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The Mustang MkI had an Allison engine because of two key reasons. Firstly, the British Purchasing Commission sent to the USA in 1938 was vastly inexperienced in modern fighter design, their main priority being to buy just about anything available. Secondly, when the BPC's engineers sat down with John Attwood of NAA to flesh out the Mustang spec between January and April 1940, no-one in that team (or, indeed probably anyone) had realised how important altitude performance was going to become in the ETO by the end of the Battle of Britain. If they had of, they would never have ordered any of the available American designs. Instead, they were operating with the little data available from fighting in Poland, which had involved lots of low-level action, and didn't have any reason to suspect the Allison would make the Mustang as altitude-crippled as the P-40. After all, the BPC had originally asked NAA to build P-40s, it was NAA whom insisted they could build something better. So, no, the British did not want a low altitude fighter, it's just all the Americans could offer.Explain, then, why the Mustang Mk.I had the same engine (V-1710-39), but was built to British specifications.
Did the British want a low altitude fighter too?
Why? The only engines available in numbers in the USA in 1940 were the Allison, the Wright Cyclone and the Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp. The latter two were draggy radials already reaching their design limits, which meant the choice was really down to the Allison. Even if the US government had approved exporting the turbocharger tech required to make the Allison work at altitude, the XP-37 showed the problems of trying to squeeze that much ducting into a small(ish) fighter. There was no point in building just airframes in the USA and then shipping engines from the UK because every Merlin was needed already for production in the UK. The only fighter in production in the USA with the Allison was the P-40, so that was the yardstick.Going to have to do better than that
The P-40 was heavier than the other fighters you list. That affected the ceiling. Do not confuse cause and effect.Strange, then, that the service ceiling of the P-40C was lower than the Hurricane, Dewotaine 520, and ME109, given that you insist the Allison was at no disadvantage to the inline engines powering those other fighters.
The XP-40 came out of the failed XP-37 of 1937, which was the turbocharged Allison in a much-modified P-36 airframe. The XP-40 was a much simpler modification, but came with the Allison V-1710-19 pegged to a rated altitude of 11,000 feet. The P-40/B/C's V-1710-33 had a rated altitude of 12,800ft, lower than the Dewotaine 520's Hispano-Suiza 12Y-49 (rated altitude 17,224ft) and the Bf109E's DB601A (14,800ft). Sorry, but the high-altitude pursuit policy of the USAAC was turbocharged, fullstop. Everything else was meant for the low-level role.
You'll find that on average, pre-war ceilings ranged in the mid-20,000 foot range.Pre war what was considered high altitude, I am going to guess anything above 15,000 feet.
Circling back to the beginning. Put the Wildcat of 1942 into the BoB and you have something useful.I know the F4F production missed the time frame of the Battle Britain by 6 to 12 months for operational squadrons. But how would the F4F-3 Wildcat/Martlet 1 have fared alongside the Hurricane I and Spitfire II during the Battle?
What's the point? The store is all sold out of time machines. I checked. "It is unknown when or if this item will be in stock again."Circling back to the beginning. Put the Wildcat of 1942 into the BoB and you have something useful.
I know, but the whole premise of this thread needs a time machine.What's the point? The store is all sold out of time machines. I checked. "It is unknown when or if this item will be in stock again."
I know the F4F production missed the time frame of the Battle Britain
Again, Grumman G-36A (French F4Fs) were diverted from France to Britain and were assigned to 804 Naval Air Squadron based at Skaebrae in October 1940.I know the F4F production missed the time frame of the Battle Britain by 6 to 12 months for operational squadrons. But how would the F4F-3 Wildcat/Martlet 1 have fared alongside the Hurricane I and Spitfire II during the Battle?
The Mustang was bought to be better than the P-40 and it was. It was still in use at the end of the war and its performance at low level was still impressive. That 21 miles of water raises the level of combat, once D-Day established a beach head things moved down, neither the Typhoon nor Tempest were optimised for high altitude, because they didn't need to be.The Mustang MkI had an Allison engine because of two key reasons. Firstly, the British Purchasing Commission sent to the USA in 1938 was vastly inexperienced in modern fighter design, their main priority being to buy just about anything available. Secondly, when the BPC's engineers sat down with John Attwood of NAA to flesh out the Mustang spec between January and April 1940, no-one in that team (or, indeed probably anyone) had realised how important altitude performance was going to become in the ETO by the end of the Battle of Britain. If they had of, they would never have ordered any of the available American designs. Instead, they were operating with the little data available from fighting in Poland, which had involved lots of low-level action, and didn't have any reason to suspect the Allison would make the Mustang as altitude-crippled as the P-40. After all, the BPC had originally asked NAA to build P-40s, it was NAA whom insisted they could build something better. So, no, the British did not want a low altitude fighter, it's just all the Americans could offer.
Circling back to the beginning. Put the Wildcat of 1942 into the BoB and you have something useful.
Again, Grumman G-36A (French F4Fs) were diverted from France to Britain and were assigned to 804 Naval Air Squadron based at Skaebrae in October 1940.
Even though 804 RNAS operated under RAF Fighter Command, they didn't see combat until December, downing two Ju88s off Scape Flow.
It was my understanding that the French Purchasing commission requested the Wright GR-1820-G205A, which had a single-stage, 2-speed supercharger, that was rated 1250hp.See post #4
Why not a few P-47s as top cover too?Put the Spitfire VC of 1942 into the BoB and you have something very useful, I will leave out the Spitfire IX
Or a staffel of Me262s?Why not a few P-47s as top cover too?
I think we have "time machine creep" here.Or a staffel of Me262s?
Why settle for halfway measures?I think we have "time machine creep" here.