| Caption | Wildcat receiving maintenance in the United States, circa 1942-1943 ww2dbase | ||||
| Photographer | Unknown | ||||
| Source | ww2dbaseUnited States National Archives | ||||
| Identification Code | 80-G-K-15611 | ||||
| More on... |
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| Photos at Same Place | United States | ||||
| Added By | C. Peter Chen | ||||
| Licensing | Public Domain. According to the US National Archives, as of 21 Jul 2010: Please contact us regarding any inaccuracies with the above information. Thank you. |
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| Colorized By WW2DB |
Colorized with Adobe Photoshop |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
2. 
Bill says:
19 Jun 2012 04:31:45 PM
FILE PHOTO INFO:
VF-10 (Grim Reapers) activated San Diego, Ca.
June 1942. Assigned to the USS Enterprise (CV-6) and fought during the Battle of Guadalcanal. Later flew Grumman F6F Hellcats
deactivated Nov. 1945
Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat was armed w/6x.50 cal.
machine guns with total ammo load of 1,440 rounds or 240 rpg, this gave the pilot about 20 seconds of firing time.
The F4F-4 had folding wings this gave navy squadrons twenty seven planes per squadron, instead of eighteen planes, on the larger Essex carriers.
SECONDS COUNT: 20 SECONDS WORTH OF AMMO
Some navy pilots had their machine guns bore sighted so those .50 caliber rounds met at the same time, in a concentrated cone of fire, with those 50s hitting the lightly built A6M Zero it was going down.
It all depended upon the shooting skill of the pilot, some had the weapons sighted for 200 yards. Another dog fight tactic was called deflection shooting, fire just ahead of the enemy aircraft, its pilot flying into those .50 caliber slugs.
Bill says:19 Jun 2012 04:31:45 PM
FILE PHOTO INFO:
VF-10 (Grim Reapers) activated San Diego, Ca.
June 1942. Assigned to the USS Enterprise (CV-6) and fought during the Battle of Guadalcanal. Later flew Grumman F6F Hellcats
deactivated Nov. 1945
Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat was armed w/6x.50 cal.
machine guns with total ammo load of 1,440 rounds or 240 rpg, this gave the pilot about 20 seconds of firing time.
The F4F-4 had folding wings this gave navy squadrons twenty seven planes per squadron, instead of eighteen planes, on the larger Essex carriers.
SECONDS COUNT: 20 SECONDS WORTH OF AMMO
Some navy pilots had their machine guns bore sighted so those .50 caliber rounds met at the same time, in a concentrated cone of fire, with those 50s hitting the lightly built A6M Zero it was going down.
It all depended upon the shooting skill of the pilot, some had the weapons sighted for 200 yards. Another dog fight tactic was called deflection shooting, fire just ahead of the enemy aircraft, its pilot flying into those .50 caliber slugs.
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23 May 2008 08:37:07 PM
It looks like they're sighting in the guns.