Pick Your Own Air Force

[pbfoot]

first if one was to pick his ac you would want commonality amongst engines and avionics for ease of maintainance and training or more bang for the buck
basic trainer Piper Cub which would double as Aop
advanced trainers harvard (AT6) and Avro Anson
Fighter Interceptor P51 d
Jntruder /strike bomber/ recce Mosquito
Heavy bomber and coastal Patrol Liberator
Transport dakota (c47)
asw / rescue PBY5 Canso (catalina)
soe a/c Lysander
Ithought of the lancaster but it was not a good daylight a/c defensively

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Alot of people are choosing the P-61 black widow as a night fighter, rarely do i hear the night fighting Me-262, or the He-219 mentioned...the latter more than the former. Both aircraft would prove exceptional night fighters, the 262 more against mosquitos in the final days of the war, and the He-219 simply showing enormous potential, and exceptional performance. Granted the P-61 was a great aircraft, but the 219 offered a better pilot view, and often carried heavier armament.

Of the 3 I would choose the He-219 Uhu. It was well suited for the job and packed a great punch.

Performance: He 219A-7
Maximum speed: 416 mph (670km/h)
Initial climb: 1,804 ft (550m)/min
Service ceiling: 41,660 ft (12,700m)
Range: 1,243 miles (2,000km)

Armament

He 219A-7/R1
Two 30mm Mk 108 Cannon in wing roots.
Two 20mm MG 151/20 Cannon in belly tray.
Two 30mm Mk 103 Cannon in belly tray.
Two 30mm Mk 108 cannon in Shräge Musik mount.
Ammunition: 100 rounds per gun

He 219A-7/R2
Two 30mm Mk 108 Cannon in wing roots.
Two 20mm MG 151/20 Cannon in belly tray.
Two 30mm Mk 108 Cannon in belly tray.
Two 30mm Mk 108 cannon in Shräge Musik mount.
Ammunition: 100 rounds per gun


The Armament allone out does the P-61.

 

[P38 Pilot]

Good God! That does punch a wallop! I would hate to have been shot at by one of those.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Yeap the Uhu was a very good night fighter.

 

[wmaxt]

Yes, but like Joe Foss said - 4 .50s are good enough, and 6 isn't any better if you don't hit what your aiming at. Thas a trmendous ammount of firepower esp for aircraft to aircraft though if I were taking on tanks or ships that would be great.

wmaxt

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I would just hate to be a bomber that happened to meet a 219 someplace over the dark skies of Europe.

 

[GregP]

Hhhmmmm ... let's see ..... First, nothing French ...

1) Transport: Ju-290
2) Trainer: Arado Ar-96 / 196
3) Heavy Bomber: Boeing B-29 Superfortress 1st or Avro Lancaster 2nd
4) Fighter: Yak-3 or lavochkin La-5FN (Bad Weather Best Picks), no preference
5) Fighter: P-38J Lightning (Great Plane if ever there was one) or Reggiane Re-2005 Sagittario or Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate "Frank". Whichever was available, no preference unless range were the deciding factor.
6) Attack: Ilyushin Il-2 (Toughest in the world) or Petylyakov Pe-2
7) Naval Fighter: Grumman F6F Hellcat
8) Naval Attack: Aichi B7A Ryusei (any theater)
9) Recon: Nakajima C6N Saiun (any theater)

If I had one more pick, it would be the Supermarine Spitfire, probably XIV or 21.

 

[cheddar cheese]

Nice list, good selection from all countries! 8)

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Yes I must say a good all around list.

 

[d_bader]

Mustang
Spitfire
Heavy bomber 1:Superfortress
Heavy bomber 2:Lancaster
Medium bomber:Heinkel 111
Multi role:Mosquito
Transport:Skytrain
Trainer:Harvard
Night fighter:Black widow
Anti tank: Henschel 129
Naval fighter: Hellcat

 

[Erich]

Adler the Uhu A-7 varinats never flew combat ops. The A-0 and A-2 did, and not even the A-5's were in the lineup with I./NJG 1 and I./NJG 3, the latter never flew the bird on ops only NJG 1. the Uhu was garbage and is overcredited with kills. Only 12 Mossies to their credit.

Would take the Ju 88G-6 with Morgenstern aerials in the plywood nose cone or with the Berlin 240a-1 radar set as the variants could keep with any RAF a/c, and of course the Kommando Welter 262A-1a would even be more superior.

Ah night fighting is a whole nother story. Theo Boitens work on the Night air war diaries next year is going to be something to behold. Has already gathered over 1800 German aces bios already but still searching to cover the rest......sorry a little OT

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

You would think the Uhu would have been better than the Ju-88. She had better performance and was capable of better armament.

 

[Erich]

Friend, actually the guys in I./NJG 1 removed most of the 3cm setups reducing to two wingmounted 2cm and the under tray to 2 2cm weapons. this was standard retro fit for the unit to make them faster, and also it was a proven armament in the other NF's. The uhu only had two members, usually NO rear warning radar and with out an extra pair of eys the radar operator was busy trying to set up targets for the pilot, and then along came Mossies. The ejection seat failed several times and was never perfected, crews flew through a closed canopy and you can guess what happened to them. Faulty engines with many breakdowns. The Uhu could have been 'THEE" plane for the nf besides the vaunted Me 262A. the B series would have come into production with enclosed fuel system, streamlined and to carry on the fight with the RAF Lancs/Halibags, none of the external forward twin drop tanks which reduced speed and aerodynamics.

The Ju 88G-6 was quite roomy and encllosed the latest NF technology with printer-tele and Bewrlin radar system along with FuG 217 rear warning in the wings. A single or zwilling .50 for rear defence and the capable twin Schrägwaffen which was actually much better than the Uhu's twin 3cm which blew terrible holes in the belley of the RAF a/c the debris usually damaging the Uhu in some fashion. the Uhu like the P-61 was a very large a/c by night fighter standards of WW 2. Of course in this age we wouldn't think anything of them but back then....

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Interesting good info. I knew there was another reason why I liked the Ju-88 so much. She may not have been the fastest aircraft but she was very very versatile.

 

[Erich]

actrually 350 plus mph isn't bad for an old banger Ju 88. with an enlcosed radar system, speed jumped as much as 25mph given wind, clarity during the weather at night. what can be done on a cloudless full moon-night is quite different than a heavier hazy/cloudy eve, but of course I do not need to tell you guys this as most of you already know. have one acct of a late war Ju 88G-6 crew busting 400mph in their G-6 on a Mossie chase, will presume conditions were excellent with a slight tail wind or downward flight but one of the crew members during the interview never told me. the crew lost the mossie in the ground haze as it dove for the ground, the Ju 88 banked off and looked for more Allied ground targets to strafe. incidently from march 45 till wars end this was becoming standard practice for the night gruppen along with trying to fight the ever present RAF bomber/Mossies

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Damn I never new a Ju-88 could top 400mph. I could almost see it with a Ju-188 or Ju-288 but not a 88. That is really fast for a Ju-88.

 

[Erich]

MW 50 boost system, sure it could. And used many times. also the consideration as I poted earlier about removing the antler arrays and having them enclosed in a streamlined fitting whether FuG 220d or Berlin 240a-1

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I am reading a book on KG200 and there is an interesting report of a Ju-88C-7 doing a photo recon over England and the British fighters not catching it at 30,000 ft. The pilots name is Knemeyer.

From Stavanger-Sola, Knemeyer flew a Ju-88C-7 to Scapa Flow every day for a week, each day approaching from a different direction, to obtain photographs of the ships of the home fleet. He wrote:

"Once I came in above the clouds; Scapa Flow was clear and to the south Northern England was completely covered. First I photographed the Scapa Flow roadsteads, then flew some way south and photographed airfields on the Scottish Coast. A little south of Aberdeen my flight engineer, Ali, nudged me in the back and pointed out two fighters. They were climbing as a close pair from astern and to port, turning in towards us from 2 km away and 300 meters lower. I switched on the first stage of the GM 1 and let the plane slowley draw away, flying on south to Edinburgh. As we returned both were still 2 km away under our 'keel' but remained in that position. I then went into a gentle left turn. As I crossed the coast south of Dundee heading east, both fighters forced to sacrifice height to match our speed, which had gradually increased.

When we arrived back at Stavenger, the Staffel-Kapitaen had been talking to the listening post for enemy radio traffic on the Norwegian coast. The fighters reported a twin engine German recon plane south of Aberdeen on which they had closed. Then both the German engines had emitted smoke from there exhausts: 'The aircraft is increasing speed - it is accelerating easwards - breaking off contact'. They thought the engines were overloaded, so stayed behind over the North Sea waiting for the engines to fail.

KG200 The Luftwaffes Most Secret Unit by Geoffrey J. Thomas and Barry Ketley

 

[P38 Pilot]

Damn I never new a Ju-88 could top 400mph.

Man, that is fast for a Medium Bomber! It moved as fast as the early Mosquito models!!

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Unfortunatly the report up there does not say what kind of British fighters tried to intercept it.