Inaccurate Loadout on F6F-5?

[MRPLUTO]

On page 143 of "American Warplanes of World War II" edited by David Donald, there is a drawing of an F6F-5 Hellcat with a bomb under each wing root and a drop tank under the fuselage.

However, the loadout available in Aces High only allows two bombs or the drop tank.

Anyone know anything more about this?

MRPLUTO

[Morpheus]

you could also carry a bomb on that center hard point in place of the DT.

[Noir]

same with the F4U (all versions) , it had a wet center hard point.

But if the F4U had a DT + that killer ord, it would b the best plane in the game. same with F6F, maybe it was a bit too uber for HT

source Greg Goebel's Website

[Debonair]

Here is a web site that suggests a great number of dream ordinances for the F6f-5.
http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/hist-ac/fighter.htm
Oddly it does not say anything about centerline bombs for the F4u.  Maybe that was for Marines only.  According to Lindberg three 1000 pound bombs was SOP for keeping Japanese heads down on bypassed islands.

Photo from China Lake

[Noir]

Noir: same with the F4U (all versions) , it had a wet center hard point.

Sorry I was wrong about the "all versions", but,

* The "F4U-1D" was introduced in April 1944, though the F4U-1C remained in production in parallel. The F4U-1D was much the same as the F4U-1A, retaining the six Browning machine guns, and differed mainly in being fitted for carriage of a 605 liter (160 US gallon) centerline drop tank and two 450 kilogram (1,000 pound) bombs, one on each inner wing just outside the wingroot

Quoted from http://www.vectorsite.net/avf4u.html#m2

thougt there is no pic to prove it on the site

They say also that the F6F had 3 1000lb capable pylons there :

http://www.vectorsite.net/avf6f.html#m3

[humble]

The biggest "glitch" in the F6F5 is the lack of the 2x20mm 4x.50cal option. My understanding is that this was actually not a "rare" option but standard on RNAS F6F's as well as many USNA units in the pac......

[Squire]

Only the F6F-5 Night Fighters used the 20mm, and at that most did not use them. I can see why PYRO didnt include it as an option, when probably 2 percent or less of them ever saw combat armed like that. If it was a common varient, maybe that would be different.

[humble]

Originally posted by Squire
Only the F6F-5 Night Fighters used the 20mm, and at that most did not use them. I can see why PYRO didnt include it as an option, when probably 2 percent or less of them ever saw combat armed like that. If it was a common varient, maybe that would be different.

Thats not accurate information. The 2x20mm option was standard on all RNAS F6F-5's as well as all F6F-5P's. In addition a significant number of earlier F6F-5's were so equipped. The 2x20mm option was an option from the initial roll out of the F6F-5 in 1943....not a later addition. It was not as rare as you make it out to be.....at the same time I cant find actual production numbers anywhere either. Simply various references that state a "significant" number of F6F-5s were so equipped. By the time the "last" of the F6F-5 mods came out (the N & P) production was standardized on the 2 x 20mm option including the remaining "standard" F6F-5's...but no clue on total numbers....but I bet its an awful lot more then the 3 x20mm option on the la-7 thats so prevalent in the MA.

[Debonair]

I did a survey of this question (20mm Hellcats) using google image search & F6F-5 as the search term & looking only at B&W images.  I found a very low fraction of 20mms in non-nightfighter F6Fs & I also found no photos of F6Fs with bombs on the centerline hardpoint

[Squire]

Agree, its just nobody would ever bother with 6 x 50s ala the F4U-1C I suppose...I mean, why would you? ah well thats all MA debate, not my cup of tea.

[Puke ver. 2]

8: All F6F-5 with provisions for three .50-Cal. MG, or two .50-Cal. MG and one 20 mm in each wing; all late model F6F-5Ns delivered with mixed battery.

Hellcat, Barrett Tillman pg 21.

Just because the option wasn't utilized much in actual combat shouldn't be the reason it shouldn't be included in AH.  The requirements of the actual Pacific War was different from the MA.  Mostly, the 20mm was not needed was due to tactical reasons mainly that the Japenese aircraft torched very well when hit with incindiary rounds.  Had the Japenese fielded better armored aircraft and sent waves of heavy bombers to targets, you probably would have seen the Hellcats with the 20mm option a lot more.  Since the MA will have you see all sorts of fighters, bombers and even tanks to destroy, I think it's a bad choice to leave this option out.

[Soulyss]

From what I've been able to gather the 20mm loadout was available on "late production run F6F-5's".  The only reference I've seen to them being used operationally was on a handful of nightfighters.  The provisions exsisted but it was largely not used.  I have not found any reference to that armament being used by a day fighter.  When you think about it it didn't really make a lot of sense.  The 6x.50 armament was more than suffecient firepower when dealing with Zero's which were still the hellcats primary opponent right up to the end of the war.  Plus the battery of 50's would have been easier for a reasonably well trained pilot to score with than a mixed battery (at least this was the belief of the Navy IMHO).  Personally I hope we never see the mixed battery load in AH.

[humble]

I haven't found it referenced anywhere in the PAC. My understanding is that all 900+ in RAF service carried the mixed gun package. The interesting fact is that the plane was designed from the start with the mixed battery option & that the late production runs were 2 x 20mm, 4 x .50cal on the "standard" F6F-5's. I dont see how this differs much from the la-7 3 x20mm option which was exceedingly rare or the various options on the 109's, 110's etc for various loadout options. The basic capabilities of the plane dont really change all that much.

[Kweassa]

Just because the option wasn't utilized much in actual combat shouldn't be the reason it shouldn't be included in AH.

 So we should be able to get the;

* twin 20mm gunpods for the Fw190As, making it a 6x20mm fighter..

* experimental MK103 armament for 190s and 109s

* earliest types of world's first guided missiles

 .. and etc, etc ?

[Krusty]

Then there was that P38 with 12x50cal and a cannon or two in the mix. And the 12x303 armed hurricane, and the 4x20mm spit, and the Ta152 with 4xMg151/20s and a 30mm hub cannon to boot?

THat's the worst argument in HISTORY dude