Corps Vindicators and the US Navy TBD Devastators who were deemed ineffective.

Yet, Brewster Aircraft Company finds new customers anyway with the Lend Lease Program sending the Buffalos to Russia and Finland. Amazingly, the underestimated Brewster Buffalo scores a 26 to 1 kill ratio over its German counterparts! The best kill ratio of any Allied aircraft of the war in the Finnish Air Force! At low altitudes the Brewster Buffalo proves deadly as a fighter as well as a ground attack machine! With altered armament, the much-denigrated fighter according to American pilots, also becomes a great tank buster!

The Bell Aircraft Company sold many P-39 Air Cobras to the US Army Air Corps and US Navy. The unusual mid-engine was thought to have been an advanced design, but according to US pilot evaluation in air-to-air combat it was disappointing. With a kill ratio of 1 to 1.43 this was unacceptable. As a result, the P-39 was taken out of the fighter role and became a bomber and ground attack aircraft. Russia under the Lend Lease Act received many P-39’s and were grateful to have the Air Cobras as they went into front line service as fighters and into the ground attack role. Although there are no reliable figures on the kill ratio due to them serving in so many units and records having been destroyed, the Russians were very pleased with the P-39’s performance!

Another major aircraft in the Allied inventory that was overlooked by US forces was the P-36 Hawk. This was the predecessor to the legendary P-40 Warhawk, P-40 Tomahawk, and the Kitty Hawk, all fighter aircraft serving with the US as the Flying Tigers, and for the British in North Africa and over the British channel and Europe. Chuck Yeager, the WWII fighter pilot ace and the legendary test pilot who was the first man to break the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 learned to fly in the P-36 and said you had to be careful in that plane as a number of his buddies “Plowed the Farm” (Crashed) in them. Yet, for the French and all other European countries who used the P-36 Hawk they were very impressed with its kill ratio against the German Luftwaffe!

The Curtis built P-36 Model 75 Hawk shot down 230 German war planes for the loss of just 29! A kill ratio of 8 to 1, as France found the warplane very effective but it could not overcome Germany’s blitzkrieg and P-36’s captured by the Germans were redesignated Luftwaffe fighters. Once again, an aircraft considered obsolete and overmatched excelled in the right hands, and so did the Curtis manufactured P-36 Hawk.

One must remember that in the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, that the only fighter aircraft to get off a runway and pursue the Japanese Imperial strike force were the P-36 Hawks, not P-40’s, not F-4 Wildcats, but the Hawk! P-36 pilots were credited with shooting down two Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 Zeros and one Aichi D3A Val. Two of those pilots from the Army Air Corps, George Welch and Kenneth Taylor received the Distinguished Service Cross for their enemy kills on that fateful day. Sometimes the under dog wins! 

https://youtu.be/UwE3yIALEaI?si=b_XGcSlqC0FewrJi

SBU2 Vindicator heavy losses at Midway

Although advanced for it's time, rapid development proved the Devastator too slow against the latest fighters.