Do - 335

[EVZ]

Only 22 of these produced by wars end I think ... But? I see requests for P51H, Meteor, and we already have the P-47M ... This plane would add a new dimension to late war and provide some serious competition for the 51s, 262s, and LA7s ... PLUS - it's really cool !!!

[Lusche]

We have requests for any and all, that's not the measure.

And unlike the Do 335, the P-47M was in regular service and did see combat.

[Karnak]

I also doubt the P-47M would have ever been added had it not used the exact same geometry as the P-47D-40.  It was, artworkwise, a free addition.

The Do335 most certainly would not be such.

[EagleDNY]

Still, I'd take out a Do-335 just to have something besides a 163 to intercept those 38K HQ raids.

[Lusche]

Still, I'd take out a Do-335 just to have something besides a 163 to intercept those 38K HQ raids.

^

Ehmmm.. can't follow you.

Why do you think the 335 would be so much better interceptor as the ones we already have in game, so it that would be the only plane next to a 163 to intercept HQ raids?  (Which implies currently there is not even another capable interceptor but the 163, which I can't follow either)

[Butcher]

^

Ehmmm.. can't follow you.

Why do you think the 335 would be so much better interceptor as the ones we already have in game, so it that would be the only plane next to a 163 to intercept HQ raids?  (Which implies currently there is not even another capable interceptor but the 163, which I can't follow either)

We hardly have any interceptors designed to tackle the usually 25-40k buffs in Aces high. P47? 109? 190? what else? not much.

G.55 would be an interesting edition, not sure if it did well over 22k - I wish we had more interceptors for 20-30k, anything above that the buff driver can spend his 4-5 hours alone.

[Lusche]

We hardly have any interceptors designed to tackle the usually 25-40k buffs in Aces high. P47? 109? 190? what else? not much.

First of all, the 335 is NOT a high altitude bomber interceptor. In fact, it's not an interceptor at all. Planes like the 152H, the P-47M, P-47N and a few more have a superior performance at very high altitudes. The 109K is way outperforming the 335 in climbing to altitude (that's one of the main features of an 'interceptor')

And many planes in Ah do quite well in the buff hunting role at 20-25k, and quite a number still fine for 25-30k. The 335A had it's best performance at 20k by the way, just like many fighters of WW2.

[Karnak]

This shot was posted by caldera of an intercept he did on a formation of Mosquito Mk XVI's at 40,000ft:


His account of the intercept:

He hit our strats and was RTB when I first made an icon on him.  It was around 25k and he was 5.5k above me (at 40k on the dot).  Must have been a long trip for him, as this was on a large map.  Interception was easy, since he flew more or less straight.  At 40k, he wasn't going all that fast; either from reduced power at such a high altitude, or reduced throttle to milk it home.  I just dropped the RPMs a bit and saved WEP for the very end.  He did start maneuvering seconds after the first bullets hit, but then it was too late.

Fighters we have that are decent or good interceptors for the 20,000 to 30,000 range:

Bf109K-4
F4U-1
F4U-1A
F4U-1C
F4U-1D
F4U-4
Me163
Me262
P-38J
P-38L
P-47D-11
P-47D-25
P-47D-40
P-47M
P-47N
P-51B
P-51D
Spitfire Mk IX
Spitfire Mk XIV
Ta152H-1

[Butcher]

First of all, the 335 is NOT a high altitude bomber interceptor. In fact, it's not an interceptor at all. Planes like the 152H, the P-47M, P-47N and a few more have a superior performance at very high altitudes. The 109K is way outperforming the 335 in climbing to altitude (that's one of the main features of an 'interceptor')

And many planes in Ah do quite well in the buff hunting role at 20-25k, and quite a number still fine for 25-30k. The 335A had it's best performance at 20k by the way, just like many fighters of WW2.

You completely misread what I said, I won't bother to comment anymore on the subject, I happen to know the performance of the 335A, my comment was directed elsewhere which was completely missed.

[EVZ]

We have requests for any and all, that's not the measure. And unlike the Do 335, the P-47M was in regular service and did see combat.

There are at least a couple of Allied combat sightings of the Do 335 on record, a flight of Tempests reported they were unable to keep up and failed to obtain firing range on it ... Much of the German paperwork was lost, destroyed, captured by the Russians, or Classified by US - Strategic Services. There isn't any ? available test data (that I know of?) on rate of climb ... The ref. to 25,000 ft in 15 min was a casual comment.  2 complete aircraft WERE captured and returned to the US ... In the transit to the french coast, it was reported - "The Do 335 was easily able to out distance the escorting Mustangs and arrived at Cherbourg 45 minutes before the P-51s." Top Speed was recorded as 474 MPH in level flight at 20,000 ... This plane would have created HAVOC for existing bombers and escorts. 120 were ordered initially and over 2,000 were scheduled for production (various models).

[Karnak]

There are at least a couple of Allied combat sightings of the Do 335 on record, a flight of Tempests reported they were unable to keep up and failed to obtain firing range on it

That does not mean it was in regular service.  There was no place Germany had where they could test fly new aircraft without risking an encounter with Allied fighters.

[Butcher]

That does not mean it was in regular service.  There was no place Germany had where they could test fly new aircraft without risking an encounter with Allied fighters.

Agreed, if I remember correctly - there were a few prototypes that did regular flight testing very late in the war - I think it may of been pierre clostermann who ran into a Do-335 while in a tempest, in which the 335 opened the throttle and sped away, however this claim has be de-bunked a few times, as some documents say the test pilot never ran into "Tempests". However I've always been open to speculate on this, how can you mis-identify a Do-335 with any other German aircraft, and how many other aircraft can open throttle and speed away from a Tempest?

I would love to see the Do-335 added in game, one of those "what if" situations

[EVZ]

That does not mean it was in regular service.  There was no place Germany had where they could test fly new aircraft without risking an encounter with Allied fighters.

Did someone claim the 335 was in regular service or is that just something else you are making up so you can argue about it?

AFAIK ... Testing continued at Bavarian Bases until the last few weeks of the war ... Bavaria was largely ignored by allied air operations which were focused on the N Sea and Berlin.

[Karnak]

Did someone claim the 335 was in regular service or is that just something else you are making up so you can argue about it?

You directly implied such by posting an apparent rebuttal of Luche's comment that you quoted.

[Butcher]

Did someone claim the 335 was in regular service or is that just something else you are making up so you can argue about it?

AFAIK ... Testing continued at Bavarian Bases until the last few weeks of the war ... Bavaria was largely ignored by allied air operations which were focused on the N Sea and Berlin.

The 335 was never in regular service, and never left the prototype stage, given the amount created it would be correct to state it was still in prototype.

However with the numbers produced it could be argued, usually there are 2-5 in prototype before production - however there are number of reasons otherwise that could simply state it was still being tested when the war ended.

I don't recall anyone who stated the 335 was in production except a few years back when Wikipedia was being updated once a week by 12 yr olds.