the lancaster kicks ass
Major General
- 19,937
- Dec 20, 2003
yeah but not in 1940............
1n 1939 what would your operational airforce look like
- Thread starter pbfoot
- Start date
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loomaluftwaffe said:
??????? Um Okay, I think pD pretty much covered it for me. Thanks pD.
No problem
RAGMAN
Airman
i always wondered if the BF 110 was modified to use the radial bmw engines of the fw 190 how the 110's performance would have been?It could have strong engines for ground attack too...i figured the speed would have been upgraded at least 30 mph,maybe even 50...My computer is crashed and unuseable so I have to use me sisters now 
i'll check on the forum sporadically now....boo hoo for me...
i'll check on the forum sporadically now....boo hoo for me...
I dont know if the Bf-110s structure could handle the BMW-801's. With structural modifications maybe.
I would go for the BF 109E or whatever the latest model was by 1939, they were ahead of the British at that stage, Spitfires and Hurricanes were mostly still with two bladed props and no armour and so on, and they suffered fuel starvation with negative G compared to the 109. I assume the 109s also come with experienced German trainers as well to give a few pointers. The 109 also has cannons that would be a heck of lot better at bringing down a bomber than the .303s, which just aerated them.
I'd probably have a few TB3s and I-16s in Zveno configuration as well, worked well enough the few times it was tried anyway, even if only through shock value.
Maybe a Ju-88 or Wimpy as a medium bomber.
Beaufort or Blenheim as an light bomber/antiship torpedo carrier.
DC3 as a transport (even the Japanese used them...)
I would have Beaufighters on order if not in training already
I'd also have the P-38 and P-39 on order, and P-39 in original form with turbocharger as well, that would be my bomber destroyer (37mm should make a mess of them...), same with the P-38 none of the limp wristed non turbo versions the yanks tried to give the British first
I'd probably get some P-40s as well, for use as a close air support machine, they dont make the 1939 service introduction cut off though (hardly anything even half decent does, though plenty were testing by then).
Maybe a Halifax or B-24 on order as a heavy bomber.
I'd probably have a few TB3s and I-16s in Zveno configuration as well, worked well enough the few times it was tried anyway, even if only through shock value.
Maybe a Ju-88 or Wimpy as a medium bomber.
Beaufort or Blenheim as an light bomber/antiship torpedo carrier.
DC3 as a transport (even the Japanese used them...)
I would have Beaufighters on order if not in training already
I'd also have the P-38 and P-39 on order, and P-39 in original form with turbocharger as well, that would be my bomber destroyer (37mm should make a mess of them...), same with the P-38 none of the limp wristed non turbo versions the yanks tried to give the British first
I'd probably get some P-40s as well, for use as a close air support machine, they dont make the 1939 service introduction cut off though (hardly anything even half decent does, though plenty were testing by then).
Maybe a Halifax or B-24 on order as a heavy bomber.
Lets see, if I was Marshall in '39 I would be worried. USAAF would have early P-40s, P-39s, early P-38s, C-47s, P-35s, P-36s, B-17B and C (no where near enough of these), all the different versions of the Shrike, and CW-21 Demons (woo-hoo!).
The Navy would have been a little better off with F2Fs, F3Fs, Buffalos (now here is a kickass piece of flying equipment!) and a small amount of F4Fs. Also there would have been SBC Helldiver biplanes, Devastators and PBYs.
Yes like Vanderbilt football, even though the US had some diamonds in the rough, we sucked.
:{(
The Navy would have been a little better off with F2Fs, F3Fs, Buffalos (now here is a kickass piece of flying equipment!) and a small amount of F4Fs. Also there would have been SBC Helldiver biplanes, Devastators and PBYs.
Yes like Vanderbilt football, even though the US had some diamonds in the rough, we sucked.
:{(
Nonskimmer
Captain
Oh yeah? Look north.CurzonDax said:
At the outbreak of war, the RCAF had a grand total of approximately 270 aircraft of assorted types. It was like : "Holy shit, we're at war! Omigod, omigod, omigod, omigod! Ah...quick, build some more! A lot more!
"The Royal Canadian Naval Air Service had to be completely reactivated, as it had been disbanded in the inter-war years.
The US isolationism is what kept them from having the type of military that it had at the end of the war at the beginning of the war. The sleeping dragon however soon awakened though.....
loomaluftwaffe
Tech Sergeant
- 1,840
- Dec 20, 2005
y isnt anyone ordering a Pe-8 for 1940?
wmaxt
Staff Sergeant
R988 said:same with the P-38 none of the limp wristed non turbo versions the yanks tried to give the British first
The British ordered them that way against recomendations. They wanted the engine prop combination in the P-38 to be interchangeable with the P-40 Kittyhawks they were already getting. The British were also leery of the turbochargers and didn't want anything to do with them. The British got exactly what they ordered.
wmaxt
the lancaster kicks ass
Major General
- 19,937
- Dec 20, 2003
i've always heard it was because the americans didn't want us getting our hands on the turbochargers.............
wmaxt
Staff Sergeant
the lancaster kicks ass said:
I don't know where that came from but it has been out there a long time, it's just not true. It is true that the British didn't trust them and that at the time turbos were in short supply and that could have influenced their choice. The overiding point was interchangeability, even to the choice of the C (non turbo) type engine used on the P-40. Kelly Johnson confirmed this in one of his many conversations with Warren Bodie. Another point is that there never was a restriction on turbos to Britian.
One thing I don't understand is that they went to the P-40 set-up and then were dissapointed when it's high altitude performance was only marginaly better than the P-40s?
wmaxt
Glider
Captain
As I understand it the decision to to go without turbochargers was because the concern was that this could cause delay in delivery as turbochargers were fairly new. As the aircraft was going to be used at low- medium altitude this wouldn't be a problem.
The decision that caused the most anguish was that the RAF planes didn't have handed engines. They both turned to the right giving the aircraft almost dangerous handling characteristics. This is the decision that caused the most objections from the Lockheed engineers.
After the order was rejected by the RAF I believe that they were completed with handed engines and used for a while by the USAAF to train new pilots. They still lacked the turbos but they were considered very fast at low altitude with goood handleing and helped with the training.
Blaming the performance sounds like a desk bound persons smokescreen for what was an appalling decision in the face of the experts advice. That however I cannot prove.
The decision that caused the most anguish was that the RAF planes didn't have handed engines. They both turned to the right giving the aircraft almost dangerous handling characteristics. This is the decision that caused the most objections from the Lockheed engineers.
After the order was rejected by the RAF I believe that they were completed with handed engines and used for a while by the USAAF to train new pilots. They still lacked the turbos but they were considered very fast at low altitude with goood handleing and helped with the training.
Blaming the performance sounds like a desk bound persons smokescreen for what was an appalling decision in the face of the experts advice. That however I cannot prove.
wmaxt
Staff Sergeant
Glider said:
As I mentioned above a possible shortage of turbos could have had some influence, however the order specificaly called for the type "C" engines and reduction gearing, for compatability with the P-40s. The project engineer with Lockheed was demoted after the acceptance of that contract, presumably because the 322s could not meet the requirements without even the standard "F" series engines of the P-38!
wmaxt
cheddar cheese
Major General
Interest wmaxt, I had certainly believed the myth up till now...Thanks for enlightening us...
Good info wmaxt, I also didn't know that.
I always figured it had to do with time to delivery or what not.
