Shortround6
Major General
I'm confused as to why the Jumo 210 engine keeps appearing in this discussion. The Fw-187 was designed for the DB600 / DB601 engine and that is almost certainly how it would have been mass produced. Which is why my very first post states the Fw-187 will have the same engine current in the Me-109 series.
Except you gave the weights of the Whirlwind and the FW 187 with the Peregrine and Jumo 210 engines in your comparison.
you also may be in error on the P-38s weight. Empty weight for a J is 12,780lbs. only 80 lbs more for the "J" than th e"E"?
You also gave the fuel capacity of the FW 187 AO in post #19. That is the Jumo powered version. While the fuel capacity might not change (selfsealing tanks?) in a DB powered version the "lightweight" part might. Especially if you go past the early DB601 engines.
One can argue that the RR Merlin might not have made it into the Whirlwind due to redesign problems. No such arguement exists for the Fw-187.
You are correct but then a DB powered FW 187 isn't going to weigh 8157lbs empty either.
While an up-engined FW 187 may match a P-38 in some respects the Whirlwind is too small to match the other two aircraft. It may have speed( with upgraded Peregrine engines) and armament but it won't have the range (even with the fuselage tanks) of the other two. Without a serious upgrade of the engines the Whirlwind won't have the high altitude performance either. While a later model supercharger (like a Merlin 460 and a two speed gearbox would help there may not be room for a two stage supercharger and the associated intercooler system. Designed as a short ranged interceptor the range issue isn't too surprising
An early FW 187 (pre MG 151) has an armament problem, even if it is fitted with different engines. Once the Mg 151s show up things get a lot better but trying to extrapolate performance gets tricky since this airplane has the most modifications. While it was noted for it's maneuverability that is for the under engined, lightly loaded prototypes. Adding several thousand kilograms as some of the proposals call for is going to seriously raise the wing loading and hurt that maneuverability, it may still be a bit better than the heavier P-38 however. While the German engines may not suffer some of the maintenance issues of the Turbo-charged P-38 engines, they are not going to offer the high altitude altitude performance either.
With the P-38 you know what you are getting, pick your year and model.
Please note however the high altitude performance (F model was supposed to still climb at 1000ft per minute at 33,000ft according to one source)
Also designed as an interceptor the large size of the United states meant that most US planes had longer ranges than their contemporary European counterparts. the versions before the "D" model carried 400-410 US gallons internally which dropped to 300 gallons with the advent of self sealing tanks. The self sealing tanks also weighed more which might have to factored into the weight's of the other two planes. The Js and Ls went back to 410 US gallons in protected tanks.
The P-38 also had a rather large armament weight. Something that doesn't show up in a brief comparison of calibers and numbers of guns. The .50 cal ammo alone weighed on the order of 622lbs. This is more than the four 7.92mg and their 1000rpg and the 20MG FF guns and ONE set of drums in the Bf 110.
How many rpg for the 7.9mm MGs in the FW 187?