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and this is where the comparison or usefulness of the service ceiling comes in. The Wildcats didn't really fight at 30,000ft and up over Guadalcanal, but they could fight at 20-30,000ft much better than the P-40s and P-39s could at those altitudes.The P-36 with better R-1830 in that light does not sound bad. The P-66 with that engine sounds even better.
While a thing or two can be pointed out to the pinsong's proposal (I do it often, not just to him), even the over-weight F4F-4 was good for service ceiling of 33000 ft, and the F4F-3 was supposedly good for more than 37000 ft.
I'm with Smokey. But I go a little further. Boeing products have been victims of overhype from Alpha to Omega. As befits the biggest planemaker in the land that brought you Madison Avenue.
But it doesn't start with the B-17. With the notable exception of the 747 and possibly the 727, practically everything they've built has fallen short of its advertising. From the post WW1 biplane fighters, the B-9, the 247, and on through the Stratocruiser, B-47 (a slippery, treacherous machine), B-52 (a sitting duck: Hanoi 12/'72), right on up to the 787(lithium battery fires), each has left a lot to be desired. In many cases, they were immediately followed by another manufacturer's product which was more developed but didn't beat them to market. (DC-3, B-10, B-24, DC-6/7)
I make exceptions for the 747, which was/is an outstanding achievement and deserves the hype, and the 727, which nailed the S-duct issue that had stood in the way of trijet design for several years.
My girlfriend, who spent the last couple years of her career flying 737-800s, likened it to " a Model A Ford retrofitted with a drive by wire system and an awesome stereo". A nice flying airframe, but not a fully integrated high tech airplane like the Embraers and Canadairs she'd been flying. 21st century electronics shoehorned into a 20th century airframe.
The one place where Smokey and I part ways is the P-51. Fantastic airplane, but one in a cluster of fantastic airplanes, and not the be-all and end-all the hype would have you believe.
Cheers,
Wes
PS: I know you guys SY, SR, DR, TP, BillR, Greg, and Biff, are going to pick me apart on this, but to quote MacBeth, "Lay on, MacDuff!"
And the users who flew it were in diapers!The users who sent it over Hanoi in 1972 had been lieutenants or captains when it was purchased.
I would say they were pretty comparable given the extra seat and armament of the Tigercat. My point was that through all the theorising and experimentation at the end of the propeller era two planes with completely different engines turned in just about the same, If the Hornet was superior then that shows that any previous bias towards water cooled V12s had some merit. Personally I don't think there was any bias and just as a jet engine isn't simple because it has only one moving part, air cooled radials were in no way simple or even cheap because they didn't have a water jacket. Their need for heat resistant and thermo conductive alloys and to be able to operate across a big temperature range made them just as complex.Sea Hornet was 15-30 mph faster than Tigercat (despite 15% less power) , difference being greater as altitude is increased. Sea Hornet climbed better and was with greater range, while RAF's Hornet was still a better performer.
Not to mention the lubrication issues that go with that temperature and BMEP.Their need for heat resistant and thermo conductive alloys and to be able to operate across a big temperature range made them just as complex.
The British only ever received a penny packet number of B-17Cs, twenty in total. I have read precisely the opposite comments from the British side. That is the Americans said they were fit for service and the British said they weren't, The Americans concluding that the British didn't want it to work and so they didn't make it. From what I read there were lots of niggling problems with things icing up, not only guns but also oxygen systems and instruments. The idea of protective covering fire with the defence of a B-17C (fortress I) was a complete myth, a major problem was vapour trails as I remember.The British "test" was flawed for a bunch of reasons. Despite being told that the B-17Cs they got weren't really ready for combat the British used them anyway, in the typical British "penny packet" numbers, rarely more than 3 aircraft per mission, which is hardly enough to set up the defensive formation quantity of fire the 'theory' depended on. The as fitted armament consisted of a single manually operated .50 cal out each waist window, one, 50 cal out the back of a ventral tub and the fourth out the top of the radio compartment, however field of fire and indeed field of view for the dorsal gunner were best described as restricted..
The USAAC hadn't experienced any actual combat since WW1, and their thinking encompassed P-26 class opposition. When the B-17 came out, it was nearly as fast as fighters then in service, and thus amenable to the "lightly armed fast bomber" concept. When fighter performance and armament "took off", bomber think didn't keep up on this side of the pond.The idea of protective covering fire with the defence of a B-17C (fortress I) was a complete myth, a major problem was vapour trails as I remember.
The figures I have seen is over a 1000 LW a/c claimed by all the French flown fighters, not just by the H 75 units; while the likely actual number shot down by French flown fighters is 355.
Secret Défense - Mai-Juin 40 : le mythe des "1000 victoires" aériennes définitivement explosé - Libération.fr
I'm with Smokey. But I go a little further. Boeing products have been victims of overhype from Alpha to Omega. As befits the biggest planemaker in the land that brought you Madison Avenue.
But it doesn't start with the B-17. With the notable exception of the 747 and possibly the 727, practically everything they've built has fallen short of its advertising. From the post WW1 biplane fighters, the Pshooter, the B-9, the 247, and on through the Stratocruiser, B-47 (a slippery, treacherous machine), B-52 (a sitting duck: Hanoi 12/'72), right on up to the 787(lithium battery fires), each has left a lot to be desired. In many cases, they were immediately followed by another manufacturer's product which was more developed but didn't beat them to market. (DC-3, B-10, B-24, DC-6/7)
I make exceptions for the 747, which was/is an outstanding achievement and deserves the hype, and the 727, which nailed the S-duct issue that had stood in the way of trijet design for several years.
My girlfriend, who spent the last couple years of her career flying 737-800s, likened it to " a Model A Ford retrofitted with a drive by wire system and an awesome stereo". A nice flying airframe, but not a fully integrated high tech airplane like the Embraers and Canadairs she'd been flying. 21st century electronics shoehorned into a 20th century airframe.
The one place where Smokey and I part ways is the P-51. Fantastic airplane, but one in a cluster of fantastic airplanes, and not the be-all and end-all the hype would have you believe.
Cheers,
Wes
PS: I know you guys SY, SR, DR, TP, BillR, Greg, and Biff, are going to pick me apart on this, but to quote MacBeth, "Lay on, MacDuff!". Burnham Wood is not yet come to Dunsinane.
No the initial claims for LW losses to h-75 units was more than 1000 LW a/c. it is coincidental that this number coincides with total loss claims made by the FAF
In fact, if FAF were claiming to have shot down only 1000 LW aircraft, they would be seriously under claiming LW losses, as Overy clearly explains.
LW losses were substantially higher than that.
In May and June 1940 the Luftwaffe lost 1,482 aircraft destroyed in the air and a further 488 written off on landing. A further 219 were written off after being returned to the factories. Calculated losses inflicted by the RAF and the minors amounted to no more than 650 LW a/c. By deduction that means the FAF caused the loss of over 1500 LW aircraft, either as direct shoot downs or subsequent write offs. Because the campaign was so short, relatively few of the LW machines were lost in non-combat related incidents. Ive read somewhere it was in the order 200 a/c. French flak was negligible, perhaps 50 LW a/c in total. The lions share of LW losses were at the hands of the French fighter forces, which tore into the LW causing it damage from which it never recovered fully.
The FAF destroyed more LW a/c than they (the French) had on strength at the beginning of the campaign The LW lost nearly half their total strength at the start of the battle, and well above the replacement rate from the factories. As the battle continued, the lack of large air reserves began to tell and French fighter aircraft began to inflict some severe losses on the LW. Allied air tactics, learned in the harsh school of battle, started to improve. Over the evacuation beaches at Dunkirk the Luftwaffe lost 240 aircraft in three days of fighting and von Kleist was forced to report "enemy air superiority (FC is believed to have been responsible for the loss of about 100 LW a/c, nearly all of the rest were at the hands of the FAF.
Accidents, battlefield attrition, and Allied attacks on airfields all took their toll. Pilot losses were high, and by the end of the battle exhaustion and frayed nerves reduced Luftwaffe effectiveness even more. Their sortie rate fell from around 4 per airframe at the start of the campaign, to just under two per day at finish, whilst FAF moved in reverse, starting at 0.9 per day per a/c to about 2.1 sorties per day at the end.
Ok i admit i was a little unfair. And some of my facts where on the lamb. But there is little doubt that without the P-51 there is no way the airwar over europe would have ended so quickly. And if the 17 really was such a great aircraft why did they replace/build so many B-24's. Im not saying it was a bad aircraft. I just think its looks and fond memories of the lucky crews that made it back have overshadowed its capabilities. But i concede to some of your points. Just one last thing, the bombload was not increased until the B-17F came online and that was still only 8,000lbs. But at a cost. By using a stronger undercarriage, the maximum bomb capacity was increased from 4,200 lb (1,900 kg) to 8,000 lb (3,600 kg). Though this modification reduced cruise speed by 70 mph (And it was never what one would call fast to begin with) (110 km/h), the increase in bomb capacity was a decided advantage. But a number of other modifications were made, including re-integrating external bomb racks, but because of its negative impact on both rate-of-climb and high-altitude flight the configuration was rarely used and the racks were removed.Them thar is fighting words Smokey
When making claims like that it is best to have all your ducks in a row and unfortunately your ducks are different breeds in different ponds.
Crash of prototype had nothing to do with the qualities of the aircraft, good or bad. They tried to take off without unlocking the control surfaces. Gust locks had been installed to keep the large control surfaces from flapping around in the wind and getting damaged. One thing that came of this accident was take-off check lists. Douglas got the contract, in large part, because a twin engine bomber was cheaper than a 4 engine. They could get a lot more planes for the money ( first order for B-18s was a whopping 82 aircraft)
The 4000lb bomb load is a furphy that just will not go away. It seems to have got it's start in an offhand quote from a General to a war correspondent. B-17s routinely carried 5000lb loads to Berlin and 6000lbs on occasion to Berlin and often on shorter flights. The element of truth to the 4000lb load is that while the Berlin bound B-17s carried 5000lbs of iron bombs the ones carrying incendiaries carried a bit over 3000lbs so the average was 4000lbs.
A B-17, with the external bomb racks (seldom used) could get 17,000lbs off the ground, it just couldn't go very far with it.
External racks would hold a pair of 4000lb bombs (or smaller) and did not block the bomb bay.
Mosquitoes could not carry the 4000lb cookie until 1944 so what they could or could not carry makes little difference to B-17s in action in 1942/43. Mosquitoes carried four 500lbs inside and two outside at best for the first year or more of operation. And they very rarely carried incendiaries except for target marking.
The British "test" was flawed for a bunch of reasons. Despite being told that the B-17Cs they got weren't really ready for combat the British used them anyway, in the typical British "penny packet" numbers, rarely more than 3 aircraft per mission, which is hardly enough to set up the defensive formation quantity of fire the 'theory' depended on. The as fitted armament consisted of a single manually operated .50 cal out each waist window, one, 50 cal out the back of a ventral tub and the fourth out the top of the radio compartment, however field of fire and indeed field of view for the dorsal gunner were best described as restricted.
View attachment 483890
There was one additional .30 cal or .50 cal in the nose. British were using either two or three power turrets in most of their bombers at this point and why they thought that a handful of manually aimed .50 cal guns was such a big improvement as to allow daylight operation is beyond me.
The B-17E was already on order when the RAF got their 20 Fortress MK Is and with double the number of guns and twin dorsal and ventral power turrets the firepower was significantly higher. Still not enough as it turned out but there was reason to discount earlier experience.
BTW you might want to check on that just a few more bombs a little bit further for the B-29 comparison also.
Im a big supporter of the P-51 as i said below. How anyone could say that fighter was overrated is beyond me. Had it not been for that fighter the loss rate of 17's would have been so bad daylight raids would have surely been halted. Infact after the disaster at Ragensberg & Schweinfurt the US top brass were ready to switch to night bombing along with the British.I'm with Smokey. But I go a little further. Boeing products have been victims of overhype from Alpha to Omega. As befits the biggest planemaker in the land that brought you Madison Avenue.
But it doesn't start with the B-17. With the notable exception of the 747 and possibly the 727, practically everything they've built has fallen short of its advertising. From the post WW1 biplane fighters, the Pshooter, the B-9, the 247, and on through the Stratocruiser, B-47 (a slippery, treacherous machine), B-52 (a sitting duck: Hanoi 12/'72), right on up to the 787(lithium battery fires), each has left a lot to be desired. In many cases, they were immediately followed by another manufacturer's product which was more developed but didn't beat them to market. (DC-3, B-10, B-24, DC-6/7)
I make exceptions for the 747, which was/is an outstanding achievement and deserves the hype, and the 727, which nailed the S-duct issue that had stood in the way of trijet design for several years.
My girlfriend, who spent the last couple years of her career flying 737-800s, likened it to " a Model A Ford retrofitted with a drive by wire system and an awesome stereo". A nice flying airframe, but not a fully integrated high tech airplane like the Embraers and Canadairs she'd been flying. 21st century electronics shoehorned into a 20th century airframe.
The one place where Smokey and I part ways is the P-51. Fantastic airplane, but one in a cluster of fantastic airplanes, and not the be-all and end-all the hype would have you believe.
Cheers,
Wes
PS: I know you guys SY, SR, DR, TP, BillR, Greg, and Biff, are going to pick me apart on this, but to quote MacBeth, "Lay on, MacDuff!". Burnham Wood is not yet come to Dunsinane.
Perhaps take it up with the French?
La contribution des données chiffrées à la construction d'un mythe....
I don't read the language, but with a bit of Google translating, it shows that even the French don't support your assessment.
Im a big supporter of the P-51 as i said below. How anyone could say that fighter was overrated is beyond me. Had it not been for that fighter the loss rate of 17's would have been so bad daylight raids would have surely been halted. Infact after the disaster at Ragensberg & Schweinfurt the US top brass were ready to switch to night bombing along with the British.
We are getting a bit far of the track but on the B-52, is it a great plane because it has lasted as long as it has or Congress is too cheap to buy replacements?
...
Ok i admit i was a little unfair. And some of my facts where on the lamb. But there is little doubt that without the P-51 there is no way the airwar over europe would have ended so quickly. And if the 17 really was such a great aircraft why did they replace/build so many B-24's. Im not saying it was a bad aircraft. I just think its looks and fond memories of the lucky crews that made it back have overshadowed its capabilities. But i concede to some of your points. Just one last thing, the bombload was not increased until the B-17F came online and that was still only 8,000lbs. But at a cost. By using a stronger undercarriage, the maximum bomb capacity was increased from 4,200 lb (1,900 kg) to 8,000 lb (3,600 kg). Though this modification reduced cruise speed by 70 mph (And it was never what one would call fast to begin with) (110 km/h), the increase in bomb capacity was a decided advantage. But a number of other modifications were made, including re-integrating external bomb racks, but because of its negative impact on both rate-of-climb and high-altitude flight the configuration was rarely used and the racks were removed.