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What Thrift store did you get that from?
B-17 was a good, useful plane. As was the B-24.I was thinking that myself. Let's bring him back!
Got it cheap off the post-Halloween discount rack.
The P-39 was fast at low altitudes. The Russians liked that. Below 10000ft, it could outrun, outclimb and out dive the Mitsubishi Zero. By the time the tactics needed to defeat the Zero were understood, the P-39s were being replaced mostly by P-38s.Early in the war the P39 was supposed to be hot stuff and it certainly looked the part. Operationally it was a real dud.
Just so you know that post was from 2007 and the poster is deceased.The P-39 was fast at low altitudes. The Russians liked that. Below 10000ft, it could outrun, outclimb and out dive the Mitsubishi Zero. By the time the tactics needed to defeat the Zero were understood, the P-39s were being replaced mostly by P-38s.
The MB.5 had several things in it's favor: It's clean lines, contra-rotating prop, Meridith-effect cooling and so on.How about the Martin Baker MB-5? It is written about in very positive terms, and it may well have been a good piston engined fighter had it gotten into service. 460mph sounds fast, but is it not that much faster than a Spitfire XIV or Spitfire 22. The MB-5 had the Griffon 85 with the six bladed propeller. The Spitfires, the ones we have speeds quoted for anyway, had Griffon 65s (approx) with five bladed props. Look closely at the YouTube videos and note the lack of pilot armour. What other vitally important combat equipment was missing, and what would it have weighed?
The Hurricane was almost obsolete when it first went into service, but it was very easy to make and use, it is up to the opposition to bat it out of the game, it was better than nothing and when the enemy has nothing then all is good.I am trying to wrap my mind around the concept of over-rated. If something is not working in the shooting war you have gotten into, you replace it as fast as you can, or you just don't put the thing in service. I am amazed that Hawker Hurricanes were manufactured into 1944, and that they were in combat in Burma at the end of the war. The RAF got part way through replacing them with Thunderbolts.
I would disagree to some extent. Almost obsolete depends on the opposition and that did change quite a bit in just a few years.The Hurricane was almost obsolete when it first went into service, but it was very easy to make and use, it is up to the opposition to bat it out of the game, it was better than nothing and when the enemy has nothing then all is good.
Hoo boy, here we go again. The primary P39 model that fought the Zero early days (P39D) COULDN'T outclimb it, and though ultimately faster in an extended chase, couldn't match its instantaneous acceleration, which is a serious disadvantage in combat. Early days combat in New Guinea had P39s defending against bombing raids way above their optimum performance altitudes. Later P39s with more horsepower and less weight would have performed better against Zeke, but by then the P38 had taken over and the Airacobras were going to Russia. It's real shortcoming in the PTO was its limited range.The P-39 was fast at low altitudes. The Russians liked that. Below 10000ft, it could outrun, outclimb and out dive the Mitsubishi Zero.
You forget the groundhog effect on cog wich in an other thread was explained.Hoo boy, here we go again. The primary P39 model that fought the Zero early days (P39D) COULDN'T outclimb it, and though ultimately faster in an extended chase, couldn't match its instantaneous acceleration, which is a serious disadvantage in combat. Early days combat in New Guinea had P39s defending against bombing raids way above their optimum performance altitudes. Later P39s with more horsepower and less weight would have performed better against Zeke, but by then the P38 had taken over and the Airacobras were going to Russia. It's real shortcoming in the PTO was its limited range.
I thought the P-39 had no short comings.Hoo boy, here we go again. The primary P39 model that fought the Zero early days (P39D) COULDN'T outclimb it, and though ultimately faster in an extended chase, couldn't match its instantaneous acceleration, which is a serious disadvantage in combat. Early days combat in New Guinea had P39s defending against bombing raids way above their optimum performance altitudes. Later P39s with more horsepower and less weight would have performed better against Zeke, but by then the P38 had taken over and the Airacobras were going to Russia. It's real shortcoming in the PTO was its limited range.
I'd give a bacon on that too if I could!The P-39 is like an STD. A gift that keeps on giving.