From the story I posted about the air duels between Japanese and US patrol planes.
Another interesting side note...the increased defensive firepower on the H8K2 was a direct result of the "patrol plane air war" against US patrol planes and bombers.
ack-ack
Yup, and it was the Sunderland that was 30mph faster than the PBY. The H8K2 was about 80mph faster than the Sunderland.
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The later Sunderlands got a lot better on firepower, but they still lagged a long way behind the H8K on performance. That was an interesting note about the Sunderland's engines. Contrasts markedly with the claims some people make about engine management being required on these aircraft and the engine self destructing if you ran it on MIL or WEP for very long.
Be fun to have both of them though.
I think it is kind of funny that the H8K2 may be the best Axis "heavy bomber" that could be added.