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Originally Posted by DerAdlerIstGelandet Yes but if they had made it to China they would have gotten home. China was at war with the Japs too so they were allied with the allies. |
The Dolittle B-25s were always supposed to go to the Chinese/Flying Tiger Air Force. for use in China for use against the Japanese. There never was a thought of returning to the carriers.
The Droug/Boom issues are as follows:
1. The Speed difference of aircraft. Planes like the B-47 were atnear thier stall speeds while the KB-29/KC-97s were at absolute top speed, very hard on everything. Compounding this is the weight transfer complicates the situation. Air Force Transfers are frequently over 10,000lbs, Navy transfers are closer to 5,000lbs normaly.
2. Relative maneuverability is severly limited at/near stall speed while the boom was/is flyable, limiting the need to go after a droug.
3. Fuel flow. I think the boom flows 4/5 times the fuel per min.
4. Stability - the boom acts like a shock absorber and in some cases has been used to Tow aircraft that couldn't get fuel to conserve what they had for landing. This happened several times in the Vietnam war.
The Navy has other priorities namely weight and compact size. Naval aircraft are of more similar performance capabilities and some droug systems can be switched to different aircraft in a pinch.
wmaxt
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