Brewster & Polikarpov I-16, AH Performance Comparison.

[Badboy]

Hi

Just compared the Brewster and I-16 with the A6M2 as a familiar benchmark in a clean (no flaps or external stores/weapons) configuration.

You can see from the EM diagram below that while the A6M2 is the slowest of the three, it still holds a significant advantage in terms of instantaneous and sustained turning ability.

You can see from the diagram that the Zeke has a 3dps instantaneous turn rate advantage over the Brewster at corner velocity and a 5dps advantage over the I-16, and a smaller turn radius in each case.

Remember that in terms of Air Combat, a 2dps advantage is normally considered decisive. In that perspective you notice that the A6M2 has a 4dps sustained turn advantage over the Brewster and a 7dps sustained turn advantage over the I-16.


The tops speeds, climb rates and corner velocities for the given loads and configurations are also shown.

You will notice from the EM diagram that the Brewster is not only more maneuverable, it is also faster and climbs better than the I-16 at Sea Level. The Brewster is also faster and climbs better than the A6M2 at Sea Level, but is inferior in both instantaneous and sustained turning ability.

I will follow up with a flap analysis at a later date.

Hope this helps.     

Badboy

[Widewing]

Excellent Badboy, thanks.

I did some testing of these when the Beta debuted. I concentrated on full flap turn radius and rate.

Speed @ SL 50% fuel
B-239: 280 mph
I-16: 275 mph
A6M2: 270 mph
Hurri I: 262 mph

Turn radius and rate, full flaps, 25% fuel
B-239: 329 feet @ 22.5 degrees/sec
I-16: 382 feet @ 21.8 degrees/sec
A6M2: 315 feet @ 25.1 degrees/sec
Hurri I: 364 feet @ 23.3 degrees/sec

I have also fought a few duels with the B-239 vs the A6M2.

We found that the Zero's better instantaneous turn rate will give it an edge on the initial reverse. However, the Brewster has more benign handling at the limit with flaps fully out. My opponent in the Zero was a very good 1v1 pilot, but he invariably ran into departure issues when both fighters were hanging on the edge and augered twice. The Zero would depart violently, whereas the Buffalo was easily more managed, with no tendency to snap into a spin as the Zero did. Historical? Not likely, but it is what it is, if you will..... The Buffalo's vertical behavior was remarkable as you could hang on the prop at very low speeds. Meanwhile, the Zero would lose aileron authority and rotate around its own flight axis while trying to follow. That would lead to a messy departure and the Brewster could capitalize on it.

Flaps up, the Zero is better. Flaps down, it's nearly a wash. In between, that's where pilot plane handling skill can make the difference.

Over all, the Brewster is surprising in being quite competitive with the A6M2, and superior to the Hurricane Mk.I. It is a real threat to all other early war types.


My regards,

Widewing

[Badboy]

Many thanks to Widewing for the follow up.

Here is an analysis of the performance of the Brewster and I-16 with flaps, and again with reference to the A6M2 as a benchmark.

Firstly what happens when we deflect the flaps on the Brewster.



Then the I-16



Here you can see that the Brewster is able to generate a higher sustained turn rate and smaller turn radius than the I-16. Notice that when the I-16 is at full flaps, the Brewster can match its turn radius and achieve a a higher turn rate with only 3 notches of flaps deflected. The Brewster clearly has superior performance across the range.

But how does the Brewster compare with the A6M2.



In the diagram above you notice that the A6M2 has a better turn radius and rate and should be able to dominate in a nose to tail turn fight.



Here you see that the situation is just as good for the A6M2 in a one circle (Nose to Nose) fight.

After reading this thread you should have a fairly clear impression of the relative performance of the I-16 and Brewster in contrast with the more familiar A6M2.

For a full explanation of the use of flaps during an engagement and a more detailed explanation of the use of the Turn Circle Comparison diagrams seen here, please check out the following thread.

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,271266.0.html


Badboy

 
 



 





 

[Widewing]

Many thanks to Widewing for the follow up.

I used your bootstrap calculator to generate the data... 


My regards,

Widewing

[lyric1]

Excellent work.

[TequilaChaser]

very informative...truly appreciate your time and efforts.......Thank You Badboy  and also Widewing.....