Would there be an annular cowling for an inline engine in 1940? At least in production form.
Lighter, reliable, more effective at killing bombers and fighters. The HS404 was not reliable in time in 1940, while the lighter .50 cal was. Could start the year with some 13mm punch.5o cals on a Spitfire, pointless! just go strait to 20mm cannon as OTL but just do it earlier as was quite possible.
Much more likely in a 1938 or 1939 start. In early 1940 people knew the 20mm was coming and there was no point reengineering the wings to carry a different armament which would be a temporary thing.Lighter, reliable, more effective at killing bombers and fighters. The HS404 was not reliable in time in 1940, while the lighter .50 cal was. Could start the year with some 13mm punch.
Would there be an annular cowling for an inline engine in 1940? At least in production form.
Any chance of mating .50 cals to a Spitfire?
As Tomo said, they introduced a .50 cal Spitfire armament in 1944 anyway, so there was an advantage to it. Compared to the targets they'd face in 1940 and beyond, the 50 cal really was a near ideal balance between .303 and 20mm. Besides 6x .50s worked really well on the Mustang.Much more likely in a 1938 or 1939 start. In early 1940 people knew the 20mm was coming and there was no point reengineering the wings to carry a different armament which would be a temporary thing.
A few highly effective Spitfires is a worse option than many more less capable, but still competitive Hurricanes and Spits. For one thing being outnumbered by Me109s that could swamp the dangerous Spits would negative their advantages, while Bf110s could massacre the slow Hurricanes.It was primarily Treasury and AM incompetence and foot dragging that prevented the HS404 being in series production and properly sorted by the summer of 1940. APMEP, Sorting Castle Bromwich out six months to a year earlier (perfectly possible) and doing the same for the HS404 could give Fighter Command canon equipped Spitfire MKIII's by the summer of 1940. The only real downside is that the Hurricane would be starved of the Merlin XX but again if you are pumping out Spitfire MKIII's the less capable Hurricane can be assigned to groups outside of the range of ME109's.
On the Ju-88 as we know it.
A coat of paint wouldn't hurt, of course![]()
11 Group had something like 600 fighters and 58% of fighter strength:If, castle Bromwich is producing the promised 60 Spitfires a week by April 1940 (and these are Cannon armed MkIII's by the way) then that probably enables 11 group to be all Spitfires and the Ratio of 2/3rds Hurricanes to spitfires though out fighter command to be nearer 50/50. Unless Fighter Command can find more pilots then the total strength does not alter just the ratio of aircraft types.
One of the main problems is the cost, the Merlin engine was not exactly in the greatest supply in 1940 and looking for two of them in a fighter would not be popular.For Britain I'd like to nominate alongside the usual suspects a hypothetical but perfectly possible Westland Whirlwind designed from the start around twin Merlins and larger fuel tanks. It would of course be somewhat larger than the actual aircraft and would fill the niche of a better armed but shorter ranged Lightning. Whirlwind had short legs like all British fighters of the period.
For Britain I'd like to nominate alongside the usual suspects a hypothetical but perfectly possible Westland Whirlwind designed from the start around twin Merlins and larger fuel tanks. It would of course be somewhat larger than the actual aircraft and would fill the niche of a better armed but shorter ranged Lightning. Whirlwind had short legs like all British fighters of the period.
One of the main problems is the cost, the Merlin engine was not exactly in the greatest supply in 1940 and looking for two of them in a fighter would not be popular.
That said it's a good idea in a timeline where there is less pressure on Britain or the Merlin has heavier production earlier.
Whilst I am at it I will throw in the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley as the best 1940 RAF night bomber.
Steps back and waits.....................
The Whitley was the only exclusive night bomber, having been deemed unfit for daytime use. Had it been used in daylight, it might have been as effective as the Monty Python WWII joke sketch. The Germans die laughing.
The Germans counter with:
My dog has no nose!
How does it smell?
Terrible!
It was ineffective.