# Best Atlantic recon aircraft



## Erich (May 27, 2004)

not so much a poll but what are you guyz thoughts on Allied or Luftwaffe recon a/c ? which ones are the best and why........... ?

thanks


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## Erich (May 27, 2004)

uh has this been covered elsewhere ?


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## plan_D (May 27, 2004)

Not that I know of. 

You mean like all the recon aircraft, I'm struggling to remember the best of them. The Liberator did well over the Atlantic, and I suppose the Fw-200 did. 
The Fw-189 was a good recon plane, wasn't it? I don't know.


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## Lightning Guy (May 27, 2004)

The Fw-200 was probably the best the Luftwaffe had, provided it stayed out of combat. Despite the number of guns it carried it wasn't really tough enough to stay in battle. The Liberator was very important and so was the Hudson.


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## Erich (May 27, 2004)

why guys / what are your reasons if I may ask..... ? I've got a particualr one in mind for the Luftwaffe that I will share in awhile.

E ~


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## Lightning Guy (May 27, 2004)

The main thing for the Fw-200 was it's range. It wasn't good for combat or bombing really, but for a long range patrol plane directing other aircraft or U-Boats it was very effective.


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## plan_D (May 27, 2004)

The range would be my reason too. As an Allied recon you want to be spotting the enemy subs, and over the Atlantic that's a long distance, range would be the main thing. 
I mentioned the Fw-189 as a general recon plane because of its range, and durablity which I've read was very good. 

I like the PR. XI as a recon plane too, but we'll leave that out for the Atlantic boys.


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## cheddar cheese (May 27, 2004)

the storch easily


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## the lancaster kicks ass (May 27, 2004)

i think the B-24 was the decisive aircraft in the battle of the atlantic...........


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## Lightning Guy (May 27, 2004)

the Lib definitely played it's part. But I don't think the Hudson should be looked over to quickly. It had an excellent combination of range, performance, and payload and was relatively cheap to produce.


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## Erich (May 27, 2004)

thoughts on the Ar 196 floatplane ? yes a seaborne a/c but recon


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## Lightning Guy (May 27, 2004)

There were that many of them were there? The Germans really only had a handful of ships to serve in the Atlantic (Bismarck class, Scharnhorst class, Lutzow class, and Admiral Hipper class) and none of these really had much success against shipping.


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## the lancaster kicks ass (May 27, 2004)

it was the U-Boats that did all the damage, the germans didn't want to loose their capital ships so they weren't deployed much......................


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## Lightning Guy (May 27, 2004)

And it was the Fw-200 guiding those U-Boats, not Ar 196s.


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## plan_D (May 27, 2004)

The Germans weren't really that bothered about sending their surface vessels into combat as they had the repair stations in France. The Tirpitz would have been sent out also had the St. Nazaire dock not been blown up. 

What about that thing that Kiwimac said with 18 hours maximum endurance. I can't remember what it was.


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## Erich (May 27, 2004)

ok a little misconception here. The ar 196 floatplanes were used as capital ship recon as well as out of France as seaborne recon units. quite efective as long as they did not run up against Allied seaborne fighters like the Hurricane with the terrible 4 20mm's.

Remember also some of the other craft like the BV 138 and BV 122, Do 14T's, He 115's and even the Ju 52 in the recon role. many of the recon craft did do multi-purpose work as mentioned like the Fw 200 Kondor a great anti-ship machine.

heard of the Ju 290 A Seeadler ?


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## kiwimac (May 28, 2004)

There were the B V and Dornier Sea-planes, the Arado float planes, the FW 200 and the Junkers 290 was also used as a reconnaissance aircraft (although in the Junkers 290's case, I don't know if it was used in that role in the Atlantic)

Kiwimac


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## the lancaster kicks ass (May 28, 2004)

> and even the Ju 52 in the recon role



i've never heard of 52s being used for maritime recon??


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## Erich (May 28, 2004)

yes the Ju 52/3m with floats. although primarily for transportation purposes.

my favorite the Ju 390 of FAGr 5.........yeah babe ' got a ton more to share on this if I can put my vast amount of notes together. simply put the FAGr 5 1st and 2nd staffels became the scourge of the northern Atlantic after the FW 200 was pulled back for other duties more as an anti-ship bomber. the JU 390's flew miles upon miles giving shipping coordinates to the stalking u-Boots, also taking on some interesting rescue operations, one in particular off the coast of Greenland resuceing a German weather crew stranded. heres a nice colour pioc for everyones fancy.........


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## the lancaster kicks ass (May 29, 2004)

have you got any pics of the 52 with floats, i'd like to see that...........


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## Gemhorse (May 29, 2004)

Yeah, quite a good replacement for the Fw 200's, the Ju 290...although they were only doing the Atlantic thing for a year or so, I believe - Ended-up being a transporter...I would have to give my endorsement to the B.24 Liberators, they have a distinguished history in the Atlantic ...and the Hudson's did too...Also, the Sunderland was a really great aircraft, it's pedigree in Flying Boats was excellent, even after the War...We had them down here in the Pacific, a popular ' Inter-islander '...


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## the lancaster kicks ass (May 29, 2004)

i think the B-24 was the decisive aircraft however................


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## Gemhorse (May 29, 2004)

Yup, I agree with that...out of them all, the B-24....


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## the lancaster kicks ass (May 29, 2004)

but did it actually bomb u-boats or just spot them??


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## Erich (May 29, 2004)

don't think we can catergorize the Lib as a recon plane gents. A bomber yes and a good one of U-boots as well as the Sunderland.

E


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## Erich (May 29, 2004)

my favorite recon job....


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## Erich (May 29, 2004)

this Opa cannot figure it out ! the Ju 290 of FAGr 5 one heck of a recon a/c. will share more next week.......


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## Erich (May 29, 2004)

black and white pic of the same a/c on flight trials before being released for ops with FAGr 5


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## Crazy (May 29, 2004)

the lancaster kicks ass said:


> have you got any pics of the 52 with floats, i'd like to see that...........













There's a Ju-52 floatplane in IL-2 as well. Have CC show you


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## cheddar cheese (May 30, 2004)

> There's a Ju-52 floatplane in IL-2 as well. Have CC show you



there is?  i aint found it yet 

like the siggy extension btw


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## the lancaster kicks ass (May 30, 2004)

> There's a Ju-52 floatplane in IL-2 as well. Have CC show you



what, as it shoots him down................


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## plan_D (May 30, 2004)

The Ju-52/3m looks strange with the floats, I thought the same for the C-47 with floats.


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## the lancaster kicks ass (May 31, 2004)

the C-47 with floats dosn't look that bad IMO...............


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## plan_D (Jun 1, 2004)

I didn't say it looked bad, I said it looks strange. Just to clear things up...


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## cheddar cheese (Jun 1, 2004)

it looks cool 8)


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