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Should've picked Fw 187, that is being build instead of Bf 110, Me 210 and Me 410.
Would'a could'a should'a. The RLM chose the Bf 110 instead of the Fw 187 is for the same reasons I keep bringing it up - there was no versatility in the airframe. The Zerstorer wasn't just a heavy fighter. That was probably, although I have no evidence for it, the reason why the RLM chose to discontinue the Fw 187C in August 1942. That the RLM went for the Me 410 is evidence of this.
Bf 110 became versatile once people started hanging bombs on it.
So yes, the RLM should've procured Fw 187 and cancel the Bf 110/Me-210/-410 lot.
This is what Germany needed.
Again with stacks of hindsight, see below.
But not what it wanted. The RLM, like the British Air Ministry didn't have a crystal ball and couldn't foresee that they needed a long range fighter in 1937. The entire Zerstorer concept was flawed, like the turret fighter, but both respective Air departments went with those decisions because they thought they were right, despite evidence to the contrary in some cases.
You are both right, the Fw 187 would have made a terrific twin-engined fighter, but rightly or wrongly, the RLM didn't want it. Also, the Bf 110 was a versatile airframe, far more versatile than the Fw 187, so in hindsight the RLM did the Luftwaffe a favour, because, the Bf 110 saw service right to the end of the war, in a role that the Fw 187 couldn't have fulfilled, that of specialised night fighter. Or, perhaps it could have, but it would have had to have undergone redesign from the basic design of 1937, that's for sure...
Well mid 30s peace time designs for the RAF sometimes were required to fulfil a few roles and didn't do any particularly well, the Stirlings need to carry people badly affected its performance as a bomber. The obsession with putting turrets on everything maybe made sense with bombers but not the float plane version of the Blackburn Roc. Sometimes it was inadvertent or accidental. The RAF sometimes specified that a bomber should be able to carry a certain size of bomb or torpedo but this mean some were designed in such a way they couldn't carry anything much bigger, like a cookie or Tallboy. The Lancaster was just designed with a huge bay with two curved doors, others had compartments and complicated folding doors that meant a Wellington or Stirling needed more mods to carry a cookie than the Mosquito did.But the USAAF and RAF didn't hamstring production of the type to make changes, they pulled an airframe off the assembly line and spun the variant from that...the RLM demanded changes beforehand, causing delays and in several cases, atrophy.
Zerstrorer - probably not flawed, but certainly badly executed with Bf 110 being chosen, at least for the BoB and on.
Apparently we have several different FW 187s
BoB predates the effective RAF BC night attacks, thus BoB is more important by the order of magnitude. LW didn't needed versatile airframes for the BoB, they needed a long range performer to protect their bombers.
The Luftwaffe did not know that there would be a BoB when decisions about the Fw 187 were being made.
The Luftwaffe was designed as a tactical air force, rather than a strategic one. Long range bombing attacks, except, maybe, against the Soviets, were not expected.
We do. Try telling that to others. The first incarnation was not suitable for anything except a single-seat fighter powered by Junkers Jumos, but it was cancelled.
The next incarnation, which was essentially a redesigned early one hardware wise, the V4, and was to be a two-seat fighter powered by the Jumos. One prototype was fitted with DB 601s.
Yep, at least it had about the same wing area and not a 20% increaseThis two-seater was to be the basis of the Fw 187C,
The Fw 187 might have always been designed for the DB 600/1). The Bf 110 was designed for the DB 600 engines but due to reliability problems in the early BF 110 prototypes the engine choice was switched to the DB 601 engine but late deliveries forced about 45 (or more?) Bf 110s to be built with the Jumo 210 engines. A number of other prototypes were flown with Jumo 210s due to the unavailability of standard DB 600/601 engines at this time.
It would fit in that the FW 187 didn't enjoy the priority for the DB 601 engines for even semi production versions.
The single FW 187 fitted with the DB 601 got the 'evaporative' cooling experimental version and was a much of a test bed for the engine as it was a serious proposal for a combat aircraft.
It is the test flights of this plane that bring the glow to the eyes of the FW 187 fans. However if fitted with the standard production 601s of the time and conventional radiators/cooling systems speed (and range) would have been somewhat less than the estimates.
A wee bit harsh?
The Fw 187 might have always been designed for the DB 600/1). The Bf 110 was designed for the DB 600 engines but due to reliability problems in the early BF 110 prototypes the engine choice was switched to the DB 601 engine but late deliveries forced about 45 (or more?) Bf 110s to be built with the Jumo 210 engines. A number of other prototypes were flown with Jumo 210s due to the unavailability of standard DB 600/601 engines at this time.
It would fit in that the FW 187 didn't enjoy the priority for the DB 601 engines for even semi production versions.
The single FW 187 fitted with the DB 601 got the 'evaporative' cooling experimental version and was a much of a test bed for the engine as it was a serious proposal for a combat aircraft.
It is the test flights of this plane that bring the glow to the eyes of the FW 187 fans. However if fitted with the standard production 601s of the time and conventional radiators/cooling systems speed (and range) would have been somewhat less than the estimates.
Yep, at least it had about the same wing area and not a 20% increase
If the LW was really a tactical air force, then some companies didn't get the memo.
"Tactical" describes how the weapons the force has are used and their general sphere of operation within the context of the conflict, not specifically what the individual weapons are capable of.
This can be applied to the Fw 187 versus the Bf 110. The 1937 and even 1939/40 Luftwaffe didn't need a long range escort fighter.
He 111 was a strategic bomber in the vein of Wellington.
It's not that simple. You are presuming a use based on its capabilities and what you know about how it was used from history, which is exactly the opposite to what was said above.