When it comes to the characteristics of painting, all kinds of beautiful monsters in the nose art of American troops in World War II have different shapes, which shows the soldiers' love and optimism for life. However, for us in China, the painting of shark's mouth on the P-40 fighter equipped by the Flying Tigers also represents a deeper meaning-the extension and protection of justice. Unlike many people's imagination, the fighting capacity of China Air Force in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War was not worse than that of the Japanese Snitch. Because at that time, most pilots in China were strictly trained by external instructors, the fighter performance did not lag behind the Japanese aggressors, and the tactical level was even higher than the enemy. Therefore, in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese army suffered a lot in the battle for air superiority in some areas. This situation continued until around 1940. At the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, Japanese invaders mainly used light fighters such as KI-2 1, and their performance was not much different from that of China Air Force.
China's Air Force used Eagle -3 fighter jets in air combat with Japanese invaders. The enemy was very upset at one time. However, after all, the Japanese have an absolute advantage in number, so the overall situation is overwhelming.
After 1938, the arrival of a large number of Soviet planes and the Soviet Volunteer Air Force gave the weak China Air Force a shot in the arm. During the period of 1938- 1939, the Sino-Soviet joint air force even took the initiative to bomb Japanese airports many times, and achieved great success.
1940 in the middle and late period, the dark days finally came. First, the Soviet Union and Japan signed a non-aggression treaty due to the defeat of the Japanese army at the Nomenkan Battle, and the Soviet Union gradually stopped its aid to China. The most terrible thing is that the Japanese have invested in a cutting-edge fighter-Zero War. The performance of this fighter is extremely excellent, completely overwhelming any kind of China fighter. The I-16 fighter of China Air Force was defeated by 0: 16 in Bishan air battle. Since then, China's air force has been devastated, the river has gone from bad to worse, and a large number of pilots and planes have been annihilated. So that when the Japanese plane finally attacked, the China Air Force had to take off to avoid the war to save its strength.
Zero war has been a nightmare for the allied air force for a long time, and with the superb technology of Japanese pilots, air combat has become a unilateral massacre.
Then both JAXA and HNA can attack China targets without scruple. Originally, the strength of China Air Force was not enough to complete the air defense mission to major cities. When the air force can't meet the attack, the Japanese plane can drop the bomb calmly outside the range of the anti-aircraft gun. Many cities in China were blown to flames, causing a large number of casualties. This situation of being beaten but unable to fight back lasted for a long time.
Mr Chennault, a retired officer of the US Air Force, was invited to China to train the China Air Force. He also lobbied Congress to provide aid to China during the war and to recruit pilots and buy planes for the China Air Force. Melancholy, isolationism prevailing in the United States, unwilling to get involved in the war, so this process is extremely difficult.
By 194 1, Chennault had managed to collect dozens of P-40 fighters provided by Britain and hundreds of volunteer pilots from the United States. Before the United States declared war on Japan, they could only participate in training and could not fight against Japanese planes.
19411210 Kawasaki 99 bombers of the Japanese Army Air Force took off from the airport in Hanoi, Vietnam, each carrying 600-pound bombs bombed Kunming, China as usual. The Japanese didn't bring any escort fighters, because, just like their previous air raids, it is impossible for a plane in China to dare to intercept them.
After the Japanese plane entered China, the air defense observation post quickly transmitted the warning of the Japanese plane's attack to Kunming, and AVG immediately took off to meet it.
When it was 30 kilometers away from Kunming, the Japanese Snitch was surprised to find that there were four fighter planes flying head-on ahead. Unwilling to take risks, the Japanese turned around and left, but they rushed out of the clouds and chased a dozen P-40s. Then there was the heavy blow of the P-40 fighter plane to the Japanese aggressors. Japanese planes caught fire and exploded one after another, and the rest were beaten to pieces and ran back desperately. The Japanese bombers, which have always been known for their fragility, suffered heavy losses under the rain of P-40 12.7mm machine guns, and shot down six planes in a short time. The rest of the people are running around with fireworks. Six bombers died on the spot, three of the four who escaped were seriously injured and crashed on the way back, only 1 survived. AVG didn't lose anything and returned home successfully.
AVG became famous in the first world war. Kunming officials and people came to the airport to express their condolences and congratulations, because they knew that the days when Japanese planes were rampant were gone forever. One newspaper was inspired by the shark's beak on the P-40, and called it "Flying Tigers" in its report, so the name spread all over the streets, replacing its original name "China for the American Volunteer Air Corps".
After that, P-40 fighter planes fought with Japanese planes many times. In advance, Chennault has carefully analyzed the performance characteristics of Zero War in combination with the performance advantages of P-40, and formulated a set of corresponding tactics to give full play to the advanced dive performance of P-40 and restrain the advantages of Zero War. Good results have been achieved.
The Flying Tigers used clever tactics to defeat the enemy in the air battle. The Japanese have given the Flying Tigers all kinds of contemptuous nicknames, but they can't change the fact that they can't beat the Flying Tigers.
In fact, in the early days of the Pacific War, the Japanese only had 500 zero wars, most of which were falcons and KI-27s. This is the painting that reflects the shooting down of KI-27 by P-40. Before the dissolution of the Flying Tigers, few zero battles were shot down, mainly early fighters such as KI-27, A5M 1.
1942 midway, when the fighters of the Flying Tigers were flying by the Nujiang River, they accidentally noticed that the Japanese army was gathering by the Nujiang River. These guys planned to cross the Nujiang River and directly insert into the rear area of China. The troops there are empty, and once the Japanese army succeeds, the consequences will be unimaginable. So the Flying Tigers dispatched eight P-40s to carry bombs for air strikes. They threw bombs at the rocks, and the massive landslide caused by the explosion buried many devils alive, forcing the enemy to give up the plan to cross the river.
1On July 4th, 942, AVG announced its dissolution, and its members were incorporated into the 10th Air Force of the United States in China to continue fighting in the sky of China. And people always call it the Flying Tigers. Because of the iconic fangs on the nose.
In the later period of the war, the Flying Tigers often escorted the B-25 bombers of the mixed brigade of China and the United States to attack Japanese targets.
After 1943, the performance of the P-40 fighter has obviously fallen behind, and the Flying Tigers began to change into P-5 1 fighter. Until the final victory of the war. Japanese imperialism, once arrogant, finally capitulated. The Flying Tigers also completed their historic mission with honor. Soluble in 1946.
I-153 fighter also participated in the air combat in China that year. Generally speaking, I-15 series engaged with Japanese fighters, and then I-16 pursued the bombers.
The P5 1 modified by the National Army in the later period, Japanese aircraft can only be equipped with ki84 blast.
At that time, A5M Claude, the main Japanese fighter plane over China, was the first carrier-based aircraft in the world, with only two small-caliber machine guns, and its protection was very weak. Excellent handling.