For those who want a German bomber...

[Rasker]

According to the book "The Mighty Eighth", some B24's were also capable of mounting 1 4000 pounder or smallerbomb under each wing.

[bunch]

Originally posted by GScholz
Seems like I was wrong Bunch....

You're that rarest of types, one who would admit it...all around a good egg, no doubt

[Herr Milde]

Typical bomb load for JU188A-2 comprised 20 154-lb, six 551-lb, and four 1,102-lb or two 2,205-lb bombs.

per William Green's "The Warplanes of the Third Reich"

I like this plane!

[Herr Milde]

Defensive armament of JU188A-2 comprised one 20-mm MG 151 cannon in fuselage nose, one 20-mm MG 151 cannon in power-operated dorsal turret, one 13-mm MG 131 machine gun firing aft above fuselage (located just fore and above the dorsal turret), and one 7.9-mm MG 81z twin-machine gun firing aft below fuselage.

The remotely operated tail barbette was mounted experimentally on A-series airframes but was shelved due to complexity and poor reliability.

[Herr Milde]

JU188A-2 performance: maximum speed, 264 mph at sea level, 323 mph at 19,685 ft; range: 1,490 mls (with 3,307-lb bomb load).

[GScholz]

Originally posted by bunch
You're that rarest of types, one who would admit it...all around a good egg, no doubt

Thanks

[GScholz]

I think it would be more correct to say that the JU88/188 had a maximum payload with external racks similar to the typical payload of the B-17 without external racks.

However, not knowing how the racks were implemented on the B-17, I get the impression that the 4x500kg external bombs on the 88/188 were better integrated. From the pictures I've seen it looks like the four bombs are semi-recessed into a pair of conformal "pods" under the wings of the 188, which would minimize the drag penalty of carrying them externally.

[MiloMorai]

To illustate how bomb/fuel load effected range, here is some data I came across on the Ju 88A.

2400kg bombload, 1221kg fuel, 1260km range, 11,900kg flying weight

1500kg bombload, 2106kg fuel, 2340km range, 12,000kg flying weight

1000kg bombload, 2609kg fuel, 2900km range, 12,100kg flying weight

500kg bombload, 3263kg fuel, 3680km range, 112,300kg flying weight

[afool]

Henschel Hs123 (nice bi-plane)
~or~
Henschel Hs129 with the 40mm gun

afool

[HoHun]

Hi again,

The He 177 had three bomb bay segments each divided into two symmetrical halves.

The aft bomb bay segment was a bit longer than the two fore segments.

Per segment and half it was possible to load:

8 x 0050 kg (on a special carrier)*
2 x 0250 kg
1 x 0500 kg
1 x 1000 kg (PC 1000)
1 x LMA III

* If carried in fore segment, protuded into mid segment enough to preclude carrying another rack of the same type there. For an exclusively 50 kg bomb loadout, the fore carrier probably could only be loaded with 4 x 50 kg each, for a total of 40 x 50 kg.

If the mid segment was blocked, the following loads could be carried in the fore and aft segments (per half):

1 x 1000 kg (SC 1000)
1 x 1400 kg
1 x 1700 kg
1 x 1800 kg (aft segment only)
1 x LMB III

It seems that for long-range operations, the fore segment of the bomb bay was turned into a fuel tank. That would of course reduce the armament options of the He 177 somewhat.

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)