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Brewster Buffalo

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Brewster F2A Buffalo
300px
Brewster F2A-1 Buffalo of VF-3
Description
Role Single seat carrier-based fighter
Crew One pilot
First flight January 1938
Entered service April 1939
Manufacturer Brewster Aeronautical Corporation
Dimensions
Length 26 ft 7.9 m
Wingspan 35 ft 10.7 m
Height 11 ft 11 in 3.6 m
Wing area ft² m²
Weights
Empty 3785 lb 1717 kg
Loaded lb kg
Maximum takeoff 5040 lb 2286 kg
Capacity
Powerplant
Engines Wright Cyclone R-1820-34
Power 950 hp 708 kW
Performance
Maximum speed 311 mph at 18000 ft 500 km/h at 5500 m
Combat range 1000 miles 1600 km
Ferry range miles km
Service ceiling 33000 ft 10100 m
Rate of climb ft/min m/min
Avionics
Avionics
Armament
Guns 1 x 0.30 cal (7.62 mm) machine gun + 1 x 0.50 cal (12.7 mm) machine gun in the fuselage plus optional 2 x 0.50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns in the wings. In Finnish service: 4 x 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns.
Bombs
Missiles
Rockets
Other
The Brewster Buffalo, or Brewster F2A, was a U.S. fighter plane which saw extensive service with both Allied and Axis air forces during World War II. In spite of an undeserved reputation for poor performance, it was relatively successful in air combat. The F2A was the first monoplane fighter aircraft used by the United States Navy. Brewster fighters saw their longest and most intensive service with the Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force), during 1940-48.

Contents

Origins

The aircraft originated with a U.S. Navy request in 1936 for a new generation of aircraft carrier-based fighters. The requirements included a monoplane configuration, wing flaps, arresting gear, retractable landing gear and an enclosed cockpit. The Brewster Aeronautical Corporation made a proposal, along with Grumman for the F4F Wildcat, and Seversky.

Brewster's XF2A-1 prototype first flew in December 1937. Service testing of the prototype began a month later, and in June the Navy ordered 54 of the F2A-1 production model.

Operational history

Cockpit of a Brewster F2A Buffalo serving as US Navy training aircraft in april 1943.
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Cockpit of a Brewster F2A Buffalo serving as US Navy training aircraft in april 1943.

Of the first deliveries, beginning in June 1939, nine went to Squadron VF-3 on the USS Saratoga (CV-3). The balance of 44 were declared surplus and sold to Finland (where they were successfully employed until 1944). Although it was becoming clear that the F2A was inferior to the latest German fighters, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the Netherlands purchased several hundred of the land-based versions.

An improved version F2A-2, of which 43 were ordered, included a more powerful engine, a better propellor, and integral flotation gear, and was followed by the F2A-3. Unfortunately, the improvements added weight that adversely affected the fighter's performance and caused perennial problems with its landing gear, especially in shipboard service.

Lt. John S. Thach tipped this F2A-1 Buffalo of [VF-3] (BuNo 1393) onto it's nose on Saratoga in March 1940.
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Lt. John S. Thach tipped this F2A-1 Buffalo of [VF-3] (BuNo 1393) onto it's nose on Saratoga in March 1940.

US Marine Corps

The US Marine Corps flew F2As at the Battle of Midway. The grim outcome was the primary source for the myth of the Brewster being one of the worst fighters flown in combat. However, the main reasons for the losses (15 of 25 planes) included the obsolescence of F2A-3, inexperience of USMC pilots, who attempted to enter into a World War I-style dogfight with experienced Japanese Mitsubishi Zero fighters, and the fact that the Buffalos were outnumbered and caught at a tactical disadvantage. The poor performance of the USMC in the aerial battle sparked Hans Wind to write his combat manual on Brewster; he analyzed the air combat, the tactical errors the Americans made, and proposed tactics which the Finnish Brewster pilots were to use when encountering different types of enemy planes. They were later used with remarkale success in 1942-43. Meanwhile, the Battle of Midway marked the end of F2A-3 combat career. The surviving airframes were transported to mainland US as advanced trainers.

Belgium

Just before the war started Belgium needed more modern planes to expand and modernize its airforce. Thus it ordered 40 F2A-2's (which had a factory indication of B-339) with a different engine, the Wright R-1820-G105 with an power output of 1000 hp. The arrestor hook was removed and the plane got a slightly longer tail. Unfortunately only 2 planes reached France during the collapse of Belgium and they were later captured by the Germans. Six planes ended up in Martinique with the French airforce, where they were eventually destroyed. The rest of the order was passed to the UK, where they were considered unfit for duty in western Europe and they were supplied to the commenwealth forces in Asia and the Middle-East

Commonwealth squadrons

The Royal Air Force, liking alliterative names and no doubt being struck by the stocky appearance, dubbed it the Brewster Buffalo. Because of the belief that Buffaloes were outclassed by Messerschmitt Bf 109s, they were sent to RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, and Royal New Zealand Air Force squadrons in Singapore, Malaya, and Burma, shortly before the outbreak of war with Japan.

The Buffaloes supplied to Commonwealth squadrons in Asia proved to be poor in quality, as some had second hand engines, and others had been damaged in shipment. Nevertheless, they claimed a 2:1 kill ratio against Japanese. Three Commonwealth pilots became aces on the Buffalo; the highest scoring of them, Geoff Fisken finished as the highest scoring Commonwealth pilot in the pacific war.

Netherlands East Indies

The Royal Netherlands Air Force had ordered 144 Brewster B-339C and 339-D models, the former with used engines supplied by the Dutch and the latter with new and more powerful engines that Brewster purchased from Wright. Only 71 had arrived in the Netherlands East Indies by the time war began, and not all were in service. Some served briefly at Singapore before being withdrawn for the defense of Java. They were reportedly used as dive bombers against Japanese troopships. Though reinforced by the Commonwealth Buffaloes, retreating from Malaya, the Dutch squadrons were unable to stem or even slow the superiority of Japanese forces at ground level, and they flew their last mission on March 7. Altogether 17 Dutch pilots were killed, 30 Buffaloes were shot down, 15 were destroyed on the ground, and several were lost to misadventure; the Dutch pilots claimed 55 enemy aircraft destroyed. In a major engagement on February 19, 1942 eight Dutch Brewsters intercepted a formation of about 35 Japanese bombers, which had an escort of about 20 Zeroes. The Dutch pilots destroyed 11 Japanese plane and lost four Buffaloes.

Finland

In Finland, the Brewsters enjoyed their highest successes. The planes did not arrive in time to be used in the Winter War, but their impact at the Continuation War was remarkable. The plane was never referred to as the Buffalo in Finland; it was known simply as the Brewster, or sometimes by the nickname Taivaan helmi ("Sky Pearl") or Pohjoisten taivaiden helmi ("Pearl of the Northern Skies"). The 44 Brewsters used by the FAF received the serial numbers BW-351 to BW-394. Other nicknames were Pylly-Valtteri ("Butt-Walter"), Amerikanrauta ("American hardware" or "American car") and Lentävä kaljapullo ("flying beer-bottle"). It appears the workmanship of the Finnish airframes was also better than those produced latter; this was a common phenomenon as the aircraft factories were bloated with unskilled work force after start of WWII.

Brewster XF2A-1 prototype, similar to the F2A-1 sold to the Finnish Air Force
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Brewster XF2A-1 prototype, similar to the F2A-1 sold to the Finnish Air Force

The Brewster was regarded as being very easy to fly and many Finnish pilots commented that it was a "gentleman's plane", while the Messerschmitt Bf 109 (also used by the FAF) was "a killing machine". Brewsters were also popular within the FAF because of their long range and endurance, and their good maintenance record. This was due in part to FAF mechanics, who solved a problem plaguing the Wright Cyclone engine by inverting one of the piston rings in each cylinder, thus decisively enhancing the engine reliability.

In the end, the Brewster gained reputation as one of the most successful fighting aircraft ever flown by the Finnish Air Force. In Finnish service during 1941-1945, the Brewsters were credited with 496 Soviet and German aircraft destroyed, against the loss of nineteen Brewsters: a victory ratio of 26:1. However, the substantiation of this claim on German and Soviet records is so far incomplete, and all claims have not been managed to get connected on actual losses (2006). Only those claims where the planes have been lost outright are easily verified, but tracking those cases where the plane has been damaged beyond repair or the pilot made a forced landing are harder to track.

During the Continuation War, Lentolaivue 24 (Fighter Squadron 24) was equipped with the B-239s until May 1944, when the Brewsters were transferred to Hävittäjälentolaivue 26 (Fighter Squadron 26). Most of the pilots of Lentolaivue 24 were Winter War combat veterans and the squadron achieved total of 459 kills with B-239s, while losing 15 Brewsters in combat. For example, between June 25, 1941 and December 31, 1941, LeLv 24 scored 135 kills with Brewsters at a cost of two pilots and two Brewsters.

The top-scoring Brewster pilot was Hans Wind, with 39 kills in B-239s. Wind scored 26 of his kills while flying BW-393 and Eino Luukkanen scored seven more kills with the same plane. BW-393 is credited with 41 kills in total, possibly making it the fighter aircraft with the greatest number of victories in the history of air warfare.

The top scoring Finnish ace, Ilmari Juutilainen, scored 34 of his 94 and half kills while flying B-239s, including 28 kills with BW-364.

Although the Brewster was clearly obsolete in 1944, could barely hold its own against the Soviet fighters, and most airframes were worn out, LeLv 26 pilots still scored some 35 victories against the Soviets in the summer of 1944. The last aerial victory by a Brewster against the Soviet Union was scored over the Karelian Isthmus on June 17, 1944. After Finland agreed to a truce, it was obliged to turn against its former ally, Germany, and a Brewster pilot, Lt Erik Teromaa (11 kills), claimed a Luftwaffe Stuka on October 3, 1944, during the Lapland War.

There were a lot of other little fixes, changes and improvements to the B-239 that were made locally in Finland during its career. Some of these were the installation of pilot seat armor and replacing the single 0.30 in (7.62 mm) machine gun with a 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine gun. By 1943 all except one Finnish B-239 had four 0.50" machine guns. The wing guns had 400 rounds and fuselage guns 200 rounds each. The 0.30 in (7.62 mm) had 600 rounds. In the spring of 1941, before reflector sights — the Finnish Väisälä T.h.m.40 sights, which were based on the Revi 3c — were installed, metric instruments were installed.

During the war, Finnish designers devised a new aircraft, the Humu based on the Brewster, but made from domestic materials, such as plywood. Only a single prototype was constructed, as the plane was clearly obsolete in 1943 and the deliveries of Messerschmitt Bf 109s had saturated the need of fighters.

The last flight made by the Brewster in Finnish service was on September 14, 1948. Besides the Humu prototype, also the hood and fin (with 41 kills) of BW-393 survive in museum. The plane BW-372 is today in NAS Pensacola aviation museum, restored in Finnish colours.

Survivors

Surviving Brewster aircraft are extremely rare, as their construction quality was generally poor, and most were quickly dispatched to foreign military service. It was long thought that no intact Buffalo remained, but in the Summer of 1998 a Finnish Brewster 239 Buffalo (hull no. BW-372) was discovered in a Russian lake known as Big Kolejärvi, about 50 kilometers from the town of Segezha. This aircraft was identified as one of 44 model 239 Buffalos sold to Finland during the Winter War. On June 25th, 1942 BW-372 was in a formation of eight Buffalos that encountered a mixed squadron of Soviet Hurricanes and MiG-3's. The aircraft was piloted by lieutenant Lauri Pekuri. In the fight 7 Soviet planes were damaged. Lieutenant Pekuri shot down two Hurricane fighters (he had to his credit 18 shot down planes in total - 7 Hurricane in all) but his fighter was hit by heavy cannon fire from a MiG-3 and he was forced to ditch the burning plane in Big Kolejärvi lake. Lieutenant Pekuri survived the crash with minor injuries and managed to walk 20km to the Finnish lines. The aircraft was recovered from the lake in 1998, and after extensive negotiations with Russian offcials it was finally transported to the United States. The Brewster fighter finally reached the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida on August 18, 2004. After discovering the historic nature of the aircraft, plans to restore and display it as a F2A from the Battle of Midway were quickly dispensed with. The museum plans to reassemble the Brewster and display it exactly as it came from the lake in Russia. Damage caused by enemy fire and subsequent crash landing will not be disturbed. As near as possible, it will be fully authentic and original and instantly recognizable as a Finnish Air Force Model 239 Buffalo at a point in time when it made its last flight in hostile skies and settled to the bottom of the lake.

Lauri Pekuri later became the first Finnish pilot to break the sound barrier. He retired from the military in 1968 as a Colonel, and continued working in the aviation industry. Col. Pekuri died on August 3, 1999, one year after his plane was recovered. He was notified of the recovery of BW-372, was shown photographs of the recovered aircraft, and interviewed about its history, though he did not see the airplane before his death.

Variants

Brewster Buffalo F2A-2
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Brewster Buffalo F2A-2

Units using the F2A

US Navy Ordnanceman loads guns of a F2A fighter, 1943.
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US Navy Ordnanceman loads guns of a F2A fighter, 1943.

Finnish Air Force

United States Navy

United States Marine Corps

Royal Air Force

Fleet Air Arm

Royal Australian Air Force

Royal New Zealand Air Force

Netherlands East Indies

Japan

At least one captured Buffalo (possible ex-Netherlands) was repaired and flown, both in Japanese markings, and, (starring in recreated combat footage), in incorrect RAF markings.

References

On Finnish use:

External links

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