Best Atlantic recon aircraft

[Erich]

not so much a poll but what are you guyz thoughts on Allied or Luftwaffe recon a/c ? which ones are the best and why........... ?

thanks

 

[Erich]

uh has this been covered elsewhere ?

 

[plan_D]

Not that I know of.

You mean like all the recon aircraft, I'm struggling to remember the best of them. The Liberator did well over the Atlantic, and I suppose the Fw-200 did.
The Fw-189 was a good recon plane, wasn't it? I don't know.

 

[Lightning Guy]

The Fw-200 was probably the best the Luftwaffe had, provided it stayed out of combat. Despite the number of guns it carried it wasn't really tough enough to stay in battle. The Liberator was very important and so was the Hudson.

 

[Erich]

why guys / what are your reasons if I may ask..... ? I've got a particualr one in mind for the Luftwaffe that I will share in awhile.

E ~

 

[Lightning Guy]

The main thing for the Fw-200 was it's range. It wasn't good for combat or bombing really, but for a long range patrol plane directing other aircraft or U-Boats it was very effective.

 

[plan_D]

The range would be my reason too. As an Allied recon you want to be spotting the enemy subs, and over the Atlantic that's a long distance, range would be the main thing.
I mentioned the Fw-189 as a general recon plane because of its range, and durablity which I've read was very good.

I like the PR. XI as a recon plane too, but we'll leave that out for the Atlantic boys.

 

[cheddar cheese]

the storch easily

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

i think the B-24 was the decisive aircraft in the battle of the atlantic...........

 

[Lightning Guy]

the Lib definitely played it's part. But I don't think the Hudson should be looked over to quickly. It had an excellent combination of range, performance, and payload and was relatively cheap to produce.

 

[Erich]

thoughts on the Ar 196 floatplane ? yes a seaborne a/c but recon

 

[Lightning Guy]

There were that many of them were there? The Germans really only had a handful of ships to serve in the Atlantic (Bismarck class, Scharnhorst class, Lutzow class, and Admiral Hipper class) and none of these really had much success against shipping.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

it was the U-Boats that did all the damage, the germans didn't want to loose their capital ships so they weren't deployed much......................

 

[Lightning Guy]

And it was the Fw-200 guiding those U-Boats, not Ar 196s.

 

[plan_D]

The Germans weren't really that bothered about sending their surface vessels into combat as they had the repair stations in France. The Tirpitz would have been sent out also had the St. Nazaire dock not been blown up.

What about that thing that Kiwimac said with 18 hours maximum endurance. I can't remember what it was.

 

[Erich]

ok a little misconception here. The ar 196 floatplanes were used as capital ship recon as well as out of France as seaborne recon units. quite efective as long as they did not run up against Allied seaborne fighters like the Hurricane with the terrible 4 20mm's.

Remember also some of the other craft like the BV 138 and BV 122, Do 14T's, He 115's and even the Ju 52 in the recon role. many of the recon craft did do multi-purpose work as mentioned like the Fw 200 Kondor a great anti-ship machine.

heard of the Ju 290 A Seeadler ?

 

[kiwimac]

There were the B V and Dornier Sea-planes, the Arado float planes, the FW 200 and the Junkers 290 was also used as a reconnaissance aircraft (although in the Junkers 290's case, I don't know if it was used in that role in the Atlantic)

Kiwimac

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

and even the Ju 52 in the recon role

i've never heard of 52s being used for maritime recon??

 

[Erich]

yes the Ju 52/3m with floats. although primarily for transportation purposes.

my favorite the Ju 390 of FAGr 5.........yeah babe ' got a ton more to share on this if I can put my vast amount of notes together. simply put the FAGr 5 1st and 2nd staffels became the scourge of the northern Atlantic after the FW 200 was pulled back for other duties more as an anti-ship bomber. the JU 390's flew miles upon miles giving shipping coordinates to the stalking u-Boots, also taking on some interesting rescue operations, one in particular off the coast of Greenland resuceing a German weather crew stranded. heres a nice colour pioc for everyones fancy.........

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

have you got any pics of the 52 with floats, i'd like to see that...........