Jack1971
Banned
Don’t say that on Okunoshima. I imagine the Owsla are plentiful and fierce.I thought it was because they hated cute little bunnies...
Don’t say that on Okunoshima. I imagine the Owsla are plentiful and fierce.I thought it was because they hated cute little bunnies...
I thought it was because they hated cute little bunnies...
Exactly so. Changes to the Pilot Notes and adherence to the same dealt with ground overheating and the Peregrine worked fine.P-39 had the same problem, if too much time was spent in the taxiways.
Once in the air, it gets cold fast as you get up a few thousand feet.
Don't forget why the IJA pilots had rabbit fur line flight suits, it wasn't because they were cold on the ground
The same gamble that led Britain to release its latest battleship and carrier, one of its only two 30 knot capital ships, 140,000 men, 250 aircraft, some 10,000 vehicles, etc, etc.To get Whirlwind quality aeroplanes into the Far East one has to seek a POD that takes a different bet on the future and gambles that releasing resources to the Far East will pay off.
...someone in the RAF command gets a from letter a fellow officer complaining about how the wood and fabric aircraft components are rotting out in the Tropical climate. "I've got it" he thinks. "We'll ship these all metal Westlandd kites out to Singapore." "That'll shut them up."
I think it would take the British rolling several six's in a row for this to happen (but this is no more than the Germans rolled in the BoF or OTL the Japanese rolled in Malaya).
I think the three Whirlwind squadrons would do well fighting alongside the four Blenheim units. Compared to the Buffalo (cruise speed 160 mph), the faster Blenheim (cruise 198 mph) is better matched to the fast Whirlwind. And for strike work, the Whirlwind (2x250 lb) has half the bomb load of the Blenheim (4x250 lb) so the potential for tactical bombing and CAS just increased by a large factor.INow would the Whirlwinds make a big enough difference to slow the Japanese down so the original plan for reinforcements to arrive in good order and deploy is realised. I think it would take the British rolling several six's in a row for this to happen (but this is no more than the Germans rolled in the BoF or OTL the Japanese rolled in Malaya).
I think the three Whirlwind squadrons would do well fighting alongside the four Blenheim units. Compared to the Buffalo (cruise speed 160 mph), the faster Blenheim (cruise 198 mph) is better matched to the fast Whirlwind. And for strike work, the Whirlwind (2x250 lb) has half the bomb load of the Blenheim (4x250 lb) so the potential for tactical bombing and CAS just increased by a large factor.
With the Whirlwinds on Station, what role do we see for the Buffalo? It has nearly double the range on internal fuel than the Whirlwind, so distant CAP or enhanced fleet support are possibilities. Maybe high altitude CAP waiting for intercept vectors, so the Buffaloes can dive on their targets.
Certainly having this trio on your quarter would give reassurance to any Blenheim crew.
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After initial success, I’d like to think the government and RAF would consider raising and sending two additional Whirlwind squadrons from those aircraft presumably in storage (116 produced, 52 in Malaya, assuming a few lost in Britain should leave a couple of dozen in crates somewhere).
Alternatively Acould the Buffaloes carry enough bombs to be a useful long range intruder/fighter bomber? I could see a significant pay off for interdiction bombing far to the rear of the Japanese front line especially with the Zeros occupied with the Whirlwinds.
That's to Petter's credit. He's known for the Lightning, Canberra and Gnat, but less known as the designer who took Mitchell's Spitfire to its full potential. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._E._W._PetterI know it's slightly off thread, but goddamn, that's a good looking airframe.
And there was plenty of war resources sent to your "quiet backwater". Including 140,000 soldiers (and their weapons and kit), including a first rate Australian division, 250 aircraft, 1,000 artillery and AT guns. Add to this the RN sending its latest battleship, along with one of its two remaining 30 knot capable capital ships, and its latest AFD fleet carrier. Given all these war resources being sent out to Malaya during peaceful 1941, why is it considered so inconceivable that Britain might have also sent 52 underemployed fighters?
How quickly we forget the monster that guarded Caerbannog...
Oh something had to be sent to the Soviets, but in 1941 it was largely symbolic where the actual amount was largely unimportant.
That was certainly the line adopted by the Soviets later, but over half of the tanks and fighters defending Moscow in the winter of 1941-2 were British-supplied. This is a case where 50 tanks arriving in 1941 are more important than 500 tanks arriving in 1944.
I agree, but the replacements probably wouldn't arrive before end of Feb. Though IIRC, HMS Indomitable flew off RAF Hurricanes to Singapore in Jan/Feb 1941, so maybe Whirlwinds would be possible.I think the Whirlwinds in storage would be shipped out to allow the three Whirlwind squadrons additional aircraft to make good loses.
I think this only works if there's radar directed interception, and fleets of strategic bombers to intercept. But I do like the idea of coordinated RAF efforts. For example, Vilderbeasts (with HA Whirlwind cover) conduct recon to find targets, followed by Blenheims and Whirlwinds attacking IJA landing ships and troops with Buffaloes providing air cover, once the Whirlwinds drop their 250 lb, bombs they use their 3,000 feet-per-minute rate of climb (Buffalo was 2,400 fpm) to quickly enter the fighter combat.I could see the Buffaloes being used in conjunction with the Whirlwinds in a similar manner to Spitfires and Hurricanes in the BoB. The Whirlwinds boom and zoom the Zeroes and keep them generally occupied allowing the Buffaloes to attack the Japanese bombers and Oscars unmolested.
I was in South Korea in January, and it was rare to see anything Japanese.Interesting reading I will most definitely be watching this as my dad was on Repulse when she went down. Thankfully he lived but after spending time as a POW was a broken manin most ways very scary looking at his hands what they did to the soliders sailors airman and civilians is hard to imagine. No one in our family had any thing Japanese until dad passed away. Even then it was a rare thing.
I was in South Korea in January, and it was rare to see anything Japanese.