Recent content by Tham

The Allison, basically. No other suitable inline engine available in quantity at that time, including the Merlin, which was "out of bounds" to the P-40, until the "F" model. The alternative wasgoing back to the R1820 as used in the P-36, or the R2600/2800 which were probably too big...

Some years ago, I wrote to the Soldier of Fortune expressing my shock, after reading an article in the magazine about the puny 2.36 inch bazooka being still used in the Korean war against T-34/85 tanks. Their editor replied that "this goes to show that that are many stupid people in the...

I replied this guy's post here in Youtube about the poor performance of the Quad .50 AA gun compared to the Flakvierling's MG151/20, citing an effective range of at least 1,500 m, based on the South African NTW-20 sniper rifle which used the MG151's cartridge. View...

Kawanishi also built the H8K2, which was probably the best flying boat during the war. It also had the best defensive armament of any four -engined aircraft to this day, whether bomber or flying boat - no less than FIVE 20 mm cannons as their primary defensive armament. Contrast this with...

Thank you for the information, FlyboyJ. Yes, I realize only the R1820/1830 was available when the B-17 and B-24 were designed. However, I think conversion to the R2800, or at least the R2600, would not have been too difficult, given the large size of both bomber's wings and the...

I've always wondered why the Pratt Whitney R2800 was not used in B-24s and B-17s during the war, rather than the badly underpowered Wright R1820 ? The turbocharged, water-methanol injected 2,800 hp R2800-57 engine would easily have taken both bombers to 300 mph and a operational height of...