One of 12 Blackburn Skua's supplied to the Greek Air Force in January 1941.

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Hello,

I suggest a none too serious notion.

Suppose the turreted Defiant and Skua were armed with with only two...
instead of the 4 .303 Bronwings
That would save about 50 kilos max (10 each per MG and 350 rounds of linked .303 is 10 kilos) - the actual turret and man is the heavy part.
 
As a Option DH 400Q’s came as a fire fighter version?. There are a few ex flybe planes that have been converted for firefighting as belly bombers Recently.
 

McPherson

Banned
It also had an extra 300hp on the Skua and you still wouldn't want to mix it with fighters if you could avoid it.
The Dauntless, in the ad hoc fleet defense role, was supposed to engage enemy torpedo bombers and dive bombers while the Wildcats engaged the enemy fighter cover in the breakup of the inbounds.

This was to make up for the lack of a large fighter complement in the all attack all the time doctrine of the US aircraft carrier loadout. The Japanese were doing the exact same thing, but their Val was not as good as the Dauntless or even as a Skua in the fighter role. The British were onto something with the Skua, but they lacked the watts through props to make it work.

The Italians figured it out to its ultimate and came up with the one aircraft will bomb, dogfight and torpedo

a-reggiane-re-2000-on-the-italian-seaplane-carrier-giuseppe-miraglia.jpg

Reggiane Re.2000 | laststandonzombieisland
 
The Dauntless, in the ad hoc fleet defense role, was supposed to engage enemy torpedo bombers and dive bombers while the Wildcats engaged the enemy fighter cover in the breakup of the inbounds.

This was to make up for the lack of a large fighter complement in the all attack all the time doctrine of the US aircraft carrier loadout. The Japanese were doing the exact same thing, but their Val was not as good as the Dauntless or even as a Skua in the fighter role. The British were onto something with the Skua, but they lacked the watts through props to make it work.

The Italians figured it out to its ultimate and came up with the one aircraft will bomb, dogfight and torpedo

a-reggiane-re-2000-on-the-italian-seaplane-carrier-giuseppe-miraglia.jpg

Reggiane Re.2000 | laststandonzombieisland
And there we have possibly my favorite Axis fighter of the war. It's sad really, for most of their involvement the Italians had some really subpar kit, and just as they began to improve things they left the war. The exception being their navy which had some quite nice ships.
 
Lt WP Lucy - CO of No 803 Squadron RN was the first allied ace of WW2 - he flew the Skua.

He also claimed the first air to air victory of any British commonwealth pilot in WW2.
 
Just because the R2000 is a bad aircraft, doesn't mean it had it's fans, right

(One of my favorite is the Blackburn Firebrand (the radial engined ones) :p )
 
Mind you the rue British equivalent to the Dauntless (by dates of service) would be the Fairey Fulmar even though it was seldom if ever used in the dive bomber roll it was designed to have.
 

McPherson

Banned
Mind you the rue British equivalent to the Dauntless (by dates of service) would be the Fairey Fulmar even though it was seldom if ever used in the dive bomber roll it was designed to have.
Although the flight performance limits were similar, I think the Fulmar was more of a scout-fighter. It could have benefitted from a 1500 kW engine which might have boosted cruise speed to 450 km/h or 242 knots or 250 mph. It was never going to get into Seafire, Sea Hurricane, or Wildcat territory. You know how I loathe the Wildcat performance parameters compared to the A6M Zero of the era? The Fulmar had to use the same robustness and pilot skills and zoom and boom tactics to have a chance against the Japanese fighter. The problem is that the Wildcat had a 13,000 meter service ceiling, while the Fulmar had an 8,000 meter ceiling plus the Fulmar climbed very slowly. A Zero pilot could dominate it at will.
 
Although the flight performance limits were similar, I think the Fulmar was more of a scout-fighter. It could have benefitted from a 1500 kW engine which might have boosted cruise speed to 450 km/h or 242 knots or 250 mph. It was never going to get into Seafire, Sea Hurricane, or Wildcat territory. You know how I loathe the Wildcat performance parameters compared to the A6M Zero of the era? The Fulmar had to use the same robustness and pilot skills and zoom and boom tactics to have a chance against the Japanese fighter. The problem is that the Wildcat had a 13,000 meter service ceiling, while the Fulmar had an 8,000 meter ceiling plus the Fulmar climbed very slowly. A Zero pilot could dominate it at will.
Yeah I think British FAA development is very often wrongly mocked. With people comparing aircraft to types introduced years later, ignoring the realities the RN was operating under and its initial limitations placed upon it thanks to the fact that the RAF actually controlled the FAA for a long time. That being said while the Fulmar is impressive in terms of what it managed the thing was still built under a misguided concept and compromised in performing its role.
 
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