WWII Plane designs that you would change?

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Samuroot1987

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Samuroot2801
Such as, Making corsairs lighter for more turnability. Adding 20MM to P-51's. Ect. What would you do?
 
Well if you could have changed the designs, why not just create new ones? Can you imagine what an F18 could have done to the Luftwaffe?
 
Sac Arrow said:
Well if you could have changed the designs, why not just create new ones? Can you imagine what an F18 could have done to the Luftwaffe?
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With the technology they had AT THE TIME. No F18's.
 
This is unrelated, but I imagine how cool a Ju-87 Stuka would be with a PT-6 on the nose.
 
Other than the P-38, the entire first generation of US fighters were optimized for low altitude performance. In the case of the P-39, the turbocharger was deleted in response to the Army's fighter doctrine. The result was that these early WW2 fighters were essentially useless on much of the European Front. I'd say turbocharge the P-36 P-39, and P-40. I've often thought that turning the P-36 into a P-40 by cobbling a liquid cooled Allison onto it sacrificed a lot of maneuverability for a bit of speed.

I think Jiro Horikoshi could have worked a lot harder on the roll rate of the Zero-sen.

The Germans should have put the Heinkel He 280 into production with the HeS 8 engine.
 
Nose wheel steering for the B-25!

And a squat switch would be nice too.
 
They had 20mms on early Allison powered P51s....
 
You couldn't make a Corsair lighter and still have a plane able to do that job. The weight was necessary in the fuselage for carrier landings, and in the wings for carrying fuel, radar, external stores and guns.

They tried 20s on the P-51, and found them impractical for a number of reasons.

There was so much aviation R&D being done during the 1935 - 1960 period that there wasn't much which could have been done that wasn't tried, and piston-plane development reached its peak during WWII. Most of what has happened since then have been refinements of earlier ideas, some of which weren't possible until computers came along.
 
My understanding (I wasn't there) is that improved visibility from the cockpit would have been a big help.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Oh, Skylane can go early jets, and Sac just got ***** slapped right out of the starting gate, I see how you play, make the rules up as you go!




(just yanking your chain)
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:rofl::rofl:

In reality, supercharge everything, add provisions for drop tanks to everything, add self sealing fuel tanks to everything (Japan, I'm looking at you) and go forth.

Want a F4U to turn with an A6M? Remember that the zero turned so well because it was so light, and that because it was so light it was easy to knock out of the sky. Tit for tat and Thatch proved that it was easier to overcome a lack of maneuverability than of durability.
 
Remove all the fuel tanks from the axis aircraft. Done.
 
Heated pee-tube in the B-17.
 
Small RC plane, Camera, Win. Small Rc Plane, 20MM cannons, Win.
 
Skylane81E said:
Want a F4U to turn with an A6M? Remember that the zero turned so well because it was so light, and that because it was so light it was easy to knock out of the sky. Tit for tat and Thatch proved that it was easier to overcome a lack of maneuverability than of durability.
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Remember that the roll rate in the Zero was great at low speeds. As it went faster the pressure on the ailerons became high enough that the pilot couldn't move the stick enough to get the great roll rates. And, while it would roll left really well due to light weight and engine torque, rolling right was another matter. Once we captured that one in the Aleutians, fixed it and flew it we found out the weaknesses and exploited them. The F6F was design specifically as a Zero killer. The F4U wasn't so bad, either.
 
Ghery said:
Remember that the roll rate in the Zero was great at low speeds. As it went faster the pressure on the ailerons became high enough that the pilot couldn't move the stick enough to get the great roll rates. And, while it would roll left really well due to light weight and engine torque, rolling right was another matter. Once we captured that one in the Aleutians, fixed it and flew it we found out the weaknesses and exploited them. The F6F was design specifically as a Zero killer. The F4U wasn't so bad, either.
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Speaking of Aleutians, I'm one! :) My dad spent some of his life there, and 2 isle's St Paul, and St George, Are mostly populated with famiy members!
 
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Ghery said:
Remember that the roll rate in the Zero was great at low speeds. As it went faster the pressure on the ailerons became high enough that the pilot couldn't move the stick enough to get the great roll rates. And, while it would roll left really well due to light weight and engine torque, rolling right was another matter. Once we captured that one in the Aleutians, fixed it and flew it we found out the weaknesses and exploited them. The F6F was design specifically as a Zero killer. The F4U wasn't so bad, either.
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The F6F was flying before Koga's Zero was recovered. It's design was not a response to the Zero, it was simply the next step in the evolution of Grumman's fighters.
 
I'm not really qualified to criticize WWII's aircraft. I think you would have to either be pilot that flew them, a mechanic that works on them, or a qualified aeronautical engineer with the original drawings and specs to see if improvements could be made. I doubt there are many on this board that are qualified.

I guess my only regret is that there aren't more of the Luftwaffe's "wonder weapon" aircraft flying today. They came up with some seriously amazing designs and we are really fortunate that most never saw the light of day, or very limited production due to politics. One of my favorites that I wish I could see and hear fly-

dornier-do-335-pfeil-fighter-03.png



The Dornier 335 Arrow. Fastest piston fighter of the war.


This one below is just cool IMO. Love to see it one day. I guess the only one in existence is in Britain and is being rebuilt to flight status.

The Focke Wulf 189 Eagle Owl. Just a fun plane to fly I'd image. Reminds me of an OV 10 Bronco.


Fw_189_V1.jpg
 
kyleb said:
The F6F was flying before Koga's Zero was recovered. It's design was not a response to the Zero, it was simply the next step in the evolution of Grumman's fighters.
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True. And the F4U flew long before Koga's Zero was recovered, too.
 
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