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49th Fighter Group
Founded :
Country : US
Fate :
The 49th Fighter Group (FG), still an active combat unit today, first gained a reputation in World War II as a group that claimed many firsts, broke many records and gained much recognition as one of the key elements to many of the pivotal engagements of the war in the Pacific. Flying P-40 Warhawks, P-38 Lightnings and, briefly, P-47 Thunderbolts, the 49th FG entered the war in 1942 from the northern coast of Australia, and then began a steady and inexorable march north, that ended with the 49th FG based on the home islands of Japan itself. The missions flown by pilots of the 49th FG over the course of four years in the Pacific Theatre of Operations included interceptions, bomber escorts, transport escorts, strafing runs, dive-bombing, pursuits, fighter sweeps, long-range hunting and scouting for enemy incursions. Today the group, re-designated as the 49th Fighter Wing, is based at Holloman AFB flying F-22 Raptors. Among the decorations the group received are the Distinguished Unit Citation with three Oak Leaf Clusters, and two Philippines Republic Presidential Unit Citations.
49th Fighter Group
Aces for : 49th Fighter Group | ||
A list of all Aces from our database who are known to have flown with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking the pilots name. | ||
Name | Victories | Info |
Richard I Bong | 40.00 | |
Thomas B McGuire Jr | 38.00 |
49th Fighter Group Aircraft details |
Thunderbolt Built : 15683 | Thunderbolt Alexander Kartveli was a engineer with Seversky Aircraft who designed the P-35, which first flew in 1937. With Republic Aviation Kartveli supervised the development of the P-43 Lancer. Neither of these aircraft were produced in large numbers, and neither was quite successful. However, the Republic Aviation P-47 Thunderbolt, also nicknamed the Jug, was quite a different story. The Jug was the jewel in Kartvelis design crown, and went on to become one of the most produced fighter aircraft of all time with 15,683 being manufactured. The P-47 was the largest and heaviest single seat fighter of WW II. The P-47 immediately demonstrated its excellent combat qualities, including speed, rate of climb, maneuverability, heavy fire power, and the ability to take a lot of punishment. With a wingspan of more than 40 feet and a weight of 19,400 pounds, this large aircraft was designed around the powerful 2000 HP Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine. The first P-47 prototype flew in May of 1941, and the primary variant the P-47D went into service in 1943 with units of the U.S. Armys Eighth Air Force. The Jug had a maximum speed in excess of 400 MPH, a service ceiling in excess of 42,000 feet, and was heavily armed with either six or eight heavy caliber machine guns. With its ability to carry up to a 2,500 pound bomb load, the Jug saw lots of use in ground attack roles. Until the introduction of the N model, the P-47 lacked the long range required for fighter escort missions which were most often relegated to P-51 Mustangs or P-38 Lightnings. In his outstanding painting entitled Bridge Busting Jugs, noted aviation artist Stan Stokes depicts Eighth Air Force Jugs in a ground attack mission in the Alps in June of 1944. The top P-47 ace was Francis Gabreski who had flown with the 56th Fighter Group, the first unit to be equipped with the P-47. In August of 1943 Gabreski attained his first aerial combat victory (over an Fw-190) and by years end he had reached ace status with 8 confirmed victories. As Commander of the 61st Squadron, Gabreski continued to chalk up victory after victory, and on seven different occasions he achieved two victories during the same mission. However, in July of 1944 Gabreski damaged the prop on his Jug during a low level attack on an airfield near Coblenz. Forced to make a crash landing, he was captured and remained a prisoner of war until Wars end in 1945. Following the War Gabreski returned to military service with the Air Forces 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing in Korea. Flying the F-86 Sabre Jet, Gabreski attained 6.5 more aerial victories in 1951 and 1952 becoming an ace in two different wars |
Warhawk Manufacturer : Curtiss Built : 13738 | Warhawk P-40 |
49th Fighter Group Pilot and aircrew signature details |
Contact Details |
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