twin engined bombers.

tomo pauk said:

Some estimate of combat range of the P-38 with 300 gal drop tank 2000 lb bomb (provided USAAF had those?)? Guess some MG/cannon ammo is going to be left at the airport, so the plane can take off...

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I don't know about that combination but in AHT there is a chart on page 600 which show a 200 mile radius for a pair 1000lb bombs and no tanks 410 gals fuel at 25,000ft. Read the fine print to get the conditions. Or another chart with a radius of 250 miles at 10,000ft with a pair of 1600lbs ( a fairly useless combination for most targets) ) AS for using a 2000lb and a 300 gallon drop tank??

In ferry condition a P-38 with two 300 (312?) gallon tanks (3744lbs external fuel and 310lbs worth of tanks) went 21039lbs with NO AMMO. 2000 rounds of .50cal (full load of .50) weighs 622lbs. cutting ammo to 200rpg cuts .50 cal ammo weight to 249lbs. 92lbs for 20mm ammo.

A more practical combination may be the 1000lb bomb and a 165gal drop tank.

Multiple ejector racks (trees?) like the triple mount (or multiples of three (6 or 9) on a pylon don't show up until well after WW II or even Korea?

If we are going to consider twin-engined fighters as a medium bomber, why not a single-engined fighter? The Tempest V could also carry 2 x 1000 lb MC bombs, had a radius of about 350 miles on internal fuel, and would be a pretty happy place to be after dropping its bombs.

Juha said:

Max normal for Ju 88A was 2 t, max overload 3 t.

Juha

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Actually, max. load for Ju 88A was 3,6 tons, with two outside 1,8 t bombs (8000 lbs)

Hello Tante Ju
at least the Ladepläne Ju 88 A-4, Ju 88 A-14 doesn't know 2x 1800 kg, only 1x1800kg and 2x1400kg, the latter is an overload, used on special orders only, as was the max 2x1000kg + 2x500kg. Also Cescotti in his Kampfflugzeuge und Aufklärer (1989) knows for the Ju 88 A-4 only 1x1800kg or 2x1400kg etc

Juha

KiwiBiggles said:

If we are going to consider twin-engined fighters as a medium bomber, why not a single-engined fighter? The Tempest V could also carry 2 x 1000 lb MC bombs, had a radius of about 350 miles on internal fuel, and would be a pretty happy place to be after dropping its bombs.

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What was the practical radius clean, not drop tanks?

http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/tempest/tempest-v-ads-sabre-IIb.jpg

Now what is the cruise speed with the bombs? do you leave a fuel reserve for combat? 5 minutes equals 105 miles of range.

While fighter bombers can defend themselves very well once the bombs are gone, DROPPING the bombs means a mission kill. The interceptors don't have to actually shoot down a single plane in order to stop the bomb raid.

If the only opposition is Flak then fighters (single and twin) can do short ( very short at times) bomb missions. But you better not stop the bomber production lines or disband the bomber squadrons

I wasn't really suggesting the Tempest as a bomber - it was more a response to the suggestion of using a P-38.