Advanced French Fighters vs 1942/1943 contemporaries (5 Viewers)

[Shortround6]

A lot of stuff here.

I see what you are getting at here regarding larger is better, but this is a big issue and I don't think i actually agree with it. The US is in fact the stand-out when it comes to very large aircraft.

To some extent this is true. Although the British tended to use large airplanes. Lighter but large.

Most other nations making significant aircraft designs during WW2 - the Japanese, Germans, Soviets, and Italians, made smaller aircraft. And I think there are good reasons for that.

Japanese also tended to larger aircraft than the Germans, soviets and Italians. Japanese held the weight down but they used larger wings/airframes than the other, in general.
Good reasons are they had lower powered engines than the Americans (and British) did.

This is one reason why the bigger is better mindset took hold in the US and to a lesser extent in the UK.

In part the US, British and Japanese were operating over larger areas of the world. Easy to use small aircraft when you only need to fly 100-200 miles.

I'll note that up above, you say Bf 109 peaked in 1941-42, then you say the F model doesn't have enough armament. Maybe those two concepts don't mesh so well...?

109F peaked in 1941-42 at 6,393 lbs (clean?) and a 1350hp T-O (1300hp at 5000meters) engine at about 388-390mph. Yes the armament was light. The G-s did not handle as well, due to the roughly 440lbs increase in weight (with the same armament) and the G-6s got another 100lbs in weight (better armament). Different models of the Gs got lumps and bumps to handle larger wheels/tyres to handle the increased weight (or under fuselage loads). The Gs added enough lumps and bumps that they were not much different in speed despite shifting the DB 605 engine. G's also started fitting Nitrous or water methanol injection for more power although at different altitudes.
109s with short range worked for the Germans but barely. Fighting on the defense means you can use smaller, shorter range planes.
The 109Fs with the 20mm gun had nearly as much firepower as the E-4s, and it lasted several seconds longer. It wasn't really good enough, but it was the backward step some think. (the 15mm gun was).

The Arsenal VG 33 was already in production, with 160 near completion at the time of the armistice.

I love the near completion at the time of the armistice. They had 12 that were flyable (?). The rest were in various stages of completion. They were also running out wood. A real strategic blunder. France did not grow the type of spruce wood needed for aircraft (or had logged most of it in WW I). The Spruce all had to be imported and only about 1/2 of the original purchase passed inspection. Turns out that good aircraft grade spruce wood is a strategic material and not an easy end run around aluminum shortages.
Let's not forget that 151 sq ft wing. At a gross weight of 5856lbs (max gross was 6,393lbs) that is about 38.8lb/sq/ft. A P-40 has to weigh 9,157lbs to get a wing loading that high.

VG 39 was tested with a 1,184 hp 12Y-89ter. The prototype flew with this engine on 15 June 1940, reaching speeds of 388 mph.

And how much does the 12Y-89ter engine weigh? does it need a larger propeller?
AND it is a prototype!
First Corsair flight was on 29 May 1940 and the prototype soon exceeded 400mph. First combat was Dec 1942.
First Typhoon flight was 24 February 1940. Typhoon was still a near disaster in the summer of 1942.
English accounts of many of the French prototypes ae not good. Perhaps based on estimates or unrealistic expectations (or misprints).
D551 weights seem to be off. Difference between empty weight and gross weight does not allow for much fuel, or an adult pilot or much (any?) ammo. Something is off.
MB 157 grew over 10% in wing area. Also some accounts give engine power that was never achieved in 4-6 years of post war work. Protype never had guns fitted. Speed may be from a cross-country flight with a strong tail wind?

 

[Steamed_Banana]

Japanese fighters were quite small, both A6M and Ki-43 were small aircraft even though they had big wings, much smaller than say, a Hurricane, an F2A Buffalo or a Typhoon. Positively miniscule next to a P-47, but then again, what isn't. Fuselage of a Ki-43 is a bit smaller than a Spitfire, comparable to a Yak 1. Wings are a little wider in span but not very thick and yes, as we know, not heavy at all.

Corsair, which was a totally new design, isn't an apt comparison to an improved version of an existing type ala D.520 or VG.33 derivations. Same for the Typhoon.

Even if the speed on that Bloch test is off (it wouldn't surprise me) it's a cinch that they had it up to competitive levels for 1940-41, i.e. ~350 mph or better. Probably a good bit better.