Specs of the Flak 36

[flakbait]

I know this would come up sometime, so I figured I'd get it over with. Listed below is the specifications of the Flak 36 88mm AAA gun, and the later Flak 41. I got these from the book "Handbook on German Military Forces", page 350.

Flak 36:

Caliber: 88mm [3.46 inch]
Length of barrel: 15 feet 5 inches
Weight in action: 5.49 tons
Maximum ceiling: 32,500 feet [9908 m]
Maximum horizontal range: 16,200 yards
Rate of fire [practical]: 15-20 rpm
Muzzle velocity: 2,690 ft/sec [HE]
Muzzle velocity: 2,600 ft/sec [AP]
Traverse: 360º
Elevation: -3º to +85º
Motor drawn
Projectile weights: HE, 20 lbs [9.07 kg]
AP, 21 lbs [9.08 kg]


Flak 41:

Caliber: 88mm [3.46 inch]
Length of barrel: 21 feet 5.75 inches
Weight in action: 8.85 tons
Maximum ceiling: 49,200 feet [15,000 m]
Max horizontal range: 21,580 yards
Rate of fire [practical]: 20 rpm
Muzzle velocity: 3,280 ft/sec
Traverse: 360º
Elevation: -3º to +90º
Motor drawn
Projectile weights: HE, 20.86 lbs [9.46 kg]
APCBC, 22.45 lbs [10.18 kg]


Need any other gun specs? I've got 'em all; 37mm to 128mm.

Flakbait
A man standing in the shadows of giants

[juzz]

Do you have info on traverse/elevation speeds? From what I understand, the 88 was unable to traverse quick enough to follow reasonably fast targets flying below 9,000ft. I would hate to see 88's with overmodelled tracking abilities.

[This message has been edited by juzz (edited 06-11-2000).]

[flakbait]

Sorry juzz, but the book doesn't have any info on trackrates. From other places I've heard as fast as 21º/sec and as slow as 9º/sec, so I honestly couldn't tell you. What I do know is that 88's would rarely engage low flying aircraft due to speed. Pretty much anything flying lower than 5k @ 250+mph was out of the target envelope. The only real way to even get close would be to get lucky and have someone fly right down your firing path.

I can't wait for controlable Flak 41's; no more alt-monkeys getting away with being out of range!! About the only other thing that book doesn't have is blast radius. I'd like to know myself just how big a bang one 20 pound HE round has.


One thing I forgot was the sighting system, so here's the info for that from the same book:

"Kommandogerat 40. The four meter [16 foot] stereoscopic range finder used with the '40' model is mounted on the director, and gun data is transmitted electrically to the guns. It also uses the linear speed method of data computation. However, the '40' model can be operated by 5 men, where the '36' model required 11 men.

(2) The '40' director incorporates a mechanism which copes with changes in target altitude and target course (curvilinear flight).

(3) This director can be used with the different types of heavy antiaircraft weapons by changing the ballistic cams. The Kommandogerat 41 is a Kommandogerat 40 fitted with cams for the 8.8 cm Flak 41, the nomenclature apparently being a convienient way of distinguishing its use for this purpose."

When I track down more info I'll post it here. I do have a description of what the standard sight looked like, but no photo. If I had one I would simply make a pic of it and post it here.

Flakbait
A man standing in the shadows of giants