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So, the P-51's cruised at their own speed and as they neared the R/V point, they would simply push the speed up to match the B-29's?One note, B-29s did not need escorts over Pacific, it was enough that they meet their escorts off the coast of Japan. So the component with lower cruiser speed simply started earlier.
Do you have the link?there was a long thread on B-29 escorts last month
Do you have the link?
With two different aircraft types finding an optimal cruise speed for both is a problem. The P-51D and Mosquito cruised at different speeds despite being low drag designs with the same (nominally) engines.. A B-29 didn't have an optimal cruise speed, it had an engineer to figure out what was the best speed at that time. A B-29 is losing weight by 400 gal/hr of fuel at least and other things like oil. It loses a lot more weight and drag when it drops its bombs while the P-51 has a lot of drag from its external tanks which it loses when they are dropped.So, the P-51's cruised at their own speed and as they neared the R/V point, they would simply push the speed up to match the B-29's?
I think that is to do with range and available airfields.For some reason, I thought escort operations over Japan were occurring well before the firebombing raids over Tokyo took place: I didn't know they started in April of 1945.
I always thought that after Tokyo, the cruise altitudes were more like 25000 (since you wouldn't be dropping to lower altitudes then climbing back up). I'm surprised they flew so low.
I never would have thought of that.I wonder if some of the lower altitudes were due to the jet stream that whipped across Japan, fighting the jet stream would burn a LOT of fuel, staying lower would lessen that to a degree.
Few people would have in 1940 unless you were either Japanese or read Esperanto Jet stream - WikipediaI never would have thought of that.
Most of the time the flight engineer "flew" a B-29 as far as altitude and speed, the jet streams may have been part of it, but it was what they call today a "complex mathematical model"Yeah, but I should know better.
Not a direct headwind, but you are still fighting that component and it's helping on the way home.The jet stream over the Home islands travels in a predominately westward direction, the B-29's ingress was from the south-west. So yes, the Jetstream would have an effect on the B-29's flight, but it wasn't a head-wind.
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