Me 110 have had also other shortcomings, like that it required more than twice the resources than the Bf 109 (granted, any 2-engined fighter has/had the similar issues), and it's production was very small when compared to what a competent enemy (UK, later the Soviets and USA) could throw in the...
What might be required from the newly fanged hi-performance long-range fighter is to upgrade it's firepower 1st - having the same firepower as an 1-engined fighter is not a very good RoI. One option might be that it carries the MG C/30L cannons with their 100 rd drums (perhaps three - two at the...
So basically RLM opts to support the Fw's long range fighter instead of MTT's, possibly because the former is a better performer on same engines (= Jumo 210 in 1937) and it is only to be expected that on more powerful engines the 187 will still outperform the 110. RLM stipulates that they will...
Sukhoi seems to have had better luck (plus a better job done?) with the VG a/c they made. But then again, their VG a/c were not fighters trying to pull great G load.
On the MiG-23, the wing box was redesigned twice, since the aircraft were disintegrating in mid-air under very high G loads that...
Probably for the same reasons the other people went for the VG - to much shorten the take off and landing distances, while still having the low drag aircraft once airborne.
Training, radios and radars do matter.
Aircraft are a major threat as the 1930s unfold, so the AA guns will need to be manufactured in great quantities and qualities. AA guns require well trained crew, so again - training matters.
I'm not sure why it is necessary to go with secondary, let alone with tertiary sources when primary sources are easily available.
The only German trainable defensive cannon installation was in the nose and in the 'bathtub' position of some of He 111s, during the 1st years of the war. In the...
A lot of people will pretend that NAA Mustang was an American design, despite the main designer on the project being the German-born Edgar Schmued ...
DB-7 with V-1710s instead of R-1830s? It even has a proper bomb bay, unlike the Ju-88.
The engines with gear-driven compressors were also able to fly above the rated altitude with the throttle fully open, hence the term 'full throttle height' as the equivalent for the term 'rated altitude' as well as the 'critical altitude'. Eg. the Merlin 65 from this graph will have it's...
Already by the mid ww2, USAAF was more than eager to incorporate the 2-stage gear-driven superchargers on their fighter aircraft. Merlin Mustangs, P-61 (used the same 2-stage engine as the F6F-3/-5), P-63 (used the 2-stage V-1710), with P-82 in pipeline together with lightweight Mustangs (no...
This one is much easier to read. It does not note the boost; the power is too high for the 61 in Hg (military power), as well as too low for 67 in Hg (WER) - perhaps the chart is preliminary?
The Merlin 65 is equivalent of the V-1650-7, that were mostly installed on the P-51D/K. Via change of...
V-1710 on the P-38J/L with 60 in Hg was in WER power setting, 100/130 grade fuel. The V-1650-3 and -5 in WER setting (= 67 in Hg on 100/130 grade fuel) were making much better power than at 60-61in Hg, eg. see the chart here. Greg, in his infinite wisdom, does not acknowledge the effects of the...
I'd disagree with the notion of ability to use full throttle with a turboed ww2 aero engine, even at low levels.
edit: It was possible with very high octane fuel, like the 150 grade, and/or when combined with water-alcohol injection.
Most of the people figured out how to do things well (= engine makes such and such amount of power) at 5000 ft already by the later stages of ww1. Trick was to make the engine do the similar power at 20000+ ft, and there the turboes were supposed to be the solution. It took a while (until the...