Service Introduction Dates for AH Planes

[straffo]

Yak-9U      Apr-44
March 1944 in my book

[F4UDOA]

Heya,

F4U-1
First Production delivery July 1942
First Corsair Squad commision Sept 1942
Dec 1942 VMF 122 is declared operational and in Jan they sail for Gaudacanal.

F6F-5
April 1944 the first F6F-5 is produced.
July First combat for F6F-5

[fats]

Prien & Rodeike:

<edit>
Bf 109F-4:
Deliveries of the second major production variant, the F-4, began shortly after the appearance of the F-2; the first F-4 reached front-line units in June 1941.
</edit>

Bf 109G-2:
Deliveries of the G-2 to the Jagdgeschwader began June 1942. The first mention of a G-2 loss reports appears on July 7, 1942, when 3./JG 54 reported Werknummer 10335 damaged.

Bf 109G-6
The G-6 begun reaching front-line units in February 1943. [ ... ] The first recorded loss of a G-6 occured on March 4, 1943 when Uffz. Opitz of 5./JG 53 was shot down in air combat and forced to bail out of his arcraft, Werknummer 16307.

// fats

[ 10-31-2001: Message edited by: fats ]

[funkedup]

Thanks guys, keep 'em coming.  Give me the author and title of book you are quoting (or URL if web source).

Anybody have a good date for the N1K2-J?  I pulled that one out of my crack.  

[ 10-31-2001: Message edited by: funkedup ]

[funkedup]

PS Hohun you have persuaded me.  First squadron strength mission in-theater is fine by me.  Actually seems to be easier to find than delivery dates in a lot of cases.

And yes I agree that the dates should be altered to make a good RPS.  Certainly P-47D-11 can play as a P-47C, F6F-5 can be an F6F-3, Fw 190A-5 can be an Fw 190A-3, A6M5b can be an earlier A6M, etc.  But I want to get all the actual dates figured out first.

[ 10-31-2001: Message edited by: funkedup ]

[-tronski-]

Originally posted by funkedup:
PS Hohun you have persuaded me.  First squadron strength mission in-theater is fine by me.  Actually seems to be easier to find than delivery dates in a lot of cases.

Delivery dates are a pain , because often being delivered to a unit didn't mean that 'squadron' was on operations. Often quite a bit of time could past before that squadron was fully operational.
This is where all the usual arguments begin. The time difference between when the factory churned them out, and actual operational missions began.

Even worse when people want the date pushed up to when the a/c was still on paper!  

Tronsky

[R4M]

Originally posted by -tronski-:


Even worse when people want the date pushed up to when the a/c was still on paper!    

Tronsky

Fw190 in 1940!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSS!

 

[Wutz]

FUNKEDUP

The Kawanishi N1K2-J "Shiden Kai" Violet lightning modified

Maiden Flight 31.December 1943. Navy Trials in March/April 1944. Production started June 1944. First IJN Kokutai recived it Oktober 1944. N1K2-J: N=Float plane figther:K=Kawanishi :-J=Modifed too Landbased Figther.

The Kawanishi N1K1-J "Shiden" Violet lightning

Maiden Flight 27.December 1942. Trials July 1943. Improved version allowd production November 1943. Enterd Service May 1944.

Not much difference between N1k1 and N1k2 K2 10 mph faster, improved alt perfmns (not much) 4x20mm on K2 vs 4x20mm and 2x7,7mm on K1. K2 also ability too carry bombs.

Considerd by the Allies too be superior too the F6F Hellcat and equal too the P51D Mustang.

16.February 1945 over yokohama, Warrant officer Kinsuke Muto of the 343rd Kokutai in an N1K2-J singel handedly battled a dozen F6F Hellcats. He shoot down 4, and forced the rest too break off and return too their carrier.

Perhaps the N1K2-J in AH is in fact that good because it was that good  

1453 Bulit (415 of them N1K2)

Hope this is what you needed

Wutz

[funkedup]

I'm going to put Feb 45 for the N1K2-J.  I bet it was in action earlier, though.  And since there is not a large functional difference between N1K2-J and N1K1-J, I think the May 44 date would be acceptable to RPS designers.

[Sancho]

As Funked noted above, the P-47D-11 can stand in for a P-47C.  The -11 minus paddle blade prop is not significantly different from the C and early D variants that preceded it.  For RPS purposes, the P-47 debuted in ETO combat on 10 March 1943.  Source: Air War Europa, Eric Hammel.

Ammo's got my P-47 in the Pacific book so I can't tell ya exactly when they kicked off over there... but I know Kearby's 348th FG arrived with their jugs in Australia on 30 June '43 and their first combat was on 16 August.

[funkedup]

To follow up on your post Sancho, it looks like Kearby's Jugs were D-2's:  http://home.att.net/~historyzone/Seversky-Republic6.html

And they were the first Jugs to operate in PTO:  http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/p47_15.html

[ 11-01-2001: Message edited by: funkedup ]

[HoHun]

Hi Fats,

>The Prien & Rodeike book says G-10 production ran from October '44 until the end of war.

"Flugzeug Profile Messerschmitt Bf 109G/K" by Manfred Griehl confirms that (as "late summer").

It also lists the very similar Me 109G-14 as being delivered from June 1944 on.

Delivery of the Me 109K-4 started in October 1944, at the same time as that of the Me 109G-10.

(The K-4 featured aerodynamic refinements over the G-10 as well as an enlarged radiator that permitted the use of higher power settings.)

Griehl also quotes an OKL report (Br.B.Nr. 1561/45 gKdos from 20.03.1945) on the equipment of the Luftwaffe's fighter arm that indicates that in addition to the existing 8 Gruppen of Me 109K-4 fighters, all 3 Gruppen of KG(J) 30 were to be equipped with the Me 109K-4/R6 - the GM-1 boosted variant of the K-4. However, according to the report KG(J) 30 hadn't received their aircraft at least until mid-February 1945.

Here's a breakdown of the Luftwaffe fighter arm by number of Gruppen as given by the OKL report:

Bf 109G-10/R6: 7
Bf 109G-14/AS: 2
Bf 109K-4/G-10: 8

Fw 190A-8/A-9: 9
Fw 190A-9/R11: 1
Fw 190 (Sturm): 3
Fw 190D-9: 4

Me 262A-1a: 5

Some observations:

- There were as many Fw 190 units as Me 109 units.
- There were more Me 109 bomber destroyer units than Fw 190 Sturm units.
- Me 109G-10/Me 109K-4 and Fw 190A-8/A-9 were listed in combination only despite their respective differences.

(I seem to notice slight contradictions to a earlier OKL report also quoted by Griehl, so numbers should be taken as approximation.)

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

[HoHun]

Hi R4M,

>Several sources I've read list the 109G2 as an EARLY 1942 plane and the 109G6 as a LATE 1942 plane. Not sure about those two, tho.

I noted an introduction date of May 1942 for the Me 109G-1/G-2 (which were built in parallel) with Kennet A. Merrick, "German Aircraft Interiors" as source, though I haven't the book here to confirm it.

The Me 109G-6 according to "Flugzeug Profile" by Manfred Griehl was introduced in February 1943, with its the G-5 high-altitude counterpart coming much later ("autumn 1943").

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

[HoHun]

Hi,

Here are some Fw 190 dates, too:

Fw 190A-1: 08/1941
Fw 190A-2: 11/1941
Fw 190A-3: 03/1942
Fw 190A-4: 08/1942
Fw 190A-5: 03/1943
Fw 190A-6: 08/1943
Fw 190A-7: 12/1943
Fw 190A-8: 02/1944
Fw 190D-9: 09/1944
Ta 152H-1: 02/1945

Some comments:

- I'm not quite sure what the difference between the Fw 190A-3 and the A-4 was, they both seem to have been very similar. The A-5 had the extended nose to improve the centre-of-gravity situation but was identical otherwise - or so I think.

- I've seen early 1944 quoted for the Fw 190D-9, but I'm certain that this is a mistake.

Sources were David Donald's "Jäger", Paul Simsa's "Fw 190", and Reschke's "JG 300/301" for the Ta 152H.

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

[funkedup]

Hohun

What is the source for those 190 dates?

To answer your quesiton:

A-4 changes from A-3

Visible changes:
-Addition of antenna mount on fin.
-Cooling slots replaced by cooling shutters.

Other changes:
-New radio.
-(Some sources) Changes to engine permitting use of water injection (MW 50).  But the more research I do on that topic, the less I find about!  

In terms of how they would be modelled in AH, they are the same aircraft.  And they are both so similar to A-5 that A-3/A-4/A-5 can be interchanged without upsetting play balance IMHO.