Lucky13
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The '88 and '410?
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According to flight tests of P-47N AAF NO. 44-88406 the P-47N was tested at a weight of 16,400 lbs clean at take-off: with 2 x 165 US gal drop tanks it weighed 19,250 lbs and, with a 110 gal belly tank added, 19,880 lbs. Loading and performance charts from 1950 give a maximum weight of 20,867 lbs equipped for ground attack, with 3,000 lbs of bombs - rate of climb = 638 f/min at sea level.
Not sure if you noticed my previous post, where I mentioned "Though it was designed and first flew during WWII, it entered service after the war ended." as a side note, much like the comment posted about the P-75.The Skyraider was a fabulous CAS aircraft. However it was not a fighter nor was it anywhere near operational during WWII.
One of my favorites for largest fighter although it didn't see production was the Fisher P-75:
davebender said:The single seat Do-335A would fit into that category. At 5,210 kg empty it weighs about as much as a P-47.
GrauGeist said:If we want to talk real beasts, the Douglas A-1 Skyraider would have beat all other single-seat, single-engined aircraft hands down in sheer size, weight and ordinance.
Like the Mosquito, the Ju-88 was intended as a multi-role airframe. Night fighter variants were not jury rigged bombers as was the case with Blenheim and Do-217 bombers.
The Ju-88A was designed as a light bomber / heavy dive bomber.
The Ju-88C was designed as a heavy fighter but quickly evolved into a night fighter.
The Ju-88D was designed as a strategic reconnaissance aircraft.
The Ju-88G was designed as a night fighter.
The Ju-88P was desgined as a CAS aircaft.
I didn't say it was any good.I'm afraid it didn't improve any over the P-51 or P-47 and fell quite short of the contemporary and impressive XP-72, my favorite of the could-have-been heavys.
OK folks, this has been entertaining but consider this - in today's world an aircraft's size (large or small) is determined by its weight and 12,500 pounds is the line. Are we looking at size, weight, or a combination of the two?
You made my point! 8)The P-38 pilot can't take a walk to the toilet or have coffee served by a stewardess.
The P-38 is heavier