The problem I have with a lot of the critics of potential alternative developments in technology in WW2 etc is that they don’t accept that a lot of these things weren’t developed because there was an emphasis on something else instead.
If the motivation had been there, of if someone had caught Hitler’s ear last (usually the winner) things would have been different.
And people criticising prototypes, please remember they are a test bed, you learn from them and then built a better production model.
And yes, the combat radius is something different than range. But think about the propaganda value if somehow the germans were able to bomb the US east coast. One solution could have been to modified the whole bomber to single, huge flying bomb, and after steering it to target, parachuted to ocean where u-boats could bring you back.
The another point is, ware there any use such a bombing missions? It may cause the same kind of reaction as the attack in Pearl Harbour. There could have been even casualties which are german-born or german-speak.
So personally I think it could have been better not to bomb US cities. But on the other hand, it is rationally thinking...
Don't forget the Arado Ar 240. That would have made an excellent jet bomber.This project was subject too a lot of work all throughout the war, the Germans had planes with the capacity to reach America but not ones which could come back. Me 264's could have bombed New York and then their crew could potentially bail out to be rescued by submarine although this strategy was reckoned not worth the effort. At best they could perform limited damage to American production facilities for the expense of several aircraft and probably the crews as even if U-Boats dominated the East Coast (which they by no means did even in the early days of the war), the potential for a sea rescue by submarine is essentially nill.
Don't forget that there were three people working on a viable flying wing design during World War II. The Horten brothers, in Germany, and JackThe problem I have with a lot of the critics of potential alternative developments in technology in WW2 etc is that they don’t accept that a lot of these things weren’t developed because there was an emphasis on something else instead.
If the motivation had been there, of if someone had caught Hitler’s ear last (usually the winner) things would have been different.
And people criticising prototypes, please remember they are a test bed, you learn from them and then built a better production model.
The German Kondor maritime patrol plane, I think it was made by Dornier,There is a claim that a Ju 390 made it to within 19 KILOMETERS of New York. It is utterly unsupported, no one who made or ordered any such flight was ever found, and Luftwaffe records have no information indicating it ever happened. The unsigned letter stating the flight happened is almost universally accepted as being a hoax.
If you mean recon flights, they they were conducting such flights, much like the UK, USSR, France, Japan and the United States. If you mean conducting flights at the edge of space (or at least 25,000 feet higher than any aircraft ever made) they were not.
Uh.... if you can not stand some of the wanky threads....do not read them!!!Christ, not another one of these.
Don't forget the Arado Ar 240. That would have made an excellent jet bomber.
The German Kondor maritime patrol plane, I think it was made by Dornier,
correct me if I'm wrong, was originally a long-range civilian airliner. It definitely had the range to reach New York.
An effective bombing campaign against the US mainland was beyond Germany's capabilities, unless one posits a POD that is many years before 1939, that gives the Axis a much larger economic base and a nuclear bomb.Not to mention how the Amerika Bomber would fare against the AH Turbo-Buffalo.
Put another way it was vulnerable to the P-26 Peashooter (a ten year old design, in an era where every plane year of age was like a dog year) and absolute meat on the table for a Buffalo.
This project will lead to massive outright loss in Germany's economy, its wartime production and its ever limited fuel supplies.
I encourage this scenario, as this is likely to mean that WW2 has fewer allied Casualties, end more quickly and with lower total cost because Hitler has cleverly seen fit to screw his budget with an insane idea.
I also suggest that this Hitler busily invest in Maus Superheavy Tanks and Microwave Death Lasers. After all, who wants Hitler to win?
Maus tanks? Pah! I raise you steampunk AT-ATs!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2363/2066470253_2b8ac839e0_o.jpg
Precisely the kind of thing Hitler would like, but definitely not need!
An effective bombing campaign against the US mainland was beyond Germany's capabilities, unless one posits a POD that is many years before 1939, that gives the Axis a much larger economic base and a nuclear bomb.
Having said that, it seems to be impossible to me for the P-26 Peashooter or the Brewster Buffalo to intercept an "Amerika Bomber". There were several aircraft designs which are mentioned when German aerial attacks on US territory are discussed, but even the slowest of them had a higher top speed than the P-26 Peashooter, whose top speed was 234 mph / 377 km/h, according to the Wikipedia article.
Top speed of alleged "Amerika Bombers"
Junkers Ju 390 314 mph / 505 km/h
Messerschmitt Me 264 359 mph / 560 km/h
Focke-Wulf Ta 400 395 mph / 635 km/h
The Junkers 390 and Messerschmitt 264 existed in prototype form, while there were only drawings and a wind tunnel model of the Focke-Wulf Ta 400.
The top speed of the Brewster F2A-3 Buffalo was marginally higher than the slowest of the three bombers, it was 321 mph / 516 km/h, but I have my doubts whether that would have been enough for a successful intercept under most circumstances. Brewster Buffaloes had great difficulties intercepting Japanese bombers. The Wikipedia links to three typical Japanese bombers of the time show, that in two cases, these were slower even than the Junkers 390, and only the Kawasaki Ki-48 Lily had the same top speed as the Junkers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_G4M
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajima_Ki-49
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki_Ki-48
You can't look at the top speed. The Aircraft lacked the range at top speed to get half way. They had to use right around cruising speed to get sufficient range, Cruise was around 215mph.
There is also a reason why I have written "alleged" Amerika Bomber. Still it looks extremely unlikely to me that a plane like the Buffalo, let alone the P-26, could intercept these planes in anything like realistic conditions. Under normal conditions, combat planes carry fuel reserves for a "spurt" at a speed close to the maximum, in order to escape pursuing fighters. Apart from speed, there is also the fact that the Junkers 290 could have brought at least two 20mm cannon to bear, one in the tail and one of its dorsal turrets, against two .30 caliber guns of the P-26, and two .50 plus two .30 caliber machine guns of the Buffalo.An effective bombing campaign against the US mainland was beyond Germany's capabilities, unless one posits a POD that is many years before 1939, that gives the Axis a much larger economic base and a nuclear bomb.