Real-Life Counterparts

While looking down the planes summary, you may notice the names of some of the planes in Skyrates are named after or modeled after real-life planes. Many of the names were adopted from World War Two era fighters, many were fully navalised or in service for the Navy. This is a short, probably incomplete, list of those planes.

Nomad - PBY Catalina (PBN-1 Nomad)

 * The Naval Aircraft Factory made significant modifications to the PBY design, many of which would have significantly interrupted deliveries had they been incorporated on the Consolidated production lines. The new aircraft, officially known as the PBN-1 Nomad, had several differences from the basic PBY.

Kittyhawk - Curtiss P-40D Kittyhawk

 * The Curtiss P-40 was an American single-engine, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. It was used by the air forces of 28 nations, including those of most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in front line service until the end of the war. By November 1944, when production of the P-40 ceased, 13,738 had been built.


 * The British Commonwealth and Soviet air forces used the name Kittyhawk for models equivalent to the P-40D and all later variants.

Marauder - Martin B-26 Marauder

 * The Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company.

Seahawk - Curtiss SC Seahawk

 * SC Seahawk A single-seat floatplane. The SC Seahawk was a scout seaplane designed by Curtiss for the U.S. Navy.


 * Hawker Sea Hawk A British carrier-based fighter aircraft of the 1950s. The Hawker Sea Hawk was a British single-seat jet fighter of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the air branch of the Royal Navy (RN), built by Hawker Aircraft and its sister company, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft.

Dauntless - Douglas SBD Dauntless

 * The Douglas SBD Dauntless was a naval dive bomber made by Douglas during World War II. The SBD was the United States Navy's main dive bomber from mid-1940 until late 1943, when it was supplanted, although not entirely replaced, by the SB2C Helldiver.

Bolo - Douglas B-18 Bolo

 * The Douglas B-18 Bolo was a United States Army Air Corps and Royal Canadian Air Force bomber of the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was built by Douglas Aircraft Company and based on its DC-2. Although not the latest or most advanced design, the B-18 was pressed into service where it performed wartime patrol duties early in World War II.

Vengeance - Vultee A-31 Vengeance

 * The Vultee A-31 Vengeance was an American dive bomber of World War II, built by Vultee Aircraft. The Vengeance was not used in combat by US units, however it served with the British Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, and Indian Air Force in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific.

Havoc - Douglas A-20 Havoc

 * The Douglas A-20/DB-7 Havoc was a family of American attack, light bomber and night fighter aircraft of World War II, serving principally the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and United States; Australia, South Africa, France, and The Netherlands during the war, and Brazil afterwards. The RAF night fighter variants were given the service name Havoc. The USAAF assigned the DB-7 the designation "A-20" and gave it the popular name "Havoc".

Avenger - Grumman TBF Avenger

 * The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) was a torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air or naval arms around the world. It entered U.S. service in 1942, and first saw action during the Battle of Midway.

Thunderbolt - Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

 * The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug," was the largest single-engined fighter of its day. It was one of the main United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) fighters of World War II, and also served with other Allied air forces. The P-47 was effective in air combat but proved especially adept at ground attack. It had eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. A modern-day counterpart in that role, the A-10 Thunderbolt II, takes its name from the P-47.

Kingfisher - Vought OS2U Kingfisher

 * The Vought OS2U Kingfisher was a American catapult-launched observation floatplane. It was a compact mid-wing monoplane, with a big central float and small stabilizing floats. Performance was modest, because of its light engine. The OS2U could also operate on fixed, wheeled, taildragger landing gear.


 * The OS2U was the main shipboard observation aircraft used by the United States Navy during World War II, and 1,519 of the aircraft were built. It served on battleships and cruisers of the US Navy, and with the United States Coast Guard, the Royal Navy and the Soviet Navy.

Lancaster - Avro Lancaster

 * One of Britain's 'front line' heavy bombers, the Lancaster is the most successful and most famous of the RAF's night bombers, reportedly delivering "608,612 tons of bombs in 156,000 sorties". It was also an exceptional daylight bomber, and is perhaps best known for it's role as the Dam Buster in Operation Chastise's raids on dams in Germany's Ruhr Valley.

Halifax - Handley Page Halifax

 * A british four-engine heavy bomber, serving alongside the Avro Lancaster, the Handley Page Halifax held almost as many bombs and also saw use as a cargo transport and paratroop transport, right up until the end of the war. It was operated by a number of British allies and members of the Commonwealth.