PBY-5A

[DemonFox]

Pppsstt Dragon the SBD does carry torpedos. That's the TBM.

[gyrene81]

i still have a problem with demon's idea of the term "most important"...most especially in the case of the pby, not even close.

[DemonFox]

Eh? when did I say most important. I think it is important but not most important. Now it's most important in MY mind  But that just me  Not everyone likes my views on the world.

Point being
+1 PBY-5A for being important, cool, new, and could be used effectively to sink Subs (if added) and CV's.

[gyrene81]

Alright I know that this has been said before but the PBY was one of the most important planes of the war.

not even "one of the..."...it was intended as a u.s. navy patrol plane...war dictated some useful modifications.

here, some production information for you
http://www.uswarplanes.net/catalina.html

and a fanboi page with good information and lot's of pictures to enjoy...
http://www.michaelprophet.com/News_articles/PBY_CAT.html

[bangsbox]

You would still have the same problem if the PBY was added as it only carried one torpedo on a wing mounted rack.



ack-ack

i believe it carried 2 torps sir, and if it is mounted on a wing rack a counter weight/another torp im sure would be there. and anyway having a 4000lb bomb load and torps being 2000lbs makes it logical to have 2. here is a sweet painting of it carrying 2 torps under wing racks. note one has been dropped and is in the air 

[DemonFox]

Gyrene in truth it was very important. No not the MOST important but in the pacific it did play a large role. Best example of it's importance is the battle of Midway. Your an itelligent guy I bet you know all about it. The PBY is the plane that found the Japanese fleet and probably saved Midway.

That just the way I see it personally. I mean no offense to you but I just think it would be better added then some other aircraft.

<S>

[DeadStik]

I would think that all aircraft of the era which were built in numbers and saw combat should be added to the game. There's no reason to NOT add this plane. The only question which is debatable is this: "When should the HiTech team devote the resources to modeling this bird accurately for implementation?" There's an endless queue of aircraft which are worthy of being added. The question for me isn't "yes or no," it's "when?" We're all aviation enthusiasts (I assume)! Having more airplanes fuels our obsession and love of this era of aviation (an absolutely beautiful time in terms of growth for aviation). So bring on the PBY - and if you want my vote... SOON! +1 !

[DemonFox]

Thank you deadstik!  I agree though we should have other planes from same era. But I'm biases and say PBY soon 

[gyrene81]

I mean no offense to you but I just think it would be better added then some other aircraft.

<S>

none taken demon...and i agree for the most part...eventually.

as for the pby's finding the japanese at midway, ok...a pby spotted 2 japanese minesweepers on 3 june...same day the 4 pby's from vp-24 stationed at midway island found the transport fleet. the carrier fleet was found by a pby 1 day later on 4 june. only 1 aerial torpedo deployed hit a target during the entire battle, it came from 1 of the 4 pby's that made a night run on the transport fleet. did they save midway? probably not according to intelligence reports from the time period.

now let's put its usefulness in perspective...let's look at the main arenas where this slow flying boat would be used...according to a copy of a performance document i found maximium permissible speed at 24,000 lbs (no payload) is 210mph, at 32,000lbs 178mph, 34,500lbs 161mph....for operating the auto-pilot 98mph...aerobatics prohibited...and you know it will get modeled as close to realistic as possible...think about how long it takes to get to 15,000 alt in a stuka with the 1800kg bomb and 100% fuel and it's faster than a pby. put aside the kewl factor, it's only good for a very short time period...the d3a1 which is faster than the pby was used by 161 players last tour with 255 deaths and 64 kills...the stuka and b5n were used more.

speaking of which, you haven't flown the stuka at all this tour and you said you were going to...all month. 



there is some really nice technical information here:
http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/flight-test-data/pby-performance-data-14239.html
you will have to register but it's worth it.

[iron650]

The PBY so far doesn't really have a role yet.

[gyrene81]

The PBY so far doesn't really have a role yet.

in fairness to the wish, in a way it does...just not with all the glory demonfox thinks it would have. making a torpedo run in a fast plane is pretty much futile, just imagine trying one in the slow pby.

[iron650]

in fairness to the wish, in a way it does...just not with all the glory demonfox thinks it would have. making a torpedo run in a fast plane is pretty much futile, just imagine trying one in the slow pby.

boring the gunners to death so they leave? 

[bangsbox]

The PBY so far doesn't really have a role yet.

anti-shipping awesomeness.... it would be the only "single" torp plane that could sink a cv
+1+1=PBY

[gyrene81]

anti-shipping awesomeness.... it would be the only "single" torp plane that could sink a cv
+1+1=PBY

what? and...what?

1 torpedo under each wing...and if it's difficult to do with the existing torpedo carrying planes what makes you think the pby being at least 50mph slower than any of the others would have a chance?

[bangsbox]

and i do take stuka nukes to 15k, i do that when ever i go out for a cig or to store from more beer   also do same for long bomber runs. pby no different.