Likewise for Vought's V-143.
Vought V-143 - fighter
(From Angelucci and Bowers; 'The American Fighter')
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And the Gloster design is the one with the myth around it that it inspired the Zero design.
Hi Parsifal,
Wingloading of a Spitfire Mk 1 was just under 25 lbs/sq ft, wingloading of the 109 Emils was about 32 lbs/sq ft. The 40 lb figure would apply to later G models of 109.
Wingloading is a ratio of a planes weight to wing surface area, and has nothing to do with structural strength of the wing itself. The Spitfire wing might be a little stronger in that it flexes more and would tend to bend rather than break.
The 109 was considered an excellent diving airplane, with very quick acceleration in the dive, quicker than a Spitfire. The Spitfire wing has a higher mach number, which means it can dive to a higher max speed.
Claidemore
i think then raf's aaguns woud had crush the zero like nothing
The british in 1940 were trained to dogfight, which was a major tactical advantage over the germans.
Likewise for Vought's V-143.
(From Angelucci and Bowers; 'The American Fighter')
Where might the Flight Test Data forum be found?
Check out the Flight Test Data forum. There's a thread for spitfire vs zero.
Quite interesting actually. Keep in mind that the spit wasn't that great of a handler at high speed either, though still better than a zero.
Slaterat
Another thing to note is that down low (up to 11,000 ft) the P-40 of the same period performed similarly to the Spit V (except in climb) and the AVG's Hawk-81's (H81-3A) may have actually out performed them at these levels. (basically the lighter P-40B's with 1,200-1,300 hp non standard engines, normaly 1,150 hp takeoff, with speed ~370 mph at 14,000 ft) The gear boxes of these engines were not designed for more than 1,100 hp for extended periods of time and were prone to stripping gears.
Kool Kitty: I've been a bit of a P-40 buff for years and am curious, what published sources give the small-mouthed P-40s a speed of 370 m.p.h.?
with only a 1150 hp (takeoff) engine which was down to 1040 hp at 15,000 ft, 370 mph isn't much of a stretch for the same plane (actually Tomahawk IIB/P-40C's stripped down to IIA/P-40B config.) with up to 220 more hp.The first P-40B flew on March 13, 1941. The airplanes were delivered in full camouflage. In contrast to the earlier P-40, the tail stripes and upper right and lower port wing stars were no longer present, but a star now appeared on each side of the fuselage. The P-40B retained the same dimensions of the P-40, but weight was increased to 5590 pounds empty, 7326 pounds gross, and 7600 pounds maximum loaded. Because of the additional weight, the P-40B had an inferior performance to the P-40, maximum speed being 352 mph, service ceiling being 32,400 feet, and initial climb rate being 2860 feet per minute. Normal range was 730 miles, but a maximum range of 1230 miles could be attained at the minimum cruise settings.
Allison was running at 100% capacity. Simply stated, there weren't any extra engines to be had. Every block and cylinder head was already allocated to an existing contract. But, wait a minute, there were plenty of rejected blocks, cylinder heads and such. Allison realized that most of the rejected engine components were usable if the various parts were hand matched and fitted. They set up a production line and began assembling these engines. Individual parts were reworked and carefully matched. The results of this procedure were engines built to very tight tolerances. Essentially, these were 'blueprinted' engines. Dyno tests revealed that they produced as much as 220 hp more than the production line V-1710-33s going into the RAF Tomahawks and USAAF P-40C fighters. Allison had produced some very powerful and very expensive engines. Fortunately they were allowed to bury the extra cost into contracts for U.S. aircraft. These engines certainly account for the performance of the AVG's Tomahawks. In general terms, the AVG fighters could pull up to 370 mph in level flight, which is reasonable considering that these aircraft had 20% more power and less weight than the British Tomahawk IIB. Another fact not picked up on as significant by historians was the high rate of reduction gear failures in the AVG aircraft. This is easily explained when you realize that the older style reduction gear was rated for no more than 1,100 hp. With as much as 1,250 hp on tap, the reduction gearbox was over-stressed and frequently stripped gears. Later models, with 1,200 hp engines were fitted with a much stronger spur gear design that could handle up to 1,600 hp. This is the major reason that the nose is shorter from the P-40D onward.