As mentioned in another Typhoon Rocket loadout thread, there is yet another iteration of RP loadout on the Typhoon (with limited but documented use in operations) that might prove useful in AH:
No, not this one - this was used for testing only and deemed unmanageable:
The operational loadout variant was this one:
Total usage was rather small - 590 fired from Mk IA rails and another 381 fired from Mk III rails. By the way, based on weight it seems we have Mk III rails in AH.
Of course, there's no free lunch. The "bottom" 4 RPs were fired as pairs with the RP above it, yielding an unchanged 8 total rocket launch events - but with 4 of those launches being double RPs it is still a total rocket firepower increase of 50% over the standard 8 rocket configuration.
Historically, No 4 Duplex saddles ultimately were made available, allowing each rocket to be fired individually but this was too late in 1945 to see operational use.
On the upside: once the rockets had been fired there would be no drag penalty as compared to a standard 8-RP Typhoon since the total number of rails (the Brits called them "beams") is the same. Certainly there would be an additional drag and weight penalty when loaded vs. the standard 8-RP configuration.
Incidentally, my quick & dirty testing with the Typhoon indicates that there is a 2.5 mph top speed penalty per empty rail. Your mileage will probably vary.
HiTech - pretty please?
Source: Typhoon Wings of 2nd TAF 1943-45. Chris Thomas, Osprey Publishing, 2010 and 2nd Tactical Air Force. Vol. 4. Christopher Shores & Chris Thomas Midland Publishing, 2008
