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Crew: 5
Powerplant: 2x*DB 613
Output(each): 3,800hp
Wing Span: 31.50m (103 ft 8in)
Weight (loaded): 34.700 kg (76.500 lb)
Max Speed*: 425 km/h (264 mph)
Ceiling: 8.000m (26,247 ft)
Range: 4.600 km (2.858 miles)
Armament
Nose (lower): 1*FDL 131Z
Dorsal(fwd): 1* FDL 151Z
Dorsal(aft): -
Ventral: 1* WL 131Z
Tail: 1*HL 131V
The resulting 3,800hp DB613 had a displacement of 60 Litres versus 55L on the B29's 3,70hp Wright R-3350. Ironically had the original Me264 been repowered with four DB613 engines it might have performed better than the B29.
Naturally with so much extra weight this hybrid He177 needed much more power to get airborne.
According to former Luftwaffe pilot Peter Brill, speaking in 2005, the DB613 engines drove contra rotating propellers and once in flight, an engine in each pair could be declutched and shut down to extend range.
It would have been a true strategic bomber.
Peter Brill referred to the hybrid aircraft as the AK177, others have referred to it as the Ju177. It is also referred to as the He177 A-7R2
Can you provide a source please?The most power wartime B-29s had was ~2,700hp from each of its R-3350s
Can you provide a source please?
I believe the engines installed on the Silverplate B-29s were pushing about 2,700 HP
There are plenty of on line sources that you can easily access...Can you provide a source please?
ExactlyReversible prop. Why? To help stop when pilot had to abort start? Important cargo
You are not going to be able to do any abrupt evasive maneuvers with the bomb bay doors open. Once you deliver the payload you want to get out of the area as quick as possible.And why the souped up bomb bay doors? They flew with only a few planes to the target not to attrack attention of defence. So had time i think.
Sure but cannot be that a big a diff in closing time. Big boom or not. And they where high up.You are not going to be able to do any abrupt evasive maneuvers with the bomb bay doors open. Once you deliver the payload you want to get out of the area as quick as possible.
When you're delivering a nuclear weapon over enemy territory, I would say "seconds matter". The quicker you can clean up the aircraft (closing the bomb bay doors) the better.Sure but cannot be that a big a diff in closing time. Big boom or not. And they where high up.
Just infoWhen you're delivering a nuclear weapon over enemy territory, I would say "seconds matter". The quicker you can clean up the aircraft (closing the bomb bay doors) the better.
Yes - I believe the Silverplate mod moved a bulkhead to the atomic weapon would fit, in doing so different bomb bay doors were usedJust info
B-29 Bomb-Bay & Silverplate
From what I remember being told, the initial nuclear-bomb design was to require a bomb-bay of 33-feet. This would have required the B-29's bomb-bay to be re-designed from two individual bays to one single huge bay. What structural modifications were needed to make this so?ww2aircraft.net
and Winker or Winkler type bomb bay. I get the impression that with the normal ones it couldnt work over the distance the bomb bay now had
From In Detail & Scale B-29 Superfortress
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