Originally posted by gripen
Generally the turret with adequate firepower was pretty much unproven concept during WWII. Adequate firepower would have been something like 2x20mm cannon. BTW pretty much all subsonic heavy bombers built after war feature a powered tail turret with cannons and advanced fire control system.
gripen
Dont the bombers after the war got computed gun sights?? This of course make a big different.
Angus, less weight dont bring much more speed!! With removing of the gunner the drag would remain almost the same, but its climb would have improved and its turn performence, or all over the wing could have been smaler(like the P38). Imho the whole concept of the 110 as fighter was wrong. One pilot and a smaler wing would have given the plane the needed faster speed, then it would have been more fighter, like the P38, and the Wirlwind was.
Charge, as fighter the 110 only was realy successfull as nighfighter. Yes, it bacame slow, but in most cases this isnt that important at night. It was able to carry the needed radar, the navigator, a bunch of fat guns, strong engines and it still was manouverable and faster than the Bombers. It for sure wasnt the best german nightfighter, but it was successfull.
The 110 was a good fighter-bomber(Zerstörer) in the east, not a fighter.
Over Britain it simply had the handycap of the Radar, this brought the german planes in most cases into a tactical disadvantage, a less good manouverable but normal fast plane like the 110 suffer much by this fact.
Knegel
