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Stick a 1000hp Wright R-1820 (TO) into the Skua instead of that 830hp Perseus (TO) and I wonder if the Skua couldn't have carried somewhat more fuel and and bigger bomb?
timing counts, The Skua was older and lower powered, of course it couldn't do some of what the SBD did. But at Midway many of the SBDs that attacked the Japanese carriers used 500lb bombs and only some used 1000lb bombs, so the SBDs 1200 or 2250lb bomb load was irrelevant to the battle.
The British were also aware of the Skua's shortcomings, this is why it didn't remain on carrier decks for long. The RN's acquisition policy and ownership of fleet responsibilities between the wars makes it all a complex situation that could have been avoided and it meant aircraft like the Skua and Swordfish were in service for longer than need be and that the latter's replacement wasn't much of an improvement when aircraft like the B5N and Devastator was on carrier decks when the Albacore was in service.
The RN had put out specifications to industry for modern single-seat fighters in 1939 before the war broke out, that the Firebrand was a dog was down to the manufacturers, also the RN was very keen on a Sea Spitfire at this time too, making it clear that was what was wanted.`In 1937 a modern eplacement for the Swordfish was tendered for, as an 'all singing all dancing' dive bomber, torpedo carrier, reconnaissance type spec S.24/37, which through much prevarication over the years ended up being the Barracuda. Again, that it took so long to enter service was down to design issues.
I do have books describing these, but in the past when I have taken the effort to transcribe this kind of data it has not resolved the discussion to any kind of reasonable conclusion,
As long as you transcribe the data correctly, there's no problem.
Do you have an example?
Oh sometimes there is, trust me. Somebody always has a different idea of how you ought to do it. And regardless of how obviously the data refutes their claims, some people will display the courage of the genuine fanatic to resist reality.
Schweik,
When did the big wing, welded wingmen give way to the pairs and finger fours? Those two types of formations, and ensuing tactics were the proverbial recipe for disaster when fighting a combat experienced adversary.
Cheers,
Biff
In a comedy only the British could produce the big wing actually came after some squadrons were using finger fours.
The big wing, whatever it was supposed to do spent an unacceptable amount of time forming into one formation. Once the enemy was sighted it quickly descended into what a pilot described as chaos behind the leader , they may have spread out a little but were in the same area of sky and apt for 4 pilots to go for one enemy without being aware of the others.Big Wing did not mean welded wingman. The battle pair and finger four was being adopted piecemeal as early as May 1940. The objective of the Big Wing was to get a large mass of fighters into position to attack the enemy. Once sighted, the wing would dissolve into tactical units. It was not intended to attack masse as a wing, with everyone following one formation leader. .
The big wing, whatever it was supposed to do spent an unacceptable amount of time forming into one formation. Once the enemy was sighted it quickly descended into what a pilot described as chaos behind the leader , they may have spread out a little but were in the same area of sky and apt for 4 pilots to go for one enemy without being aware of the others.
Resp:To me the Hurricane, the Spitfire came comparatively late to the game.
The LW never recovered its bomber strength after the Battle of France throughout the whole war. If you consider the battles of Czechoslovakia Poland Norway Netherlands Belgium France and Britain as one battle of attrition then the Hurricane played by far the biggest single part, but not by any means the only part..
That's war ending, not tide turning.The B-29, specifically two particular B-29s
The Barracuda was one of many aircraft given that dreadful multi-role mission, this was the death-knell of a lot of other attack aircraft, both during WW2 and to this very day. It's very difficult to make a plane that can be both a successful dive bomber and a torpedo bomber, and still fly with a reasonable speed and combat range.