Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
View attachment 702984
One .50, one .30 and about six 50lb bombs
Shows up a little late but there is nothing too tricky.
Staying away from 400hp engines is a bit tough.
Sounds a lot like one of these:
Ok...it wasn't exactly small and it had a crew of 2 but it was in service in the summer of 1940 and it was well-armed.
Sorry, I misread it to mean using engines lower than 400hpI was thinking more about something size and shape of the F5F, down to the size and shape of the Ro.57.
For the British, a Whirlwind but with Mercuries instead of Peregrine?
We do have problem with using 800-900hp 9 cylinder radials instead of the GR 14M radials on the Hs 129 and that is that 9 cylinder radials are freaking huge.
A tremendous increase in both drag and target area. Doesn't do lot for pilots vision either.
We also have problem with wing area. The HS 129 had 310 sq ft of wing and MAX take-off weight was 11,574 lb (5,250 kg) for the B2 (wiki)
Max wing loading is 37.3lb/Sq ft. For a front line ground support plane you need (or at least want) short field, rough runway capability so you can't go too small on the wing.
The Germans had the 30mm cannon early, at least around 100 of them (?).
Anybody else in 1940 is scrambling, Trying to fit 37mm infantry or AT Guns, or multiple 20mms (and you need something like the Hispano in order to be credible and that goes away in 1941/42), We know the US 37mm was not an anti armor gun, trucks and barges yes but not much of an improvement on the 20mm Hispano.
BMW 132.... 156 x 162 cylinders, 1690 cu in 54.3in dia?I'd go for a bit bigger A/C, ballpark of the Fw 187. Perhaps a short-stroke BMW 132 (or Bramo 323) can be produced in a pinch, sorta how Mercury came about? Or, have the Germans start out with these engines as-is, and adopt the Mercury as manufactured in Poland?
weight of the 2pd Pom Pom was 784-918lbs (may include water? weight of barrel 125lbsor the 2pdr pom pom
Well, certainly the speed records will not be broken by our astute attackersBMW 132.... 156 x 162 cylinders, 1690 cu in 54.3in dia?
Bramo 323...154 x 160 cylinders, 1636 cu in 52.7 in dia?
Mercury........146 x 165 cylinders, 1520 cu in 52in dia?
Size of heads/fins and two big valves ve 4 little ones?
Different length of con rods vs length of stroke?
Difference doesn't seem to be enough to worry about.
Frontal area of the Mercury 1.37 M2
Frontal area of the GR 14M 0.70 M2
Seems like the ww1-left-over was at 505 lbs without the water per this.weight of the 2pd Pom Pom was 784-918lbs (may include water? weight of barrel 125lbs
Grabbing a AA gun (especially a Naval one) for a quick and handy aircraft may not be a good idea.
115kg for the Japanese 25mm AA gun.
Well, if you are happy with just about 2000fps veleocityWell, certainly the speed records will not be broken by our astute attackers
Seems like the ww1-left-over was at 505 lbs without the water per this.
German MK 101 and 103 were at ~140 kg (~310 lbs) without ammo; Hs 129 carried one of these + 2x MG 151. Rarely the BK 3.7 was carried, the rare BK 7.5cm required deletion of the MG 151s, but it was a hefty piece anyway (not that I'm advocating for the 7.5cm to be carried en-masse).
The problem with these big guns is the rate of fire. Around 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 shots a second. If they hit they were devastating.
However a 20mm Hispano fired about 5 rounds for every one the big guns did and you could mount two Hispanos for every one of the big guns and have weight to spare. A lot of weight, Maybe enough weight for 3-4 guns and ammo.
Hmmm, 5 rounds of 40mm fired in the attack run...............................................100 rounds of 20mm Hispano is the same attack run?
Unless the target needs the 40mm shell it is a poor trade off.
Well, they were putting Hispanos into Beaufighters in 1940, and into a few Whirlwinds and few Spitfires, even hung a few off of Lysanders and at least on top the wing of a Hurricane.Hispano is all fine and dandy if you have it. British don't have it when Germans broke out in May of 1940, but they do have the 2pdrs. Hispano for the Americans - even the often bad-mouthed 1.1 in is better until well into ww2.
A 2pdr pom-pom will kill the German panzer in 1940.
Well, they were putting Hispanos into Beaufighters in 1940, and into a few Whirlwinds and few Spitfires, even hung a few off of Lysanders and at least on top the wing of a Hurricane.
The US Navy had enough trouble making the 1.1 run on the deck of a ship with bunch of men available to beat on it. Stuck out in a wing (or under it) with a pull cable????
OK, use 15mm Besa guns.IIRC neither of these was there to stop the panzers rolling through the Belgian fields.
OK, use 15mm Besa guns.
Some (not many) were in use in MK VIC light tanks.
In power it was between the German 15mm MG 151 and the Soviet 14.5mm AT rifle. It should be able to make holes in most 1940 German tanks.
It depends what is the intended target.Steel will work in 1939/40. This thing hits almost 3 times harder than British, Italian, Japanese 12.7mm and around 50% harder than Soviet 12.7mm. 1940 is the dividing time for US .50 cal In early 1940 the Besa has about double the energy of the US .50.
French have the 13.2mm Hotchkiss which is marginal at best and with the 30 box round magazine aircraft use gets a bit dubious.
The French do have 20mm Hispanos.
The French 25mm Hotchkiss AA gun is just over twice as powerful as the as the Hispano but the increase in size means you are trying to make a hole that is about 50% bigger.
The 25mm AA is at least twice as heavy, it fires less about 1/2 as fast (depends on exact version) and as an AA gun it used 15 round magazines so you need to develop new magazines and/or drums.
The 25mm Hotchkiss AT gun used totally different ammo that was about 40% powerful.
Once you start looking at 37mm AA guns you really need a more substantial airplane.