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A long range escort fighter.
A high-performance heavily-armed day fighter.
A fast daylight bomber.
A fast LR recon.
A night intruder.
A 'helle nachtjagd' fighter, before we stick the radar on it.
A fighter-bomber.
What goes away? Bf 110/210/410, Hs 129, later Ju 87; the factories making these can start making the 187s instead ASAP.
All of the listed Fw designs can stay.
Be it as it might and FWIW, a DB-601-powered Fw 187 was made in metal.
LW will want it as-is in 1938, with DB 601 in 1939-42, with DB 605 from late 1942 on etc. No worries, it will not be redundant, German and other Axis airforces were craving for capable fighters.
1 - In order to also check the Step 2, engine that is not bigger than the DB 605? Will probably need to cut the CR of the DB 605L down to 6:1 so the boost can be upped from 1.75 to 1.95+- ata (with C3 + MW 50), an with it the power. We might not be getting exactly 1840 HP at 17 kft, but might get to about 1750 at that altitude, ie some 10% more than what the 605L offered there.for a FW 187 that equals the Hornet.
Step 1, find engines that give just about 1900hp at 19-20,000ft.
Step 2, get the engines to fit in same package as the Merlin 130 (streamlining and cooling)
Step 3, find someplace for 1950 liters of fuel (internal)
1 - In order to also check the Step 2, engine that is not bigger than the DB 605? Will probably need to cut the CR of the DB 605L down to 6:1 so the boost can be upped from 1.75 to 1.95+- ata (with C3 + MW 50), an with it the power. We might not be getting exactly 1840 HP at 17 kft, but might get to about 1750 at that altitude, ie some 10% more than what the 605L offered there.
2 - LE radiators?
3 - Easiest part - there is a lot of real estate outboard of the nacelles, and even more if there is no second cockpit.
Not on that original design you're not.
As I mentioned, a total redesign is needed.
According to the drawings produced by the original manufacturer, every aircraft design to fulfil these objectives was different. The fuselage and wing structure for the dive bomber, the kampfzerstorer, the night fighter and so on, so will there be multiple designs on multiple production lines? Because that is what Tank is proposing. Take a look at the plans in the book.
There is no way that the original Fw 187 would be able to do all this. As for the night fighter Fw 187, there is no projected radar aerials in the concept art, so no radar. But again, why build this when the Fw 190 can do it with one person and one engine?
Come on, be realistic. Three different manufacturers abandoning their own designs that have orders for a competitor's design that is a paper aircraft only? I can't see it, frankly. We are relying extensively on hindsight and foreknowledge that the RLM could not have possibly had. When is this cancellation of these projects going to take place? Before the war?
Only one. Then the issues with supply of DB engines starts to hit when the Bf 109 is upgraded. Again, what is not being built to supply this aircraft?
Wishful thinking, especially given engine supply and demand as it was. Axis nations received the Bf 109, which, regardless of how good your projected Fw 187 is, was a better option. And what of the quality control issues affecting the DB engines in 1941/1942? That's gonna throw a spanner in the works.
All your proposals are relying on things that traditionally happened being magically swept away... Sigh, this is tuirning into another fantasy thread.
The original design of the P-38 was also pretty much single-role fighter. The basic design was later modified to serve in other roles.
Spitfire was also 1-role A/C as designed, it was modified to do a lot of things with the basic design remaining the same.
Same as the original Spitfire was not a recon, not a fighter-bomber, not a long-range fighter.
Fw 190 was bad in following tasks:
- being actually available in the 1st two war years
- being reliable enough in the 1st year of service
- long-range fighter
- ability to lug MK 101/103 cannons and still perform at B-17 altitudes
- being fast while carrying external bomb
- a platform for MK 101/103 for ground attack
- RoC above 5 km
Cancel the Hs 129 when it is proven during the flight tests that it is a greater threat to the LW personnel than to the enemy; that is early 1940.
Bf 110 - cancel it once the 187 is proven better on same engines (= 1938).
Neither of the two cancellations rely on foreknowledge, just simple math.
'What is not going to be built' question is already answered.
No more spanner in the works than what the Bf 109 and 110 endured.
You are certainly entitled to your opinion.
Straying away from fantasy for a moment and examining what factual information is available, in the performance and weight figures and the illustrations provided in the book. There were two dive bomber variants, a single-seater and a two-seater. The single-seater had a gross weight of 7500 kgs, while the high altitude fighter/night fighter proposal had a gross weight of 6050 kgs. No figures for the two seater are presented but looking at the illustration provided, it will clearly be a greater weight than the single-seater. While a diagram of the single-seat dive bomber does not exist, the two-seater is clearly bigger with a bulkier fuselage and different cross section than the high altitude fighter/night fighter proposal.Where the dive bomber and night fighter Fw 187 separate versions are suggested in the book?
The FW 187 DB 605 is listed at 5039kg empty
The FW 187 BMW 801 is listed at 5553kg empty
Could you specify which illustrations?The issue is not weight gain but structural design. The different designs were not based on the same airframe and the illustrations demonstrate that.
To round off my thoughts on the subject. I do think that Tank had a good design if only he did not maintain the Fw 187 as a basis for the aircraft. It was too small and too light, which clearly restricted its diversification potential. It focussed too heavily on performance at the expense of capability. Even the proposed Kampfzerstorer version could only be used as a fighter bomber. It had no recon capability at all and could not be used as an all-weather interceptor. The P-38, Bf 110, and de Havilland Mosquito proved adept at fulfilling a multitude of roles, but all of them were bigger and weighed more than the Fw 187.
Tank could have produced a similarly versatile airframe that was capable of all the roles the original poster wanted for the type, but like the P-38 and Mosquito, not in the exact same airframe at the exact same time. Such an aircraft would have been very useful to the Luftwaffe and had it been marketed as such would likely have gained a production order, but Tank's focussing on outright performance at the expense of usefulness hamstrung the actual Fw 187's marketability. A multi-role airframe still would have good performance, better than the Bf 110, but to apply all those uses into the Fw 187 without extensive redesign and enlargement was an impossibility. Heck, even call the aircraft an Fw 187 if you like, but based on the original it wouldn't have been.
Could you specify which illustrations?
But the British did manage to produce a successful and versatile airframe with the Hornet which was just as small as the Fw 187.
Proving the feasibility of the concept.
But the British did manage to produce a successful and versatile airframe with the Hornet which was just as small as the Fw 187.
Proving the feasibility of the concept.
How did they manage to cram everything into the Hornet that couldn't be done with the Fw 187 and why?
Was it because equipment became smaller with tech evolution?
The Hornet I was 5122kg tare and tare and empty are not quite the same thing.But the British did manage to produce a successful and versatile airframe with the Hornet which was just as small as the Fw 187.
In part because of smaller equipment.How did they manage to cram everything into the Hornet that couldn't be done with the Fw 187 and why?
Was it because equipment became smaller with tech evolution?
It was also experimental.There was also the potent Ki-83 as well that is in the same category.
From the Dietmar Hermann book I assume?Page 98 and 99 the dive bomber variant, pp 111 to 125 for the Kampfzerstorer variant, pp 128 to 130 for the high altitude variant. Compare them with any of the images of the existing aircraft that can be found anywhere.
Oops, the word "versatile" slipped from me. Such a small and specialized plane can of course not be that versatile.The Hornet was not designed as a multi-role aircraft and neither, as Tank designed it, was the Fw 187, which almost everyone forgets who tries to fantasise versions of this aircraft based on surviving drawings and so forth. The Hornet was only ever designed as a fighter recon platform. The Fw 187 was designed as a twin engined fighter. There was never any original intent to incorporate versatility of purpose into its original design. Are you confusing the Hornet with the Mosquito? If you are, the Mosquito was quite a bit larger and heavier and still was only able of being a recon platform or a strike fighter or a night fighter or a bomber, not all at the same time in the same airframe.
Again, the Hornet was not a multi-role platform. Timing also had a lot to do with the Hornet's success and performance. The Fw 187 was designed before the war. The Hornet during the war with a ton of experience from developing the Mosquito's material and production techniques. The Fw 187 did not have any of that to fall back on. That also shows in the performance differences between the two. Bear in mind that between the Fw 187A-0 and the Hornet F.1 there is a 149 mph difference between their maximum speeds. That is gargantuan in any respect.
Which DB 605 variant do you mean?The Hornet I was 5122kg tare and tare and empty are not quite the same thing.
In part because of smaller equipment.
In part because the engines in the Hornet running on 100/130 fuel gave cruising power close to what the FW 187 DB 605 had full power.
Merlin 130 engine
Normal low.................1410hp/2850rpm..............................3200 meters
Normal high...............1325hp/2850rpm..............................6300 meters
Cruise low....................1250hp/2650rpm..............................3300 meters
Cruise high..................1190hp/2650rpm..............................7400 meters
And don't underestimate the 10% greater wing area of the Hornet.
Especially because it was about 5ft shorter in span so there was a lot more cord (and wing thickness) to hide fuel tanks in.
It was also experimental.
Larger, heavier, used turbocharged engines
carried less gun weight than the Hornet (roughly 3 Hispano guns) note gun weight, not firepower.
From the Dietmar Hermann book I assume?
Oops, the word "versatile" slipped from me. Such a small and specialized plane can of course not be that versatile.
Performance gap was huge but with hypothetically same tech level could the Fw 187 be brought at least a bit close to the Hornet?
Tank was certainly aiming to develop a faster aircraft before the war. Of course at that time achieving the performance the Hornet demonstrated was simply not possible in a combat aircraft, not even a pure racer. In April 1937, when the first Fw 187 took to the air for the first time the world absolute speed record was 354.4 mph (567.12 km/h) achieved by the Hughes H.1. Later in 1937 it became 379.63 mph (610.95 km/h) in the Bf 109 V.13. These speeds fall short of the Hornet F.1's maximum speed by more than/nearly 100 mph.
And 60mph slower than the 1934 record set by the Macchi MC.72.
The First 3 were all single seat fighters, with two MG 15 machine guns, which they seldom carried. If you can't see the actual gun barrel/s in a photo, odds are there were no guns fitted at the time the photo was taken.It is worth noting that from the outset the Fw 187 as Tank originally envisaged was only ever intended as a fighter. Full stop. No bomber, no recon, no whatever fever dream fanboys believe.
As outlined above, testing the V4 began in Oct (?) 1938. Early armament layouts/proposals are all over the place. A lot of mentions of MG 151 and MG 81s in 1938-39 and while they were in development, these guns didn't show up in service aircraft until late 1940 or early 1941. Several hypothetical gun installations (somebody was swiping Goering's drugs?) are given.The two-seater came from a re-evaluation of the type as a heavy fighter, which saw the A-0 production variant built.
Now the V4 was mentioned as a nightfighter in late 1937 and was in minutes dated Dec 21 1937. However, actual details as to what constituted a nightfighter in Dec of 1937 are lacking.