III GENERAL DEFENSIVE ASPECTs
As shown in the first attempt, only measurable aspects have been choosen. These conduct for negative counts, that is the more wing area, the larger the target size against gun AAA. A target which is smaller is also more difficult to spot and to track. Of course, there will be a negative count (the plane, even a small one, simply doesn´t disappear physically). Other advantages for bigger wing area are not disregarded (implying a lower wingloading and better maneuverability and slow speed handling). In my perspective, a bomber has to fullfill it´s function, not to engage in aerobatics.
This isn´t necessarely the only perspective imaginable to this subject.
Another, more general asset is weight/power relation. The more weight is accumulated on a single hp, the worse it is. All these bombers were in principle underpowered compared to modern standarts.
The He-111H by far represents the biggest target size in this comparison, roughly twice the size of the compact A-20 attack bomber. The Ar-234B has less than one third the target size of the He-111H and represents the smallest target.
The power/weight ratio also gives an idea about developmental potential of the basic airframe/ engine combination. The He-111 was considered outdated, the Do-217M was new but rapidly aging and very underpowered. This problem may have been worse, too, in the B-26, where the margin between stall speed and cruise speed is the smallest of all planes in this comparison.
Some high performance planes typically have less lbs per hp in order to attain a higher speed rating. The Ju-188A2 in particular benefits from MW-50 boost at low altitude (speed rating hasn´t been accounted for that as I was unable to find a speed graph for MW-50 boosted Ju-188A2). The piston engined A/C vary around 9.5lbs/hp +- 20% (significantly less variance than target size above). Jet engined A/C is not perfectly comparable as thrust is not power but compared to a prop driven unit, the thrust generated by a jet engine is awesome.
Note how the amount of defensive gunnery increases with negative rating. There is a significant correlation with the fitting of larger number of flexible and RPC defensive guns.
To Wuzak:
all speeds are in mph (range in st. mls., payload in lbs)