I-16 instead of Hurricane?

EAF602Whizz

In an idle moment at work I'm pondering what would be the aircraft with the lowest capabilities that would be able to defend Britain successfully during the battle of Britain. If, for example, the iconic spitfire and hurricane were supplanted by something like the Polikarpov I-153 and I-16 would number 11 Group get minced? How would number 12 Group fare with lower quality equipment? Any thoughts on this self indulgent, time wasting scenario or am I the only disgracefully underworked employee on a Tuesday afternoon in Glasgow? :D
 

Alue26

EAF602Whizz said:
In an idle moment at work I'm pondering what would be the aircraft with the lowest capabilities that would be able to defend Britain successfully during the battle of Britain. If, for example, the iconic spitfire and hurricane were supplanted by something like the Polikarpov I-153 and I-16 would number 11 Group get minced? How would number 12 Group fare with lower quality equipment? Any thoughts on this self indulgent, time wasting scenario or am I the only disgracefully underworked employee on a Tuesday afternoon in Glasgow? :D
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Well, I think you're the only one! :D:D:D

But seriously, I don't know anything about Group 11 or 12 during the Battle of England, but I guess the Spitfires and Hurricanes could be replaced with Gloster Meteors and Gladiators than I-153's or I-16's.
 

EAF602Whizz

Now that's a hilariously chaotic production line you've got going there at the Gloster's factory :D. 'We're using the older design as back up in case some of the newer ideas don't work..like retractable undercarriage and, you know 4x20mm cannon and em, those Derwent thingies on the wings.'
 
nandalf

nandalf

Instead of Spitfires and Hurricanes how would RAF fare with P40 and hawk 75?My guess is that the germans would do way better.
 

EAF602Whizz

Alue, 11 Group were right in the firing line from the Channel coast to roughly South of London. 12 Group were to the North of London, so generally they wouldn't have to worry so much about the Me109s.
 

Ian Hathaway

What about they had a deal with the Germans to produce the Bf109 under licence? And forget 12 Group, in the early part of the battle they were a shambles who hardly ever turned up on time when asked ... it was 10 group that were called upon more often than not during August and September.
 

Alue26

EAF602Whizz said:
Alue, 11 Group were right in the firing line from the Channel coast to roughly South of London. 12 Group were to the North of London, so generally they wouldn't have to worry so much about the Me109s.
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Then I guess the Spitfires and Hurricanes could be replaced by those Blenheims and Beaufighters.
 

EAF602Whizz

I agree, anything less than the spitfire and hurricane and the Luftwaffe get a few more ritterkreuz. The P40 should do fine though and I think the Hawk wouldn't do that badly if flown well. Let's go with the I-153 and I-16 being the RAF's standard fighters though. Can they hold out? Or option B Hurricanes making up a third of strength with Gladiators replacing the OTL Hurricane squadrons which I think would be roughly the same as the I-16/153 mix in terms of effectiveness.
 

EAF602Whizz

Me109s under licence is an interesting concept. Merlin powered with 4x.303 machine guns? They wouldn't be as good as the Luftwaffe's 109s, at least not until Ms Schilling produces her famous orifice and they put a 20mm cannon in the nose.
 

Alue26

EAF602Whizz said:
Me109s under licence is an interesting concept. Merlin powered with 4x.303 machine guns? They wouldn't be as good as the Luftwaffe's 109s, at least not until Ms Schilling produces her famous orifice and they put a 20mm cannon in the nose.
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Yeah, that could be interesting. I can already imagine British Bf109's fighting with German Bf109's with the cliffs of Dover in the background!
 

EAF602Whizz

So the question is, could the RAF hold out with less capable fighters? What different tactics and strategies would emerge?
 

EAF602Whizz

Ten years. That's a lot of wasted time :eek:.

Maybe I should move the idea over to the space bats and have all RAF fighters from 1939 on replaced by Soviet equivalents. How would that work out?
Think I should move it? Wanna migrate with me?
 

Alue26

Could be a good idea to post this in ASB.

And could you take a gander in MY Alt His timeline? I have an idea for an Alternate story of the Disney corporation. You can see it in my signature.
 

Archibald

Banned
Instead of Spitfires and Hurricanes how would RAF fare with P40 and hawk 75?My guess is that the germans would do way better.
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A long time ago I toyed with the idea of transfering French fighters to Great Britain. D-520, MS-406, MB-152 and H-75 to reinforce the fighter command. A logistic nightmare, however... :(
 

EAF602Whizz

Agreed Archibald. I've put this thread up on ASB with a straight swap of aircraft types with the SU being the main thread, starting in 1940 and carrying on to see what outcomes there might be.
 

EAF602Whizz

What about Italian fighters? 1940 means the Fiat G50 and the CR42 biplane. It's the RAF of 1938 versus the LW of 1940 in any of these scenarios.
 
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