This book is about 3 of the leading fighters of World War II, the Hawker Hurricane, Lockheed P-38 Lightning and Mitsubishi A6M Zero. Each was revolutionary in its own way, offering new features and new levels of capability for its time.

EXTRACT FROM THE INTRODUCTION 

Welcome to the fourth in our Legends of the Air series, this one dealing with three of the leading fighters of World War II, the Hawker Hurricane, Lockheed P-38 Lightning and Mitsubishi A6M Zero. Each was revolutionary in its own way, offering new features and new levels of capability for its time and each played a crucial role in the air battles of the 1939-45 war.

 

The Hurricane was one of the outstandingly versatile combat aircraft of the war, earning immortality in the summer of 1940 during the Battle of Britain when it and its counterpart, the Supermarine Spitfire, turned back Germany’s Luftwaffe in the skies over Britain. Because it was available in sufficient numbers just it is not unreasonable to suggest that without the Hurricane, the Battle of Britain would have been lost and the course of history changed forever.

 

 

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HAWKER HURRICANE

 

One of the outstandingly versatile combat aircraft of World War 2, the Hurricane earned its immortality in the summer of 1940 during the Battle of Britain when it and the Supermarine Spitfire turned back Germany’s Luftwaffe.

 

Despite being the RAF’s first monoplane and eight gun fighter, the Hurricane was half a generation behind most of its contemporaries in terms of structural and aerodynamic design and was therefore quickly superseded in its original role as an interceptor fighter. From 1941 it began a successful career as a ground attack and anti armour fighter-bomber.

 

In this role, Sydney Camm’s sturdy design served on all fronts, particularly making its mark in North Africa, the Mediterranean and India/Burma. The Hurricane also found useful employment as a night and naval fighter, production continuing until late 1944 by which time about 14,500 had been built in Britain and Canada.

 

Because it was available in sufficient numbers - just it is not unreasonable to suggest that without the Hurricane, the Battle of Britain would have been lost and the course of history changed forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOCKHEED P-38 LIGHTNING

 

Designed by legendary designer Clarence (Kelly) Johnson, the P-38 represented a radical departure for the USAAF, not only due to its then unique twin boom configuration but also because it was the service’s first twin engined single seat fighter, the first with tricycle undercarriage and the first anywhere with engine turbosuperchargers.

 

The P-38’s career got off to an unfortunate start when the prototype crashed only two weeks after its first flight, but by then its main virtues—high speed and long range—had already been demonstrated and interest aroused. These attributes made it ideal for long range escort missions over Europe and in the Pacific campaign and in fact the USAAF’s top two ’aces’ of the war—Majors Richard Bong and Thomas McGuire both scored their victories in the aircraft the Germans called ’The Fork Tailed Devil’.

 

The P-38 remained in production until the end of the war, by which time more than 10,000 had been built in several versions including night fighters and photo reconnaissance variants. Like most successful combat aircraft, the P-38 was versatile and used for a variety of roles during its career.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MITSUBISHI A6M ZERO

 

Japan’s best known combat aircraft of World War 2, the Zero (or ’Zeke’ as it was codenamed by the Allies) was an unexpected shock for its opponents when it first appeared, offering high performance, long range and unmatched manoeuvrability in a light and relatively low powered airframe. To achieve this in a fighter designed for carrier operations was in itself a considerable feat. Early models fought against China in 1940 and subsequently against Allied forces in the Pacific, debuting in that theatre on the raid against Pearl Harbour.

 

The Zero came to be regarded as near invincible by the Japanese and held sway in the Pacific during 1942. After that it became outclassed by new American naval fighters such as the Grumman Hellcat and Vought Corsair and attempts to improve its performance were generally unsuccessful, limited by the relatively low power which could be extracted from its engine. By the time a notably more powerful version was developed it was too late with Japan’s forces in retreat and its industries in ruin.

 

Like many other Japanese combat aircraft, the Zero’s swansong was as a Kamikaze suicide bomber.