Battle of Britain Hurricane or Wildcat

Wildcat or Hurricane


  • Total voters
    50

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Brown states a steaper angle of climb, not a better ROC the difference in combat is significant. If I have the better angle of climb then you in an aircraft with a better ROC will not be able to get a shot at me if we are both climbing as you will stall out. If I am behind you then you may be able to climb faster but I will have my guns on you all the time and the probability is that you will be hit.

To put it another way a better ROC is an advantage in a tactical sense as you will have a much better chance of gaining the height advantage. Once the fighting starts then the angle of climb is more important.
 
Funny, both the Belgians and the Soviets armed their Hurricanes with 4x.50.

I agree that a .5", if reliable, was a better armament than the .303.

the Vickers .5" HMG was actually a pretty good gun, that was lighter than the BMG and fired lighter, albeit less powerful ammo, but still better than the .303:



and the weight of 4 guns and 1800 rnds of ammo =

216 + 423 = 639lb (Vickers)

266lb + 556lb = 822lb (BMG)
 
It may be seen as a good idea to use the Wildcats range to chase the LW back over the channel but during the later stages of the BoB the Pas de Calais was home to over 500 109s chasing one group of fighters could lead to getting bounced by another. There were many good pilots "last seen chasing enemy fighters back to France". Park instructed pilots not to do it and in the later stages did not even want to engage the LW over the channel. Parachuting into water is difficult and pilots hard to spot in the water.

I cannot see that the RAF would take the Wildcat to replace the Hurricane it may have been marginally better in some respects worse in others but would require re training all pilots and ground crew and create a new logistical problem. During the BoB a fighter could land at any fighter field and get re armed engine seen to at least.
 
The Vickers .5 machine gun may not have been a viable option. While Vicker's guns may have been long lasting and nearly unbreakable they could suffer from a wide variety of jams or stoppages. This is what lead to the adoption of the Browning in .303, the Vickers wasn't reliable enough to put in a wing where the pilot couldn't get to it.
 

Yep, look at the SE5a for Vickers access !
Cheers
John
 

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