1n 1939 what would your operational airforce look like

[the lancaster kicks ass]

Originally Posted by the title

1939

Originally Posted by hussars

Air superiorority fighter-F-80 Shooting Star

well, we can allow him the spitfire, swordfish and hurricane

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Originally Posted by evangilder

Looks like an all Axis list to me. I would have taken a C-47 over the Ju-52 any day of the week.

Same here, was a better aircraft than the Ju-52. I still love the old Tante Ju though. She is to me also an aircraft synonimous with WW2. I just saw a good show on the Ju-52/3m that Lufthansa is still flying for nostalgia. Would love to fly in one just say I did.

Originally Posted by 102first_hussars

Air superiorority fighter-F-80 Shooting Star,A6M-ZERO/Spitfire
Bomber Intercepter-Hurricane
Recon-P-38, Mosquito,
Bomber-Mosquito,B-24,and the Halifax.

Carrier planes would be Multi-roles so Instead of three classes of aircraft it would be 2, fighter/bomber and torpedo planes on their own.

NAVY/Fighter/bomber-F4U-Corsair
Navy/Torpedo/ Swordfish, or the Devestator.

Either you do not read the titles of threads or you just post whatever the hell you want and dont care about the title, or you have no clue. Which one is it?

Lets see dates that these aircraft first flew:

F-80: 8 January 1944
Zero: 1 April 1939 (Did not enter full service until 1940 though)
Spitfire: 5 March 1936
Hurricane: November 1935
P-38: 27 January 1939 (Did not enter full service until atleast 1940)
Mosquito: 25 November 1940
B-24: 29 December 1939 (this was only the first prototype though, the rest of the prototypes were not even ready until 1940 though)
Halifax: 24 September 1939 (Did not enter service until 1940 though)
F4U: 29 May 1940
Swordfish: 17 April 1934
Devastator: 1935

So lets see out of the ones you picked 7 of the 11 were not even used in 1939, hell on was not until 1944!

[102first_hussars]

So what if some werent used in 1939 they still existed, this would be my airforce of 1939, I would have contracted the company's and order the production of the planes,

Oh Im sorry I added the F80- Shooting Star, just trying to add some creativity didnt realise people would act as if I just massacred their entire family.

[Jabberwocky]

LoL .

Hussars, the basics of the question runs something like this:

"If you could choose any aicraft operational in 1939 to create a fictional ulitmate airforce, what would they be?"

So that excludes anything that wasn't in regular squadron service before December 31st, 1939. So you can't include planes that had flow but weren't in service yet, planes that were only in prototype form or planes that hadn't even been designed yet.

Excuse us for calling you on mis-interpreting the question

[102first_hussars]

Ok let me try again,


Naval Aircraft
Fighter/bomber-Spitfire/two 20mm cannons, 2 500 pounders
Torpedo Bomber-Spitfire also- long wings enables steady low flight.


Army Air Force

Air superiority-Ki 43, Spitfire,He-100,He-178
Bomber Intercept-Hawker Hurricane
Bomber-was the B-24 liberator around back then?
Trainer- Harvard
Transport-C-47,Ju-90

[Jabberwocky]

Spitfires didn't see regular service with 20mm cannons until late-ish 1940, although cannon fittings were trialed earlier in the year. Even then the cannon installation was somewhat unreliable, and really wasn't perfected until the Mk VB which began service around March/April, 1941.

Spitfires never carried a 2 x 500 lb bomb loadout. The limit for the Spitfire VB/C was 1 500 lb bomb on the centerline or 2 250 lb bombs on the wings (i.e. 500 lbs maximum). All versions after the Mk. IX could carry 2 x 250 lb bombs on the wings and 1 x 500 lb on the centreline, for a maximum load of 1000 lbs. None of these loadouts were used until after 1940.

The Ki-43 didn't see service until 1941. True, it was flown in 1939, but that was only the prototype. There were only 10 airframes produced between 1939 and September 1940, all of which were used for trials and testing.

[102first_hussars]

Thats my airforce, full of prototypes, stop correcting me or I just say my 1939 AF consisted of , F-18,F-16s,F-22's,X-Wing and Tie Fighters.

[carpenoctem1689]

Sorry about the Ki-43 mis-information as a choice for me, i was naive to the fact that it didnt enter service until 1941. As for the Ju52 over the C-47, i dont know why i would choose that, but i just liked the Ju52, seeing some with floats, and the fixed landing gear and tri-motor construciton, just so cool to me. I think i chose it for looks more than anything, cause it reminds me of italian aircraft with the triple engine layout.

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Could the Spitfire even carry torpedos?

[Gnomey]

Originally Posted by DerAdlerIstGelandet

Could the Spitfire even carry torpedos?

Not as far as I know. I have not read anything about them doing it, I will have a look around and see what I can find when I have the time.

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

That was my point, thanks Gnomey.

[Gnomey]

OK here is a list of every Spitfire varient: http://www.supermarine-spitfire.co.u..._variants.html. Not one of them can carry a torpedo according to the site. Here is a run down of every mark: http://www.supermarine-spitfire.co.uk/marks.html. List of armaments and numbers built: http://www.supermarine-spitfire.co.uk/production.html.
As I said nowhere I have read lists the Spitfire as capable of carrying a torpedo, just bombs.

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Yeap that is what I allways though, thanks for proving my point. You know since Hussars is going to go ahead and make Spitfire torpedo bombers I think I will make the Fiesler Storch my torpedo bomber.

[the lancaster kicks ass]

holy crap that's bad i seem to remember CC made a sharkmouth storch dropping a grand slam from 40,000ft once?

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Yeah that was a crappy making of a torpedo Storch. That is why I apologized for it, but I think it gets my point across. Then again maybe I should use CC's grand slam dropping Storch and make it a heavy bomber, its about the same as a torpedo dropping Spitfire.