US Air Force ( Formerly US Army Air Forces)

Norden Bombsight

Measured aircraft speed and direction accurately to drop bombs with more precision. Kept as top secret, and was destroyed if the crew was going to be captured.

Bomber designed to replace the b-17. Could carry 20,000 lbs of bombs and included state-of-the-art technology including a pressurized cabin, tricycle landing gear, analog computer-controlled fire system, and 4 remote-controlled machine gun units. It…

Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star

This jet was designed in 1943. It was rumored to have flown recon missions in Italy. This plane was the first jet in the US military and kickstarted the development of jets. This plane was very successful in the Korean War.

LORAN System

New navigation system. A system would be placed on an aircraft. The aircraft would pick up signals of a fellow system to 1500 miles away. The system worked by measuring time delays between the two stations.

P-51 Mustang

Fighter planes used for escort and bombings. Extremely fast and downed over 4500 enemy aircraft.

C-47 Skytrain

Lightweight aircraft used for cargo and troop transport. The plane is known for being used to deploy paratrooper. Was used by some US special operations units until 2008

E-6B Dead Reckoning Computer

Computer designed to a flight plan, estimate fuel burn, wind direction, and time of arrival. This computer is still used by some privately owned planes today.

Radar

System in which signals are sent out as small pulses. The pulses return back showing a dot if there is an enemy. System was adopted by the US in 1940 and was put to widespread use. Air Service was one of the first to standardize radar on all planes.

F4F Wildcat

The only fighter plane available in the pacific during the first part of the war. Rugged design made them hard to take down. The plane had a kill ratio of 6.9:1. They were also easy to store on aircraft carriers due to folding wings.

Lockheed P-38 Lightning

Used for bombing, recon, and dogfights. This plane was extremely fast due to 2 1000hp engines with superchargers and intimidated the Japanese due to it looking like two planes rather than one. At the time it was the fastest plane in the US military