Recent content by don4331

I was actually thinking even earlier - during the time that Grumman would have been designing the Hellcat, the R-2600 was a running engine, while R-2800 was still experimental. Best way to sabotage an experimental airplane is to use an experimental engine. And the spec was for 1,650hp@2,500...

Wasn't the R-2800 eating cranks like they were kid's candy at the time and barely making more power than the R-2600? There is a lot of just in time delivery on the Allied side: Merlin supercharger - which resulted in other engine manufacturer analyzing their force induction systems with similar...

You're welcome, glad to have sent it along. Supposedly we're to get more Thursday, so it should be to you by next weekend.

I think Hitler's biggest incorrect assumption was that Stalin would fold like the Czar did in WWI - threaten Moscow/St. Petersburg and he would sue for peace. Then Germany gets both food and oil production from Ukraine/Caucasus. Stalin wasn't a Czar's whose family had lived in Moscow/St...

I though it was this month's models.

The Wright R-1820, required alternate engine, has diameter 1.38m vs Nakajima Sakae with diameter 1.12m means the Wildcat fuselage is almost 25% greater diameter by default. (It's Wildcats with P&W R-1830 - diameter 1.22m - that really looks "fat" in the mid section). Also note, Wildcat fits...

The costs relatively match what I have for Kriegsmarine ships: Bismarck (capital ship) 197,000,000 Reichsmarks Admiral Hipper (cruiser, large) 85,800,000 Reichsmarks Nurnberg (cruiser, small) 85,800,000 Reichsmarks Z1 Leberecht Maas (destroyer) 13,700,000 Reichsmarks Graf Zeppelin...

British estimated costs during Inter war period: Maintenance cost (annual) Aircraft cost (annual) Capital Cost (annualized) Mid life Refit cost (annualized over life) Total Cost (per annum) Single engine Airplane (Squadron of 16 A/C) $0 $862,745 $0 $0 $862,745 Twin Engined Airplane...

Hellcat has slotted flaps, not Fowler flaps Are any of the other fighters carrier planes? P-38, Ki -44 and K-84 aren't. Smart @$$ in me, isn't Ki-115, Nakajima's last production fighter? Let's not confuse maneuverable at combat speeds with responsive at landing speeds. But don't sailplanes...

OK, I've skied behind a quarter horse in winter (Skijoring); I've mushed a dog sled (harder than it looks) and I've skied in the ditch behind a pick up... But I never tried skiing behind the dogs. If I wasn't so old....

While Fowler flap do indeed offer increased lift at low speed - they effectively increase both wing area and camber. The effect of the Fowler is it reduces the controls effectiveness - aka makes the aircraft sluggish to controls input - the exact opposite to what you want in carrier aircraft...

I was comparing @Zmauky proposal to decrease the wing area of Wildcat to that of Bearcat. Apologies, if in my 1st response I didn't spell out what I meant by it would involve decreasing wing area to that of the Luftwaffe fighter. And I'm still on that proposal - decreasing wind area e.g 22.67...

Not the Bearcat with wings the size of the Me109F, but rather to get the wing loading of the Wildcat to equivalent. Bearcat - 3,470 kg empty, wing area 22.67 m^2 = 153 kg/m^2 Wildcat - 2,225 kg empty same 153 kg/m^2 = 14.53 m^2 Me.109F wing area 16.05 m^2 So, my apologies to the...

Wingspan of Bearcat is only ~0.75m less than Wildcat (10.82 vs 11.58m) with <1.5m^2 less area. And wing loading of Bearcat empty is higher than Wildcat at gross. The wider track of the Bearcat landing gear in nice, but it reduces the amount of the wing fold - 4 Bearcats with folded versus 5...

I think you're being too kind to the Weimar: 12 Torpedo boats 5 of 6 Cruisers and the 3 Panzerschiffe (while AGS was launched under Nazis, she was ordered before they took power) were all products of the Republic. They were also working hand in glove with Soviets on air force and army. The...