Recent content by PStickney

Here are the numbers - the XP-39 is Aircraft 9 in the report https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search?q=Drag%20Analysis%20of%20Single-Engine%20Military%20Airplanes%20Tested%20in%20the%20NACA%20Full-Scale%20Tunnel NACA-WR-L-489

The high altitude bit didn't work out in a specific set of circumstances, at a particular time. For the rest of its career - (Well, other than the Air Rescue Service SB-29s) they performed most of their missions at high altitudes.

No. The Lancaster lacked the range, payload, speed performance and basic "stretch" to achieve the mission. I couldn't have flown from the Marianas, and would have required taking Okinawa in order to be able to attack the Japanese mainland. It's worth noting that the Uprated Lancaster, the...

A few points - G Limits between Dive Bombers and Fighters are pretty much the same. Even if there were a significant difference, it would only be a factor at very high speeds. The limiting factor on turn rate/radius is your Equivalent Air Speed (The dynamic pressure your airspeed at a...

While I know you're intending the MiG-25, the Tu-22 also ranks high = for the same reasons - A number of the aircraft systems required the use of straight Ethanol (High-Quality Vodka), and it was considered a bonus when you're stuck at some base way out in the boonies, at the far end of a Soviet...

Somewhere in my collection of photos, I have one of a KA-3B doing a 45 degree dive run - those big speed brakes fully extended) on some island or coastal target on the Tonkin Gulf. This was, or course, in the early days, when there wasn't mich opposition, and it really sank in that they needed...

Japanese Light AAA was never what would be considered sufficient by U.S. or even British standards. Their primary weapon was the 25mm triple, short ranged and not heavy hitting. They never managed anything mid-range, like the 40mm Bofors.

It wasn't an autopilot - It was a switch set to trip when the airplane reached a certain altimeter reading. Tripping the switch initiated retracting the dive brakes, and moved the elevator trim tab from teh position that the pilot had set it to maintain the dive. The natural stability of the...

When Convair started working on its first delta concepts, they found that the Lippisch thick delta wing wasn't actually very good, from either a drag or stability standpoint (Later well proven by the Gloster Javelin). They developed their own concept, based on their own studies and the work of...

In addition to the references that the others have given, might I suggest Alfred Price's "The Last Year of the Luftwaffe", which covers, well - the Luftwaffe side from April 1944 to April 1945. It lists Orders of Battle of all Luftwaffe forces, at various points during the period, and also...

Which, given the Danger Close distance for a 1,000 lb bomb means that you start pilling out at 2,000 - 1800 or so ft, rounding out at about 700 ft - where not only might you just frag yourself, but the Japanese Light AAA would actually be dangerous.

A 2-stage Allison engined Mustang would have had the same, or better range (The Allison, had a somewhat better Specific Fuel Consumption) and altitude performance as the 2-stage Merlin powered version. There are already 2-stage Allisons in combat - the P-38s. With electronic Turboregulators...

There's the thing, though - Of you don't have the slip/skid ball centered, the bomb isn't going to fall straight. At those speeds, it doesn't take a lot of rudder to get the nose out of line. That will push the bomb's trajectory off. Check out the evolution of gun/bomb sights as they...

There already was a 2 stage (But not 2 speed - the auxiliary stage was run by a variable speed hydraulic coupling, like that of a Daimler-Benz) Allison. It's first operational use was as the engine in the P-63, albeit in that installation, without an intercooler for the best performance. If...

It's not so much the diameter (Well, actually the overall size, so you can shift the location within the nacelle to keep the CG right without changing the shape, but the Mass Flow - The CJ610 and JT12 have essentially the same mass flow as the Jumo 004, which means you can keep the inlets the...