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Flight testing the Brewster Buffalo II

Mr. Gibson adds tuppence ("just my 2d")

[That one-piece wing:] There are practically no cranes, hoists, or other equipment in any of the air stations . . . that can lift an object of greater height than 10 feet or of greater weight than 4000 pounds. Changing a wing such as the Brewster necessarily becomes a lengthy . . . perilous and unwieldy process.

[Should have duplicate cables:] There are bullets in this war, and the more area occupied by any part, the greater is the possibility that it will be hit.

[More guns:] Mr. Churchill's statement is the sentiment of all pilots. Two .50's and two .30s are entirely inadequate, and even four .50's unless close together are not wanted.

[Armor:] No matter how much training you give a pilot, or how alert he is, time after time, the first notice the pilot gets of an attack is bullets splattering around him, hence armor plating is very essential.

[Flap lever:] Mr. Churchill was somewhat vituperative on this particular item, since one of his new pilots had accidentally put his flaps up when starting to land, due to overslipping the slot. The last memory of the pilot was becoming excited due to oil coming over his feet. While landing on the small airport provided, in a no-wind condition, he floated too far, and would up in the hospital with a broken skull, after hitting a gun emplacement.

Since the Brewster cannot be used on [British] carriers, due to the fact that the wing span is about a foot too long for the elevators, and the consensus of opinion is that it is not to be used as a fighter [in Europe], Mr. Churchill suggested that it be used in the Near East.

It might not be a bad idea if the Army and Navy send a group of good mechanics over here to help out in the various places where work is being done on American aircraft. Frankly these people don't know what the hell the score is, and they are too hard up to pay for anyone coming.

The gang working on Brewsters, four [refugee] men, spoke French, I guess, and the boss of the shop spoke about 20 words in English. Their clothes were clean, but an American hobo would turn up his nose otherwise. It was cold, muddy, and drizzly, and those men were cold. They hadn't eaten for a couple days because the cops could not figure out whether they were aliens and thus did nor did not deserve ration cards.

Brewster v. Hurricane

Pilot's Cockpit - The pilot's cockpit is roomy and comfortable and well laid out, and the design of the hood gives an exceedingly good field of view, especially to the sides and rear. The type of hood itself is to be recommended in that it is very strongly built and operates on robust runners. It is difficult to close at high speed but opens easily at all speeds. The arrangement for raising and lowering the pilot's seat is bad; it is exceedingly difficult to raise when flying.

Trimming Tabs - The aircraft is supplied with elevator, rudder and aileron trimming tabs operated from the cockpit. These are very effective although rather sensitive and contribute materially to the ease of the control of the aircraft.

Field of View - For a single-seater single-engined fighter, the pilot's field of view is exceedingly good all around. For taxying, take-o9ff and landing the nose rather obscures the view directly ahead. The view to the rear is far superior to the Spitfire or Hurricane.

Take-off and Landing - The aircraft has a good take- off, being better than a Hurricane, with a slight tendency to swing to the left. . . . For landing, it has a flat approach, and to approach with comfort a little engine is required. It has a comparatively fast approach but pulls up very quickly once having touched down. The actual touch down is simple. The brakes, which are pedal operated, are very efficient both for taxying and landing.

Climb and Dive - The climb to 15,000 feet is better than that of the Hurricane, and the aircraft easily out-dives the Hurricane.

Comparative Speed in Level Flight - [The fighters were flown at the rated heights for the two-speed supercharger on the Brewster's Cyclone engine.] At 6,000 feet the Brewster was approximately 15 m.p.h. faster than the Hurricane; while at 14,700 feet the speeds were practically identical. [If similarly equipped,] the Brewster's speed at 6,000 feet would be approximately the same as the Hurricane, whereas at 14,700 feet it would be approximately 12 miles slower.

Maneuverability - In the air the Brewster Fighter is very maneuverable, its aileron and elevator controls being positive and lighter than the Hurricane or Spitfire at all speeds. The rudder is definitively heavy, but only a little movement is required for full control. It can easily turn inside the Hurricane.

Steadiness of aircraft as gun platform - Although the guns were not fitted, it is the opinion of all pilots who flew the aircraft that it should be a steady gun platform.

As a night fighter

View - This is poor when taxying and in the air it is spoilt by the windscreen frame and edge of the bullet proof screen, particularly on the approach. No clear view panel is provided but this is not necessary with the sliding hood.

Exhaust Flames - These were very bad and some form of flame damper is essential for night flying. From the ground the flames confused the identification lights even with reduced throttle. In the air, they reflect unpleasantly from the airscrew [propeller] disc on the approach to land.

Cockpit illumination and layout - The concealed type of instrument lighting is good and the dimming excellent. All controls and instruments can easily be seen except the A.S.I., of which only the high speed range can be easily read. There are, however, too many lighting controls, which are badly labelled. There are no reflections from the windscreen. The signalling and navigation light switches are accessible and easy to operate.

External lights - There is no external reflection from the identification lights or headlight. The navigation lights can be set bright or dim, and there are separate switches for the wing and tail lights.

The headlight is situated beneath the port wing and is retractable. It lights only when fully extended. The movement and lighting of the lamp are both controlled by a large switch to the right of the pilot which has a mid-position by which the movement can be stopped at any position. This enables it to be used as an "on-off" switch when taxying. The beam itself is poorly adjusted and does not illuminate far enough forward.

(These reports are continued from Flight Testing the Buffalo I. Also see Eric Brown's opinion on the Buffalo)