Kill-to-loss ratios in WWII fighters - Buffaloed.

[George K]

Link to video

tl;dw

8 - P-38 Lightning - 7:1 ratio
7 - P-51 Mustang - 11:1 ratio
6 - Vought F4U Corsair - 11:1 ratio
5 - Supermarine Spitfire - 13:1 ratio
4 - Curtis P-40 Warhawk - 18:1 ratio
3 - Grumman F6F Hellcat - 19:1 ratio
2 - Messerschmidt BF 109 - 21:1 ratio
1 - Brewster F2A Buffalo - 26:1 ratio

The "Buffalo?"

In the comments: "The Buffalo had a high success rate due to the Finnish pilots vastly outclassing their Soviet enemies.
In the Pacific, it was the opposite story with allied Buffaloes being massacred by the Japanese who had better aircraft and better trained pilots early in the war."

"The F2 Brewster Buffalo was selected as #1 because it shot down a bunch of Russian aircraft. Yet, it was outclassed by every other aircraft from the Axis air forces like the Japanese Zero. Perhaps the Fins could have taught the other Allied pilots how to fly it."

[Jolly]

Overall, the kill ratio numbers are exaggerated. Two, while the Buffalo was not a horrible aircraft for the time, its best days were in a narrow window in Finland. Elsewhere, not so good. Lastly, well-trained and seasoned pilots make a huge difference, given any two comparable aircraft.

[Jolly]

As the war crept on, and veteran pilots were killed or no longer flying, the U.S. had an advantage. American pilots had more training and cockpit time in flight school than Axis pilots. It showed.

Personally, I feel that it would be a good thing to return to a free pilot training program in American universities. Screen and teach young men who wish to learn, and bring them up to a basic proficiency in a single engine prop plane. If we need to train pilots at a later date, a pool of people will exist who can be brought along much quicker.

[George K]

Glad to hear your input.

I was thinking, speculating, about some of the points you made before you posted. Training and environment are huge factors. The first comment I quoted says, basically that regarding the Buffalo when it comes to those points.

I wonder what the ratio was for the Zero. Notably, no Japanese fighters are listed.

[Jolly]

Early in the war, very good.

But the Americans were learning to fight the Zero pretty early in the war. The Cactus Air Force at Guadalcanal achieved some success with Wildcats and P-400 (export version P-39) at first and got better the more they flew.

They tended to attack from a dive, employed the Thatcher Weave https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thach_Weave
and never tried to engage the Zero in slow or low level combat.