special ed
2nd Lieutenant
- 5,847
- May 13, 2018
It would seem if Mr. Martin and Howard Hughes designed an airplane, It would be absolute perfection but as yet unfinished and unflown.
The 10 Best Aircraft of World War II That Never Saw Service
- Thread starter fubar57
- Start date
Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
Because if it is going to be the main production aircraft, the completed orders of Spitfire IIs need to be finished before the new production begins. In 1940 when the Spit III was being discussed, Westland and CB are not ready, so yeah, they could be developed for the Mk.III, but existing production contracts have to be fulfilled first. New production lines didn't just start from scratch - the manufacturer received orders for aircraft before the decision was made to build a the factory. The Mk.III's fuselage had differences to the earlier model, whereas converting IIs to Vs meant that IIs could be converted far more easily. Does that make sense?
The Hurricane actually dated back to 1935, but ok. Let's put that into context before we rest on the presumption that Britain is still building obsolete fighters in 1944. Following the Battle of Britain it was clear that the Hurricane did not have the chops to remain at the frontline against the Bf 109, certainly the new Friedrich model, so it was deemed second rate - the Air Ministry knew that. What it did do very well in trials was ground attack and the Hurricane II fitted with heaver gun armament, particular the IIc with four 20 mm Hisso cannon was a good fighter bomber and it proved itself in North Africa and the CBI theatre, where despite more advanced fighters being available, such as the Spitfire VIII and Thunderbolt, the Hurricane was effective as a strike aircraft. It's worth remembering that the Hurricane was a formidable low speed dog fighter.
To put it into comparison, the F4F was still in production in 1944 too, as well as the Mitsubishi Zero, the Bf 109, the Spitfire the P-40 etc.
Also engines, the MkIII had the two speed Merlin XX but MkII airframes where fitted with 45's, a simplified single speed XX. The FW190 would not have had the impact it did if the MkIII was built, but a war needed to be fought.
That's right, there were minimal changes required to the Mk.II to receive the Merlin 45, not only that but Rolls-Royce were, in 1940 working on the Merlin 60 engine and in September 1941 the Spitfire III prototype was fitted with such an engine, establishing the next major development step in the Spitfire's evolution. The V was only ever intended on being an interim, although it was ordered into mass production in large numbers, which were easily converted into IXs, again an interim by fitting 60 Series Merlins to the same airframe. Its arguable whether this path could have been taken in the short space of time had the Spitfire III being put into production.
Smith was no fool and saw the path ahead for the Spitfire as moving swiftly to meet challenges rather than continuing along a pre-determined path. The Mk.III offered an immediate advantage, but for how long? And how long would it take to establish production of the Mk.III for the situation to change, requiring an even better Spitfire?
It's interesting to note that the variants that were built in the largest numbers were all originally considered as interims converted from existing airframes on the production line; the V, IX and XIV.
wuzak
Captain
The Mk.III also was to have a different radiator duct design, which would never be used.
wuzak
Captain
Smith/Supermarine proposed to move the radiator from the wing into the fuselage, to be fed in a similar manner to the P-51/Mustang. But this too was rejected by MAP in favour of production.
wuzak
Captain
I didn't see it on that list!
wuzak
Captain
Martin-Baker was a small aviation company which spent most of the war sub-contracting to other manufacturers and for the MAP. The latter included work on ejection seats, starting in 1944.
They didn't have the time and resources to spend on their own designs that they may like.
That said, the Martin-Baker MB.3 first flew in August 1942, but showed little advantage over the Typhoon, which was already in production. And an engine failure in that aircraft caused the death of the co-founder of the company, Valentine Baker.
I think its my fault.
Until the end of the war, from the MkIII which is still on the top of the heap up to 1942 we go to the MkVIII, a MkIII with a merlin 60 series in '42 then the MkXIV in '43, a MkVIII with Griffon power. The Spit needed it's internal fuel capacity increased, the 2 speed then 2 speed 2 stage Merlin gives it the power to have that.
What is Pushmepullyou in Russian and German?Just 10? Let me turn it up to 11 and add Do 335.
Because I like it.
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
I thought it was a druckmichzugdu but its been a while since I was in Germany (probably not long enough now I have thought about it).
Last edited:
Too many spaces, can you run them all together like kerbschlagbeigeversuch?
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
To be serious, push-pull "auf Deutsche" is "drücken ziehen".
Doesn't really sound exciting, tho.
As for Russian, perhaps Dimlee may be able to help
Doesn't really sound exciting, tho.
As for Russian, perhaps Dimlee may be able to help
But we could make a really long word out of it,
Users who are viewing this thread
Similar threads
