Grumman F-16A Spitfire: Mighty Mouse

[comrade harps]

Grumman F-16A Spitfire
21st Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Fourteenth Air Force, USAAF. Hsian Airfield, China, October 1945


From 1940 to late 1945, Grumman supplied American versions of the Supermar Spitfire to the RAF, USAAF and Allied air forces. In 1940, the British Purchasing Commission contracted Grumman to build Spitfires as part of it's shadow factory network. From early 1942, when the type came under USAAF contract, the USAAF P-50 designation was applied (from P-50A onward); with the cancellation of the twin-engined Grumman P-50 design, the USAAF changed the terms of the order to cover the single-engined Spitfire. Although development was handled by Grumman in cooperation with Supermarine, later American-built Spitfires (those with the Packard Griffon engines) were built by Kaiser at Willow Run, although increasingly design work was also subcontracted to Kaiser.



Although the USAAF absorbed thousands of Spitfire fighters and fighter-bombers, the Spitfire's American industrial partners failed to interest the USAAF in adopting photo-reconnaissance variants, until Kaiser's manufacture of the fast, long-ranged, Packard-built V-2240 Griffon powered P-50J Spitfire overcame USAAF concerns and the type was adopted as the F-16A Spitfire
.



The F-16A featured the ability to carry three external fuel tanks (usually US 75 gal teardrop tanks) on centre-line and underwing hardpoints. Only 286 were produced for the USAAF and many served as photo-recce trainers in Stateside squadrons, but they were also deployed to front-line units, including the 21st Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron in China.




When the Spitfires were delivered to the 21st PRS, Major Mark Gorton unfavourably compared them to the unit's F-5 Lightnings, calling the F-16s "mice" and the F-5s "rats". When the crew chiefs at Hsian Airfield heard this, they named their assigned Spitfires accordingly: Mad Mouse, Micky Mouse, Mini Mouse and Mighty Mouse were among the names painted on the F-16s. Despite Major Gorton's disparaging remarks, the F-16As preformed many of the same mission profiles as the Lightnings, covering the same targets with less fuel and with a smaller logistical footprint. 21st PRS F-16As flew combat missions over China, Hainan and Formosa, Manchuria, Indo-China, the Korean Peninsula and Japan. In 1972 it was confirmed that they also flew some top secret missions over Mongolia and the Siberian Socialist Republic. It was the Spitfires based at Hsian that came back with images confirming the Red Army's build-up in the Far East in the months before their August, 1945, intervention against the Japanese. They also followed the progress of the Red Army's invasion force. On several occasions the F-16s simply flew faster or higher than Red fighters trying to intercept them and no 21st PRS F-16s were lost to Japanese or Red action.

The F-16A Spitfire remained in service with the USAF until early 1950.

[Joe C-P]

Very nice. Lovely even!

Those curves...

[NARSES2]

Really nice one.  I've got a Spitfire PR XIX on the go as a USAAF aircraft at the moment as well 

[Old Wombat]

Nice one, Centurion!

[ysi_maniac]

Beautiful, indeed!

[xmh53wrench]

WOW!!!!!