De Havilland DH93 Don upgrade

[Onslow]

The neat DH93 looks like a very interesting plane to me, capable of about 189mph with just 525hp from the Gypsy VII. Do you guys reckon it could be practical to up-engine the 93 to improve the performance? I'm playing with an ATL where it's more widely used (in a very different country) and could be upgraded for light army co-op, as a very light maritime patrol aircraft using its useful 900 mile range, or as an "emergency fighter" like the upgraded Miles Master. I assume even with greater power it couldn't carry a significant bombload but given that it's apparently designed to fly with four crew, say 300lb+, perhaps it could carry a similar bombload. As a stopgap maritime patrol aircraft the point is that subs rarely hung around on the surface to assess the ordnance a plane could carry so even a lightly-armed plane had a major effect. As a co-op plane it could be useful for arty obs and also in the jungle environment in the ATL it could operate like the Boomerang did, as a target identifier for heavier aircraft.

Any thoughts on the practicality of upgrading the DH93?

And while on the subject of upgraded DHs - apart from the Mossie, was there any thought to an upgrade of the DH88 Comet to make a fast recce plane or anything?

 

[tomo pauk]

The neat DH93 looks like a very interesting plane to me, capable of about 189mph with just 525hp from the Gypsy VII. Do you guys reckon it could be practical to up-engine the 93 to improve the performance?

I'd suggest installing the Mercury engine instead of the Gipsy. Weight is about the same, but power is almost double of what Gipsy King was making (will require some beefing up of the area around the firewall).
American engine to install would've probably be the Twin Wasp Jr. French engine to install - G&R 14M.

 

[Onslow]

I'd suggest installing the Mercury engine instead of the Gipsy. Weight is about the same, but power is almost double of what Gipsy King was making (will require some beefing up of the area around the firewall).
American engine to install would've probably be the Twin Wasp Jr. French engine to install - G&R 14M.

Thanks. Do you have any rule of thumb for performance increase with the extra power?

One thing, though, is that as far as I can recall DH didn't use radials. I never realised that the Kestrel was actually smaller and lighter than the Gypsy King as well as giving over 50% more power. Obviously there's the weight and drag of a liquid cooling system to add on.

The Don was a much bigger plane than it looks, which is probably related to a low-drag design so it could have interesting possibilities in an ATL.

 

[Shortround6]

Just shoot the crew on the ground and save the fuel.

The Don was about the size of a Dauntless dive bomber.
You are going to need armor, larger fuel tanks, and protected ones at that.

Thanks. Do you have any rule of thumb for performance increase with the extra power?

Figure out the cube root of the power needed to fly at the speed the original airplane was listed at. Like cube root of 520 HP (for 189mph) is 8.04
Multiply times the difference is speed...........like desired speed is 250mph so 250/189=1.32 so 8.04 X 1.32 is 10.61
Cube the result (10.61) find the needed power. 1194hp for 250mph.

You can change the formula around to find out the speed change for a given power change.

Does not take into account any changes in drag due to different weights or due to changes in drag of the aircraft or changes due to changes in airflow over the plane/changes in drag co-efficient. Generally works best under 300mph.