Recent content by Watanbe

Any reason the Tempest doesn't rate much in these discussions/doesn't even make the poll. Is it because it came too late? Or were there issues that I have missed? It seems to be a ripper performer.

Do many design drawings/detailed plans exist, for example, would it be possible to build a decent replica of a Westland Whirlwind or some of the Japanese designs etc? I've heard of companies that make replica FW190's and the like. Has the feasibly of doing so been investigated? I can...

I'd hopefully donate a testicle or two to have any of those planes

How about the Hawker Tempest. Enough heavy armament to bring down a bomber, great performance enough to handle the interceptors?

What was the best/your favourite of the planes above?

Do you think they might have seen the writing on the wall long before their leadership or the Germans did?

I think people underestimate a soldiers "will to fight". I imagine that the Italians were very reluctant to fight and die for a government whose ideals they didn't agree with. Was the average Italian soldier happy with the Facist regime?

I think it was a case of altitude being the key defense as well.

An excellent read. I can't recall the title, but I was reading recently a book about NF conflict above both British and German airspace from the earlier stages. It discusses and has stories of combat and victories from the earlier NF's the Hurricane, Defiant and Blenheim and a brief mention of...

I would imagine at night, it would be hard to reliably identify what particular plane you shot down.

Looks kind of like a Pourpoise!

I've always had a soft spot for the Blenheim IV, but it served its purpose because it was available in numbers. For the concept mentioned to work the plane in question has to be at its height of development. As soon as it loses its speed edge, it becomes basically obsolete.

Can't compare a night attack to day. Even if there was a gunner in a belly turret it is doubtful he would see a NF flying below him anyway. The best defence a Bomber Command aircraft had was not being spotted or having a Mossie NF take out the German before he took out the bomber.

The Beaufighter carried/had the capability to carry torpedo's didn't it?

No early war NF was particularly successful, but the Beaufighter was the best of the lot. As far as early war NF's went the Beaufighter was pretty good.