Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military From: adrian@cs.heriot-watt.ac.uk (Adrian Hurt) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Us Fighter Designations Message-ID: <1990Aug22.025006.15437@cbnews.att.com> Date: 22 Aug 90 02:50:06 GMT References: <1990Aug10.010748.29824@cbnews.att.com> <1990Aug15.031847.25309@cbnews.att.com> Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Organization: Computer Science, Heriot-Watt U., Scotland Lines: 33 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Adrian Hurt In article <1990Aug15.031847.25309@cbnews.att.com> pspod@kira.lerc.nasa.gov (Steve Podleski) writes: > >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! Tsk, tsk, such lightly armed aircraft! Several aircraft had four 20mm cannon, backed up by a few MG's. For real firepower, there was the FW 190 with four 20mm cannon as standard. From the A-6 version onward, these were the MG-151 cannon, with a rate of fire equal to most light machine-guns, and at least 1 1/2 times that of other 20mm guns. Add to that the bolt-on packs for use against bombers; two MG-151's per pack, one pack under each wing. Total: eight fast-firing 20mm cannon. >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. In the "633 Squadron" books, mention is made several times of German fighters having their guns angled up by about 2 degrees. The idea was to force pilots to fly under their targets, primarily bombers with less defensive firepower underneath than above. Of course, the "633 Squadron" series is fiction, but does anyone know if the Germans really did do this? "Keyboard? How quaint!" - M. Scott Adrian Hurt | JANET: adrian@uk.ac.hw.cs UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian | ARPA: adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk