wuzak
Captain
They would be welcome to handle the few Zeros the Luftwaffe had in time for the BoB!
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I know there wasn't but a couple of F4F-3's with the 2 stage engine at that time, but I'm going along with the spirit of the thread. How would the Wildcat have done in the BoB? The -3 would have done fine, I think the -3A with a lower altitude 2 speed engine would have struggled.
Again, I go back to the fact that after about 1941, no new fighters were designed with that armament; all featured heavier guns.
Great Britain even redesigned the Spitfire's wing for 20mm cannon and .50cal machine guns.
Also, apparently, most BoB pilots couldn't hit anything so a large amount of ammo was needed so they could spray the sky until they hit something. (I don't think any other pilots were any better shots except for US Navy and possibly Japanese navy pilots)
They would be welcome to handle the few Zeros the Luftwaffe had in time for the BoB!
Put an inline engine like in the HS-powered A5M3 and the RAAN might have a good fighter.Don't laugh, the RAAF wanted to buy A5M planes before WW2 to use as interim aircraft until British and American models became available.
There is nothing apparent about it, the average BoB pilot on both sides couldn't hit the preverbal broad side of a barn even if they were standing inside it, having .50's with no tracer or De Wilde flash ammunition or AP that worked or guns themselves that worked is not going to improve that situation.
Not sure I understand the point you're making. Aircraft capabilities evolve. Typically, the next generation of aircraft have better performance, to include armament, than the preceding generation. During WW2 the generations came around very quickly, as demanded by the accelerating rate of technological advancement. The RAF had already given up on 303-only armament in 1940, it just took time to make the 20mm cannon installations reliable.
The RAF would have been in dire straits had it tried using wing-mounted 50cals in 1940. Yes, it offered greater throw weight but it didn't become reliable in wing-mounted installations until the tail-end of 1942...that's 2 years too late for the Battle of Britain.
Yet despite all this the UK believed that the 4 x 0.5 in 1940/1 was a considerable improvement on the 8 x 303.
The French asked for their Wildcat order to be converted to 6 x LMG but the British didn't.
Yet despite all this the UK believed that the 4 x 0.5 in 1940/1 was a considerable improvement on the 8 x 303.
The French asked for their Wildcat order to be converted to 6 x LMG but the British didn't.
Well, the only Martlets in British service in 1940 were the 81 ex-French machines plus another 10 ex-Belgian contract machines that were taken over by Britain. The French machines had been modified to use 6 x 7.5mm machine guns that were to be fitted in France. After taking over the order, the Brits reinstated the 50 cal armament. It's likely that conversion work was done in the UK by Blackburn's (typically, aircraft delivered from the US were bought without armament, which was fitted in-country).
Perhaps, in the conversion process in the UK, Blackburn was able to come up with a wing gun installation that worked? Regardless, we're still talking about less than 100 aircraft...so suggesting that it's a "considerable improvement" is perhaps stretching things a little in the 1940 timeframe?
To be honest, no I don't think it's a stretch. I once spent a day in the NA concentrating on the Wildcat because at the time there was a lot of talk about the UK wanting to increase the firepower to six x 0.5. I found a lot of positive comments about the 4 x 0.5 although there were some negative comments about the installation of the 6 x 0.5. The only comments I found about the comparison with the standard 8 x 303 was that the 4 x 0.5 was along the lines that it was a positive improvement.
Clearly I don't know but, I do know they really didn't like the installation of the 6 x 0.5 in the Wildcat. If I remember correctly the guns would often rust and rearming took a heck of a lot of time. I will try and dig out some of my notes over the weekend.You may be right...but that all depends on those 4 x 50cals working under combat conditions. Per Lundstrom, the USN didn't get them working properly in Wildcats until the back end of 1942. How many actual engagements did the FAA's Martlets participate in during 1940? And how many were manoeuvering engagements?