windhund116
Senior Airman
- 360
- Jul 3, 2017
Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
Did the Germans and Japanese use a similar device to synchronize their MG gun fire through the prop arc? Was it a mechanical device (like a cam) or an electrical device (like a distributor)? What about similar Allied applications?
Are there any good references for these devices? Thanks!
This is a general survey of synchronisation in both World Wars: http://quarryhs.co.uk/Synchro.pdf
The WW2 Luftwaffe used two different kinds of synchronisation: the 7.92 mm MG 17 used percussion priming, but this was electrically controlled; when the pilot pressed the firing button, the synch system decided when it was safe to fire, and sent an electrical signal to the gun, which released the firing pin.
The 13 mm MG 131, plus the 15 mm and 20 mm MG 151E used electrical priming: it worked like the percussion one above, except that the electrical signal did not release a firing pin, it sent an electric pulse through the primer which fired it instantly. This was the best synchro system in service, providing the shortest lock times and therefore the highest rates of fire.
I don't know about the Japanese system but I think it was a mechanical WW1-era type. Certainly the rate of fire of the Browning-pattern 12.7 mm Ho-103 and 20 mm Ho-5 was much reduced in synchro installations.
Many pilots favored MGs that were fuselage mounted because weapons firing from the aircraft's centerline weren't limited to "convergence" like wing mounted weapons were.
Convergence did factor considerably.
The MGs (or cannon) were set to converge at a certain distance and if you were short or long on your target, you weren't landing hits to full effect.
Aircraft like the P-38 or Me262, were going to land a solid pattern from all guns because it's MGs weren't limited to a short/long factor. Basically, what was in the reticle was going to get the full deal.
Also, having 4, 6 or 8 MGs on the wings provided a considerable amount of firepower that cowl-mounted weapons couldn't match, but unless the target was in the convergence zone or on the same "plane" as your aircraft, then the you'll only land some hits.
In other words, if your banking on your target and they are close to level to the horizon a bit out side of your convergence, your rounds will pass above and below them unlike a centerline setup.
Hi Doug, I don't even recall what that was...Hey, Tony. Welcome to the forum. It's been a long time since the days of allaboutwarfare!
Doug
Your description is correct, but the use of sound pulses rather than hydraulic pressure to send the firing signal meant that the CC system was called "hydrosonic".The only WWII British fighter that used synchronization was the Gladiator. It used a Constantinesco Hydraulic system that utilised supersonic wave pulses to fire the gun.
The Hurricane *almost* had two cowl mounted MGs (plus one MG in each wing) but was changed to all wing mounted weapons before it reached production.
The original design for the Hurricane called for the fitment of the Goshawk engine, which was changed to the PV-12 (early Merlin), both of which were V-12s.Was this because of the layout of the non-inverted V-12 which many British fighters used? Unlike the Germans, that used a lot of inverted V-12 design and maybe had more room for MGs in the cowling?
Japanese Kawasaki Hien Ki-61II KAI-a variant and the Ki-100 had armament of two Ho-5, 20mm cannons in the nose --- firing through the propeller.