Author Topic: What we need are some What If planes  (Read 10296 times)

Offline Ack-Ack

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Re: What we need are some What If planes
« Reply #165 on: May 21, 2009, 01:17:52 AM »
Sure that was not Lancasters?

My mistake, it was claimed that after the He 219s, first operational flight, the next three days afterwards the He 219 shot down 20 Allied aircraft including 6 Mosquitos.  Never happened.


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Offline MiloMorai

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Re: What we need are some What If planes
« Reply #166 on: May 21, 2009, 05:57:33 AM »
Between June 12 1943 and Nov 3 1944, the He219 claimed 10 Mossies.

On the night of June 11/12 1943 a 219 (G9+FB), V9, WNr 219009, piloted by Major Werner Streib and RO Uffz Helmut Fischer claimed 5 British heavies. Of the 783 a/c that took off to bomb Dusseldorf, 38 failed to return to base.

One often sees it stated that it was 5 Lancasters but as can be seen below it was 1 Lancaster and  4 Halifax

12.06.43   Maj. Werner Streib   Stab I./NJG 1   Halifax    14 km. S.E. Roermond: at 4.700 m
12.06.43   Maj. Werner Streib   I./NJG 1   Halifax    2 km. S.W. Rheinberg: 5.800 m.
12.06.43   Maj. Werner Streib   Stab I./NJG 1   Halifax    3 km. N. Mook: no height
12.06.43   Maj. Werner Streib   Stab I./NJG 1   Lancaster    05 Ost S/KN-2.6: no height [Goch]
12.06.43   Maj. Werner Streib   I./NJG 1   Halifax    05 Ost S/KM-6.3: at 5.900 m. [Gennep]

Offline moot

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Re: What we need are some What If planes
« Reply #167 on: May 21, 2009, 08:52:04 AM »
It is a difference, i.e. it is not the "SAME". And since we're talking about twins, it's a 100 hp difference.
Marginal at best.

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No it wasn't. It had roughly the same power loading as the P-47D. I'm sure climb and acceleration would be similar too. I've never heard the P-47 being described as "underpowered".
You "never heard" of the 219 being underpowered either, so that doesn't mean much if anything. The 47 is underpowered, overweight.  Only an N with low fuel and ammo, or an M would change this. 

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It has more firepower. There's no arguing the numbers.
The argument isn't the numbers compared in the vacuum of paper world, but in practice.  The B25H has huge firepower and....

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No, I've never argued that. I said it had a comparable wing loading to the P-38, in context to Wmaker's claim that the He 219 had "rather heavy wing loading".
Answered in other post.

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Again, nothing to argue, just hard numbers. And it is more like two dozen (with a clean 410, no gondolas or protruding guns). Weight (heft) has little or no impact on top speed, and the weight difference with similar guns and fuel isn't that much.
Doesn't seem that way at all. Karnak quotes (no ref but I'll take his word for it) service performance never breaking 400.  The 410 does 388. 1 dozen MPH tops; I was right. In a plane that won't accelerate all that fast. Marginal paper advantage and probably negligible practical advantage. I'll get back to you on weight differences with similar guns and fuel being "not that much". Weight having no impact on top speed is a flawed argument.

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They were fired by the pilot.
We're talking about implementation in the game. Not ideal figures. I'll concede that Pyro & co would probably (given the 2-trigger convention) work something out like the SM guns firing when looking fwd+up. Bad news for their usability otherwise.

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LOL That's the first time I've heard/read anyone say "only" two MK 108's! Two 108's will rip any bomber apart with a one second burst, and with the Jazz Music it can be done quite a lot safer compared to a conventional attack.
That's because you're a bit clueless. 2 108s don't guarantee a kill on heavy bombers (or even Il2s, A20s, 26s) unless it's one of the ball turret-less bombers, where you could come under (better be fast, the 219 being a whale - otherwise good luck at surviving the exit) at ~25deg for the SM to point vertical, and to some comparably narrow angle of climb before the SM points too far back.  Worse, it means that in the slow whale of a 219, you have to (SM angle always 0 deg lateral) show your full 470-some sqft of (slow) target area to the other bombers with full coverage guns, while shooting those crappy short range 108s. Yeah, that's a real advantage there. The only way 108s are "safe" against well-gunned full coverage bombers like the B17 or B24 is with a 262 shooting very early and coming in at high speed (999000 will attest). High front quarter passes showing a small fraction of that target area with the full battery, or longer reaching 103s or BK5 is safer.  SM with 103s would be a different story.
Man... You sound like Bee1le.

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The 219 is faster than the 410, so what does that make the 410? Big and slower?  :lol
Disprove that the 219 never broke 400 in service and couldn't climb past 26k or break 360 when loaded. The 219 is heavier than the 410, and with a marginal top speed advantage and all clues pointing to it being definitely underpowered (the 152 isn't quite underpowered and yet it has lethargic climb and level acceleration at altitude), yes, the 219 is effectively slower than the 410 unless you're fighting players whose brains are equally underclocked.

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Bigger yes, slower no. The 219 is faster than the Mosquito F.B VI (as modeled in AH). Why can't you get these simple facts straight?
See above.  It never broke 400... Loaded, it might only have done 360.  You're not after the truth here, just the last word.

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I'm not sure what you're getting at, but I see plenty of 110's in dogfights, especially when I'm in one. ;)
I'll believe that you can make a 110 fly worth a damn when I see it.  There's certainly no value to this argument either way - cf. "loaded question".  All things being equal, the 110 is dogmeat.

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No. With more guns, more weight and more speed the 219 is clearly the superior B&Z'er. That's what made the P-47 great, guns, speed and inertia. Not power loading or wing loading.
Again, we're talking about AH here.  The 219 in daylight fighting, with its target area, powerloading, and dismal performance compared to paper figures, would be dogmeat.  The only positives are the wing shapes looking like the mossie's, drooping ailerons, some potential use of SM in a knife fight (what a crutch!), and the A20 with similar powerloading/windloading/wing shape being a surprisingly agile.... piece of dogmeat against all the other twins.  Yes, I have first hand controlled-environment evidence of this.

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Against the top five most used MA fighters I'm fairly certain that both the 219 and 410 will be "dogmeat".
Loaded comparison again.  The useful argument is which german 400mph 6 cannon twin to add first. Because players certainly won't see much use in adding a third redundant model when so many more needed models are still missing, nevermind that SM could show up in the game via a Ju88 or 110.
The 219 isn't the more viable alternative, and HTC agrees - it's the 410 that showed up in the public poll for next inclusion, not the 219.
« Last Edit: May 21, 2009, 08:57:35 AM by moot »
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Offline Angus

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Re: What we need are some What If planes
« Reply #168 on: May 21, 2009, 10:26:02 AM »
"Again, nothing to argue, just hard numbers. And it is more like two dozen (with a clean 410, no gondolas or protruding guns). Weight (heft) has little or no impact on top speed, and the weight difference with similar guns and fuel isn't that much.
Doesn't seem that way at all. Karnak quotes (no ref but I'll take his word for it) service performance never breaking 400.  The 410 does 388. 1 dozen MPH tops; I was right. In a plane that won't accelerate all that fast. Marginal paper advantage and probably negligible practical advantage. I'll get back to you on weight differences with similar guns and fuel being "not that much". Weight having no impact on top speed is a flawed argument."

Weight? I guess you mean load there, i.e. wingloading. It does affect top speed since it affects the A.o.A. needed, but in most cases of WW2 aircraft it will not hurt the absolute top level speed very much. Just a bit.
It will hurt just about anything else performance-vise.

It was very interesting to carry out the flight trials at Rechlin with the Spitfire and the Hurricane. Both types are very simple to fly compared to our aircraft, and childishly easy to take-off and land. (Werner Mölders)

Offline moot

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Re: What we need are some What If planes
« Reply #169 on: May 21, 2009, 10:27:31 AM »
The A20 and 219 are the closest analogs.

Without flaps, the A20's flat turning radius is right below the 109G2's on this chart.

This is what the profiles look like, with a spitfire added for context, and flap areas greyed out.  I don't know what the ratio of flap angle/aileron droop (both slotted type btw) is for the 219.  I didn't have the patience to find and do the 38's fowler surfaces, but I assume anyone reading knows the deal there.

So... The 219 is shaping up to be another A20 with possibly better flat turning ability, but just as big and lumbering.


Weight? I guess you mean load there, i.e. wingloading. It does affect top speed since it affects the A.o.A. needed, but in most cases of WW2 aircraft it will not hurt the absolute top level speed very much. Just a bit.
It will hurt just about anything else performance-vise.
No.  I mean thrust, acceleration, time to get to that unproven top speed (30mph range between Heinkel claims and Jane's figures).  The Ta152 isn't  "fast".  Not unless you're willing and allowed to spend 10 minutes waiting for it to get to top speed at optimal altitude (and I say 10min for the 219 argument's sake - in the 152's case it's 15min + from climb speed to top level speed). That's why it's a flawed argument.
« Last Edit: May 21, 2009, 12:59:20 PM by moot »
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Offline Karnak

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Re: What we need are some What If planes
« Reply #170 on: May 21, 2009, 01:36:58 PM »
I did some more digging on the He219.  The 416mph speed might be achievable for an He219 that had no radar tree, no flame dampers and had its weight reduced.  With the radar tree and flame dampers it did about 350-360mph at best altitude.

Eric Brown test flew one after the war, but I haven't been able to dig his comments up while at work.
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Offline moot

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Re: What we need are some What If planes
« Reply #171 on: May 21, 2009, 02:08:06 PM »
Warplanes of the Luftwaffe (Donald) says that the A6 "anti-mosquito" variant, weighing 12klbs loaded and using 603L did 404mph.  Infamous "Erich" from the LEMB, ww2aircraft.net, etc, says no A6 was ever operational.

Gebhard Aders ("Geschichte der deutschen Nachtjagd") says the 219 "never achieved the values given in its manual. With almost full tanks and full armament, the 219 couldn't get above 26kft.  With Lichtenstein and flame dampers, the maximum fell to about 311mph at this height."

Cpt Brown, in Air International, says that it was "somewhat overrated.. It suffered from perhaps the nastiest characteristic that any twin-engined aircraft can have: it was underpowered. This defect makes take-off a critical maneuver in the event of an engine failing [sounds like the 25H missing an engine], and a landing with one engine out can be equally critical. There certainly could be no overshooting with the 219 in that condition."
Donald goes on to say that "a typical A7 version weighed more empty than any Ju88 night fighter, and more than a fully-loaded Mosquito."
« Last Edit: May 21, 2009, 03:15:23 PM by moot »
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Offline MiloMorai

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Re: What we need are some What If planes
« Reply #172 on: May 21, 2009, 02:59:17 PM »
I did some more digging on the He219.  The 416mph speed might be achievable for an He219 that had no radar tree, no flame dampers and had its weight reduced.  With the radar tree and flame dampers it did about 350-360mph at best altitude.

Eric Brown test flew one after the war, but I haven't been able to dig his comments up while at work.

Yes the 416mph number is for a stripped and lightened He219. He says the 219A-2 he flew had a tendency to sink. Raising the u/c was not recommended till at least 50' altitude had been reached.

There was also the questionable ejection seats. Ejection was a 50-50 chance of survival.

The He219 book by Roland Remp has Brown's report on the He219.

Offline moot

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Re: What we need are some What If planes
« Reply #173 on: May 21, 2009, 03:08:24 PM »
Yep, the ejection seat often fired without the canopy getting out of the way.  But that's something that the AH 219 wouldn't have. Otherwise there's lots of other flaws with it which led operational units to leave their A-5s and A-7s on the fields, to fly Ju88G-6s instead.
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Offline Die Hard

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Re: What we need are some What If planes
« Reply #174 on: May 21, 2009, 03:39:22 PM »
The loadouts I listed were correct. They're all in yours except for the B2/U4 which I got from some book, can't recall which.

I don’t know why you have these problems with comparing two lists, but the 2x103 + BK 5 didn’t exist operationally.


I'm fairly sure the whole A2 never happened as A2 because the 103s weren't ready. 

The A and B series were produced at the same time. The only difference is that the A series were conversions of older 210 and interim 210/410 airframes (which is why they retained some equipment and armament from the 210), while the B series were new production airframes with updated armament (MG131). When the MK 103 became available in the summer of 1943 it was available to both the A and B series Me 410.


So you're calling me out on inaccuracies I haven't made, while yourself making some. 

Only in your own little fantasy Moot. ;)


What do you make of notes (can't find the two places, other than wikipedia, where I read it) that 103s were usually not fitted, for weight concerns?

I assume you’re talking about the He 219… It is correct the MK 103’s were seldom used with the He 219, but not because of weight. It was simply better to have a battery of four MK 108’s since night fighting involved very short range. The MK 103’s range was simply not needed and its slower rate of fire was a drawback. However, that the MK 103’s were seldom used is not relevant to AH or this discussion. They were available, and after all you included the seldom used (and hardly effective) BK 5 in your Me 410 loadout.


What do you make of all the hints that the plane never made the predicted performance? 

Hints? I don’t give much credence to “hints”. Only facts and sources; do you have any?


Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II says its (A7 model) top speed is actually 385mph.

That is probably accurate for typical night operations where the very draggy FuG 212/FuG 220 antennas and the drop tank rack were fitted. For daylight operations the antennas were removed and the drop tank was of course the pilot’s prerogative. As it would be in AH.


What do you make of the damn plain fact that the 219's heft means that despite its supposed top speed of a bit more than 400mph, it'll be an anchor in anything but extreme bnz like the A8 is restricted to? 

The Fw 190A-8 is a very capable bomber interceptor and B&Z fighter. It’s not a dueler however and is best used in multi-aircraft engagements. Last LW tour the 190A-8 had a better k/d than the Spit XVI, Spit XIII, P-51D, P-51B, Yak-9U, P-47N, La-7, La-5, 109F, all 109G’s and many other very respectable fighters. Are you sure you want to imply that the Fw 190A-8 has no place in AH?


How the hell is the 219 supposed to be "fast" when it's that heavy? 

Anyone with even a limited understanding of aerodynamics would know that weight has little effect on top speed. At top speed most WWII fighters would have a negative wing angle of attack due to wing camber. Parasitic drag would be the limiting factor, not induced drag.


The only way the 219 would be a viable alternative to the 410…

Like I’ve said repeatedly now: I’m not interested in your silly forum politics. I don’t regard the 410 and 219 to be in “competition”, only that both are on a list of planes that would be nice to have.


My list was meant to list aircraft that AH doesn't have which could be fairly popular in the LWMA. I doubt Ki-100 coud be any more popular than the Ki-61 we have now and it really isn't that much used.

Maybe you’re right.


Finally, there were only 5 Pe-2I's made, none of them saw combat.

Darn, you’re right. That’s too bad though, would have been a fun plane.


Like the Bf 110, if an A-20 is caught by most single engine fighters flown by a pilot of equal or superior skill, the Havoc will die.

The 110 is somewhat superior to the A-20, but against one of the late-war single-engine monsters it will be at a serious disadvantage. The flipside of that coin (your argument) is that it is down to pilot skill. The 110 (and probably the A-20) is actually as good or better than many mid-war single-engine fighters in the MA, and the lethal gun-package makes up for any slight disadvantages.


Just like the claims the He 219 shooting down 6 Mosquitos during one mission.

The Luftwaffe never made that claim, but I'm sure there are a lot of bogus internet claims.


Marginal at best.

Still not “SAME”. Perhaps you shouldn’t have made such an inaccurate claim using bold letters an all.


The 47 is underpowered, overweight.  Only an N with low fuel and ammo, or an M would change this. 

Yet it was one of the most successful fighters of WWII, with the two leading American ETO aces flying the P-47.


The argument isn't the numbers compared in the vacuum of paper world, but in practice.  The B25H has huge firepower and....

…actually sees a good deal of use in the MA.


Doesn't seem that way at all. Karnak quotes (no ref but I'll take his word for it) service performance never breaking 400. 

Yeah, I’d like to see some documentation on that please.


Weight having no impact on top speed is a flawed argument.

Little to no impact with the engine power and speeds involved here; and it is perfectly understandable for anyone with any understanding of aerodynamics. Try upping a P-51D with 25% fuel and record the top speed. Then up one with 100% fuel (1,100 lbs heavier) and test it. Does the top speed drop even a single mph?


Man... You sound like Bee1le.

I don’t know the gentleman, but I like him already! :)


Disprove that the 219 never broke 400 in service and couldn't climb past 26k or break 360 when loaded.

Heh, you want me to prove a negative? How about you documenting your claim instead of me having to disprove it? That’s how it is usually done you know.



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Offline Die Hard

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Re: What we need are some What If planes
« Reply #175 on: May 21, 2009, 03:40:09 PM »
It never broke 400... Loaded, it might only have done 360. 

Document that please. Milo already provided charts showing the 219A-5 doing 360 mph on military power (Kampfleistung).


I'll believe that you can make a 110 fly worth a damn when I see it.

Good. I’ll probably re-subscribe at some point in the future. After a short time to knock some rust of my skills I’ll arrange for a demonstration. If you started flying about the same time you joined this message board we have about the same in-game time, of course that’s unless you have no life and play all day.


Again, we're talking about AH here.  The 219 in daylight fighting, with its target area, powerloading, and dismal performance compared to paper figures, would be dogmeat.  The only positives are the wing shapes looking like the mossie's, drooping ailerons, some potential use of SM in a knife fight (what a crutch!), and the A20 with similar powerloading/windloading/wing shape being a surprisingly agile.... piece of dogmeat against all the other twins.  Yes, I have first hand controlled-environment evidence of this.

“Dogmeat…” you seem to like that word. The 410 will be no less “dogmeat” in the MA, it was “dogmeat” in real-life too. No argument there.


The 219 isn't the more viable alternative…

Viability is irrelevant. We got the B-25 didn’t we? Not exactly the most viable choice of addition, and certainly very redundant performance wise.


Without flaps, the A20's flat turning radius is right below the 109G2's on this chart.

That’s rather impressive don’t you think?


(Image removed from quote.)
So... The 219 is shaping up to be another A20 with possibly better flat turning ability, but just as big and lumbering.

It seems to me that the He 219 has the largest area of flaps of those aircraft. Much larger than the A-20.



No.  I mean thrust, acceleration…

Then you would do better using the word “quick” rather than “fast”. The 410 would have quicker acceleration at low and medium speed, the 219 would probably be “quicker” at high speed due to being more aerodynamic and would have a faster top speed.


I did some more digging on the He219.  The 416mph speed might be achievable for an He219 that had no radar tree, no flame dampers and had its weight reduced.  With the radar tree and flame dampers it did about 350-360mph at best altitude.

So a daylight version without the antennas and dampeners (I hope HTC gets rid of them on the Mosquito asap!), but with a good gun package (maybe drop the Jazz) could conceivably do 407 mph?


Warplanes of the Luftwaffe (Donald) says that the A6 "anti-mosquito" variant, weighing 12klbs loaded and using 603E+MW50 and GM1 (for 2100hp) did 404mph.  Infamous "Erich" from the LEMB, ww2aircraft.net, etc, says no A6 was ever operational.

404 mph is very impressive with those draggy antennas and flame dampeners. Imagine how fast it would have been without them.


Gebhard Aders ("Geschichte der deutschen Nachtjagd") says the 219 "never achieved the values given in its manual. With almost full tanks and full armament, the 219 couldn't get above 26kft.  With Lichtenstein and flame dampers, the maximum fell to about 311mph at this height."

As anecdotal evidence go… Fully loaded with radar at that altitude I’m not surprised. The He 219’s best speed altitude was 23,000 feet. And in that book Alders goes on saying; “’The 219 was the only German night-fighter that could still climb on one engine, and even go round again for another landing attempt,’ a belief echoed by many former Uhu pilots.”


Cpt Brown, in Air International, says that it was "somewhat overrated.. It suffered from perhaps the nastiest characteristic that any twin-engined aircraft can have: it was underpowered. This defect makes take-off a critical maneuver in the event of an engine failing [sounds like the 25H missing an engine], and a landing with one engine out can be equally critical. There certainly could be no overshooting with the 219 in that condition."

I have a lot of respect for Captain Brown. However this anecdotal evidence does not in any way describe its combat effectiveness, nor does it specify what version He 219 and in what state it was. As far as I know the allies only managed to get their hands on a few A-2’s. In any case Brown’s remarks on landing with one engine are in conflict with those of Alders’ and other 219 pilots.
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Offline Angus

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Re: What we need are some What If planes
« Reply #176 on: May 21, 2009, 04:05:07 PM »
DieHard:
"Anyone with even a limited understanding of aerodynamics would know that weight has little effect on top speed. At top speed most WWII fighters would have a negative wing angle of attack due to wing camber. Parasitic drag would be the limiting factor, not induced drag."

You will then also understand the effect on climb and acceleration I presume? Actually one of the two would do, since they are pretty much knotted together.
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Offline Die Hard

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Re: What we need are some What If planes
« Reply #177 on: May 21, 2009, 04:08:44 PM »
DieHard:
"Anyone with even a limited understanding of aerodynamics would know that weight has little effect on top speed. At top speed most WWII fighters would have a negative wing angle of attack due to wing camber. Parasitic drag would be the limiting factor, not induced drag."

You will then also understand the effect on climb and acceleration I presume? Actually one of the two would do, since they are pretty much knotted together.

Of course. I don't expect the 219 to climb any better than say a P-47D or F4U-1, at best. The 410 will climb much better, especially in a light configuration.
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Offline Karnak

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Re: What we need are some What If planes
« Reply #178 on: May 21, 2009, 04:57:16 PM »
There were no daylight versions of the He219 that I have ever heard of.

And the A-6 was never operational.
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Offline AWwrgwy

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Re: What we need are some What If planes
« Reply #179 on: May 21, 2009, 04:59:08 PM »
I did some more digging on the He219.  The 416mph speed might be achievable for an He219 that had no radar tree, no flame dampers and had its weight reduced.  With the radar tree and flame dampers it did about 350-360mph at best altitude.

Eric Brown test flew one after the war, but I haven't been able to dig his comments up while at work.


Wings of the Luftwaffe by Eric Brown p.148:

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In my view, the Heinkel fighter--certainly in its He219A-2 version--was decidedly underpowered.  An engine failure on take-off must have been a very nasty emergency to handle at night as, below 137 mph (220km/h), the aircraft was difficult to hold straight and, combined with the sink as the undercarriage came up, this meant that there was a critical area between 50ft (15,20m) and 300 ft (91,50m) on climb-out.


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