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Airforce Liker, 3211 Coors Boulevard SW D10/11, New York, NY (2025)

08/05/2024

If the Spitfire and the P-51 Mustang used the same engine, what made the P-51 Mustang a better airplane?

Actually they didn’t have the same engine, both V-1650 Merlin’s, yes, but one (high powered Mk IX and others,) used Rolls Royce 61/63/66 and 70 series engines, and the P-51 used a Packard-licensed version of the Merlin.

And there were two main versions of that Packard Merlin 1650: the -7 version was geared so its supercharger drive speed would be optimal at War Emergency Power (WEP) with 130 octane fuel at 6200 feet with the supercharger in low speed and at 19,300 feet in high speed. (The -7 is the Merlin typically quoted for HP numbers.) Making 1,720 HP.
But this version was NOT optimal for escorting high altitude bombers at 25,000 feet so another Packard Merlin version, the -3 which had different supercharger drive ratios which changed the shaft speed, was introduced. The -3 engine actually has less power overall but gives it more power at 17,000 feet at low speed and 28,800 feet at high speed. Making 1,595 HP.
Many P-51’s were retrofitted with the -3 supercharger kits giving less overall HP but more where they needed it at high altitudes.
And as the Bf 109 G’s, for instance, start running out of steam/manifold pressure at only 18,800 feet that was a huge advantage for the P-51s. The -3 has 1595 HP on 120 octane fuel vs 1720 for the -7 but its a question of *where* that power is *available* at 25,000 feet and higher where the bombers were flying.
As for “Better Airplane,” the P-51 could strike at enemy targets, including Luftwaffe training bases, as far away as western Poland, causing mayhem along its entire 1,650 mile range. Being a “work horse” It wasn't as agile or as maneuver as a slender “race horse” of a Spitfire, but it could hold its own being well balanced in climb, dive, roll and “boom & zoom.”
The Spitfire was better armed and as slippery as anything in the sky, but had very little range, sadly condemning it more and more to defensive missions in Northern France. You might see Mosquitos over Berlin but never Spitfires, and that’s were the fight more and more was. Both had great cockpits and visibility and if the P-51 could drain its internal tank before getting in a fight and not throw off its COG, it did well in a dogfight.

08/04/2024

Was there an F5F? We all know about the famous carrier fighters of the Pacific War: The F4F Wildcat and its successor, the F6F Hellcat. Was there an F5F? What happened to it?

Yes, and here is a photo of the F5F and by the F5F I mean the only F5F.

The F5F was intended to be a fleet defense interceptor. Frumand started development of the design in 1938, the goal was to keep the lowest thrust to weight possible so the F5F Skyrocket could quickly reach altitude to attack incoming strike planes with its twin 20MM cannons. The F5F was really a victim of new technology, as Gruman started on the F5F’s replacement the F7F Tigercat while the F5F was in development.

The Tigercat was faster, more heavily armed with four 20MM cannons and was designed with radar in mind. The F7F was too heavy to operate from most of the World War II era carriers

08/03/2024

What was the reason for the B-36 having piston engines?

The B-36 Peacemaker stands as a colossus in the annals of aviation history, a bomber of immense proportions and equally significant capabilities.
The reason for the B-36's piston engines harks back to its inception in 1941. At that time, jet technology was in its infancy, and piston engines were the proven, reliable choice for long-distance flight.
The B-36 was designed to be a '10,000-mile bomber,' capable of delivering a payload from the United States to targets across the globe without the need for overseas bases. This incredible range was made possible by six 28-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major piston engines, which were among the most powerful of their kind at the time.
These engines gave the B-36 an ace up its sleeve: an extraordinary cruising altitude for a piston-driven aircraft, made possible by its massive wing area and the power of its engines. This high-altitude capability put it out of reach of most interceptors and ground-based anti-aircraft guns of the era.
However, as jet engine technology rapidly advanced, the B-36's lack of speed became a growing concern. Jet fighters were becoming faster and more capable, and the B-36 needed to keep up. The solution was a hybrid approach: the addition of four jet engines to the existing six piston engines, giving rise to the phrase "six turning, four burning."
These jet engines improved takeoff performance and provided a speed boost when necessary, although they were not used full-time due to their lower fuel efficiency compared to the piston engines.
The jet engines were primarily used during takeoff to increase the potential combat load by up to 40,000 lbs and to boost dash speed over the target area. They could also be used in conjunction with an adjustment of the fuel mixture for the piston engines to achieve rapid acceleration and a steep climb to high altitude, helping to evade enemy fighters.

08/02/2024

Considering a number of US Navy ships had to be repaired in Australia in World War 2, was there the facilities and resources to accommodate a fleet carrier?

The US Navy built a number of enormous floating docks to support the fleet in the Pacific. These Advance Base Sectional Docks (ABSD) could handle ships up to 90,000 tons and were towed out to the Western Pacific from San Francisco in pre-fabricated sections.
The first was constructed at Noumea in Free French New Caledonia, which became the primary advanced base for the fleet in the SW Pacific, in 1943. More were built in New Guinea, the New Hebrides and the Caroline Islands in 1944–5.
A smaller number of ships of the old Philippines-based USN Asiatic fleet were based in Australia, including large numbers of submarines, some destroyers and cruisers, but no capital ships. There were facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Darwin and Albany for these vessels. From late 1944 the British Pacific Fleet with both battleships and carriers was based out of Sydney alongside the RAN and they used the new graving dock opened in 1944.
As an aside Australia was the primary forward base area for the US Army and USAAF in the southwest Pacific, while the USMC used New Zealand, American Samoa and the Fiji Islands as forward bases for the southwest Pacific campaign. The US Navy also built a major staging base at Bora Bora near Tahiti to refuel ships in transit to the southwest Pacific area of operations.

08/02/2024

US Navy dive bomber Douglas SBD Dauntless in production

08/02/2024

Does the U.S. Army have any fighter planes?

No. The United States Army is forbidden BY LAW, sorry, that's a fib that I was told in AIT. The Army has agreed to not employ any armed fixed-wing aircraft. This came about during the interservice rivalries of the 1950's-'60's. The Air Force, seeing the Army test some cool toys that infringed on its turf, worked it out with the Army, the Air Force agreeing to provide CAS in exchange.
The aircraft pictured above is an OV-1 Mohawk. A twin turboprop aircraft developed in the early 1960's, an array of weapons was tested on it. But in its later career, the Mohawk nominally carried no weapons. I feel certain that had the balloon gone up, something lethal would be hung from the hardpoints.

08/02/2024

Which military system or technology was far more useful when applied in a different way than intended?

The F-105 Thunderchief was originally designed as a tactical nuclear bomber, one that would fly over the front lines in an anticipated European theater against the Soviets, supersonic and low altitude, to deliver a tactical nuke against command and control elements. Instead, it found itself flying over strike missions over the jungles of Vietnam, thanks to its capability of carrying more bombs on its external pylons than a B-17. As rugged as the Thunderchief was, it was woefully out of its element in Vietnam, and performed admirably thanks to its more than capable pilots, and the amazing air crews that kept them aloft. The plane was extremely rugged, but not as maneuverable as the MiG-21 it faced. It was eventually pulled from service due to high losses, but not before leaving its mark on the war, showing how capable the platform was as a strike aircraft.
But that’s not the unusual application of the Thud, as these warhorses were known as. A major problem that arose in Vietnam was the Soviet surface-to-air missiles (SAM) that were deployed. These missiles were a major threat to the B-52 bombing campaigns. Thanks to the ability of the Thud to take massive damage, as well as its endurance, the Thud took on the role of “Wild Weasel”, essentially baiting the missile sites to find them and attack with anti-radiation missiles.

08/02/2024

Is the F-35 cockpit simpler compared to older models of fighter aircraft?

The F-35 makes heavy use of Multi Function Displays (MFDs). These are electronic displays with push tiles around the edge. This allows the display and push tiles to be configured for specific functions, for example the same display and buttons can be configured to display stores status, landing information, communications information or even a FLIR or radar displays, with the push tiles redefine and labeled for the corresponding functions. In an old “steam gauge” cockpit (A-7 would be a good example), each of these displays and each of the push tiles was a dedicated panel.

08/02/2024

How do aircraft carriers manage to accommodate all of their planes? Do they have enough space to dock every single one? If not, what is their solution?

Aircraft Carriers carry their planes in two areas. 1. On the deck of the carrier where you can see them parked along the edges and 2. One deck lower in what is called the “Hanger Deck.”
Carriers then have elevators to move the airplanes up or down to the hanger deck to and from the flight deck. The picture below shows the carrier flight deck on top and the elevator that takes planes to the hanger deck, below.

07/13/2024

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