Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnews!military
From: pspod@kira.lerc.nasa.gov (Steve Podleski)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Us Fighter Designations
Message-ID: <1990Aug15.031847.25309@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 15 Aug 90 03:18:47 GMT
References: <1990Aug10.010748.29824@cbnews.att.com>
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: NASA/Lewis Research Center, Cleveland
Lines: 24
Approved: military@att.att.com



From: pspod@kira.lerc.nasa.gov (Steve Podleski)
In article <1990Aug10.010748.29824@cbnews.att.com> Scott.Johnson@p0.f7.n391.z1.fidonet.org (Scott Johnson) writes:

 SP>   HEAVILY compared to what? The P38 had 4 50's and one 20mm.
 SP>  The P47 had 8 50's! 

>      Yes, but those 8 50's were spread out along the wings, with the "lethal
>zone" (the point where all 8 guns converge) at one specific distance in front
>of the airplane. The P-38's, on the other hand, were concentrated in the
>nose, and the "lethal zone" extended as far out as the ammo would reach. I
>have seen pictures of nighttime boresighting of both types of aircraft, and
>the P-38 is much more impressive with all that lead concentrated in a cone
>not much more than 3' in diameter!


True but having all the firepower concentrated in the nose demands some
considerable shooting skill to hit your target.  Wing guns, giving more of
a spray effect, will allow an average pilot some chance in hitting his target.
Galland in his book, First to Last(?), said that most of the German experts
preferred the Me109F mainly because all the armaments were in the nose but
most other German pilots preferred the FW 190 because of it wing cannons ( and
it was easier to fly).