Pick your own "Unsung Heroes" weapons.

I am not an aeronautical engineer, I just know that the P-39 was one of the hottest fighters in the world below 10000 feet (why the Russians loved it, their air war was fought at lower altitudes), above 10000 it started to struggle and above 15000 feet it was pretty much useless. During the early stages of the New Guinea campaign, during some raids on Port Moresby, P-39 pilots were ordered to scramble and get clear of the airfield and not even try to counter the raiders because they were too high.

Its other big limiting factor in SOPAC was its short range. A lot pilots criticized it for that reason as much if not more than poor performance at higher altitudes.

Thanks for the suggestion about "Fire in the sky". I read the book a couple of years ago and I found it to be an excellent account of the Pacific air war.

I agree with your summation of the P-39s flight characteristics. If you read CalBears remarks in this thread on the P-39 in the SWPA he states that it was performing poorly at and below the altitudes that are usually considered to be it ideal operating altitudes. I'd never read that stated before. Perhaps I misunderstood him.

The New Guinea environment was rough on aircraft. It wasn't until toward the end of 1942 that 5th air force ground crews learned how best to keep their airplanes maintained effectively in that humid environment. Corrosion and poor maintenance would certainly reduce an airplanes' performance but once that problem was corrected then the airplane should perform within spec.

What I'm curious to know is whether there was some other factor involved that made the P-39 perform more poorly in the hot and humid air of New Guinea more so then the other aircraft that were operated there. Some particular quirk of the P-39 that still existed even after maintenance was improved.
 
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MoD actually accepted the DMS after field trials - by the Royal Artillery.

You mean that piece of, um, less than perfect hardware was actually tested? I'm a little surprised.

I suspect the Royal Artillery weren't able to go outdoors to test them.
 

Japhy

Banned
The L-4 and L-5 of WWII did just about any job that came their way, from training, to artillery spotting, recon, and med evac, up to dropping Parachutists into combat on Leyte and serving as a gun platform for their pilots and observers to shoot down their German Fi 156 Storch-flying counterparts with Colt .45s.
 
Thanks for the suggestion about "Fire in the sky". I read the book a couple of years ago and I found it to be an excellent account of the Pacific air war.

I agree with your summation of the P-39s flight characteristics. If you read CalBears remarks in this thread on the P-39 in the SWPA he states that it was performing poorly at and below the altitudes that are usually considered to be it ideal operating altitudes. I'd never read that stated before. Perhaps I misunderstood him.

The New Guinea environment was rough on aircraft. It wasn't until toward the end of 1942 that 5th air force ground crews learned how best to keep their airplanes maintained effectively in that humid environment. Corrosion and poor maintenance would certainly reduce an airplanes' performance but once that problem was corrected then the airplane should perform within spec.

What I'm curious to know is whether there was some other factor involved that made the P-39 perform more poorly in the hot and humid air of New Guinea more so then the other aircraft that were operated there. Some particular quirk of the P-39 that still existed even after maintenance was improved.

At Guadalcanal, P-400s, an ex-British version of the P-39, routinely flew at 14,000 ft., while Zekes routinely bounced them from 20,000 ft. I have read of problems with the electrically fired wing .30s, and cannon stoppages. The Soviets removed the wing guns for better performance. The Allison engine max. temperature was specified in a manual and boost pressure was limited to keep within this temperature. The Soviets didn't read the manual and over-boosted often to gain performance while reducing engine life and gaining victories. Americans did not remove wing guns to improve performance because the guns were needed for ground strafing, often decisively, and they didn't exceed specified temps or boost.

The P-400 was sometimes called a P-39 or P-40 with a Zero on its tail.
 
The P-39D and P-400 were ill suited for the needs of air combat in 1942 vs. the opponent that can perform decently at 20000+ ft.
V-1710-35 (on those P-39s) have had the rated altitude 800 ft lower than V-1710-39 (on P-40E/D) for 1150 HP worth of military power - 11200 ft vs. 12000 ft, and even the -39 was behind the curve from early 1941 on vs. Merlin XX/45 or DB 601N. The ram air intake was short, and behind the cockpit - a far worse solution than on the P-40 or P-51, robbing too much the altitude power. To add to the problems, the P-39 sported around twice the weight of armament and ammo we can find on Spitfire II, Bf 109E/F or Zero - kills rate of climb better than it kills enemy A/C, while also hurting the speed. Also - two to three radio sets, and comprehensive armor protection - all of the heavy things that hurts RoC and, in a smaller amount, the speed. Te coolant was 97% Glycol, 3% water, that is not not as good as mostly water + a deal of Glycol, say 70%:30%. Toss in the small amount of fuel carried - 120 gals + 52 gal DT and P-39 quickly takes a low spot on the ladder.
Soviet pilots not only stripped the wing guns & ammo, but left one radio set, and parts of armor protection. They also got the newer versions, with improved engines, rated for overboost ( usable between SL and 10000-14000 ft on P-39s), with low altitude fights taking place mostly, and no need for loang range. No wonder they loved them, it took until 1944 for their designs to better it.

As an what-if, we might consider the USAF sticking on with P-39C - 170 gals of fule in unprotected tanks, small overall protection, a bit lighter armament - a ~380 mph aircraft historically. link
 

WILDGEESE

Gone Fishin'
M2/M3 tank

1st tank that allowed the Brit's to lock horns properly with German tanks.

Held the fort in the North African campaign until the emergence of the M4 Sherman.

regards filers.
 
Been said before, but... Trucks (in all there forms), cargo ships (in all there forms), mines (at sea and on land), hand grenades, Heat warheads, and, the radio, specially when combined with artillery...
 
Aah the horrible DMS boot and its utterly loathed bastard cousin the Boot Combat High. Proof that only the British Army could make boots out of cardboard and plastic that let water in but wouldnt let it out again so once your feet were wet they stayed wet.
Also know as Boots, Crippling High due to the early versions being ever so slightly flawed, hence an outbreak of shin splints and knackered knees at the time -Oddly enough, high leg Boots, DMS did not suffer from the same flaw :)
 
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