Looking fo suggestions on another Merlin (or Allison) powered single seat carrier fighter with performance comparable to land based fighters.
Rules for this discussion.
H*ll has frozen over and the American Navy is willing to consider a liquid cooled engine on a carrier, so do not limit to British designs.
We need not limit ourselves to designs that can operate from short slow escort carriers. Assume fleet carriers with decent wind over a long deck.
I DON'T WANT THIS TO BE A THREAD DISCUSSING THE SEAFIRE I am looking for a liquid cooled carrier fighter that is not a Seafire.
Should we navalize the P-40?? A single seat Defiant with fixed wing guns and without the turret?? Is there a 'easy' fix that would make the Mustang suitable for carrier use by average avaitors?? Was there a 'paper airplane' on the drawing board???
I will start. The American Navy tested a P-51D Mustang with an arrestor hook. They found that reasonable landing speed for that version was too close the limits on wartime arresting gear. It would have been too much of a handful for average pilots. My suggestion would have been to navalize the Allison powered Mustang I / P-51A. These early Mustangs were over a thousand pounds lighter than the Merlin Mustangs and therefore having a slower stall and landing speed than the Merlin Mustangs. Wide track landing gear, and oh... up to an altitude of 20000 feet faster than that Merlin engined carrier fighter that we will not talk about.