Battle of Britain: Failure

[Hagar]

I forget where I read it. Had a quick punt round. According to this official report the drop tanks on the Spitfire Mk XIV were vulcanised fibre, wood or thin steel. http://www.fourthfightergroup.com/eagles/rb141weights.html

2.2. In addition to the above load the following alternative items may be carried:-

...........(a) 30 gallon tinned steel drop tank.
...........(b) 30 gallon vulcanized fibre drop tank.
...........(c) 30 gallon wood drop tank.
...........(d) 90 gallon tinned steel drop tank.
...........(e) 250 lb. G.P. or S.A.P. bomb.
...........(f) 500 lb. G.P., M.C. or S.A.P. bomb.

The wooden one might have been made from balsa wood & ply like the Mosquito.

[ATI_7500]

Hitlers biggest mistake of that period was his Sept 7th decision to stop hitting the RAF airfields and to start bombing the cities.

exactly!

The 109 was not a stable enough aircraft to mount that kind of weight on. It was also a very small plane, one of the smallest. The were dangerous enough to get off the ground and land, let alone with an extra 800 to 100 lbs on the wings (if the wings could take the weight and hardpoints!
I have seen a few pictures of 109's with drop tanks (or a drop tank under the belly), but I don't think I've ever seen one in the air.

as i said before,drop tanks were just for the later versions ("F" and up),whereas bombs could already be carried by the "E"s ("Jabos" (Jagdbombers) in Russia,quite successfull). later ,there were hard points for other weapons,like 30mm cannons ,rockets and other nice stuff.

I also read that Germany didn't have the aluminium to spare for drop tanks. In fact those that did carry them towards the end were under strict orders not to drop them unless it was a matter of life and death, because they couldn't spare the resources.

this may be true,but at the beginning of the drop-tank-era, (about '41 or '42) you could do with them what you wanted to.

[Scorpiоn]

Would have using the Gigant have made a difference?

[Professor Brensec]

Excuse my ignorousness, but what is the Gigant?  ???

[Scorpiоn]

It was a glider that was... uh... gigantic! Made for carrying tanks, but I'm unsure about how well it would've performed.

[ATI_7500]

Me 321, a glider pulled by Me 110s or He 111s.

Me 323, 6 engines, could fly on its own,but it was sloooooow!

the front door,with light tank.

the Me 321 went into service at the end of 1941 and was the most succesful heavy transport aircraft of the war.

length: about 90ft.
wingspan: about 160 ft.
engines: 6*900HP.
it could carry up to 120 men, the record was 220 on an evacuation run from north africa.

it surely can be seen as the predecessor of modern aircraft like the starlifter or galaxy.

[Woodlouse2002]

What a target for the AA guns!!!

[Professor Brensec]

I knew this theme had a familiar ring to it.

I remeber now, many many years ago reading a book by Len Deighton (I think) called "SS GB" (again, I think).
The basic plot is that the Battle of Britain is lost, the Germans invade and England is occupied (hence SS and GB).

Has anyone else read it, or know of the real title and author, if I'm incorrect?  ;D

(I can't really remember a terrible lot about what it was about as it must have been at least 25 years ago. I just remembered the plot from somewhere.)  ;D

[Woodlouse2002]

[quote]I knew this theme had a familiar ring to it.

I remeber now, many many years ago reading a book by Len Deighton (I think) called "SS GB" (again, I think).
The basic plot is that the Battle of Britain is lost, the Germans invade and England is occupied (hence SS and GB).

Has anyone else read it, or know of the real title and author, if I'm incorrect?

[Scorpiоn]

SS GB?  I'll look for it.

Brensec, assuming Germany obtained air superiority, how could Germany have actually invaded England?

[Smoke2much]

It's one of the darkest and most depressing books I've ever read.  I'd recommend it to anyone.

Will

[HerSELF]

[quote]It's one of the darkest and most depressing books I've ever read.

[Professor Brensec]

That's comforting. The fact that I was pretty much correct about the book and it's existence.

Thank you people.  ;D

[ATI_7500]

It's one of the darkest and most depressing books I've ever read.  I'd recommend it to anyone.

dark and depressing for whom? englishmen?

[Hagar]

Silent. I have read this book but it was many years ago & I remember nothing about it. Len Deighton is one of my favourite authors & also a historian so anything he writes would be well researched & based on fact. I think you should appreciate that living in an occupied country under a harsh regime would be depressing for anyone. Nationalities don't come into it. I suggest you read the book & find out for yourself. http://www.strangewords.com/archive/SSGB.html