Best late biplane fighter

[Juha]

As I wrote earlier, yes.

Juha

 

[Milos Sijacki]

I choose I-153. It had a good armament and I really like its gull shaped wing...

 

[kool kitty89]

Oh, forgot about that.

Do you know what specifically was preferred in the I-153? (I'd immagine the armament and somewhat better performance, most notably in climb)

 

[Vincenzo]

I think that AFAIK the principal weakness of I 153 is the range. in climb is not the best but that go best in climb avia and kawasaki weren't good in other.
I see Gladiator is the low wing load of them, fiat and polikarpov the badest but they are sesquiplane, if i remember good also the kawasaki is a sesquiplane so it low wing load is very noticeble maybe very high maneuvrablity

 

[Juha]

KK
sorry, I cannot but Finns regarded I-153 very highly because its extreme manoeuvrability and high climb rate.

 

[kool kitty89]

The engine figures for the F2F-2/3 seem off, it should be 950 hp R-1820-22.
(inless you are refferring to the F4F-1, though gudging by the performance figures and date, it should be the F3F-3)

 

[Vincenzo]

That was the F3F-3 with R-1820-22 i write 850 hp, and not the common 950, for
The Grumman Story
my intention was not indicate the take off power of the engines but the max power at alt.

 

[Kruska]

My vote would go for the CR-42,

it proved its superiority against the Gladiator in the African campaign and was sucessfully used by the Hungarians during the early stages of Barbarossa.

As for the Data's I have, it was equivalent and partially better then the I-153 on behalf of climb, speed, range and bomb load.

Regards
Kruska

 

[Vincenzo]

From data in the first topic i can make this little comparison/opinons
I 153 strenghtness: speed, weaponry (only variants with 2 12.7 or 20 mm) weakness: range, wing load
CR 42 strengtness: speed, weaponry (only variants with 4 12.7) weakness: climb, wing load
F3F-3 strenghtness: range
Gladiator II strenghtness: wing load weakness: climb, weaponry
Ki 10 II strenghtness: climb, range, wing load weakness: speed, weaponry
534 IV strenghtness: climb weakness: speed, weaponry, range

 

[kool kitty89]

An interesting comparison on armaments: Fighter Gun Table

Does anyone here know how common the 4x Breda 12.7 mm armament was on the Cr.42?
Or 6x .303's on the Gladiator (privisions on Sea Gladiators for 2x guns in fairings under the upper wing)

 

[Vincenzo]

sorry don't found data on C.R. 42bis production, i found only that all order until 1940 (~700 of over 1500 for royal italian air force) were for regular C.R. 42

 

[Grampa]

March 1941 flow a version called Fiat CR.42 DB. This prototype flow whit an Daimler-Benz DB 601E engine and it had an horsepower of 1160-hp. It resaulted a maximum speed of over 320 mph (520 km/h). It never whent in to production.

 

[Graeme]

Versatile aeroplane. A very capable floatplane flighter version made, as well as a 2-seat trainer...

Fiat CR.42 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[bigZ]

Does this count?

 

[kool kitty89]

That one's been mentioned before as well.

And they reasoned that (assuming it's considered a biplane in that configuration) the performance was somewhat worse than the competitors with the ferry wing fitted, the wing was full of fuel and very vulnerable, and it was not designed for maneuvering. (the wing would probably ge ripped off in a tight dogfight)

And if the Hurricane did for some reason encounter enemies in this configuration, the pilot would jettison the ferry wing before fighting (or teying to escape), so it would no longer be a biplane.

 

[parsifal]

Geez

I never knew the Hurri was ever configured like that. Was it used much. Is that how they ferrd so many on the Takoradi air link?

 

[kool kitty89]

The Hawker Hurricane

There were a number of odd one-off Hurricane experiments. One of the more interesting was the "biplane" Hurricane, which featured a jettisonable top wing with integral fuel tanks to reduce take-off distance with heavy loads, and to improve ferry range. The wing required the relocation of the radio mast to the belly of the aircraft. The modification was implemented by F. Hills Sons and was designated the "Hillson FH.40". It proved too heavy to be serviceable.

Strangest RAF aircraft of World War 2. - Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums

and also
K5083 - Hurricane Projects